What 1,022 owners told NHTSA about the 2015 Ford Focus RS

I had my check engine light come on afterwards the car started to hesitate. My car is having issues with shifting through the gears and feels bogged down. I took it to a Ford dealership where they tried for 3 and a half hours to get the light to come on again with no luck. They told me to bring it back if the light comes on again.

NHTSA ODI 11473018

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35-40 MPH, the vehicle was hesitating. The contact was able to continue driving and pulled into a gas station however, the vehicle hesitated and started sputtering. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle. Upon attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start after several attempts. The contact pushed the vehicle into a parking space with assistance. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The contact replaced the starter however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module had failed and the failure was associated to Ford Customer Satisfaction Program Number: 14M02. The contact was informed that the parts to do the repair were not available. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the parts would be available within 9-10 months. The failure mileage was approximately 127,000.

NHTSA ODI 11471408

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving on a highway at a disclosed speed the vehicle started shuddering and shifting then starting hesitating. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was diagnosed as the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. This happen on several occasions The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The mileage was approximately 60,000.

NHTSA ODI 11471116

While driving the vehicle it begins shuddering and jerking, when parked and shifted into reverse the vehicle did not move, when brake was applied to shift to park, the vehicle lunged forward up and over the curb. This has been a continuous problem, when is the NHSTA going to do their job and make ford recall these vehicles.

NHTSA ODI 11469517

The car intermittently doesn't shift into reverse and struggled to shift from first to second gear and sometimes loses some power when shifting into or while in higher gears. I had it looked into by an independent service center who recommended replacement of 2 clutch actuators which I had done at a cost of $853.17. I didn't drive it for a week after the repairs while on vacation. When I returned, the same issues exist and the engine light is on. I couldn't back out of my driveway and had to drive through my yard to go to work.

NHTSA ODI 11469286

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to shift gear as needed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the transmission clutch needed to be repaired or replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 140,000.

NHTSA ODI 11468980

3rd time the clutch has started to shudder violently during acceleration. 1st clutch replacement was covered under a Ford safety recall in Nov 2019 (58,000 miles), 2nd clutch replacement was paid in cash in April 2021 (76,000 miles), and now I'm looking at paying cash for a 3rd clutch replacement in June 2022 (92,000 miles). Ford has only covered ONE clutch replacement despite the clutch issue happening every 14 months. This is just outside the 12-month "warranty" for the parts & labor, and I'm fed up with having to replace the clutch almost every year.

NHTSA ODI 11468310

Transmission shudder when acceleration from a start. Sometimes it hesitates when starting out from a stop.

NHTSA ODI 11467794

Esta es la segunda vez que se arruina la caja de la transmisión voy caminando y no agarra velocidad voy en el freeway y no avanza no hace los cambios al tratar de rebasar, aparece una luz roja y marca motor. Hoy apareció una advertencia en el tablero que dice transmisión caliente espere 5 minutos voy en freeway do de me parqueo??? Fui a la agencia y no me han ayudado dijeron que debo dejar el carro por 3 meses.ahi parado con ellos repito es la segunda vez en 2 años y medio que esto pasa

NHTSA ODI 11466677

The transmission went out and will not go in reverse. Thank goodness my daughter made it her friends from where we had it towed to bulldog transmission. The car is not drivable. It has 116000 mileage. The car did have a louder engine noise that other cars I’ve driven. The car was fine for several weeks, we bought it used. The car had a hard time getting up the neighborhood hill then died in the friends driveway.

NHTSA ODI 11465940

I had a ford certified tech work on my Ford Focus and after my recalls were supposedly repaired my car is doing worse than ever, if I stop on a hill I will sometimes roll backwards due to apparent engagement issue, and after a new tcm to fix that my car now displays “transmission overheating stop safely” after a few miles on the highway. it shifts really rough and I haven’t ran the risk of stopping on a hill. Not what I would expect coming from a family who has over 100 years put into working at ford motor company.

NHTSA ODI 11464896

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle started to decelerate without warning. After stopping and restarting the vehicle, the vehicle regained normal functionality. The contact stated that the failure recurred while attempting to accelerate from a stop light. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who diagnosed that the transmission shift lever failed causing the clutch to fail. The contact was informed that the shift lever and clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 101,000.

NHTSA ODI 11464331

My car is not currently drivable. It has stalled on the freeway which is unsafe. I had to drive it to a dealership with my car stoppable multiple times. I’ve had it at a Ford dealership and they are unwilling to pay for the clutch. The clutch had an extended warranty through Ford and I ran out of the extended warranty by 20K due to being able to take it in sooner due to it being my only car and the pandemic. I feel that this is on Ford due to it being a safety concern and not being drivable. They had an extended warranty because the clutch on these specific models has been faulty and I already had it replaced 5 years ago. I feel I should be compensated at least for the clutch and they are refusing.

NHTSA ODI 11464209

When taking off from a stopped position, such as stop sign or light, car stutters/stalled like jumping. It only does this in first gear, once it has shifted into second it continues to shift fine. However, once back in first gear it does it again. I fear that it will stall completely in first or power way down as I’m pulling into traffic, very likely causing a collision. This is a continual/daily occurrence. The date I specified for date of incident is just a general idea of when this started.

NHTSA ODI 11463990

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate the vehicle, the vehicle failed to shift into gear as needed. The vehicle then stalled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was diagnosed with transmission failure by several independent mechanics. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and diagnosed the vehicle with transmission failure. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90, 000.

