NHTSA Complaint #11414191 — 2012 FORD FOCUS

WHILE ACCELERATING OUT OF A PARKING LOT TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC, ACCELERATING THROUGH INTERSECTIONS, OR TAKING A RIGHT ON RED, THE CAR WILL START TO ACCELERATE AND THEN SUDDENLY AS IT TRY'S TO DOWNSHIFT, IT ACTS AS IF ITS STUCK IN NEUTRAL, AND WONT ACCELERATE AT ALL. ON MULTIPLE OCCASIONS I HAVE ALMOST BEEN HIT BY OTHER MOVING VEHICLES. SOME GOING 50 MPH HAVE HAD TO SLAM THEIR BRAKES ON BECAUSE I WASN'T ABLE TO FINISH ACCELERATING TO GET OUT OF THE WAY. WHEN IT ISN'T DOING THAT, IT HAS JERKY/ ROUGH/ DOWNSHIFTS. IT ALSO VIBRATES WHEN I TRY TO SPEED UP AND SOMETIMES HAS A HESITATION AND THEN WILL KICK IN TO GEAR. THIS IS A VERY SERIOUS SAFETY ISSUE AND HAS ALMOST CAUSED ME TO GET HIT BY OTHER CARS IN MOTION MULTIPLE TIMES . ESPECIALLY TRYING TO PULL OUT INTO TRAFFIC! I BROUGHT IT TO THE USED DEALERSHIP I BOUGHT IT FROM AND THEY DISCOVERED THERE WAS A COMMUNICATION ERROR CODE WITH THE TCM. THEY DID A SYSTEM RESET AND 24 HOURS LATER, IT WAS BACK TO DOING THE SAME THING AGAIN. AFTER DOING RESEARCH I LEARNED THAT THERE WAS A RECALL ON THIS ISSUE AND THE RECALL DOES A FREE RESET FOR YOU. WELL, THIS DOES NOT FIX THE SAFETY ISSUE! IT ACTUALLY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED TO THEIR NEWER UPDATED MODEL THAT ISN'T DEFECTIVE LIKE THIS ONE. SO, THEIR CURRENT SAFETY RECALL DOES NOTHING. ALSO, OTHER RESEARCH SHOWED ME THAT FORD WENT THROUGH A GIANT LAWSUIT OVER THESE EXACT PROBLEMS IN 2016 AND ONE RESULT WAS AN EXTENDED WARRANTY OF 10 YEARS OR 150K MILES. THIS DOESN'T HELP THE PEOPLE THAT ARE ALREADY OVER THE 150K MILES! THEIR SAFETY ISSUE IS STILL PRESENT! NEXT I'M CONTACTING THE BBB, ATTORNEY GENERAL, THE LOCAL NEW CHANNELS, AND THE GOVERNOR! THIS RECALL NEEDS TO BE UPDATED TO GETTING IT REPLACED!!!! NOT JUST RESET!! *RECALL 13V523000 *SOURCES OF MY INFORMATION: HTTPS://WWW.CARS.COM/ARTICLES/FORD-FOCUS-FIESTA-TRANSMISSION-SETTLEMENT-WHAT-OWNERS-SHOULD-KNOW-420135/