NHTSA Complaint #10661515 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

I BOUGHT MY CAR AT 38,000 MILES AS A CERTIFIED PREOWNED FROM A FORD DEALERSHIP. WITHIN 5K MILES, I WAS EXPERIENCING CHATTERING ON TAKE OFF, AND AT LOW SPEEDS (MOSTLY RUSH HOUR) & VERY HARD SHIFTS. I TOOK IT IN, THEY REPROGRAMMED THE CLUTCH, AND SENT ME ON MY WAY WITH MUCH LESS CHATTERING AND ALMOST NO HARD SHIFTS, STILL HORRIBLE IN RUSH HOUR. IN SEPTEMBER, IT STARTED DOING THE SAME THING. I TOOK IT BACK, THEY FIXED IT AGAIN. SENT ME ON MY WAY WITH (AGAIN) SOME IMPROVEMENT, BUT NO SYMPTOMS GONE. I TOOK IT BACK IN OCTOBER, THE SERVICE MANAGER DROVE IT WITH ME, HE SAID THE ITEMS I WAS EXPERIENCING WERE ALL "NORMAL OPERATING CONDITIONS." HE ACTUALLY TOLD ME: "DRIVE IT HARDER, IT WILL PERFORM BETTER." I WAS ALWAYS TAUGHT THAT YOU DON'T RAG ON YOUR CAR AND IT LASTS LONGER. DUMB ADVICE THAT IRRITATED ME. SUNDAY, I WAS DRIVING DOWN A BUSY ROAD (LUCKY IT WAS ON A SUNDAY WITH NO SCHOOL TRAFFIC), AND MY CAR SUDDENLY ACTED LIKE IT WAS IN NEUTRAL. DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD MY CAR STOPS MOVING FORWARD. AFTER THE CAR STOPPED ACCELERATING, I WAS ABLE TO GET IT INTO A PARKING LOT. I PUT IT INTO PARK, THEN DRIVE, PARK, REVERSE, NOTHING. AT THIS TIME, I TURNED IT OFF AND IT WOULD NOT RESTART. I HAD IT TOWED TO THE DEALERSHIP, THE DEALERSHIP SAID IT WAS MY TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE. THERE IS LESS THAT 52K MILES ON MY CAR. I'VE HAD THE CAR 8 MONTHS. *JS