NHTSA Complaint #11398099 — 2017 FORD FOCUS

I PURCHASED MY FORD FOCUS MAY 2017 AS A BRAND NEW VEHICLE WITH ONLY 12 MILES ON IT. IN TWO YEARS, I BEGAN TO FEEL A SHUDDER WHENEVER I STARTED TO DRIVE FROM A STOP. THE SHUDDER WAS ON AND OFF FOR A MONTH AND INCREASINGLY GOT WORSE. I TOOK MY VEHICLE INTO FORD, JULY 2019. THEY STATED THAT MY CLUTCH WENT BAD AND I NEEDED TO HAVE IT REPAIRED. IT WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. SINCE THIS IS A BRAND NEW VEHICLE I WAS SURPRISED IT WAS ALREADY HAVING SUCH A MAJOR ISSUE. THE SERVICE DEPARTMENT STAFF NOTIFIED ME THAT THIS PROBLEM IS COMMON WITH FORD FOCUS'S. A YEAR IN A HALF LATER, I BEGAN TO HAVE THE SAME ISSUES AND SYMPTOMS AGAIN. I CALLED FORD TO NOTIFY THEM IN DECEMBER 2020, HE STATED IT MAY BE THE SAME PROBLEM BUT THEY HAVE TO TAKE A LOOK AT IT. I MADE AN APPOINTMENT AND GOT MY VEHICLE REPAIRED FOR THE SAME CLUTCH ISSUE THAT WAS REPLACED ORIGINALLY. THIS WAS COVERED UNDER WARRANTY. I WAS INFORMED THAT ONCE MY WARRANTY EXPIRED THEY WILL NO LONGER COVER THE COST FOR MY REPAIRS ON THE CLUTCH IF IT WENT BAD AGAIN. THIS WOULD RESULT IN ME PAYING $2,300 EACH TIME IT NEEDED A REPAIR. GIVEN THE TWO CLUTCH REPLACEMENTS WITHIN 3.5 YEARS OF HAVING THIS BRAND NEW CAR, I WAS UPSET SINCE THIS SEEMED TO BE AN ISSUE THAT SHOULDN'T BE OCCURRING. I LOOKED UP RECALLS ON 2017 FORD FOCUS'S AND FOUND THE RECALL NUMBER 18V845000 & 18V169000 (18S07). THESE TWO RECALLS SPECIFICALLY MENTION THE TYPE OF ISSUE I'VE HAD TWICE WITH THIS NEW VEHICLE WITHIN 1.5 YEARS OF EACH OTHER. ITS STATES THE SNOWBALL EFFECT OF DAMAGE TO THE VEHICLE WITH THE CLUTCH FRACTURS. I CALLED 800 NUMBER TO FORD REGARDING THIS MATTER AND THEY ARE UNABLE TO ASSIST ME UNTIL THIS PROBLEM HAPPENS THREE TIMES. I AM APPALLED SINCE A NEW VEHICLE SHOULDN'T HAVE TO HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM THREE TIMES FOR ASSISTANCE. THIS IS A SERIOUS LIFE-THREATENING MANUFACTURES DEFECT, I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO KEEP PAYING, EVEN AFTER WARRANTY.