Brakes are very "grabby" and lurchy at low speeds. sometimes it starts to shudder
2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid: jerking or lurching
11 of the 267 complaints about the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid describe jerking or lurching.
- owner complaints
- 11
- of this car's complaints
- 4%
- recalls
- 1
Jerking or lurching by model year
- 20242
- 202311
- 202229
What owners say
Started Vehicle, pulled out of a parking spot and I slowly approached an intersection, the engine accelerated at a high rpm/rate without touching the gas pedal, I immediately firmly applied brakes, the card was jerking and shaking hard working against brakes, I immediately turned car off. It could have easily ran into a car or person, being that I was on a city street with pedestrians crossing and car traffic. When I restarted, it did not want to move at all. I then restarted it a second time and it drove normal. No lights or warnings appeared. It was at Ford dealer getting all recalls repaired about 2 weeks ago and were completed to my knowledge. This just happened today [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Rear window driver side passenger failed and won’t go up or down bad regulator Transmission failure needs replaced at 1 year old Rear camera frozen no remedy on recall Engine failure during acceleration shifts to neutral then shifts to acceleration Engine acceleration at slow stops jerks forward during breaking Tires 1 year old under 25k miles no tread and needs replaced already Display shuts off randomly and stays frozen
I have just recently bought a brand new truck, a hybrid model. Not a single mile on it when I purchased it, and I strongly feel that I almost died or caused an accident, completely not my fault but the truck’s fault. This has happened on 3 separate occasions. The first two times, as I was driving up the highway on a mountain road, I lost power, but just kind of chalked it up to maybe the fuel sloshing around, and no other vehicles were around me. The third time, I was returning home from work, on a busy 4-lane highway that goes across the pass and over the mountains, I was in the left lane, a semi truck was to my right, and a semi truck was behind me, we were passing the slower truck that was on the right, and I was traveling at around 55 mph, the truck completely shut off and was flashing red at me to pull to the side of the road. I lost all power, the steering, gas, and everything was not working. I need to mention that I was in front of semi truck, a larger truck that cannot stop on a dime, so he had to swerve to miss me, as I did not have control of the truck. The slower truck went by me and there was a another pickup truck behind him, and there was a little bit of a gap between them, so I jerked the wheel over and drove into the ditch. It was absolutely frightening, and kind of switched something in my head that I was very close to causing a large crash and maybe a death, of myself or someone else. I was in the ditch and the truck would not start back up. Nothing worked. To add to that, I was in a spot of the mountains that I do not get cell phone service. So I popped the hood and just sat there trying to turn the ignition and start the vehicle. 30 minutes passed and I slammed the hood and got back inside the truck and this time the truck turned over, but it said it was running on electric only, and the check engine light was, so I was able to limp home which was about 30 miles away, driving 20-30 mph. It sent the codes to my phone and I contacted the dealer.
Note: Nobody was hurt, I am pre-emptively reporting this as I see it as a potentially dangerous issue. Transmission can jump/nudge the car a bit, especially in cold starts and if the engine is under load (e.g. AC or Heat). I've seen it online in Reddit reported, but mine seems to be a fairly strong version of it. It occurs pretty much every time the engine is cold. As I learned in a trip, if you don't press the brake hard enough, it can move. We did a road trip. I was stopped at a light (fully stopped). Brakes were pressed hard enough to not move, but not 'to the floor'. The vehicle jumped and moved about a foot into the crosswalk when I was stopped properly before then. Freaked me out. Nobody was in the crosswalk, so thankfully nobody was hurt. But this could be very dangerous behavior in a city where there are a lot a people. A surprising lurch when you think it's stopped isn't safe, and is going to create a liability for me. Me living near a big city, it's a worry. I've already brought it to a dealer about this, they said 'it's normal for mavericks' after investigating it for 25 days. I will re-raise this with them, but am not expecting much. I ran the truck with a diagnostic tool I own, no codes thrown through the bus, no warning lights during the event either. Examples: [XXX] [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Upon starting vehicle and entering drive vehicle instrement cluster warnings went off and car applied emergancy brakes and suddenly stopped. upon vehicle restart driver was able to releace brakes and manually start ICE componant of hybrid drive train. vehicle entered drive mode and accelerated without touching gas pedal. brakes were jerky but responsive and vehicle accelerated by itself up to 35 mph while on way to dealer service. vehicle servace alerts given at time of drop off were: pre-collision malfunction Powertrain malfunction engine system fault
5th INCIDENT: On 06/09/2024, at approximately 5:25pm, I was pulling up to a stop sign after just leaving my home. Traveling about 10mph I began applying the brakes and vehicle suddenly lurched to a complete stop and shifted itself into park. Various warning prompts, chimes and cluster lights came on (see attached photos). Vehicle then accelerated all on its own without any pressure on the gas pedal. This is the 3rd such incident in nine (9) days. 1st time: 04/16/24, Complaint #11583215 2nd time: 05/26/24, Complaint #11590922 3rd time: 06/01/24, Complaint #11592069 4th time: 06/07/24, Complaint #11593195 5th time: 06/09/24, Current complaint.
