What 1,143 owners told NHTSA about the 2016 Ford Focus RS

The contact's daughter owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle would jerk upon the depression of the accelerator pedal. The contact stated that the vehicle made hard downshifts upon the depression of the brake pedal. As the failure worsened, the contact was notified by his daughter of the failure. Upon restart of the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated the instrument panel. The contact informed his daughter to take the vehicle to an independent mechanic for the vehicle to be diagnosed. The scanner retrieved a transmission failure. The following day, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer and was informed that the double-clutch transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred him to NHTSA. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was 29,146.

NHTSA ODI 11430781

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving, the vehicle hesitated and failed to shift gears properly. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the RPM revved up to approximately 2,000 to 3,000 RPM and then back down to 2,000 RPM. The contact spoke with the dealer and was informed that the failure might be caused by the clutch actuator motor. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact was made aware of a Customer Satisfaction program however, the vehicle was not included. The contact was referred to the NHTSA for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 64,000.

NHTSA ODI 11429730

The transmission slips and jerks at 4000 rpm's from acceleration and transmission does not go into reverse sometimes and over heats after 2 minutes of driving. It's available to be looked at. The car would not accelerate in the middle of driving on the highway. Just revs over 5000 rpm's. I took it to a transmission shop and they said it was the clutch which was going to be $3,000 to fix. My husband and my children have to experience the whiplash it gives you from the hard shifting. Also have to push it backward in neutral just to go anywhere because it has no reverse most of the time. There is a warning message on the dash that says transmission overheating wait 5 minutes and the check engine light is always on. They first appeared at 87,000 miles and it is horrible on gas I need to pay 20 dollars every 2 days just to go to work and back which I'm only work 15 minutes away. I have called my dealer no call back. I have called ford no call back. I even called the warranty place cause they sent me a notice and they said to call my dealer but they never called back

NHTSA ODI 11429083

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle would fail to reverse with the gear shifter placed in the reverse position. The contact also stated that the vehicle would jerk and stall upon acceleration with several warning lights and messages on the instrument panel. The contact had taken the vehicle to an independent mechanic who informed her that transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer and the manufacturer were both notified of the failure and informed her that the Vin was not included in NHTSA campaign number: 18V845000 (Power Train). Both the dealer and the manufacturer referred her to the NHTSA for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 60,000.

NHTSA ODI 11428491

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 65 mph, the contact noticed that the transmission was not operating smoothly causing the vehicle to lunge forward while shifting gears. The service transmission now warning light was illuminated. The clutch eventually failed. The contact took the vehicle to a dealer who diagnosed that the clutch and shift release forks needed to be replaced. The vehicle was in the process of being repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 70,000.

NHTSA ODI 11428568

This a update from my first complaint on 03/18/2021 with Tracking # 11403675.Since than the The shutter in the Transmission is still there and the rpm will hit at 4000 before it shift in first gear.so i bring to the dealer on 05/04/21 for this problem. they told me there was no problem with my car because they could duplicate the problem with the transmission. so i leave the dealer unhappy drive home stop at a red light it turns green I step on the gas and it stated to shutter again. PLEASE HELP. Thank you

NHTSA ODI 11428192

I have never had a problem with this car. It was running fine and just shut off completely driving on the freeway. It was jump started to restart. No check engine lights and temperature was good. I had the battery and alternator tested and they were good. It happened several times trying to get home. It would start right up after sitting for about 10 min. The left hazards are the only ones that work when this happens, nothing on the right side.

NHTSA ODI 11428005

The contact's daughter owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 10 mph, she heard an abnormal sound and the vehicle seemed as if it was not in gear. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the transmission had failed, and the clutch actuator motor needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and advised the contact to take the vehicle to the dealer for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was taken to the dealer however, the dealer informed the contact they could not diagnose the vehicle because the vehicle was not covered under the customer satisfaction program. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage 70,000.

NHTSA ODI 11427184

The upper management of Ford at the time should be ashamed of themselves for seriously damaging the reliability reputation of the Ford Focus between the model years of particularly 2012 to 2016 by introducing into the setup a dry dual clutch transmission that they did not already have a quality backup plan to just in case the complaints started piling up about the supposed manual feel of the transmission. The drive-ability of the 2016 Ford Focus SE HB I make payments on is at best a D level experience. I, too, am plagued by the regular occurrence of the shuddering between the 1st and 2nd gear along with the spiking RPMs that follow immediately after when the shuddering transpires. It seems almost as if the 2nd gear is coming in on the 1st a little too soon, which would factor in an obvious failed effort on transmission calibration. In general, the shifting performance is unnerving and quite embarrassing when you have passengers. If you are like me and have one of these vehicles with this transmission type, good luck on getting a true fix in this Power-Shift setup. It is possible to improve the driving conditions with third party tuning if your strategy will pair with the tuning device (another issue of discussion for Ford); otherwise, one needs a complete, conventional transmission installed in hopes of getting rid of this issue in its entirety if an automatic transmission is your preferred preference. In summary, the Ford Focus SE I have is the 2.0. liter, and it appears that Ford has discreetly excluded this liter from the recall, warranty work in general. In other words, you will likely have an incredible hard time getting a Ford dealership to acknowledge the problem or replace your clutches unless you pay for it. To fully remedy this situation, Ford should be required to buyback all of these poorly calibrated transmission cars from current owners and those still for sale on the American market.

