Home · 2016 Ford Focus Bev · Complaints

What 1,137 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Ford Focus Bev

These are the actual owner complaints behind this car’s reliability verdict, filed with the federal government, unedited. They’re unverified reports, not confirmed defects: read them as leads for your pre-purchase inspection, not a diagnosis.

All (1,137)Crash / fire / injury (31)Transmission & drivetrain (646)Engine (218)Fuel system (215)Electrical system (77)Engine & cooling (46)Steering (45)Speed control (34)Wheels (15)Airbags (14)Body & structure (14)

Newest first · 1,137 complaints · page 17 of 46

Dec 17, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

I feel vibrations when I accelerate. Very severe when the car is warm. I feel unsafe if I drive it (not accelerating correctly). I brought the car to a repair shop. They told me that this problem is well known by Ford for my car. Ford did receive several claims and lawsuits regarding this issue. The repair shop told me the cluck could cause a fire too. Another repair shop asked me $2,623.78 to repair the car on 11/11/2022.

NHTSA ODI 11497883

Dec 16, 2022Fuel system

So I have this Ford Focus that my son drives. Check engine light came on with the code of P1450. It is part of the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000. Took it to the dealer and they told me that my vin # [XXX] is not part of the campaign/recall and will have to pay to have it fixed. Don't know why the dealer could get this resolved. Ford's recall number is:18S32. Car has all the symptoms of the recall/campaign. Don't know why Ford will not fix it for me? I would like my car to be added to this campaign/recall. The Transmission was another big issue, but I am thinking it is fixed after 5 tries. Thank you for you help. [XXX] INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ODI 11497742

Dec 16, 2022Transmission & drivetrainFuel system

I believe the power train and some component with the fuel system. Yes it is available for inspection. The car shut off in the middle of traffic. This has happened multiple times. It has not been confirmed by a dealership or service center. The vehicle has been inspected. No warning lamps or messages.

NHTSA ODI 11497729

Dec 15, 2022Fuel system

My Ford focus will stall, there is fuel in the tank and the rpms drop and the vehicle starts to shake.

NHTSA ODI 11497600

Dec 14, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while making a right turn, the vehicle started vibrating and shaking. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the clutch assembly needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 43,000.

NHTSA ODI 11497395

Dec 14, 2022Fuel system

Engine light came on I scanned my car code p1450 unable to bleed up fuel tank vacuume. Same issue I had with another vehicle of this type

NHTSA ODI 11497405

Dec 14, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The vehicle began to slip gears after only accruing a little more than 70,000 miles. I will slightly accelerate using the foot pedal, and the gear will jump from 1 to 4/5 quickly, causing a severe jerking motion in the vehicle. The vehicle also jerks when decelerating. This has put me in several dangerous situations, such as when I enter a new roadway and need to accelerate to meet the rate of oncoming traffic. This is also an issue when slowing to stops, as sometimes the gear will jump to a HIGHER number as i take my foot off the pedal. I have an automatic transmission I am using. The check engine light has come on, but only after the issue began. I have been told by an auto service center that this is a transmission-related issue.

NHTSA ODI 11497444

Dec 13, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to start. The contact stated that upon turning the key in the ignition switch, she then needed to hold the key into position for a longer period in order to start the vehicle. The check engine warning light was illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle would hesitate to respond while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact also stated that upon attempting to reverse, the vehicle failed to respond. The message "Transmission Overheating" was displayed. The contact then parked the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed and the failure was associated with Ford Technical Service Bulletin Number: 20B23 (Replacement of Clutch Actuator Motors). The dealer was not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.

NHTSA ODI 11497273

Dec 13, 2022Engine

Driving on the highway the engine stopped with no indications of an issue from the control panel warnings. The car would not restart, even after cooling down. The car was looked at by multiple mechanics before towing to a Ford dealership. Their diagnostics indicated that the cylinder block assembly and the starter motor would need to be replaced. There was no mention of what the cause was. The oil had been replaced a month prior.

NHTSA ODI 11497264

Dec 12, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the clutch shuddered. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the clutch and transmission seals needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 15,000. The contact stated that the transmission is known to be faulty and Ford has extended warranties on them but for other model years of the same model. The shuddering problem happens in first gear and is particularly dangerous when trying to operate the vehicle among traffic. The TCM module was replaced to try to remedy to the issue but it has not worked.

NHTSA ODI 11497019

Dec 8, 2022Electrical systemEngineFuel system

I got my 2016 Ford Focus in the summer of 2019 and from the start i had issues. The first issue was my car overheating the coolant tank kept getting a hole burned in it and the coolant would leak leaving my car to overheat I've had the tank replaced twice. The second issue was my car just kept turning off still don't know what that was about. Third issue was the vehicle not telling me the correct amount of gas i had it would say i would have a good amount of gas, but it really had little to no gas. The last issue was the Transmisson the car was stalling and gave me kick back that's the only way i can describe it I took it to my mechanic because there was no recall when i looked up my VIN, I paid almost $4000 for the transmission to be fixed to just bring it back to the mechanic because the transmission started giving me problems again. My mechanic told me that Hes having problems figuring out the programming. Today 12/08/2022 I read an article talking about how thousands of Ford Focus owners are having the same issue. I was never contacted by Ford. I called my local ford dealership, and they told me the part that my vehicle needs are on back order and they can't even look at my car until February.

