2014 FORD FOCUS Complaints

On June 10th 2025 the engine light came on in my 2014 Ford Focus and I lost transmission function. The car was slipping out of gear, completely losing power and speed between first & second gear and third & fourth gear. I pulled into traffic before realizing the issue and almost got hit by two oncoming vehicles - one locked up their brakes to avoid hitting me, the other swerved into another lane which thankfully was empty. Slowing down was difficult, it was very hard to stop and I lost reverse gear. The overall driving experience was very rough and jerky. Driving 3 miles home I almost got rear ended two times due to loss of power between first & second gear. Driving 6 miles to the Ford dealership I almost got rear ended 1 time & 1 time I could not completely stop until I was halfway into a busy intersection. I had no ability to backup and traffic was completely blocked in one direction until I was able to safely cross the other 3 lanes of the intersection on a red light!! Prior to this incident & since I bought the car with 12,000 miles in 2020, it ALWAYS had rough transitions between gears & sputtering/brief loss of power when accelerating from stopped. I formerly had a 2013 Ford Focus which had these same issues so I figured that’s just how these cars drive with the Powershift dual clutch transmission. I had no idea that I should have been extremely concerned about the hard shifts & sputtering. I never received a single Customer Satisfaction Program letter from Ford about the clutch, leaking seals, or TCM warranty extensions and issues. If I had I would have brought my car in for service a long time ago. I am disappointed & dismayed that a recall has not been forced by the NHTSA. Ford has gotten away with putting unsafe vehicles on the road with little to no accountability. I, and dozens of others, could have been killed or severely injured while I was on the road in this unsafe car.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. While the contact’s daughter was driving approximately 30 MPH, the lost motive power and started to decelerate unintendedly. The driver coasted to the side of the road; however, while attempting to turn around to return home, the vehicle failed to reverse as intended. The driver drove the longer route back to the residence because the vehicle failed to shift into reverse. The check engine warning light was illuminated but was off the following morning. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.

Jerking or shuddering when shifting gears Delayed or harsh gear changes The check engine light is on Trouble accelerating or decelerating The car stalls or has trouble starting

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle hesitated and lost motive power. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to accelerate or exceed 30 MPH. The message "Transmission Overheating" was displayed. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic. The vehicle was not repaired. After investigating the failure, the contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train); the VIN was included but was already repaired under the recall. 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 75,000.

The clutch keeps giving out. It’s been fixed 2 times and I have the same issue. It takes a bit in order for the car to generate power to go forward & it shutters when it moves froward when pushing on the gas. It can sometimes move forward a bit when placed in reverse and same thing when I shift to move forward from a parking mode it will go backwards a bit forward a few seconds then moves forward. It also shutters a lot more after I been driving longer distances. It’s a scary feeling when it shutters really bad, makes it feel like the car is going to power off.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 30 MPH, the vehicle started to stall with the message "Transmission Hot - Wait 5 Minutes" displayed on the instrument panel. The contact pulled over and allowed the vehicle to cool down; however, the vehicle failed to resume normal operation. The contact stated that despite the message being repeatedly displayed on the instrument panel, the contact's daughter was able to coast the vehicle back to the residence. The following day the vehicle was towed to a dealer where the clutch assembly was replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and a case was filed. The manufacturer also referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 124,624.

Car shakes and shutters while shifting between gears, no other warning system came on to let me know about the transmission issues prior to this day.

The contact owns a 2014 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 60 MPH, the vehicle started sputtering and then stalled. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and restarted the vehicle; however, the failure reoccurred a short while later. The contact stated that gasoline was added to the fuel tank allowing the vehicle to be driven to the residence. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the canister purge valve, fuel tank ,and fuel pump module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 80,074.

I am submitting this complaint because Ford Motor Company is refusing to honor its Customer Satisfaction Program 14M02, which extends warranty coverage on the Transmission Control Module (TCM) for certain 2012–2016 Ford Focus vehicles. The 14M02 program extends TCM coverage to 10 years or 150,000 miles from the original warranty start date, and according to updates from Ford, offers a on updates from Ford, offers a one-time repair for TCM failure through June 30, 2025, regardless of mileage or vehicle age. My vehicle experienced issues delayed shifting, transmission failure, or loss of which I have been told is caused by the faulty TCM covered under this program. However, both Ford and the dealership have refused the repair, claiming the program does not apply—despite my vehicle falling within the described criteria. I have found the official 14M02 program bulletin online (e.g., via TSBSearch.com) and spoken to other owners who have successfully received the repair. I believe Ford is failing to uphold its Please investigate Ford’s refusal to honor the TCM extended warranty under Program 14M02 and help ensure affected owners receive the repairs they were promised, especially prior to the June 30, 2025 deadline public warranty commitments, potentially putting drivers at risk due to sudden transmission failure. The company’s inconsistent handling of these repairs raises serious concerns about fairness, accountability, and public safety. Ford has failed to properly diagnose the issue and misled me regarding the coverage of the TCM under the 14M02 warranty. Despite having paid for diagnostics and extensive repairs, my vehicle continues to have the same problems, which should be covered by the 14M02 warranty, and Ford refuses to address the underlying TCM issue. This not only causes significant financial hardship but also leaves me with an unsafe and unreliable vehicle.

On [XXX], we reported the vehicle to a local dealership that it was running rough, with hesitation at acceleration, then a sudden surge of speed; stalls at low speeds/while idling at stop lights; and unexpected increases in RPMs when driving a constant speed. This left my son feeling very unsafe and at risk for accidents. We took the vehicle to the dealership for inspection, suggesting it may be the Transmission Control Module causing issue (for which we've received two notifications about the warranty recall). The dealership said that there was no issue with the TCM and refused to perform the repair. (The dealership said that any repair could not be covered because there was no error code related to the TCM, even though the symptoms were as described in the warranty recall letter.) The dealership instead replaced the canister purge valve. On [XXX], approximately 2.5 weeks later, my [XXX] son was driving this vehicle when he got a transmission warning light indicating an urgent repair. He barely got the car home (at midnight) and was unable to put it in reverse to park. We took the car to the dealership for further inspection. The dealership said that the entire clutch assembly needed to be replaced, for $4100. Based on our research on past class action suits and recalls, it seems like the deterioration of the clutch assembly may be directly related to the TCM issues. However, the dealership has said that... > There's no error code related to the TCM so they can't say whether it is related > Without an error code, the TCM itself can't be replaced, nor can they associate the needed repairs to the TCM > Clutch repair was covered but only to 10 years (this vehicle is low mileage, but 11 years old). Consequently, we are expected to bear the burden of the entire $4100 cost ourselves for a known issue that resulted in thousands of recalls and repairs. Furthermore, this issue should've been caught much earlier given the information we've provided. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION