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.
Sometime while accelerating the car will randomly go from 2K RPM to over 6K RPM but you cant here the engine and it loses power and starts to jerk violently. Once you release gas and the RPM's go back down to 2K then you can try to accelerate again. I thought this issue was just because it was cold the 1st time it happened but now it is happening more frequently. I've only had this car for little under a year and it has less then 20K miles on it.
I was driving in slow moving traffic, due to a broken stop light, for about 20 minutes..when the display indicator began alarming, and said "transmission overheating, stop safely" there was no reason for this warning indicator to turn on, and there was no possible way to stop right where I was. I have also smelled burning coming from the engine and notice that at times my car will not accelerate or it seems to shudder and stammer when accelerating from a stop. The gear shift also will not go into drive and instead goes into neutral on its own. I feel very unsafe when driving.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. While driving unknown speeds, the transmission slipped without warning. The vehicle was taken to stillwell Ford Lincoln (3780 w carleton rd, ste M-99 hillsdale, mi 40242) where it was diagnosed that the clutch and seal kit needed to be replaced at 4,000 miles. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. While driving 30 mph, the transmission slipped and failed while shifting into first and second gear without warning. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the clutch and seal kit needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the issue and informed the contact that the vehicle was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 40,000.
From a stop, when pressing the gas pedal the transmission starts shuddering and excessive vibration that shakes the whole car, also will not pickup speed so pulling out into traffic is dangerous, this car is dangerous to drive. My wife refuses to drive this car. 2016 Ford Focus SE with only15000 miles on it.....please help
- Strasburg, VA, USA
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First problem were the transmission shifting very hard and on a couple of occasions the car would not go into reverse when trying to back out of my driveway. Dealer recoded the transmission. Car is now still shifting very hard, sometimes the rpms will hit 4,000+ before it will hard downshift. Other time I have had to press on the brake to get the rpms down. Also while on cruise control the rpms will also rev to 4,000 when trying to slow down. On a recent trip when I cancelled the cruise control the car actually sped up on two separate occasions. Car continues to shift hard and what other people in the car have described as the transmission slipping. This has been ongoing for almost a year now. Dealer always says they have not heard anyone else complain about the transmission which is funny since I get class action lawsuit mail about every other week about it.
From a stop, transmission hesitates while shifting through the lower gears. When this happens, I get a shuddering in the vehicle that doesn't stop until the transmission shifts again. Vehicle has 35,000 miles on it.
When reversing car out of parking spots car hesitates. Car hesitates while driving. Car stops in middle of road. Car shudders and hesitates to pick up speed. Car sometimes will not pick up speed. I have been told to pick up my car three times from Ford auto body shop this week and took it back within minutes after because it is not working still. They replaced my clutch twice and other parts inside of the transmission.
The cars steering has on 3 occasions in 2 months lost steering! the steering wheel shudders and locks up and we lose control on a turn! this has happened at 30 miles per hour and at 5 miles. It's been to Ford 4 times the transmission clutch changed twice a new motor mount but they keep stating if there is no code and it doesn't happen in front of them there isn't anything to fix. I also notified Ford Motor Company and received a case number but they denied the claim!
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. When initially starting the vehicle, it failed to accelerate and made a noise as if it were forcing the engine to go into gear. When the vehicle reached 40 mph, it drove smoothly. The failure occurred for approximately twelve days. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised to take the vehicle to the dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 22,000....updated 12/11/17 the consumer stated the vehicle was taken to the dealer twice. The clutch was replaced the failure recurred. The vehicle was not repaired. Updated 12/15/2017
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. While accelerating from a stop sign, the vehicle jerked without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (frank fletcher Ford Lincoln, 3015 turkey creek rd, joplin, mo 64801) where it was diagnosed that the clutch and the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted at 800-392-3673 and stated that the failure was normal. A case number was not provided. The approximate failure mileage was 20,500. The VIN was not available.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. While idling, the vehicle shook, a knocking noise was present coming from the engine, and oil from the engine was present under the hood. In addition, while driving various speeds, the transmission would slip into the next gear and a grinding type noise was heard coming from the differential. After starting the vehicle, the transmission would erroneously switch into the neutral position, causing the vehicle to roll away. The cause of the failures was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer (galpin Ford in van ayes, ca) were both notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 1,500.