NHTSA ODI 11463052

Transmission slips jerks shakes when trying to take off. It will not pick up speed until it's in third gear,. This car is not a manual it's an automatic transmission. It was taken to a Ford dealer and we were charged money and told that it was fixed. This Is a 78-year-old womans car. She was unaware that the vehicle had an issue. The car only has 62,000 miles on it and is a 2015. And it also has a warning light that comes on when you drive with the AC on or on hot days or if you drive longer than a few miles a warning light comes on and tells you to pull over and that the car is overheating. Both of these items I'm listing are very dangerous especially when getting on an interstate or pulling out in traffic. I don't know if it's an electrical issue with the overheating light coming on but the radio has also stopped working. The transmission definitely has a safety issue. I'm afraid of driving very far because of these two issues.

NHTSA ODI 11462782

Car studdering and shuts off. Transmission seems to get hot and causes car to shut down. After a few minutes can restart car and go again. This seems to happen more if the car stops and goes alot.

NHTSA ODI 11458920

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact received notification of Customer Satisfaction Program Number: 19N08 (Transmission Clutch Warranty Extension). The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power. Additionally, the vehicle was not able to reverse. The check engine warning light and transmission failure warning message were displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN and she had to pay out-of-pocket for the repair. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,000.

NHTSA ODI 11457320

When moving forward from a stopped position, the front tires shake/stutter which requires you to let up on the accelerator and move forward at a lesser speed to stop the shaking/stuttering. Also while the engine is warming up, the transmission is slow in changing gears, and in some cases it doesn't feel as if they change at all.

NHTSA ODI 11455471

The transmission control module was the first to be replaced when the car began to shudder upon acceleration from a complete stop. Took to Ford Dealership where it was replaced under recall warranty. In 2020, was driving on highway and merged to an exit when at a red light then green car would not move forward. Car was turned off and on and nothing. Was stuck in the middle of an exit ramp for about an hour until I messed with the clutch and made a popping noise and began to move. Took to Ford dealership and the power train clutch was also replaced. Notified that there was a recall on that part again. Thought problem was fixed, car began to shudder again. It is 2022, the shuddering is really bad again. Took to ford dealership once again, car no longer falls under warranty because of mileage (I am just over 100,000 miles) and it is the dual powershift clutch again (the same one on recall) just almost two years later and they want almost $3000 to replace.

NHTSA ODI 11454608

My vehicle is having issues regarding the clutch and transmission module. This issue has been going on every since I bought my vehicle new in 2015. The last time they fixed the issue (free) was in May of 2020. When I went to the dealership where I bought my car and where they have replaced this issue, I was told that they will have to charge me to diagnose the problem. I told them that they never charged me before and the issue it’s having is the same so why today are you charging me? They said that it’s because it could be the clutch issue that’s not covered. However they have fixed the clutch issue before in which that time was May 2029. The for recall for my vehicle is 18V169000 to be fixed up to 150,000 miles my vehicle has 102,000 miles. Another recall that I looked up is 18S07 which is regarding the clutch. Website https://www.cars.com/research/ford-focus-2015/recalls/ So why will they not fix my car when both recall # say they will be fixed at no charge to me.

NHTSA ODI 11453715

The contact owns a 2015 Ford Focus. The contact stated while her son was driving approximately 20 MPH and depressing on the accelerator pedal, the vehicle started to shudder. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The driver was able to continue driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission clutch assembly to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact became aware that the vehicle was serviced under NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V169000 (Power Train) in 2019 under the previous owner. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.

NHTSA ODI 11452703

While returning from vacation, my transmission failed with only a displayed message that the transmission was hot and to stop for 5 minutes. I immediately pulled off the highway and parked the car for 15 minutes. The message cleared and I proceeded to drive about another 15 miles and the car lost power to the transmission while in traffic on the interstate. I had to make a lane change and pull off the road. Fortunately I was close to a vehicle repair facility so I drifted to the facility. They immediately evaluated the problem and I was told the transmission had completely failed, which apparently is an issue that Ford was aware of during manufacture. This failure could have caused a crash because I had to switch lanes with perfect timing to prevent an accident. The repair facility contacted a Ford Technician about a mile away who came and tested/evaluated the transmission and confirmed that it had a total failure. From the first warning message until the complete failure was within a ten minute period after allowing the first warning message to clear from the 15 minute cooling period. I am still waiting on parts and repair bills as of 02/09/2022. They will be forwarded as received. This will be the 3rd transmission installed on this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11451278

Check engine light went on 2 minutes later a notification came on dash saying transmission hot safety pull over for 5 mins. Sat there for an hour scared to drive it cause I didn't want to make worse. When I went to drive home it struggles shifting into 1st and not even 3 mins after it shakes into 2nd gear it notifies me that transmission is hot to pull over. I will not drive it afraid it could catch fire and won't shift Car in a shopping plaza waiting to tow to house. Called 2 shops in Canton Ohio and they both said not a shop in town would touch the dual clutch transmission to take it to ford.

NHTSA ODI 11446111

CLUTCH ASSEMBLY part of Ford recall. This vehicle had CLUTCH ASSEMBLY recall repair in 2017, 2018, 2019. I purchhased in Jan 2019 & NO info regarding ongoing SAFETY issue of this CLUTH ASSEMBLY failure was ever disclosed to me by dealership, King's Ford Cincinnati, Ohio! I now am told it needs the 4TH repacement of CLUTCH ASSEMBLY @ the cost to me of over $1800.00!. This is a total failure on Ford Company & the dealership that sold me this car without disclosure! I am on a fixed income, senior citizen with an active life to live and should not have to endure the cost or more importantly the SAFETY ISSUE on this vehicle.

NHTSA ODI 11443747