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2013 Ford Focus acceleration complaints

Page 4 of 5: complaints 71 to 100 of 112, newest first, as owners wrote them.

See the summary of 2013 Ford Focus acceleration problems: which part fails, at what mileage and related recalls.

Filed Nov 26, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 55,000 miles · CA

Was in the far left hand lane on I-15 in the mira loma, ca area going about 10-15 MPH in stop and go traffic, as traffic started to clear I pressed the accelerator to increase speed and the car would not go any faster than 20 MPH. I pulled off to the left hand shoulder and had the car towed to the nearest ford dealer. This is the second time this has happened. In addition, the car constantly "shudders" at low speeds to which ford has advised me is a design flaw in the automatic transmission, clutch assembly and that nothing can be done about it.

Filed Oct 27, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 61,000 miles · SC

When I first got the car in september 2013, the car would jerk and shake when pulling off from a stop and was also very loud. I took it to be serviced and they told me that was normal. I took it back a few months later because I didn't believe that was normal. They fixed it. But now it's starting to shake again. In june 2014 the engine light started coming o for a few days. I took it to ford and they claim they fixed the problem. The light came back on in july, they claimed there was nothing wrong with it. The light was back on in september, they claimed yet again, nothing was wrong with it. I took it took a small transmission shop, they read my codes and immediately found a problem, claiming it was a transmission issue. A few days later, the light was back on. Each time the engine light comes on, it would stall and immediately slow down right in the middle of traffic. Each time ford claimed nothing was wrong with the vehicle, the engine light would be on for two days. Each time I took my vehicle to ford, they would keep it 2-5 days... I couldn't get a rental car half of the time because they wouldn't actually do their job until the last day and then tell me that nothing's wrong with my car. We all know, your warranty company needs to know the problem before authorizing a rental vehicle. This last time in october, they claim to have fixed it. They claim that a sensor had to be replaced. I will never buy another ford vehicle. I cannot wait to get rid of this car! My car is still shaky. It makes a kind of loud noise now as well.

Filed Oct 20, 2014 · Acceleration · 31,000 miles · NJ

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 30 MPH, the engine sensor light illuminated and the vehicle suddenly stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the throttle body was faulty and needed to be replaced. After the repairs were completed, the contact attempted to drive away but the vehicle stalled again. The vehicle was towed back to the dealer who was unable to duplicate the failure and no problem was found. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but no resolution was offered. The failure mileage was 31,000.

Filed Oct 6, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 200 miles · FL

Total loss of throttle, stalling in traffic, shuddering and erratic shifting with the ford powershift transmission. Since purchasing car new in 2013, I had problems with the powershift transmission, initial problems was a noise that sounded like the muffler was dragging the road, problems got worse as mileage increased. Returned the car to several dealers for diagnosis, was told that the transmission is operating as designed and no repairs were attempted. Problem got worse and I had experienced total loss of throttle in traffic on several occasions, car stalled and jerked in traffic causing neck to snap back. After repeated attempts to get the problem fixed with two different ford dealers, a customer satisfaction letter came from ford detailing issues with powershift transmission. I had to take my car into the dealer again, for diagnosis and was told they got it the transmission to fail the thresholds after 6 attempts, which warranted replacement of the clutch pack and internal seals, supposedly a faulty design that allowed oil from the gearbox to leak into the clutch pack causing slippage, noise and issues. Ford returned the car 5 days later, issues went away for 3 weeks or so, and have started to reappear in the same fashion as when the car was purchased new and is getting worse each day, with over 1000 miles on the car since service. As of today I have experienced shuddering and total loss of throttle in traffic, a few times were dangerous in pulling out in front of oncoming traffic the car could have caused me to get into an accident, also lunges in slow moving traffic. I am afraid to let my wife drive the car due to the behavior of the transmission and see again I will soon have to return to another dealer (#3) for correction.

Filed Oct 2, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 16,309 miles · GA

Just like 100s of others, car stutters and hesitates. Took to ford dealer in macon, ga. And problem continues and we all wonder why there is no recall. Does no one care about safety and doing what is right????????????????????

