Owners/service Manual problems of the 2013 Ford Focus

For the past 3 years my Ford Focus 2013 has had the radio system go out almost every time I drive it. Typically there would be a loud pop, then it wouldn't work until I restarted the car. This wasn't a big deal to me-- I don't mind driving without music. The past month it has gotten much worse. Instead of just a loud pop, it will often make a crackling or screeching noise for up to a minute or two. This has happened both while I'm driving as well as when the car is not even on (most likely draining the battery, since the radio lights up when making the noise). Today was especially concerning. I left my house to walk to my car, and could hear from my backyard (to the side of the driveway where it was parked) a loud screeching, popping, crackling noise. I walked up to my car and, sure enough, although it wasn't even unlocked, still had all the doors shut, and I hadn't even touched it, it was making these noises that could be heard from a distance. I got into my car, hoping starting it would help, but the noises continued. It was such a startling noise, I couldn't imagine driving with it going. I ended up going back inside to do some research on how to help it. When I came back out half an hour later it was still going. In my research I saw many other Ford Focus 2013 owners having similar issues. I realize this is considered a cosmetic issue, which I can understand since a radio isn't necessary. But now it has escalated to a continuous noise that can be heard outside of my car and goes even when it's not on-- I feel it is a safety issue. I ended up taking out the fuse #79 after reading other people who have done similarly, and checking with my owner's manual. I'm a bit concerned about doing this since that fuse also works with the hazard lights and the door locks. But with the sound still going, I knew I had to take the fuse out or couldn't drive my car to work.

Transmission overheating light comes on, saying stop ssafely, wait 5 minutes, jerking from stop, shifting like a manual transmission, with a person who does not know how to use the clutch. . Front end noise, very loud. Took to dealer, was told nothing was wrong with it.

Vehicle has manual/auto trasmission and manual transmission no longer works. When in auto, the car hesitates with acceleration, before jolting forward and has stalled on several occasions. Has happened several times before.

One Dec 24 2015 driving down the freeway my car had full loss of steering, the engine light came on, the pedals stopped working and I nearly crashed the car. After pulling off the freeway I turned the car off and it would not start back up. Moments later I could start the car, I ran a vehicle health report to prove to Ford that something had happened. I then drove my car which was stuck in 1st gear to my destination. The steering was very heavy, the pedals were not working well at all. After leaving it parked for 30 minutes I turned the car on and the check engine illuminated, but the problems had cleared. This feature is very deceiving, as some may assume the car is now safe. I took the car in for repair, and they simply reprogrammed the car. I continue to this day to have transmission issues, and have had the clutch only replaced one time dispite bringing it to them constantly for repair. In January of this year my cars clutch and transmission failed, the car seemed to make a loud acceleration noise and then become forced into 1st gear. This made steering heavy or hard, & the pedals not work with the usual weight on them. I drove my car to Ford like this, stuck in 1st to show them finally that the whole time I knew something was wrong. My various other complaints of this vehicle include regular acceleration between 1st and 2nd gear, there is the standard shudder. In addition, my visiting family became stuck in the back seat with indoor latches not working - the child locks were off. I feel as though I was sold a "dud" car & that the salesperson lied to me about the transmission. If I had known it was an "electronically controlled manual car" I would not have purchased it. Now I can't get my car appraised, no dealer is willing to buy this car form me. Kbb states my current value is at around $9000 and 12 months ago I paid $16000, close to $17000 including financing.

Grinding/rattling noise and heavy shuddering/shaking/lurching occurs at low speeds. Not normal sounds. I drove manual vehicles for over 15 years and never experienced this occurrence, with the exception of first learning how to drive a manual. It is currently in the shop for a recall (that this site doesn't note, for some reason, but Ford does find). I have never once (2 months time) gotten over 31 mpg either. This was purchased as a commuter vehicle, and for it to rarely get 30 mpg is sad, considering my driving an 8 year old, 175k mile corolla meant getting upwards of 34 mpg consistently. Have made 2 payments on the car and wishing I had never bought it.

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 Focus'ES 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!.

When trying to drive in about 5 inches of snow, the traction/stability control kicked in and made my car go about an 1 inch a minute. Ever since that incident, whenever I start from a stopped position, the car will stutter and sometimes slow down after starting even though I have my foot on the gas. This is not a problem if there is no traffic, but in heavy traffic or fast moving traffic, a person can get run over. There have been several times that the flow of traffic has had to either stop or considerably slow down while my car is slowly getting up to speed. I have taken my car in and the dealership says there is nothing wrong with the vehicle. They state that it is running properly. I have tried to trade in the vehicle and 1 dealership told me that they have heard of this problem by other Focus owners. We have a friend that also has the same make and model, but it is an automatic, and they say they have the problem as well. So this is not just a problem with the manual transmission model.

Complained to service writer when I brought the car in with the stuttering problem when I start to drive. Was told that it is because Ford had redesigned a manual transmission to make it automatic to increase the gas mileage. Was told to bring it back if got worse. It has and much worse, now it not only shutters but it has a knocking sound. I noticed a black ring around the area where the two pieces are bolted together. I have to drive 24 miles to work each day on the interstate and have major concerns about being stranded on the side of road. I was told that Ford had got it's act together finally and decided to get the Focus se. Worst mistake I made. Should have bought the kia soul like I planned or the chevy cruze.

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 occurances. 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 travelling and rented a 2013 Ford Focus and drove it about 500 freeway miles. It seemed on it's best behavior.