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.
Ongoing problems with the transmission in my Focus. After numerous returns to the dealer, twice for clutch kit replacements and at least 5-6 times for other "adjustments" it still has problems. Jerking, hesitation, loss of power even while driving. I pulled out of a shopping plaza the other day and was almost rear ended by another car because the car would not move for several seconds. This has happened several times. My car will feel like it's downshifting and dragging, even while I'm driving at a steady speed. It jerks and shudders when I accelerate at a stop light or stop sign. RPM dial often goes all the way to 8 or 9 until the car finally shifts. Dealer can not seem to fix this. Also, at times when moving again after a stop, the car will feel like it's "banging" underneath. Have addressed this with service at the dealer, but it still does it. This has been happening constantly for the two plus years I've had it. I have many documents and repair receipts to download, please let me know when and if you will need them.
My car has had transmission problems since 20K & has run out of gas on me twice & left me stranded on the side of the road. Clutch & several sylenoids have been replaced several times. I have reatained a lawyer for help with my issues with this car.
Transmission slips constantly. Vehicle has a transmission that is manual with clutch plates but operates as automatic. I find it shudders at about 18/19 miles per hours shifting from 1st to 2nd gears. This is hazardous when pulling out into traffic because it is intermittent and you never know if your car is going to go or shudder until it finds the gear. The transmission clutch plates have been replaced once and it has been in twice more for transmission issues. Not what I expected when I purchased a new car and was not told by the dealership that this was the way the transmission worked. Vehicle is less than 3 years old and has been in 3 times for transmission and needs to go again. First issue was 12/12/16, vehicle was 2 months old and has been ongoing.
I was driving on my way home, and my car stalled in the middle of the road. I had to throw the car in neutral and crank it back up and slam it into drive and speed off, because I was going to get hit both directions. The transmission shudders hard in between gears, stalls out on hills/ struggles on hills, it fails to accelerate in the moment, the car fails to know what gear it wants to be in. That's just the beginning. I live in the city a small area not very populated but I still deal with stop and go traffic the transmission jerks hard if you don't start moving at a steady pace. The highway though it does relatively well, but that's when other problems start I have loss of power at times while in cruise control, it will bounce back and fourth like I have bad gas or something, it also has a very bad glitch with the windshield wipers (they hit each other). I have had the upmost problems with this car primarily the transmission, but that's not all folks. I do however feel this car is such a safety hazard to people, I have a "dont buy a Focus" sticker going down both sides of my cars windows. I'm stuck with this car because of credit issues so I'm going to let everyone know my story if I can save them having problems not even a year after buying this brand new Focus. All Ford had to say is it's a clutch problem if completely safe. That's even when I told them I didn't feel safe and I didn't want to drive it till they did something about it. I'm not on transmission clutch set #5 I've dealt with so much lost time because of this matter and Ford should be held completely responsible. Start date for the problems is the day I bought the car. Dont buy a Focus!!!!
The transmission slips under load and shakes the vehicle badly. It has currently been to the dealership twice for this repair. This occurs most frequently under acceleration and gets worse with increased load.
- Ortonville, MI, USA
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Automatic transmission makes rattling noises when starting and stopping. It hesitates when it tries to downshift and lurches when it gets to the right gear. It will stay in a higher ear for too long causing the engine to strain. The dealership says it is normal and can't be fixed.
My car has severe hesitation when starting from a stop and or low speed. It has also stalled on two different occasions when pulling into a parking lot
While driving on the freeway at speeds around 65-70 mph, the transmission slipped into neutral and the vehicle lost the ability to accelerate. Pressing on the gas would rev the engine up to 4-5K rpms. I was able to coast to the shoulder but was terrified of being struck by a large semi truck behind me until I could get to the shoulder. I put the car in park and then re-engaged the transmission and it worked sporadically until I could get to the next exit. I pulled into a parking lot and turned off the car. Turned it back on and the reverse wouldn't engage. I drove the car to the Ford dealership. On the way there, the car would jolt forward in an intersection, only to slip into neutral while in the middle of the intersection. This slipping into neutral happened two or three times on the way to the dealership. Also, when coming to a stop, the gears would shift automatically into a lower gear prematurely which resulted in the vehicle coming to a faster stop than was expected.