Filed Sep 13, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 7,500 miles · PA

I've reported this issue several times. It is going to cause an accident!! When stopped at a stop light, or stop sign, the car wants to keep moving, even though heavy brake pressure is being applied. When I am at a stop light and the light turns green to move forward, the car hesitates to move, causing the vehicles behind me to blow their horn! There is nothing I can do!! This car is going to cause myself or other owners an accident with no doubt in my mind! The hesitation to take off when I'm wanting to get out of the way of oncoming traffic, scares me to death!!! Something needs to be done before an innocent life or lives are lost!!!

Filed Aug 20, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 20,153 miles · IL

The car is experiencing transmission problems. It shudders and bogs down as I am accelerating, and often lurches forward unexpectedly. The car makes a loud grinding noise when shifting through gears. The problems began in low gears, but I am now experiencing problems at all speeds, including lurching forward. I have taken the car back to the dealership twice, only for them to tell me this is a normal occurrence. I am afraid the transmission issues will cause an accident. I am also concerned that the grinding of the gears will cause damage to other components of my vehicle.

Filed Aug 11, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 19,500 miles · TX

I bought my 2013 focus se pre owned with 19500 miles in march of 2014. Within a month the car was shaking horribly at stop and at speeds between 0-30mph, while grinding-like noise came from the transmission. I am in fear of my wife and my safety, I almost got rear ended by a big 1 ton diesel truck because my car would not accelerate from stop. I took it the dealer and the car was "repaired" by the ford dealership where I bought it from. After taking it home 2 weeks later I brought the car back because the same problems were occurring. Ford service assured me there was absolutely nothing wrong with my car. Me being a chemical plant worker working overnights made it difficult to bring the car in for a third time during their business hours. First chance I got I brought the car back to the dealership a month later to get it fixed again. I talked to the dealer manager and he guaranteed me he would help me with this issue, he took me to the ford service manager just for him to tell me "its normal" for that car to do that. They said all they could do is some computer reset to the car and gave it back to me. The service manager told me the car will start shaking again eventually and there's nothing they can do to fix that problem because that's the way the transmission was designed. I am in the process of filing a lemon law complaint against ford. Will never buy another ford vehicle again.

Filed Jul 29, 2014 · Acceleration, Suspension · 9,000 miles · FL

Since I bought the car is been having a lot of issues with changing gears,I called and ford said it was normal.but I had an incident it was very scary every time you are in traffic and the car comes to a complete stop, if you try to accelerate the car it goes hard and fast I almost crashed the person right in front of me.the other incident I was in a parking lot and had the car on reverse and the car actually went forward it was very scary I went only and see many customers complaining about similar issues I just don't understand why they are taking so long to issue a recall on this models is very dangerous they need to avoid any further incidents I don't feel safe in this car and I don't want to put someone else in danger to for something that could be avoided. I really pray and hope that they do something about it now these cars need to be off the street now.

Filed Jul 16, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 9,000 miles · IN

As I was waiting a traffic light my engine revs dropped so low the engine quietly died. When I went to accelerate from the light I realized the car had stalled and had to restart the car. It only happened once more in the next month and a half, then happened three times yesterday. The last time the car stalled I was getting ready to make a left turn through a traffic light during the rush hour commute home. The car did start up again, but it struggled to turn back on and some dash lights flashed up me (I believe the cel flashed on.) I was stuck in the middle of an intersection during rush hour for approximately 5 seconds with a dead car.

Filed Jun 28, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 38,530 miles · NC

When I put the car in drive and begin to accelerate the car stalls and jerks rapidly when throwing itself into 2nd gear. Once it finishes the jerking and stalling motion it makes a loud rattling sound under the hood. When in gear and accelerated going to 35-55 it will stall then the rpms will go higher and it will jerk back into gear accelerating faster than I was going. Sometimes it will barely go from a stopped position to trying to accelerate then all of the sudden jerk into gear.

Filed Jun 25, 2014 · Acceleration · 10,000 miles · PA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford focus. The contact stated that while traveling 35 MPH, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal and the vehicle decelerated to 5 MPH. The contact mentioned that no warning lights illuminated on the instrument panel. The failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not contacted. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer nor was it diagnosed. The failure mileage was 10,000, and the current mileage was 12,000.

Filed Jun 23, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 9,500 miles · KY

I purchased the car in may it drove fine for 2 weeks. Then the transmission started hesitating, shutter noises, and vibrating. I took it to ford 2 days later it started all over again. The car has already been repaired before I purchased it. I was not disclosed that information when I purchased it. Now I have a unreliable car, thanks ford!