NHTSA ODI 11426732

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at approximately 50 mph, the accelerator pedal was difficult to depress. In addition, the contact noticed that there was an error message warning stating that the transmission was hot. The contact mentioned that the vehicle was pushed to be moved however, the steering wheel and brake pedal had ceased operating. The dealer was not contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 110,000.

NHTSA ODI 11426161

I'm the very last owner of this car/vin. It is black ford focus 2016 SE. I had purchased this vehicle on November 23rd, 2020. I didn't have the car for a whole year. just recently the car(SAT July 3rd,2021)transmission light came on after I got an oil change. next day the car started to jerk as you accelerate, That same day the transmission started to over heat. Now mind you the dashboard informed me about it, but also says to pull over for exactly 5 mins for to cool down. I had to travel across town to get home, mind you it takes 15 to 20 mins, it literally took me 45 to get home. Since Day one I've kept up with my car. Even my mechanic (who also work at Koons Ford) told me this would be on going problem and get rid of it. I tried to search for other options as well. I only work from this car and go home.

NHTSA ODI 11425793

Defective transmission

NHTSA ODI 11425328

a dealer repaired my transmission under warranty. several months ago, first was slipping again. i called to schedule an appointment in March of 2021. Due to COVID, they stated and shows clearly on their website to date, they could not get my vehicle in until July. At the July appintment, the Clutch assembly needs to be replaced. the warranty expired one month previous, and it is now 1,500 miles over warranty. i believe they should repair the vehicle. it is not the first time for this issue on these vehicles

NHTSA ODI 11424799

On at least 5 previous instances (3 instances in which the vehicle was taken to and checked by my local Ford Dealership), the vehicles automatic transmission would cease to shift into or out of a gear(s) suddenly during normal driving operations. This would lead to rapid declaration, often times in moderate or greater traffic causing hazardous conditions to both myself and passengers and/or other vehicles and their passengers. The hazard was of possible collision as the vehicle did not perform at the speed of traffic. Additional hazard and safety issue, was during these events, the vehicle would enter a "neutral" gear position and although the accelerator was depressed, their was NO torque to the drive train, this would also either decelerate the vehicle rapidly or in the event of cornering, increase the speed instantly during the cornering turn (because of the lack of downshift torque to the drive train)...on one instance I was unable to control the turn speed quickly enough and the vehicle entered the shoulder of the turn before I was able to regain positive control of the vehicle. Although Ford has a Customer Satisfaction Program (CSP) extending the warranties for the transmission clutch and TCM, it appears that Ford Service Dealers are extremely hesitant to perform the warranty service. To that end, I have taken my vehicle to local Ford dealer with the transmission shudder conditions complaint, and each time they claim their diagnostics were not able to replicate my issue. All these service appts were while vehicle was under the warranty in miles and months. Then, this last week the vehicle had the same instances happen while on the freeway (all previous episodes had been on surface city streets), and it was a very dangerous situation with at least 2 vehicles taking evasive action to avoid rear-ending my vehicle as it decelerated rapidly. I pulled over and vehicle was towed to Ford service, where they say the clutch is worn, as is the TCM.

NHTSA ODI 11424240

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while operating the vehicle the clutch assembly had malfunctioned while driving in first and 2nd gear causing a grinding noise to be present and the vehicle would not properly accelerate from a standing start. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the clutch assembly was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 14,000.

NHTSA ODI 11421238

This car is on it 3rd set of clutches and a Tcm reflash .we have not even had this car for a year yet and now it’s going into the dealer ship again for the same clutch problem. This Thursday. This car is not safe to drive and the dealer ship will not by car back I’m hoping someone can help me with this complaint thanks for your time

NHTSA ODI 11420774

There is two recalls on my ford focus. The clutch and the transmission. Town and country ford have fixed the clutch 4 times and it stills continues to break. The transmission recall they told me they cannot fix but it is affecting my driving as my car stalls and shudders and cannot drive past 45 mph. They refuse to put me into a rental and they tell me there is nothing they can do to fix it. If this problem does not get fixed it will continue to get worse and eventually cause other problems.

