2012 Ford Fiesta: transmission slipping

Filed Jul 16, 2025 · MA

While driving along the transmission slipped into neutral and would not move forward.Could have been hit from behind.

Filed Jul 13, 2025 · Transmission · CT

Transmission unexpectedly malfunctions. Car lost the ability to shift into reverse and even numbered gears. rough shifting when it can shift. slipping when attempting to drive. Unable to accelerate from a stop sign. Based on simple web searches, the Ford fiesta and Focus with the DPS6 transmission are notorious for defective transmissions.

Filed Feb 20, 2023 · NC

Incident= on February 15, 2023 While vehicle is in drive, upon stopping going up a slight hill, the vehicle started rolling backwards.I did not do anything except slow down/stop. It failed to engage in any gear after it started sliding back, including reverse to try to get me out of traffic ( the gear shifter was just sliding without resistance) except park for almost 15 minutes. My mother and my dog were in the car with me at this time. We were also in the left lane of traffic/ during moderate traffic. The car is an automatic. The vehicle finally engaged in low gear and I was able to drive 10mph to get home. Mechanic, the next morning, stated that my transmission is slipping/not engaging properly. He also advised against driving. And, gave me a really long list of diagnostic codes pertaining to my transmission. My check engine light is also on, now. My check engine light has been going on and off for a few weeks because my catalytic converter is starting to go out, but was off until this incident. I do have the list of diagnostic codes from the mechanic. My vehicle is not driveable because I can't guarantee that it will get me from point A to point B without slipping out of gear again and putting my life and other drivers on the road in harm's way.

Filed Jul 31, 2022 · IN

The transmission is slipping and jerking. I can't change gears without a issue and the car stops. The engine revs even when I am not going fast.the transmission says it is overheating and I got my fan fixed months ago and had done it before but seemed to repair itself so I thought.

Filed Feb 25, 2022 · Transmission · FL

I am writing this email in prayers that I can receive some resolution to the ongoing issues with my 2012 Ford Fiesta. In 2019 I purchased this vehicle through a third party ford dealer in Massachusetts. I have been experiencing issues with the car shutting off since the beginning of purchase such as, slow acceleration and gear slippage. The dealership had my car examined by their service center and replaced spark plugs. Somehow the car passed inspection and was given back to me a couple of weeks later but the issue continued. Unfortunately I was past the 30 day warranty so the dealer would not honor lemon law and any further inspections/ repairs would be my responsibility. The car has had acceleration issues since then despite tuneups, oil changes, battery replacements. I have tried it all. No codes were popping up related to transmission. After relocating to Fort Myers May 2021 I began experiencing more frequent but brief issues with acceleration and stalling. The car was inspected at Ford for a door latch recall. My issues with transmission were reported for Ford but I was advised that I would need another appointment as this is a separate issue and would require a $200 diagnosis fee as well as possible repairs and labor fees. Due to limited income I was discouraged to book this appointment. At that time they were booked out 6 weeks for diagnostic. I researched the codes popping up and discovered a major lawsuit for these very same codes. Upon reaching out to Ford I was told the extended customer satisfaction had expired by 2 months, December 2021. I have tried multiple times to have them rectify the fact that their staff and corporate representatives never made me aware of their fee and repair waivers or settlements I was entitled to. I initially made my complaints to them about the car in September 2021 and was completely dismissed and deceived by their warranty. I was pretty much discouraged with enough time for their extended warranty to expire.

Filed Apr 6, 2021 · Acceleration, Engine · HI

Om sunday march 28,2021 my husband and I attended a auto auction. When the dealer brought out a 2012 ford fiesta. Before bidding started everything looked and sounded alright. We ended up paying $3200.00 for a vehicle that they failed to provide faulty problems. Car has a lien on it. After driving off the lot I came to a red light when it turned green the car started sputtering loosing fuel as well as acceleration. I than pulled into the a parking at the gas station to see what was going on. And to my knowledge it was the transmission making noise as well as slipping, spark plugs, oil change. I then drove back to the car but everyone was gone for the day. I tried calling the office the next day and left messages. No response what so ever. The girls are really unorganized and should treat others the same you would treat them. I am writing this letter to inform everyone I was sold a vehicle that shouldn't have been on the road. I was also told today 4/5/21 that on march 5th a lien was filled out and turned in. I'm requesting the amount I paid for this lemon law vehicle along with compensation for giving false information.

Filed Oct 15, 2020 · Transmission · 85,297 miles · AZ

Car losing acceleration, going into neutral, slipping out of gear, 'while passing a car, vehicle's engine revved up too high and car was not responding while passing a car, almost had a head-on collision

Filed Aug 26, 2020 · Engine · 103,876 miles · AR

My transmission continues to slip repeatedly after I took it to ford where they told me nothing was wrong and that I didn't know what I was talking about . They were rude and inconsiderate. It has slipped in all forms of movement . When I've been braking ,driving urban or highway. I took it back to a different dealer ship and they told me my transmission was bad.

Filed Feb 9, 2020 · Transmission · 87,000 miles · MD

I have an automatic 2012 ford fiesta, a model that is infamous for its transmission issues. I had the clutch and seal kits replaced at approx 72k miles on 10/5/2017 under technical service bulletin 14m01; immediately after this repair, the vehicle had to go back into the shop for a high idle and continued shuddering. Since then, I have continued to have problems with the vehicle studdering on takeoff, hesitating and then jumping when accelerating, and ultimately with the transmission slipping from drive to neutral. In mid-july 2019, while leaving my suburban neighborhood and making a left turn onto the main road at approximately 20mph, my vehicle slipped from drive into neutral and I lost all power and was unable to brake effectively or speed the vehicle up effectively. Thankfully this happened early in the morning with no cross traffic and I was able to pull into a parking lot safely. The same incident happened again 7 months later in late-january 2020. I took the vehicle back to the ford for an inspection on 2/7/2020 (which they charged me for). They stated that there was transmission fluid between the bell housing and the clutch assembly, seals, and shift forks needed to be replaced again, approximately 7k miles after the first replacement, but that I was out of warranty and the replacement would be about $2,500 out of pocket. They reprogrammed the transmission control module under 14m02 but stated that it probably would not fix the problem. Ford knows that these transmissions are an issue. There is no reason why a transmission should fail 16k miles after being replaced. I would like ford to either buy my vehicle back or perform another clutch replacement at their expense.

Filed Dec 23, 2019 · Transmission · 54,000 miles · CA

Transmission failed when driving on city streets. The car started to make a grinding/rattling noise then started slipping out of gear.

Filed Dec 5, 2019 · Fuel system, Transmission · 135,800 miles · FL

I have experienced repeated and frequent problems with my vehicle: shuts off for no reason daily, often at a traffic light or just after I begin accelerating; the transmission is faulty (has already been replaced once at 97,000 miles at great expense) and simply stops working at unexpected times (e.g. While driving down the road it slips into neutral and won't move, shudders, etc. I have to turn my fiesta off and restart to get it to move).. This is a very dangerous vehicle and I cannot afford to replace it. I read that ford has been aware of these issues from date of manufacture, and has not publicly acknowledged. It is my understanding that engineers of the fiesta are now going public. When is something going to be done? Why do I have to wait until I have been seriously injured, or worse, to get redress for what ford motor company was aware of, and covered up, even while these vehicles were being manufactured? This is a continuing issue, not a single or even a 20 time occurance.

Filed Jul 25, 2019 · Transmission · 69,000 miles · KS

Transmission slipping had to pay $4000 dollars to replace picked up 7/16/2019 ford dealer told me was not covered under extended warranty. Car was making noise as rpms was increasing.