Filed Jun 23, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 13,258 miles · MD

I purchased my vehicle in sept 2013 brand new with 23 miles on it. I have no medication done to my car, and for the past few months I've noticed a small miss every once and a while. This problem started getting worse at times my car would accelerate without me pushing the throttle. On 21 june 2014 the problem got much worse and started to stall when I am in neutral, and the throttle is all over the place. The car is currently at the ford dealership, this problem is all over the internet, with quite of few 2013 ford focuses effected this is a problem that need to be raised. It is a major safety concern that if left untreated could result in someone losing their life.

Filed Jun 19, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 3,930 miles · CA

I understand and appreciate that the automatic transmission in this car revs and tends to behave like a manual transmission. I owned a celica with a manual transmission years ago. However, on several occasions this focus has decelerated, paused and then lurched forward and I was powerless to accelerate it or alter its "lurch". It tends to make a wind up noise on these occurrences. It occasionally hesitates when I apply the accelerator from stopped. Sometimes the hesitation is longer and more pronounced than at other times. I have taken this focus to the dealer on five occasions since I bought it new in september of 2013 and it is diagnosed with a code 7000 and the dealer has to keep the car overnight because the transmission needs to be reprogrammed from ford headquarters as I understand it. The dealer also may perform a drum adaptive learn strategy and adaptive learn drive cycle. When I leave the car seems to have "settled down" and runs more smoothly and quietly. It also gets substantially better mpg. On april 2, 2014, at 17,995 miles, I took it in because it was hesitating on acceleration and jerking and noisy. The focus had a cracked motor mount. And again the transmission was given its usual computer update from ford. Currently, the focus mileage is at 21,300 and it's winding itself up, jerking me around, hesitating and lurching. Two days ago, I was making a left hand turn into heavy traffic and, as I stepped on the accelerator to pull out, the focus did not respond for a few seconds. At that point I had to brake because it was too late to enter oncoming traffic. This is very worrisome for me especially since my son drives the car as well and he is a novice driver with one year experience. In march, I was traveling and rented a 2013 ford focus and drove it about 500 freeway miles. It seemed on it's best behavior.

Filed Jun 5, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 8,000 miles · CT

Car is lagging and bogging consistently; turn acceleration in unpredictable, frequent transmission shuddering occurring, un-smooth shifting, I do not feel safe. Low gas mileage 20-24.

Filed Jun 2, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 22,400 miles · IL

Just purchased a used ford focus se 2013. The car lurches forward upon accelerating and then the rpms decrease while accelerating, then increase for a moment, then decrease again. This happens any time I accelerate. The car jerks forward then stops. While the rpms are increasing, the car makes a revving sound almost as if I'm in the wrong gear (though it's an automatic), then it sounds as if it's stopping while the rpms drop. I hear an intermittent grinding sound that seems like the transmission is being overtaxed or damaged.

Filed Jun 2, 2014 · Acceleration · 600 miles · MO

While slowing down on a turn, the car looses power, as if its going to stall, then recovers when accelerating, this has happened on numerous occasions, much more tricky on icy and wintry days, accelerating in a curve to keep the car from stalling. The second problem is the car rolls back on hills, for an automatic transmission this is not acceptable, nor is it safe.

Filed May 29, 2014 · Acceleration, Fuel system · 300 miles · FL

First incident ...was making a turn from a stop position and car hesitated(transmission). Second incident .. Parked car on an incline and car rolled back enough to have somebody behind me call it to my attention. Third incident ? Going up on my driveway the car hesitated and shakes a lot when starting from a stop position. Note= when my wife drove the car on a test run.. None of this problems showed up. That is because the route we took was all on flat surfaces(in florida). We brought it to the attention of the ford dealership, and they handed us a pamphlet, that explained to us that we did not really buy a car with an automatic transmission, it is a standard transmission with some kind of gear set up to shift as if it is an automatic. The dealership also told us to call the manufacturer if we wanted to make a complain. We have a two year warranty, but I am thinking that we might have some transmission problems a lot sooner, but who wants to drive a new car with that problem pending over your head. I hope that we all complain loud enough for ford to take some immediate action, and come up with a satisfactory solution.