NHTSA ODI 11419587

The clutches in the transmission are shot and nearly fused and the car will need a new transmission as there are no other solutions to remedy the problem after 2 days of diagnostics. I purchased this vehicle from a major dealership used and assured it was mechanically cleared by Service department. According to code reader at transmission shop, it has been throwing codes for a while and was cleared by dealership. I have owned this vehicle for 60 days and paid cash for it. transmission mechanic says this problem has been going on for a while. I am currently starting litigation proceedings with the dealership but upon more investigating, this issue is a KNOWN issue with the 2016 Ford Focus so I am not sure WHY the VIN is saying no recalls.

NHTSA ODI 11418596

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped with the gear shifter in drive and brake pedal depressed, the vehicle reversed inadvertently. The vehicle also jerked while driving at various speeds, and stalled. The vehicle failed to start intermittently. The transmission overheat warning light was illuminated. The dealer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was over the warranty coverage period. The dealer stated that all vehicles jerked like that after a while. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 102,747.

NHTSA ODI 11418606

The contact owns a 2016 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 15 mph, the gear shifter would not shift into second gear from first gear. The engine revved however, the vehicle would not accelerate. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where the clutch actuator and the clutch were replaced however, the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall and referred the contact to NHTSA to file a complaint. The failure mileage was 71,000.

NHTSA ODI 11417772

THE CAR IS IN MOTION ON A CITY STREET AND A HIGHWAY AND YOU CAN HEAR A SLIGHT GRINDING SOUND WHEN THE GAS PEDAL IS PRESSED AND THE CAR IS COASTING. THE MECHANIC SAYS THAT IT'S THE CLUTCH BEARING THAT IS FAILING AND THAT IT IS A KNOWN ISSUE WITH FORD FOCUS'S HOWEVER THE CAR'S VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED IN THE RECALL.

NHTSA ODI 11415061

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2016 FORD FOCUS. THE CONTACT STATED WHILE (ON TAKING OFF) DRIVING AT SPEEDS OF 10 MPH OR LESS, THE VEHICLE JERKED LIKE A VEHICLE DOWN SHIFTING INTO 1ST GEAR. THERE WAS NO WARNING LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO SARCHIONE FORD LINCOLN OF ALLIANCE (2480 W STATE ST, ALLIANCE, OH 44601) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH NEEDING CLUTCH AND BEARINGS TO BE REPLACED. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT YET REPAIRED. UPON INVESTIGATION, THE CONTACT ASSOCIATED THE FAILURE WITH NHTSA CAMPAIGN NUMBER: 18V845000 (POWER TRAIN) HOWEVER, THE VIN WAS NOT INCLUDED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS INFORMED OF THE FAILURE BUT OFFERED NO ADDITIONAL ASSISTANCE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 67,000. CONSUMER STATED WHILE TEST DRIVING CONSUMER NOTICED SOMETHING WAS WRONG WITH TRANSMISSION BECAUSE VEHICLE STARTED JUMPING.*JB

NHTSA ODI 11414606

I GOT THE CAR AND NOTICED IT WAS JERKING/TUGGING BETWEEN THE 1ST AND 2ND GEARS AS I'M ACCELERATING EVERY TIME.

NHTSA ODI 11414015

CAR RUNS HOT WHILE IN MOTION ON HIGHWAY OR CITY STREETS, DUE TO GEARS STICKING CAUSING TRANSMISSION TO MALFUNCTION AND I MUST TURN OFF CAR TO DISENGAGE FOR 25 MINUTES.

NHTSA ODI 11413661

I WAS DRIVING NORMALLY ON A MAIN STREET AND THEN THE CAR BEGAN TO VIOLENTLY JERK AND WOULD NOT ACCELERATE AS IF IT COULDN'T SHIFT INTO THE NEXT GEAR I PULLED OVER AND SHUT THE CAR OFF THEN RESTARTED IT WITH NO CHANGE I HAD IT TOWED TO FORD WHERE ITS CURRENTLY GETTING SERVICED WHICH THEY SAID MIGHT NOT BE COVERED UNDER WARRANTY AFTER DOING SOME RESEARCH ONLINE IT SEEMS THAT THIS IS A COMMON OCCURRENCE I ALSO RECENTLY HAD TO HAVE MY PURGE VALVE REPLACE AS WELL THEY SAID THAT WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANT I BELIEVE A RECALL IS NECESSARY IN THIS SITUATION IT WAS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS ESPECIALLY AT HIGH SPEEDS OR THAT TO HAPPEN I HAD THE CAR DIAGNOSED PRIOR TO IT GOING TO FORD AND THE CODE WAS P090C WHICH SAID THE CLUTCH B ACTUATOR CONTROL CIRCUIT LOW AND MY MILAGE IS ABOUT 72,000

NHTSA ODI 11407216