NHTSA Complaint #11232397 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

I PURCHASED MY 2012 FOCUS NEW NOV. 2012. AFTER A FEW WEEKS OF OWNING THE CAR, I NOTICED THAT THE RIDE WAS NOT AS 'SMOOTH' AS MY PRIOR CAR. I DID NOT THINK ANYTHING OF IT, AS I LIVE IN A CITY AND ASSUMED IT WAS DUE TO THE STOP AND GO OF THE CITY MILES I DROVE AS WELL AS THE WINTER SEASON. BY JUNE 2013 WITH LESS THAN 8,000 MILES, I BEGAN TO NOTICE THAT MY CAR WOULD ROLL BACKWARDS ON HILLS WHEN STOPPED IN TRAFFIC WHILE MOVING MY FOOT FROM THE BRAKE TO THE ACCELERATOR AND SHAKE AT VARIOUS SPEEDS. I WAS TOLD BY FORD THAT THE ISSUE WAS DEEMED 'NORMAL' IN 2013. IN NOVEMBER 2013, I HAD 12 MONTHS OF DATA TO REALIZE THE GAS MILEAGE WAS NOT EVEN CLOSE TO WHAT THE DEALERSHIP AND MY CAR BUYING RESEARCH LED ME TO BELIEVE. I WAS GETTING 16 CITY MPG AND 20 HIGHWAY MPG. I ALSO BEGAN TO EXPERIENCE SEVERE SHUDDERING AND SHAKING OF MY CAR AT LOW SPEEDS. WHEN ACCELERATING FROM ~10MPH TO ~25MPH, MY CAR BEGAN TO LURCH FORWARD AND ALSO SHUDDER WHEN IDLE. IN OCT. 2014, I TOOK THE CAR FOR SERVICE W/ 12K MILES. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN NOTED THAT THERE WAS NOTHING MUCH THAT COULD BE DONE AS FORD HAD NOT ISSUED A NEW TRANSMISSION FIX. I WAS NOT HAPPY WITH THIS ANSWER AND TOOK THE CAR BACK THE FOLLOWING WEEK AND SPOKE TO THE MECHANIC'S SUPERVISOR. THE SUPERVISOR AGREED TO 'REFLASH' THE TRANSMISSION, WHICH WAS THE APPROVED FIX BY FORD AT THE TIME ALTHOUGH IT WOULD WORSEN GAS MILEAGE DUE TO REDUCTION IN GAS EFFICIENCY TO REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF SHUDDERING AND LURCHING I EXPERIENCED. THIS FIX DID NOT APPEAR TO HELP AT ALL AND GAS MILEAGE GOT WORSE. IN JULY 2017, I HAD THE CLUTCH REPLACED. THE SERVICE TECHNICIAN ACKNOWLEDGED THAT THE NEW CLUTCH SHOULD HELP ALTHOUGH IT IS THE TRANSMISSION CAUSING THE ISSUES. SINCE JULY 2017, I HAVE NOT NOTICED ANY REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT TO THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE. DURING STANDARD MAINTENANCE, FORD HAS TOLD ME THERE IS NOTHING FURTHER THAT CAN BE DONE.