Filed May 21, 2014 · Acceleration, Electrical · 1,400 miles · MI

We were driving home and had been on the road using cruise control for approximately 2 1/2 hours when the vehicle shut off completely going from 70 MPH to no power or electrical. We were fast lane on I-75 north and the car was without any power or hazard lights. We attempted to restart the car several times and finally it started after 5 minutes. Luckily a car stopped and had their hazard lights on. Since then our car fuel has decreased to 12 mpg in the city and 22 on the highway. When you take off car bogs down and you have to mash hard on the gas to get it to move. The idle is rough and you can feel it running rough. We have had it into the dealership five times and since car does not code they will not work on it per ford's policy. Thus, we have that ford has advertised will get 28 in the city and 40 on the highway which we did get the first month before it died on the highway. Since then we are afraid to drive using cruise on a trip.

Filed May 21, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 5,250 miles · KS

When driving at highway speed 65 with cruise control engaged the vehicle feels as if the engine is cutting out or engine braking is being applied the RPM's drop from 2.5 to 2.25 feels like the engine is pulsing.

Filed May 14, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 12,000 miles · CA

The vehicle ever since about 8 months post purchase and to date has a very uncontrollable, jerky transmission, often times lunging forward and even vibrating during acceleration. It rolls back on hills as well. It shifts unpredictably a lot of the time and sometimes gears will slip and then catch very abruptly. How it's avoided recall for this long is beyond my understanding...

Filed May 8, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 5 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle failed to respond to acceleration attempts. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 5 and the current mileage was 22,600. Updated 06/30/14 ma the consumer stated the vehicle experienced inconsistent transmission performance and lurches during acceleration from a stop. The vehicle could not be trusted during expected quick response. Updated 07/2/2014

Filed Apr 28, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 49,400 miles · NV

I first noticed a problem with my transmission the first week I bought my '13 ford focus. I would hear a shuddering and gears grinding when I would accelerate and my transmission would slip when shifting gears. I took it to the dealer and asked them to check it out but was told that it was normal and nothing to worry about and sent me on my way without even taking a look under the hood. I informed them I was worried about getting into an accident with it and they said that would be impossible and it was of no concern. On friday, april 25th, 2014, after driving 40 minutes to work, I started my car up again and turned onto a main city road from a parking lot then onto a residential street. There, I noticed my transmission light had turned on and my car was having a difficult time shifting gears. The rpms skyrocketed and then plummeted. I was going about 20mph-25mph and my dash is reading 4rpms. I then turn onto another main road where my car started chugging along, it felt, while revving multiple times. I had no control over my own vehicle. About a mile or two away, I reached my destination. I parked and then started to drive again where my car then stopped and I had to declare it inoperable. The next day, I had to have the car towed. Come to find out, the transmission problems I complained about to the dealer were not normal and any day my car was going to quit on me. April 25th, 2014 happened to be that day. My car is just outside of the lemon law as I purchased it last january. Ford is hesitant on helping me and getting my car back and running. I was told there was no problem and nothing to worry about, therefore, I did not pursue the problem any further.

Filed Apr 8, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 6,000 miles · WA

In august of 2013 I brought my 2013 ford focus into the dealership with transmission issues. I owned the car for 6 months at that point with 6,000 miles on it. Car was shuddering at lower gears, transmission felt like it was slipping, at times RPM would rev up higher than normal, grinding noise could be heard from the engine at times, loss of power and a couple times complete loss of acceleration while trying to turn across traffic. I took the car into my local ford dealership and a couple of software updates were applied to the car. This fixed it for maybe 3 months then I started noticing loss of power in the car again, and now recently all of the same issues I originally had, and listed above, have resurfaced. Current miles are 14,000. I can't even go up a hill faster than 25 miles an hour, the car fails to change gear and engine rpms rev and the transmission is slipping everyday. My car is back at ford, this time for a week while they try to determine what is wrong with it. This is not normal operating for a car no matter what ford says. Loss of power while trying to cross traffic is definitely a safety concern.

