NHTSA Complaint #10676474 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

SHUDDERING WHILE ACCELERATING. GRINDING NOISE WHILE THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION IS SHIFTING GEARS. VEHICLE HAS BEEN INTO DEALER MULTIPLE TIMES FOR SHUDDERING AND SHIFTING ISSUES. THE LAST TIME, AT 49K MILES, IT WAS OVER AN 8 WEEK WAIT TO GET THE CAR INTO THE DEALER - THE TRANSMISSION GUYS WERE BACKED UP MONTHS AT ALL SURROUNDING DEALERS. FORD'S REPAIR HAS BEEN TO REPROGRAM THE TRANSMISSION. WE PURCHASED THE CAR NEW AND HAVE BEEN THE ONLY OWNERS. THE CAR DID NOT SHUDDER AND GRIND WHEN FIRST PURCHASED. AND IT PERFORMS BETTER IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE REPROGRAMMING. BUT AFTER A FEW THOUSAND MILES OF TRAVEL, SHUDDERING AND GRINDING RETURN. ONCE IT STARTS SHUDDERING, I CAN DUPLICATE THIS BEHAVIOR WITHIN 2 MILES OF A FORD DEALERSHIP. THERE IS A ROUNDABOUT AT LIVERNOIS AND HAMLIN ROADS THAT HAS A YIELD FOR INCOMING TRAFFIC. IF THE ROUNDABOUT IS CLEAR, PROCEED INTO THE ROUNDABOUT BETWEEN 5 AND 10 MPH AND ACCELERATE SLOWLY WHILE NAVIGATING THE ROUNDABOUT - AND YOU GET SHUDDERING. PERSONNEL IN THE DEALERSHIPS STATE THAT "DRIVERS JUST DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE THE CAR". I AM A 50+ YEAR OLD DRIVER WITH EXPERIENCE IN BOTH MANUAL AND AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSIONS. NO TICKETS NO ACCIDENTS. THIS VEHICLE WAS PURCHASED WITH THE INTENT OF PASSING TO MY CHILDREN WHEN THEY START DRIVING. THE INABILITY TO USE SLOW ACCELERATION WITHOUT SHUDDERING MAKES IT TOO DANGEROUS FOR INEXPERIENCED DRIVERS. ESPECIALLY IN MICHIGAN WHERE WINTER CONDITIONS OFTEN REQUIRE SLOW ACCELERATION TO MAINTAIN CONTROL OF THE VEHICLE. PLEASE ACT UPON CONSUMERS BEHALF AND FORCE FORD TO PROVIDE A PERMANENT RESOLUTION. EITHER A FIX THAT PERMANENTLY STOPS THE SHUDDERING OR REPLACEMENT OF THE DEFECTIVE POWERTRAIN COMPONENTS. *TR