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:
0 / 1
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
31,315 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.
I was driving the car other all of a sudden died on me and told me to put it in park I put it in park and then turned the key off and tried to restart it. It did not restart and would not turn of kept popping up a warning saying starter system failure. Could not turn my wheel or pit it in neutral to get it out of te middle of the road.
The car failed to start, it did not recognize it was in park. After trying to start my car with the keys it failed. My safety is put at risk, my car failing to recognize which gear shift it is in causes malfunctions while I am on the road, especially since I drive long distances at high speeds. I had a Master Technician review and preform a diagnostic on my vehicle and the codes formed for this test matched hand in hand with TCM issues under the TSB. After this, I went to the dealership to discuss this issue and the only thing that came of it was informing me that I was not eligible for a recall due to my VIN, even if I have all the symptoms under the TSB for my Ford Focus 2016. Since my car failed to start I was not able to bring it to Ford and have it tested, especially after asking if it is eligible and they insisted that it was not. No warning signs from the dashboard appeared on my vehicle to inform me of this issue. I travelled to meet with family and did not end up using my vehicle for a few days and when I tried to start my car, it would not engage. The only warning sounds I would consider a correlation before the problem would be a clicking from the starter pre-firing when I opened the door, and while the car was off.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed, an alarm sounded, the message " Pull Car Over Safely " was displayed, and the vehicle turned off independently. The contact stated that the vehicle was turned off and was restarted several times; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a dealer to be diagnosed; however the dealer was unable to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate mileage was 67,855.
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while his daughter was driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently lost motive power. The driver was able to pull over to the shoulder of the roadway, where the vehicle failed to restart. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the Remote Function Actuator (RFA) module. The vehicle was not repaired due to a lack of available parts. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 90,000.
- Dallas, TX, USA
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The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. There were no warning lights illuminated. There was an unknown failure with the battery. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed and determined that the TCM needed to be replaced, but the clutch was unrepairable. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the local dealer for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 58,500.
While driving my car started skipping from first to second gear and then lowering acceleration. When at a complete stop car would not accelerate and just revs through first and second gear making a pinging clicking sound. Brought to dealership to be told codes p0702 and code p0734 were reading. I've had the car one year and has been maintained. Before I got the diagnosis I drove to the dealership there was no lights on even though there was the issue and then right as I pulled in the transmission light check came on. This problem has been confirmed by Ford dealership from transmission and engine diagnostic. Not being able to accelerate at a green light put my safety at risk.
Faulty dual clutch. I only have 34000 miles on it. I shouldn't have this problem. Started 2 weeks ago.very rough shifting. Sometimes it won't shift at all.
Electrical power steering goes in and out and the dash displays -??steering assist fault-?? warning, and the power steering goes out entirely. You can still turn, but it takes a lot more physical effort to do so. Since it goes in and out, it can happen at any time and is very hard to get diagnosed through a diagnostic if the mechanic or dealer cannot replicate the issue.
on 6/27/2024 when accelerating into traffic my vehicle stalled and almost caused an accident. Dash board display had two messages was code P0106 MAP sensor and hill start assist wasn't going to work. Possible safety recall 14S17 Saying not for my vehicle.
My radio stopped working and is now making horrible loud screeching and popping noises loud enough to startle me and almost cause a crash from the reaction I have to the loud sudden noises
The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 50-55 MPH, the steering wheel locked inadvertently. The message "Transmission Failure" was displayed. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned on the hazard lights. The contact stated that the vehicle continuously lost and regained electrical power independently. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where the contact was informed that the transmission was malfunctioning, and the contact was referred to the dealer. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, where the TCM was replaced. Additionally, the dealer informed the contact that the transmission clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not covered under Ford Campaign Number: 19N08. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 97,069.
[XXX] daughter was driving her car on I87 in Albany NY when oil pressure light went on and car speed dropped from 65 to less than 30 while in middle lane of interstate forcing her to cross over lanes onto shoulder roadway and exit ramp where it lost all power. Have learned that the oil belt system failed without any warning or notice causing incident. Have since learned that vehicle motor has been damaged beyond repair and needs replacement. Contact with 4 separate representatives of FORD Customer Service has resulted in FORD denying our requests for assistance to replace the motor. Car is a 2016 Ford Focus SE with the 1.0 liter motor with 81,000 miles. Well maintained with records as needed. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Vehicle hesitates, stutters and stalls when accelerating at any speed. The dealership told us it is either a transmission module or fuel module problem. They don-??t have parts to fix it. There-??s been a recall and a lawsuit about this same year, make and model, but they tell us our Vin is not included in any of this. it continues to do this to this day. The dealership wants us to drop it off and leave it for 3 to 4 weeks. We can-??t be without a car so we are struggling with it. We wrote Ford Motor Company a letter and they told us to contact you. The lawsuit that they lost, gave us an extended warranty, but they refuse to honor it.
Radio will randomly cause a loud popping or screeching sound from the speaker while driving this is a common issue know by ford dealers that requires replacing the ACM witch is $800 for just the part.
The lug nuts are swollen and cannot be unscrewed. Also my electrical system inside my car goes off sometimes for unknown reasons. I'm talking about my stereo.
Car turned off while driving three times. Once when put in park it locked on a busy road. Replaced fuse to battery, still turned off while driving. Lights stay on and its a pretty new battery so thats nit the issue, when turning the key there is no noise, no clicking or grinding. Main issue is the fact it turns off while driving and the fact it locks up when put in park. That's helpful to no one. Windows can't be rolled up either which meant being trapped guarding a vehicle in 92 degree weather. Anti theft is literally so dumb and in annoying. Great thought, terrible in practice. Am currently waiting on tow truck. Open invention on what caused this now.
My car has become hard to start after I fill up with gas. It also randomly loses all power. While driving everything in the car stops. It displays a message that says transmission is not in park, like I turned the key off but I did not. After this it won't start and displays a message on the dash that says "system start up fault". If I wait a few minutes it starts again. This has happened 3 times. I had a mechanic pull any codes. The only code is for a gasket in the evap system. The mechanic told me that Ford had a recall for this problem so I had the car towed to a Ford service center. The Ford dealer told me that my car is not included in the recall. I looked up Ford recalls and my car exhibits all of the problems described in the recall.
2016 FORD FOCUS VIN: 1FADP3F20GL341128 Mileage: 64,750 Hello I am having problems with my 2016 Ford Focus. The vehicle is shuddering, moving forward, problems in shifting, vibrating and Ford cannot do anything about this as they have told me that you have not added this model on the recall. I got the vehicle checked over by Ford and they said it is the same issues as the other Ford Focus and Fiesta have and they said they need to replace the clutch and TCM. However this would be charable to me because you have not added this model in the recall. At the Sound Dealership in Renton WA there was 3 cars with the same issue and one being the same fuel flex model as mine. Is this something you could check as Ford will not help me at all. Thank you
Transmission Fault Service Now warning light keeps coming on and off. I-??ve taken it to multiple places to have it checked out and nobody can find and actual issues that would cause the transmission to fail. I got stuck in the middle of an intersection because the transmission randomly stopped. I-??ve had to have it towed.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Marcus, IA, USA