Filed Apr 3, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 15,267 miles · VA

I was driving on an interstate at highway speeds in a completely flat section of the road and had been approximately 20 minutes in my journey when I noticed my car started slightly shuddering. When slowing down for a merging vehicle, my vehicle went to over 5000 RPM (automatic transmission by the way) and my speed dropped, dangerously dropping my speed in a passing lane to 20 under the speed limit. While making multiple attempts on the gas to accelerate the speed, my RPM's kept going up and my acceleration kept declining with cars swerving until I could get into the righthand lane. I have never had an accident or any difficulty with my vehicle as I purchased it new. Further, I have noticed that even though I have an automatic transmission, when stopped at intersections or lights, if I let up off of the gas at all, my car rolls backwards much like a manual transmission would do, which now that I know the transmission does this, I am aware, however on uphill stops I find it difficult to not roll backwards in switching between the brake and acceleration if a car is closely behind me, stopped. I have taken my car to a ford dealership for it to be looked at, and the customer service rep at my local dealership (where I didn't buy the car) states that the transmission issues are common in ford focuses of this model year -- and ford is aware/the dealership is aware -- yet they "can't find anything actually wrong by guidelines" for the car. It's a safety hazard and needs to be dealt with immediately! I expect a new car with no accidents to run smoothly!

Filed Mar 19, 2014 · Acceleration · 6 miles · FL

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle jerked and reduced in acceleration power. The failure was experienced numerous times. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times for the failure. The dealer recalibrated the computer however the failure was not corrected. The dealer advised the contact that the vehicle was operating normally. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 6 and the current mileage was 16,000.

Filed Feb 27, 2014 · Acceleration, Engine · 150 miles · KS

I bought a brand new 2013 ford focus in january 2013 after having previously owned a 2011 ford focus that was having transmission issues. The dealership had told me that the 2013 focus models had a redone transmission that was more expensive and didn't have the "issues" that plagued the 2011 ford focus. Turns out it is the same transmission, except with a computer update which does not fix the issue. Within the first few weeks, my car was 'shuddering' for lack of a better description when accelerating; the RPM's go up sporadically to, revving the engine higher than it needs to go. It feels almost like it's going to die and then will catch the gear and go. I have taken my current car in for service once for another update, but my 2011 was in the shop multiple times to fix this issue, and always came back to me doing the same 'shuddering' as it did before it went in. I called ford and they said they would talk to my dealer and they would take care of it. Well, by taking care of it, they meant that there is another 'update'. I had it updated on 8/26/13 and I picked it up only to find that the shuddering is worse. It's not safe to try and drive a car that shudders and lags when you have to cross busy streets and in normal daily traffic. I'm tired of dealing with this issue especially being that I bought a new car. And an american car at that. Ford needs to have some integrity and fix this before I do what I want to do and go buy a honda or nissan.

Filed Feb 27, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · NY

In 2/13, my husband and I purchased a '13 ford focus from brewster ford in ny. Unfortunately, our car has never worked correctly. It randomly loses power. It feels like the gas pedal doesn't respond sometimes when we try to accelerate. Our car is currently in their service center for the 4th attempt to repair the problem without any intervention. 3 of the master mechanics, scotty, carlisle, and anthony, say they have driven the car multiple times without repairing anything because they claim that they cannot recreate the problem. 5/28/13 the hesitation and nonresponsive acceleration increased and we brought our car to the service center and paid for an oil change. We were given the car back and told there was no problem found. 6/14/13 we brought the car back to the dealer for the same problem. There was an update for the computer and we thought it might be fixed. 12/9/13 we came back to the service center for the same problem, but this time the car shut off while my husband was driving on the nys thruway and this time the check engine light was on when I dropped it off. Again the car was given back and we were told no problem found. They said that the check engine light was not on. It had been on for two days prior. 12/18/13 we brought our car back to the service center. After we called ford corporate for help, the service manager, danielle got involved. The gas mileage dropped at this time from 32-27 miles/gallon combined. Our car was at brewster fords service center for over 30 days without being contacted once. When my husband called to check on the status, he was told they were waiting on a service engineer to come out. After speaking to angela, the regional manager from ford, we were told that the service center is unable to recreate the problem and we should again take our unsafe car. 1/23/14 today the regional manager agreed to approve a second opinion.

Filed Feb 18, 2014 · Acceleration, Transmission · 15,000 miles · CA

Tl* the contact owns a 2013 ford focus. The contact was driving 55 MPH when the vehicle decelerated without the brake pedal being depressed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for inspection but no issues were found. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The approximate failure was 15,000. Updated 04/04/14*lj updated 04/11/2014

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