2011 Ford Fiesta: jerking or lurching

Filed Jul 21, 2025 · Transmission · 123,000 miles · CA

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle jerked, and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The vehicle stalled while driving. The contact waited for a short while and was able to restart the vehicle. The contact was able to move over to the side of the road. No warning lights were illuminated. The contact stated that on a separate occasion, while attempting to reverse out of a parking space, the vehicle failed to function while in reverse(R). The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission PTU had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that recently while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. The contact was able to pull into a parking lot. An unknown warning light was illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle and waited for a while and was able to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that while attempting to enter the driveway, the vehicle failed to respond while in reverse(R) and failed to move while in drive(D). The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle warranty had expired in March 2025. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 123,000.

Filed Jul 8, 2025 · Transmission · 196,489 miles · NM

The contact owns a 2011 Ford Fiesta. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated or jerked while depressing the accelerator pedal with the check engine warning light illuminated on the instrument panel. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where the contact was informed that the shift motor was defective. The contact was informed that the part was covered under warranty and the vehicle was repaired. The contact stated that after the repair, the check engine warning light returned while leaving the dealer parking lot. The contact continued driving the vehicle and the vehicle entered LIMP Mode while driving to the residence. The vehicle was returned to the dealer the next day and the contact was informed that the transmission control module was defective and needed to be replaced. The dealer informed the contact that the repair was not covered under warranty and the contact was provided an estimate for the repair; the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance and the contact was referred to the federal safety agency Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 196,489.

Filed Mar 3, 2024 · Transmission · TX

This car literally almost got me killed when it suddenly began jerking like I was hitting the brakes while driving or like suddenly downshifting into first if it was a standard which it isn’t. All the dash lights flickered and the gages went up and down right before this happened. It jerks, stalls, lurches and I have literally just parked it and don’t drive it because my children were inside the car when it began doing this on the highway and stalled causing us to almost be hit by a semi when this happened. I had it towed home out of fear of attempting to drive it. You can’t even drive it a few blocks before it begins lurching and jerking. It feels like something to do with the transmission and the traction control light is now on as well.

Filed Dec 15, 2023 · Transmission · MI

The car lurches, and hops during acceleration. I came to a stop one morning, and it would NOT move at first. I just bought this car a week ago. I had a test done and the solenoids in the transmission are stuck on.

Filed Jun 15, 2023 · Transmission · FL

I purchased the car at a buy here, pay here. I drove off the lot with a picture of an engine on my dashboard. I drove my vehicle for 6 months with it feeling like it was jerking. I had trouble excelling. It was stall at stop signs and red lights. I broke down at a red light. When I turned the car on, it would not move from park. It was Stuck and so was I on the highway at a light. It took 15 hours for triple A to arrive. I tried to move the car off the road the best I could but it would not shift into Neutral. I had the car sent back to the lot where I make my payments to. They sent my car to a transmission shop. They said the transmission was a double shifting transmission and the control module has 4. There are 77,000 on back order for this part. I assumed that the dealership would put me in a new vehicle but they are refusing to. With the part being on back order, this recall can not be fixed for a long time. Don’t they need to put me in a vehicle until the one I pay for is fixed? They told me I need to put another down payment on a new car. I thought that recalls of any sort must be fixed and if they don’t get it fixed, they have to put me in a different vehicle.

Filed Mar 30, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · 13,600 miles · OH

The engine light has been on and then goes off. The vehicle slows down in traffic on the street or highway and jerks when taking off. It drags upon take off and you can hear a rattling sound under carriage

Filed Dec 13, 2019 · Electrical, Lights · 91,000 miles · WI

Car shudders excessively on acceleration. Will also lurch forward during acceleration. Grinding noises when car is on low speed (1-20 MPH). Rear taillights stopped working without warning.

Filed Sep 14, 2019 · Transmission · 110,000 miles · NJ

Erratic shifting upon acceleration and deceleration, clutch shuddering on light acceleration, lack of power, and car jostling forward when braking at low speeds followed by almost stalling. This jostling requires me to press the brake hard to prevent a sudden forward-jerking motion. The jostling/jerking often happens when decelerating at intersections, making it dangerous for cars and people in front of me if I do not press the brake hard before coming to a complete stop. Since early july, the car exhibits the same symptoms all the time when driving, making it generally unsafe for regular use. See uploaded vehicle service assessment from ford - they determined that there is a clutch and clutch fork b failure but no codes related to this concern were present during their diagnosis. The care was released and deemed "drivable" by the dealership.

Filed Sep 11, 2019 · Transmission · 120,000 miles · UT

I own a 2011 fiesta with 130000 miles on it. As everyone is aware, they have transmission issues. I have had the TCM reprogrammed 5 or 6 time since purchasing the vehicle and replaced a clutch. They extended the warranty to 100000 miles but my clutch was cleaned in 2016 at approx 95000 miles before it was the standard for them to replace the bad clutches. Last september, at 120000 miles, iwas driving down a main road when my clutch quit working working while I was driving and stranded me in the middle of a main 7 lane road, wouldnt even go into neutral. I'm lucky there wasnt an accident with how suddenly it happened, after fighting with ford for two months I had the clutch replaced in november and had to pay 1300 for what to me seems a major safety concern. Now less than a year later my other clutch is going out and again I'm outside of the 100000 mile warranty. I know 3 people personally who are also having g the same issue after having there clutch cleaned and then passing the 100000 mark. Ford has produced a car that failed in the middle of the road, will just quit working and will lurch forward and you are braking or when you are just starting to put gas on the pedal. I have personally experienced all of these issues and more(like my automatic vehicle revving and then starting to roll backwards down a hill while I'm pushing on the gas). I would like very much for ford to be help responsible for this and have to extend their warranty past the 100000 miles. This is a known issue that they have tried to hide, then avoid and it is definitely a safety issue. I'm hoping someone can help with this.

Filed Sep 1, 2019 · Transmission · 61,000 miles · CA

The transmission shudders increasingly and had a loud grinding noise and was stalling so bad at take off. The engine would rev up but accelerating slow, then it will jerk into gear.

Filed Aug 15, 2019 · 25,108 miles · WA

When accelerating, the transmission has stalled and lurched since purchasing the vehicle. I have taken my car to multiple dealerships numerous times (sometimes repairs were made but the problem was not fixed, and many times I was told the stalling, rattling, and lurching was normal). I do not feel the vehicle is safe to drive.

Filed Aug 11, 2019 · Transmission · 122,000 miles · WV

I firmly believe my vehicle was meant to be included in the dual clutch transmission recall but my VIN number was never included in recall searches. However, I had been having slight issues with it for a while, like it seeming to slip gears or even 'catch' at times. I had taken it to the dealership where I bought it and told them what I thought it could be. I'm a smaller female, and the man I said it to laughed and told me that was his job and not mine and that I didn't need to worry about it. Finally in may of last year, I was driving on the interstate (in a straight stretch about to get off an exit) and out of nowhere my car basically started stalling out, and jerking and kicking back. Getting it back home was a nightmare, due to it having such trouble going uphill or even taking off from a stop. After that happened, I called the dealership where I had purchased it and told them what happened. They again said my car was not part of that recall. I called the corporate office, I've done everything I can think of. That car has sat in one spot for over a year, I still make my monthly payments. I even got one of those code readers and ran it on my car, and sure enough it said what I've been saying all along. I had to quit a good paying job and start working at a nearby gas station because I have no way to get to a job further away, let alone enough to pay for a tow or repairs.