Brought my Ford Focus December 2016 new off the lot. Started noticing a shuttering, hesitation within the transmission during slow take off and when I try to speed up. I got a class action lawsuit card in the mail a few days ago inference to this issue. Haven't took it to the shop yet because I only have one car in my family. Something has to be done with this issue. I had a near miss because the car would not shift like its designed to do so when starting off.
Car shudders upon taking off whether fast or slow; okay after in motion but is getting worse. Took to dealer they said had recall for shuddering on 2015, not on 2016. Had 2009 Focus previously so opted to upgrade. Sorry we did, embarrassed to take anyone with us as it does not ride smooth on starting from a stop. Jerks like someone trying to learn to shift and not doing clutch right. Love the looks of the car, but never take anyone with and leery to take it on a lengthy trip as I am not sure if something will happen. The dealer said they had many complaints but nothing they could do it was within range. Took to another dealer and mechanic confirmed they too had complaints about it. Something about not having a torque converter or something. Took back to where I bought it and have another appointment next week, they are going to hook something up and drive a while and said it may need new clutch. I say if there are ongoing complaints and many others have same issue, they need to fix it when it is in for service; not wait for a recall. I would like it resolved soon or will trade it in for another brand; I.e. Toyota. It is a shame to have a pretty car sit in the garage and make hefty payments on it while it continues to depreciate. I wish I had my old car back. Note: This has been ongoing since we purchased vehicle but below it asks when and wants a specific date so I just entered 05/01/2017.
My 2016 and my 2015 Ford Focus has transmission problems. They will not hold a hill and then start to roll backwards if in drive and waiting at a light. The transmission will slip in left or right turns and will also have clutch engaging problems. Both vehicles has been a very troublesome vehicle when it comes to being able to drive forward. I do not trust them when making a left turn when traffic is coming because of the slippage makes it very difficult to be safe.
My 2016 Focus has been giving me issues since I purchased it in August 2016. I have experienced excessive shuddering and jerking during acceleration at a slow or fast acceleration. I heard a ticking noise when the car is in drive or park. I finally was able to get an appointment with the service department to get the issue checked out but its 2 weeks away(8/15/17). All Ford dealerships in baton rouge, la are backup due to the issues with the transmission. One of the service departments told me that all they can do is reset the transmission and it should fix the problem. The Ford dealership I brought my car from told me that they don't have a transmission guy to even look at my car and to go somewhere else.
I purchased the vehicle Feb 23, 2017 with 137 miles on it. Drove it off the lot within a month of having the car it starting making a weird noise kind of like a clanking noise in the front engine area, contacted the dealership they stated this was normal noises for a 2016 Ford Focus. The noises continued to get louder took it back this time they said it was the clutch downshifting(mind you it makes the noise before the car even has a chance to even get to a speed high enough to shift so how is it downshifting?) it also is having issues with the remote start you start it with the remote start it shuts off, start it again shuts off again, start it for the 3rd time it starts you go to unlock the car to get in and the car shuts off again ( not normal and it was installed from the factory not aftermarket) now the car has been hesitating to shift as well as lunging when it does shift and when we bring it to the dealerships service department they tell us this is all normal and they have a bulletin from Ford stating that it is "normal " for this year vehicle.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the transmission failed to function properly because the gears were slow to change over. When the gears finally changed over, the vehicle lunged forward. The dealer (fremont Ford, 39700 balentine dr, newark, ca 94560, (510) 651-5600) stated that the condition was not severe enough to replace the transmission and clutch assembly. The contact was uncertain if the dealer provided an appropriate remedy and was waiting for the manufacturer to provide a solution. The vehicle was parked and stored due to the intermittent failure. The approximate failure mileage was 14,000.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. On several occasions, when the contact released the brake pedal, the vehicle rolled backwards. The contact stated that the failure occurred whether the vehicle was on an incline or on a flat road surface. The vehicle was taken to the dealer (central Ford located at 1801 ar-69 spur, truman, ar 72472) where it was determined that the vehicle was operating as designed. The contact stated that the failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 17,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Madison, VA, USA