CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2016 Ford Focus & its "Powershift" transmission has a defect trend where the car shudders when accelerating, especially when starting uphill.
Most owners have reported their Ford Focus remains driveable while the vehicle is still at low mileage, but the shuddering is annoying & unpleasant & may reduce the resale value of the vehicle.
However, owners of higher-mileage vehicles from earlier 3rd generation Focus model years report transmission failure & a host of other major & expensive transmission-related problems. Potential buyers beware.
10.0
really awful
Crashes / Fires:
8 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
44,933 miles
About These NHTSA Complaints:
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
a dealer repaired my transmission under warranty. several months ago, first was slipping again. i called to schedule an appointment in March of 2021. Due to COVID, they stated and shows clearly on their website to date, they could not get my vehicle in until July. At the July appintment, the Clutch assembly needs to be replaced. the warranty expired one month previous, and it is now 1,500 miles over warranty. i believe they should repair the vehicle. it is not the first time for this issue on these vehicles
On at least 5 previous instances (3 instances in which the vehicle was taken to and checked by my local Ford Dealership), the vehicles automatic transmission would cease to shift into or out of a gear(s) suddenly during normal driving operations. This would lead to rapid declaration, often times in moderate or greater traffic causing hazardous conditions to both myself and passengers and/or other vehicles and their passengers. The hazard was of possible collision as the vehicle did not perform at the speed of traffic. Additional hazard and safety issue, was during these events, the vehicle would enter a "neutral" gear position and although the accelerator was depressed, their was NO torque to the drive train, this would also either decelerate the vehicle rapidly or in the event of cornering, increase the speed instantly during the cornering turn (because of the lack of downshift torque to the drive train)...on one instance I was unable to control the turn speed quickly enough and the vehicle entered the shoulder of the turn before I was able to regain positive control of the vehicle. Although Ford has a Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP) extending the warranties for the transmission clutch and TCM, it appears that Ford Service Dealers are extremely hesitant to perform the warranty service. To that end, I have taken my vehicle to local Ford dealer with the transmission shudder conditions complaint, and each time they claim their diagnostics were not able to replicate my issue. All these service appts were while vehicle was under the warranty in miles and months. Then, this last week the vehicle had the same instances happen while on the freeway (all previous episodes had been on surface city streets), and it was a very dangerous situation with at least 2 vehicles taking evasive action to avoid rear-ending my vehicle as it decelerated rapidly. I pulled over and vehicle was towed to Ford service, where they say the clutch is worn, as is the TCM.
This car is on it 3rd set of clutches and a Tcm reflash.we have not even had this car for a year yet and now it-??s going into the dealer ship again for the same clutch problem. This Thursday. This car is not safe to drive and the dealer ship will not by car back I-??m hoping someone can help me with this complaint thanks for your time
There is two recalls on my ford focus. The clutch and the transmission. Town and country ford have fixed the clutch 4 times and it stills continues to break. The transmission recall they told me they cannot fix but it is affecting my driving as my car stalls and shudders and cannot drive past 45 mph. They refuse to put me into a rental and they tell me there is nothing they can do to fix it. If this problem does not get fixed it will continue to get worse and eventually cause other problems.
- Louisville , KY, USA
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The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped with the gear shifter in drive and brake pedal depressed, the vehicle reversed inadvertently. The vehicle also jerked while driving at various speeds, and stalled. The vehicle failed to start intermittently. The transmission overheat warning light was illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was over the warranty coverage period. The dealer stated that all vehicles jerked like that after a while. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 102,747.
The clutches in the transmission are shot and nearly fused and the car will need a new transmission as there are no other solutions to remedy the problem after 2 days of diagnostics. I purchased this vehicle from a major dealership used and assured it was mechanically cleared by Service department. According to code reader at transmission shop, it has been throwing codes for a while and was cleared by dealership. I have owned this vehicle for 60 days and paid cash for it. transmission mechanic says this problem has been going on for a while. I am currently starting litigation proceedings with the dealership but upon more investigating, this issue is a KNOWN issue with the 2016 Ford Focus so I am not sure WHY the VIN is saying no recalls.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the gear shifter would not shift into second gear from first gear. The engine revved however, the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the clutch actuator and the clutch were replaced however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall and referred the contact to NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was 71,000.
The car is in motion on a city street and a highway and you can hear a slight grinding sound when the gas pedal is pressed and the car is coasting. The mechanic says that it's the clutch bearing that is failing and that it is a known issue with Ford Focus's however the car's VIN was not included in the recall.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while (on taking off) driving at speeds of 10 mph or less, the vehicle jerked like a vehicle down shifting into 1st gear. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to sarchione Ford Lincoln of alliance (2480 w state St, alliance, oh 44601) where it was diagnosed with needing clutch and bearings to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 18V845000 (power train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was informed of the failure but offered no additional assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 67,000. Consumer stated while test driving consumer noticed something was wrong with transmission because vehicle started jumping.
Car runs hot while in motion on highway or city streets, due to gears sticking causing transmission to malfunction and I must turn off car to disengage for 25 minutes.
I was driving normally on a main street and then the car began to violently jerk and would not accelerate as if it couldn't shift into the next gear I pulled over and shut the car off then restarted it with no change I had it towed to Ford where its currently getting serviced which they said might not be covered under warranty after doing some research online it seems that this is a common occurrence I also recently had to have my purge valve replace as well they said that was covered under warrant I believe a recall is necessary in this situation it was extremely dangerous especially at high speeds or that to happen I had the car diagnosed prior to it going to Ford and the code was P090C which said the clutch B actuator control circuit low and my milage is about 72,000
I was driving on a highway in traffic when my car suddenly just slows down & stops accelerating on its own. When I started it back up, the car would randomly feel like its going into 'neutral' gear on its own & I am not able to accelerate, so again im slowing down in the middle of traffic. After about 2 minutes.. it goes back into regular drive on its own. Seems like some sort of transmission issues. The message on my dashboard says 'transmission fault, service now'. but I never started seeing this message until I got a dead battery replaced.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated the vehicle sputtered while attempting to accelerate. The contact stated that the vehicle was taken bokan Ford (2 franklin park w #1, St. Albans city, vt 05478, (802) 524-7343) to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be repaired or replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer confirmed that the VIN was included in recalls related to the transmission. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The contact was referred to NHTSA for additional assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.
When I got my Ford Focus transmission started acting up rpms will hit4000 before his shift gears when I brought it in to the Ford dealer on 12/13/16 they said they had to reprogram something in the transmission, I had to bring it back again the second time on 11/19/18 they said they had to change the clutch is in the transmission and now 2021march I have the same problem again time for a recall.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 25 mph, the vehicle would not shift into a higher gear. The contact stated that the transmission fault service now display message was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 54,073.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds and accelerating, the vehicle shuddered without warning. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who inspected the vehicle and linked the failure to NHTSA campaign number: 18V169000 (power train). The manufacturer was then notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 81,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Westhills, CA, USA