Driving no more than 40 mph, suddenly “gear shift will engage at low speeds” pops up. At this point there is no acceleration. Then when I get to stop at about 1mp it jerks me into an e-brake, immediately prompting “powertrain error”, “check engine”, “hill climb assist not available”, “collision warning not available”. This all started after the last recall was performed. This is now the second time this has done this. I am lucky it did not do this on the highway itself.
I have had this issue since I got my Ford Maverick. The brakes are very abrupt and grabby at slow speeds and it makes the vehicle extremely difficult and unsafe to operate in pick up lanes, parking lots, stop and go traffic and many more situations. I had a service appointment where ford updated modules in the truck however, still have the problem where trying to use the brakes on this truck, is always a very abrupt bump to a stop. When you're gradually & smoothly decelerating to a stop, near the last moment you get a very abrupt bump, lurch forward, jerk to a stop. It's as if the hybrid truck does not transition from regenerative braking to pad on rotor well.
I have an issue where my Ford Maverick sometimes, randomly will be nudging, surging, or pulsing forward (I'm not sure how to describe it) despite your foot being on the brake. It occurs most often on cold mornings, when you first start the truck, have your foot on the brake and shift from park to drive, before you release the brake (take your foot off the pedal) you notice the truck is going: bump bump bump bump bump, like a forward nudge push forward. Even though this has mostly occurred first thing in the morning it has occurred at other times while stopped at a red light, stopped in front of a pedestrian crosswalk, and stopped in front of school + children. It's really concerning the despite having your foot on the brake the truck is still trying to lurch forward.
The brakes sporatically cause you to jerk to a stop when you are all almost completely stop (under 5MPH). This is a dangerous issue when in heavy commuter traffic as the following vehicle may not be prepared for what is a complete emergency stop while other traffic continues to flow at slow speeds. Ford has released numerous TSBs to fix this issue but none of them have truly fixed the problem.
Service bulletins that may apply
Related recalls
Power train: automatic transmission: control module (TCM/PCM/tecm)
- What is wrong
- Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2022-2024 Maverick Hybrid and 2020 Escape Hybrid vehicles. The Hybrid Powertrain Control Module (HPCM) software may cause the vehicle to shift into neutral unexpectedly, causing a loss of drive power.
- Risk
- A loss of drive power increases the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will update the HPCM software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed February 12, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1‑866‑436‑7332. Ford's number for this recall is 24S33. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will be searchable on beginning January 15, 2026. This is an expansion of Recalls 24V330 (24S33) and 25V133 (25S16).
Recall number 25V881000 · Recall details
Questions about the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid jerking
Is jerking or lurching a common problem on the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid?
11 of 267 owner complaints about the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid (4%) mention jerking or lurching. The model year with the most reports is 2022.
Is there a recall or service bulletin for this on the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid?
There is 1 recall and 2 service bulletins for the same area of the car. Check them below with your VIN.
Other symptoms on the 2023 Ford Maverick Hybrid
Loss of power 56Check engine light 49Collision warning 38Won't shift 16Warning lights 14Backup camera 9Shudder 7Sudden acceleration 7Won't start 7Adaptive cruise 6Stalling 6ABS 5
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