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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:
2 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
0 / 0
Average Mileage:
31,108 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.

2016 Ford Focus fuel system problems

fuel system problem

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2016 Ford Focus Owner Comments (Page 1 of 8)

problem #143

Apr 122024

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Cannister Purge Valve is stuck, causing stalls at any speed. There are thousands of Ford Focus vehicles with a recall for this issue, but not this one as per VIN

- Griswold, CT, USA

problem #142

Apr 082024

Focus

  • miles
Collapsed fuel tank. Car stalls out.

- Lithia, FL, USA

problem #141

Apr 082024

Focus

  • miles
Vehicle engine consistently stalls while driving resulting in dangerous or deadly situations. 4/8/24 was the 5th engine stalling incident.

- Harrison, OH, USA

problem #140

Sep 012018

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

UNKNOWN. I believe this vehicle's engine is also impacted by the recall campaign number 18V735000, even though the engine is a 2.0L L4. The same issues that are mentioned in the recall campaign occurred with this vehicle around the 60k milage and 120k milage mark. These issues seems to happen every 60k miles. I did report this same issue with this system with this vehicle when this happened when the milage hit around 60k. The engine check light did show up each time this happened and the vehicle would stall immediately, even while driving at interstate speeds of around 70mph.

- Rome, GA, USA

problem #139

Feb 072024

Focus

  • miles
Purge canister valve system failure. Car sputters and wont start when gas is put into the car. Car jerks. Check engine light stays on.

- Lyburn, WV, USA

problem #138

Jan 312024

Focus

  • miles
My ford focus had experienced a clutch slipping and is stuck in 2 gear. The car also had antifreeze leak during this event. This occurred on January 31,2023. My Ford dealership is quoted a $3,240 repair cost for clutch system on an automatic transmission. Ford case number CXH01481389.

- Ruther Glen , VA, USA

problem #137

Dec 092023

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

After receiving a routine oil change in December 2023, my vehicle began malfunctioning. The oil, engine, and battery lights came on abruptly. I returned to the Valvoline location (approx. 1 mile from my home) and they redid the oil change and noted that there were no signs of a leak and advised that I send the car to get a diagnostic done. My car stalled twice as I was driving it home. I then had the car towed to the dealership I purchased it from (Hyundai owned). They advised that an oil tensioner belt near the engine had shredded and pieces had lodged in the engine. Shortly after, the recall was released. Since then Ford has been zero help. I understand that the parts for the new belt are needed, however I need a new engine now due to their negligence. I've contacted Ford directly on numerous occasions as well as my local dealership and they won't release any information because it is in advance notice. I'm expected to wait until April or May for repairs. That will put me at almost six months or more without a vehicle and no viable options. That is not a timely fix for such a dangerous issue.

- Monticello, IN, USA

problem #136

Oct 172023

Focus

  • 112,162 miles
My gas tank system my engine light came on so I took my vehicle to the nearest auto zone to put on the machine and it popped up a code for a canister purge valve piece. My safety was put at risk because it was messing with my gas can-??t fill my take up so I can get stranded really quick especially if I-??m far from a gas station that offers my gas which is E85. No it haven-??t I tried but ford claim they didn-??t see no recalls in my vehicle but I have pics from other ppl of the recalls.my engine light came on I don-??t remember the date but it was a while ago still didn-??t get it checked out yet

- Calumet City, IL, USA

problem #135

May 032022

Focus

  • miles
Two weeks after an oil change (not by Ford) my 2016 Ford Focus 5dr EcoSport engine lost power climbing a hill outside my home. On inspection two mechanics told me it needed a new engine. $8000 for me to pay. The local Ford dealer replaced the engine and gave me a 3yr unlimited mileage warranty. No symptoms prior to the failure, now that is a recall (Campaign/NHTSA#23S64/23V905) I would like Ford to reimburse all of us who are out of pocket.