NHTSA ODI 11496565

Dec 8, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

Vehicle shudders and shakes due to transmission slipping at many speeds. Slow is the worst and even at a speed of 70 MPH the vehicle will shake and shudder from transmission.

NHTSA ODI 11496646

Dec 5, 2022Fuel system

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that upon refueling the vehicle, the vehicle intermittently failed to start. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle and driving, the vehicle stalled while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle with a defective purge valve. Upon investigation, the contact discovered NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) which he linked to the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed him that his vehicle was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.

NHTSA ODI 11496049

Dec 5, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

I purchased a 2016 Ford Focus in September of this year from a used car dealer. I drove the car back and forth to work approximately 10 miles each way, per day. I took a day off before Thanksgiving and drove my vehicle longer than usual. Holiday traffic was bad and there was a lot of stop and go traffic, my car sputtered and shook and stalled on a busy street. Luckily, I was close to my house and was able to pull over. Again, a few days ago I drove for about an hour and the car again sputtered when moving from a complete stop. I went online and googled "Ford Focus transmission issues" and saw that there has been a lawsuit and settlement. I called Ford and was told that it was not under recall and that I would have to take the car I just purchased, to be fixed and I would have to pay for it. Please recall these transmissions before someone gets killed.

NHTSA ODI 11496039

Dec 5, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 45 MPH, the vehicle would not properly accelerate, with the check engine warning light illuminated. After several attempts to restart the vehicle, the contact was able to start the vehicle and drove home. The vehicle was towed to a dealer and the contact was informed that the TCM needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was 143,245.

NHTSA ODI 11496091

Nov 27, 2022Fuel system

car keeps stalling plus having fuel pump problems. Car shuts off and has trouble starting.

NHTSA ODI 11495073

Nov 25, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle was shuddering. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that a clutch replacement was needed. The vehicle was repaired but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to the local dealer who replaced the clutch but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who informed her a clutch replacement was needed and the repairs were not covered. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who informed her that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to another independent mechanic who informed her that the failure was due to the clutch. The contact called the manufacturer who informed her that the repairs were not covered and referred her to the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 23,000.

NHTSA ODI 11494879

Nov 15, 2022Fuel system

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate with the check engine warning light illuminated. Additionally, the fuel gauge failed to indicate the correct amount of fuel. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, who diagnosed that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000. The contact stated that the canister purge valve was replaced. Doing so caused the engine light to finally turn off and the fuel gauge to work correctly.

NHTSA ODI 11493612

Nov 15, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to accelerate, the vehicle made chugging sounds and was jerking. Additionally, while accelerating, the vehicle took an excessive amount of time before reaching the desired speed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The failure had increased in frequency. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the clutch pad needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V845000 (Power Train) nor 18V169000 (Power Train). The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline. The approximate failure mileage was 18,600.

NHTSA ODI 11493668

Nov 12, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

Driving up a hill car started rolling backwards. Warning light came on saying transmission fault service now. Still sitting in my driveway because I can not find a transmission to replace it.

NHTSA ODI 11493274

Nov 10, 2022Fuel system

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle experienced occasional hesitation while driving. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the fuel tank was deformed causing a failure in the fuel delivery pressure. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was offered. The failure mileage was 76,000.

NHTSA ODI 11493006

Nov 8, 2022Fuel systemTransmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an unknown speed and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle began to shake. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact continued driving to her place of employment. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the clutch to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Numbers: 18V845000 (Power Train) and 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 111,000

NHTSA ODI 11492767

Nov 7, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

Reverse gear doesn’t engage sometimes and drive gears sometimes goes out while at traffic lights and causes the car to go at low speeds only. It feels like I’m unable to accelerate sometimes. I don’t recall when exactly but the check engine warning sign appears and disappears on my car

NHTSA ODI 11492599

Nov 7, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle independently shifted to another gear or would go into neutral. The vehicle also revved abnormally without the vehicle responded or accelerating as intended. The contact stated that the check engine and a transmission overheating warnings were illuminated. The contact had taken the vehicle to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the clutches needed to be replaced and that the failure was caused by wear and tear. The vehicle had not been repaired. The contact researched online and related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 22V413000 (Power Train). The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 100,000.

NHTSA ODI 11492635

Nov 3, 2022Transmission & drivetrain

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while at a complete stop, the vehicle would shake without warning. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer where the seal and clutch assembly were replaced as well as the TCM (Transmission Control Module). Recently, the same failure recurred, and the contact was given the same diagnosis from the dealer. Upon investigation, the contact linked the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Steering). The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed her that there were no recalls or warranty on the vehicle. The manufacturer agreed to cover half the cost of the repair. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The failure mileage was 24,991. The contact stated that from a complete stop and upon acceleration, the vehicle would begin to shake. The force of the shaking varied but would increase over time. The shaking negatively affected the drivability of the vehicle. The contact was informed by the dealer that the issue would only get worse if no repairs were made. Half of the costs of repair was covered by the manufacturer due to the exact same problem happening within a year.

NHTSA ODI 11492091

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How to use these: a complaint is one owner’s report, filed voluntarily and published unverified. Patterns matter more than any single story. If several owners describe the same failure at similar mileage, put that system at the top of your pre-purchase inspection list. Back to the full 2016 Ford Focus Bev verdict →