NHTSA Complaint #10671489 — 2014 FORD FIESTA

I'VE BROUGHT THE VEHICLE TO FORD DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENTS SEVERAL TIMES NOW FOR THE SAME TRANSMISSION SHUDDERING AND SLIPPING ISSUE. WHEN TAKING DELIVERY OF THE VEHICLE, AND ON EVERY SUBSEQUENT VISIT TO A SERVICE DEPARTMENT, I WAS WARNED THAT THE POWERSHIFT 6-SPEED AUTOMATED MANUAL TRANSMISSION REQUIRES A "BREAK-IN" PERIOD OF SEVERAL THOUSAND MILES AND THAT I MAY NOTICE HARSH SHIFTING OR NOISES. IN REALITY, THE TRANSMISSION HASN'T EVER FUNCTIONED CORRECTLY, AND ON EACH DEALERSHIP TRIP, A LETS-TRY-THE-NEXT-STEP APPROACH IS TAKEN. FIRST A ENGINE MALFUNCTION INDICATOR LAMP WAS CLEARED FOR A KNOWN FIRMWARE BUG IN THE TRANSMISSION CONTROL MODULE (TCM), FOR A PROBLEM WHOSE FIX WAS NOT YET RELEASED BY FORD. NEXT, THE TCM WAS UPDATED. DRIVEABILITY IMPROVED FOR A WHILE BUT THEN DEGRADED AGAIN, GETTING WORSE DAY BY DAY. NEXT, THE TCM COULDN'T BE UPDATED (IT WAS ALREADY UP TO DATE) SO A NEW CLUTCH ASSEMBLY WAS ORDERED. FINALLY, THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY WAS REPLACED, BUT NOT THE TRANSMISSION INTAKE SEALS BECAUSE THEY WERE BROWN (LATEST SPEC?). IT HAS ONLY BEEN A FEW DAYS SINCE THE MOST RECENT REPAIR (CLUTCH REPLACEMENT) BUT THE DEALERSHIP ADVISED THAT THE NEW CLUTCHES WILL EVENTUALLY FAIL IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY AS FORD HAS NOT YET CORRECTED THE UNDERLYING ISSUE. WHEN THE VEHICLE SHUDDERS DURING ACCELERATION, THERE IS AN INCREASED RISK OF AN ACCIDENT FROM ONCOMING CARS (WHILE MAKING A LEFT TURN) OR FROM CARS BEHIND ME. *TR