After the original recall to repair the stuck canister purge valve my vehicles fuel gauge is not accurate I run out of gas at 1/4 tank or 135 miles to empty. When filling up on fuel my vehicle will not start properly when attempting to start the vehicle after refilling the fuel tank to full. This is not a one time issue this is a ongoing issue that happens many times a month. Transmission is jerking and makes noise and the dealer tells me this is normal when I know it is not. Ford has told the dealerships to tell owners of this vehicle it is normal so they are force to lie per company instructions. This vehicle and all other like it should be sent to the dealers for buy back.
I have Ford Focus SE trim 2016. Iwas driving as normal with 30mph speed and suddenly RPM raises to 4000 RPM the transmission was on D position but car won't drive forward, a message appears on screen ' transmission fault stop safety ' I stopped the car and turn it off the turn it on again tried to use reverse R but it's not working and D is not working and keeps showing me this notification about ' transmission fault stop safty' & ' transmission overheated..' the car has only 40000 km so I took it to the authorized dealer in iraq ' al kasid ' they checked it and told me that there is a problem in the clutch and ball bearings of the dct and it's not covered by the company and you have to pay for repairs but I know that Ford done some recalls for the Ford Focus with dct transmission (powershift) but they said you car is not included.
The transmission sputters and shakes and makes a grinding noise. I am fearful that it is going to fail and cause a severe accident injuring myself or someone else. This is a ongoing problem. The dealer said this is normal for this car. I first took it in around 17,000 miles. It is only getting worse. The dealer initially told me that Ford was aware of this problem and would fix it. Now they will not honor there word and say it is out of warranty.
Transmission/clutch is easily heated and starts to grind when within low gear (10-30 mph). When its cool it operates normally. It feels as the entire car wants to stalls completely, the car shakes uncontrollably. Even the handling is suffering while this happens. I reported this issue to my Ford dealer and Ford corporation. The dealer said it was normal, which I know it isn't. and the Ford corporation hasn't responded to any of my contact attempts over the last 8 months.
May 30 2019 my car cut off from driving in the of the middle of the highway call road side told I'm stuck in middle of the highway can't move, they'll be a hour, tow directly to the dealer where I brought it and get car service they found its the clutch had it fix already maybe a year ago, I purchase premium care warranty ask to a safe vehicle until they can fix my that it was on back ordered two weeks give back my not fix told me it's safe drive I feel is unfair. Also there's a lawsuit about problems with Ford.
Since I purchased my 2016 Ford Focus SE the automatic transmission has been slipping, stuttering and high rpms during gear changes but will not accelerate properly. I was attempting to merge from an on-ramp onto a major highway and upon attempting to accelerate to merge the rpms were very high but the car would not accelerate. At this point I am on the highway with traffic gaining at an alarming rate which caused another vehicle to swerve to avoid hitting me from behind. This is not my first encounter with this issue but the first time I actually felt I was in a life threatening situation. This also affects my fuel economy which is a nominal issue as compared to the fact I no longer feel safe with my two children in the vehicle. Step up Ford before there are major accidents due to this issue.
Well we bought this 2016 Ford Focus SE and the transmission will not shift right and their a lot of people having the same trouble and it can not be fix.we pay a lot of money for this car and they should buy it back.their is all kind of law suite on this matter they should take care of this problem for us.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving various speeds, the vehicle lunged forward and hesitated to accelerate. No warning lights illuminated. Ordus Ford, Inc. (123 S port crescent St, bad axe, mi 48413 (989) 269-9245), diagnosed the vehicle but did not find the failure. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 37,000.
When I am accelerating from a complete stop it shutters very bad. It happens when turning and I have to speed up, it really gets bad when I'm at a complete stop and I have to take off uphill. It almost feels like it is having problems going into gear. It only does this when I am accelerating. I told Ford marshal in O'fallon mo and they said it was the "clutch and it was within limits." (whatever that means)this is when I still had a warranty. But now I don't. I'm a little disappointed in this matter. They should have fixed it while I had a warranty.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Salem, NH, USA