NHTSA Complaint #11233077 — 2013 FORD FOCUS

I BOUGHT MY FORD FOCUS HATCHBACK SE STARTING AT 24K MILES. AT AROUND 50K I BEGAN HAVING TRANSMISSION TROUBLES. THE STUTTERING, WHILE ACCELERATING OR COMING TO A STOP, WAS (AND STILL IS) HORRIBLE. I HAVE TAKEN THIS VEHICLE IN ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS TO GET THE TRANSMISSION 'FIXED', TO NO AVAIL. I'M STILL DEALING WITH THESE PROBLEMS 80K MILES LATER. THE FIRST TWO WINTERS THAT I HAD OWNED THE VEHICLE MY DOOR LOCKS WOULD NOT ENGAGE, IN DRY, 40 DEGREE TEMPERATURES. SO I WOULD HAVE TO DRIVE AND HOLD MY DOOR CLOSED UNTIL THE CAR HEATED UP AND THE LOCKS ENGAGED. I TRIED WD-40 AND SPRAYS MEANT SPECIFICALLY TO UNFREEZE LOCKS. NEITHER WORKED. AND THE LOCKS WOULD OCCASIONALLY DISENGAGE WHILE DRIVING MY MORNING COMMUTE ON THE HIGHWAY. NO RECALL UNTIL TWO YEARS LATER, AFTER COMPLAINING COUNTLESS TIMES. BUT BACK TO THE TRANSMISSION, I WAS DRIVING HOME AFTER A LONG DAY AT WORK AND ENDED UP STUCK IN CINCINNATI, OH. A MESSAGE POPPED UP ON MY DASH READING 'TRANSMISSION FAULT' ADVISING ME TO TAKE MY CAR TO A DEALER. TURNING OFF THE ENGINE DIDN'T HELP, AND I COULDN'T DRIVE OVER 20 MILES PER HOUR BECAUSE THE CAR WOULDN'T SHIFT OVER 1ST OR 2ND GEAR. LUCKILY I'M AN EXPERIENCED DRIVER AND WAS ABLE TO DODGE MULTIPLE CARS THAT ALMOST SLAMMED INTO ME ON THE STREET, DUE TO MY SUDDEN BRAKING. WHEN CONTACTING FORD IT TOOK THEM 5 HOURS OF GOING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN DEALERS TO FINALLY SEND ME A TOW TRUCK. I GET THE CAR BACK, SAME PROBLEMS. OVER AND OVER. A MECHANIC AT THE DEALERSHIP TOLD ME THAT THEY DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE A FIX FOR THE PROBLEM (WHICH IT'S BECOMING EVER MORE CLEAR THAT THEY STILL DON'T, NOR WILL THEY EVER). FORD'S COMPENSATION FOR THIS PROBLEM WAS A TERRIBLE DEAL. OFFERING A REPLACEMENT TRANSMISSION WITH THE EXACT SAME TRANS THAT GAVE ME PROBLEMS I'M THE FIRST PLACE. I'M GLAD TO SEE THE GOVERNMENT IS GETTING INVOLVED AND HOPE TO SEE RESOLVE SOON.