- Smyrna, GA, USA

problem #134

Nov 022023

Focus

  • miles
Vehicle will stale after driving for some time engine light shows fuel system issue similar similar to other Ford focus models.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

problem #133

Dec 302023

Focus

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Check engine light keeps coming on and it give error EVAP control system fault/unable to bleed up fuel tank vacuum

- Bolivia, NC, USA

problem #132

Dec 232020

Focus

  • miles
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.

- Ormond Beach, FL, USA

problem #131

Oct 252023

Focus

  • miles
Have been dealing with error codes for cpv, something about fuel, and air intake. The vehicle continuously stalls. Difficult to get it to start after fueling up. Sputters at various different speeds from 5mph to about 50mph. The vehicle will totally shut down on me out of gas even at over a quarter tank to half tank full according to the gauge. I dont have dates for the incidents because they are consistent at this point.

- Supply, NC, USA

problem #130

Sep 282023

Focus

  • miles
the car shut off doing 60mph it was very scary took it to mechanic it had 2 codes the check engine light was on they cleaned the throttle body it ran but was struggling and rough idling drove to work and it wanted to stall multiple times put it in neutral to get idle up at a light then it stalled at a light drove home very afraid that it would shut off again took to the same mechanic to explain what happened have appt for estimate to fix. i need this car for work and am very scared to drive it as is never know when it will shut off called the dealer that sold me the car and all they said was theres no recalls and bring it in. i had an extended warranty but they said i was over by 1000 miles so no warranty i wont drive it there its a long drive. driving for many years i have never felt unsafe in a vehicle before this is very dangerous and needs to be resolved asap. also still have a loan for this car that i cant drive along with the repair costs my wife called ford directly and they said theres no recall and werent helpful at all

- Summitville, NY, USA

problem #129

Oct 132023

Focus

  • miles
I was driving about 45 mph when my car started 2 shack and buck like it was about 2 die. So I pulled over and then it died and took forever to start back. So I took it 1 Midas and they said it was something to do with the vacuum in my gas take. So they reset the computer and told me if I had anymore issues being it back. Well today I stopped at the gas station and filled my car up and it would not start back. So I had it towed back to the shop and they pushed my gas tank flapper open 2 relief the pressure.

- Killen, AL, USA

problem #128

Oct 022023

Focus

  • miles
Issue with CPV. Car stalls when getting gas due to ventilation issue. Has manufacturer code P1450 which is recalled for similar cars

- Malaga, NJ, USA

problem #127

Sep 072023

Focus

  • miles
Having issues with the purge valve canister causing the vehicle to stall while driving on a highway late at night. Knowing that this is an issue with other vehicle made in the same year and knowing there is a recall for those parts but not on my vehicle is confusing to me.

- Amherst, OH, USA

problem #126

Jul 162023

Focus

  • miles
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.

- Dawsonville, GA, USA

problem #125

Jul 112023

Focus

  • miles
Have tried repeatedly to get the CPV recall performed however all dealerships or authorized repair locations have been giving me multi month waits since it started showing the alarm code for it in Dec. 2021. Due to it being the only vehicle my family has we were out in a wait list to bring it in when they had the parts and never got called back. Now the Transaxle is not engaging 4/5/6th gear intermittently. Was informed that it would be 3K for a new transaxle even though I have not had the vehicle for that long.

- Duncanville, TX, USA

problem #124

Aug 102022

Focus

  • miles
Almost a year ago I noticed my check engine light came on and so I checked the codes which is P1450 - Unable To Bleed Up Fuel Tank Vacuum - Ford - Powertrain. Everytime I fill the gas tank the engine studders and fails upon startup, usually on the 3 or 4th start the engine finally idle and I'm able to change gears. I thought this was the issue that was supposed to be resolved back in 2019 when I took my car into Ford to have the recall issue fixed. Well whatever they did back then didn't fix it and looks like I'm not the only one this is happening to.

- The Colony, TX, USA

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