Owner-reported complaints naming the powertrain system, filed with NHTSA
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Powertrain reports that are not specifically the engine or transmission — driveshafts, axles, transfer cases and differentials. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2013 Ford Focus submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 1,050 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 1,050, in the owner's own words
The "shift tower" typically refers to the external mechanism on top of the transmission where the shifter cables connect. Problems with this part, which is a broken internal pin, result in a shifter that moves freely without engaging any gears. The gear become in operatable when driving down the highway, which is a hazard on the road. There were no warning light just not ale to change gears.
Our 2013 ford focus has had the shudder clutch replaced 3 times in 4 years. We paid $2500 for them to replace the clutch, forks, and adjust the tcm module. Within a year it went again. They replaced under our warranty from the first fix. Then a year later, it went again, warranty was out but ford sent a letter to replace for free. They did.. and now it’s broke again. It shudders and jerks so bad. My college daughter takes it to and from school and relies on it. I don’t understand how Ford gets away with this as it is an ongoing issue with this year make and model vehicle. It’s dangerous, will stall… and jerk. They charge to fix and all it is a bandaid for an ongoing inevitable failure again. On top of that all the electrical to the radio, speakers and such went as well. The vehicle has less than 98k miles on it. It is well taken care of. This transmission issue is Fords negligence. It’s dangerous, deadly; and I cannot believe they continue to charge for an issue they know about.
erratic shifting and eratic slipping gears , first happened while on highway and then it wouldnt go in any gear besides reverse and would say transmission overheat wait 5 min . caused another veihcal behind me to slam on there brakes and they ended up getting rear ended from the car behind them ..... all becouse of my cars tcm or transmission issues>!!!! also not too mention ` random unusual noises coming from clutch or shifter when not even start car yet _delayed start and delayed shifting .. i could go on and on this car is a nightmare
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal before the vehicle lost automotive power. The vehicle was shifted into park and restarted. The transmission warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer, where it was diagnosed with PCM failure. The contact stated that the PCM had been reprogrammed before. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 70,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate from a stop, the transmission was slipping, with the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where the vehicle was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 126,000.
Transmission not shifting properly
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle shuddered and hesitated. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the transmission. The contact was informed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 103,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving 70 MPH, the transmission unexpectedly shifted into neutral(N), and the message “Transmission Overheated - Pull Over for 5 Minutes” was displayed. The contact coasted to the side of the road and waited before continuing to drive. The contact stated that while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start immediately, causing the contact to make several attempts to restart the vehicle. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission was hesitating, and the vehicle was jerking while downshifting. The contact stated that the check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a certified mechanic who diagnosed failures with dual clutch, engine failure, Clutch A failure, and a failure with the Transmission Control Module(TCM). The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The contact drove the vehicle to work and while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to immediately start, and the vehicle became inoperable. The manufacturer was informed of the failure and confirmed that VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 169,000. The VIN was not available.
The car shows a warning transmission fault service now
When I drive my car it takes time before it kicks in to drive correctly
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that occasionally upon starting up the vehicle, the transmission was difficult to shift into gear. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse, the vehicle failed to respond. The contact shifted into neutral and was able to push the vehicle because the reverse(R) was inoperable. The contact stated that the check engine warning light illuminated and remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer where it was diagnosed, and the contact was informed that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 130,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving on several occasions at various speeds, the transmission was slipping, and the vehicle lost motive power. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 180,000.
The transmission seems like it doesn’t want to go right away. It gives off a twitch which doesn’t allow me to start up right away and causes my tires to spin.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated after driving approximately 35 MPH, the contact attempted to shift to reverse; however, the vehicle failed to respond. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed and determined that the clutch needed to be replaced. The contact researched and became aware of an unknown NHTSA Campaign Number; however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 59,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle briefly lost motive power before suddenly jolting forward. The vehicle returned to normal functionality, but the failure became a regular occurrence. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed failures with the clutch, slave cylinder, and shift levelers. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, a case was opened, and the contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 24,000.
My car randomly puts itself in 2nd gear and wont go more than 25 mph
I have the DPS6 Transmission from the Michigan plant. My Focus SE started to shudder, jerk, didn't want to shift,. Also, acted like the car was going to stall and when in reverse wouldn't back up. I also had problems with loss of power. I didn't feel safe when driving, what happens when I'm on the road if the car won't shift when in traffic? It's a hazard !! Had a new clutch, seals, gasket, cylinder put in (2023) and now( End of January 2025) it's started again along with shift forks as I was told by the dealership. Ford FIX THE PROBLEM your DPS6 Transmission should be REPLACED !! Are you waiting for deaths to happen ? You've known about this but haven't helped your customers.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 20 MPH, the transmission hesitated while upshifting to the next gear. The contact pulled over to the side of the road and heard an abnormal ticking sound coming from the transmission. The contact was able to get the vehicle back to the residence safely. The dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the vehicle was repaired after the first failure; however, the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 137,000.
The vehicles power steering assist has failed and there are active recalls from the same manufacturer and year but not my specific VIN.
My transmission went out on me and I was stuck right in the middle on the highway. That puts everyone’s safety at risk. These Automatic transmission’s are faulty from factory and Ford is refusing to “FIX” them. They will only accept to update the TCM and that’s not a fix when it has internal problems. I did get a warning on the screen saying transmission malfunction and a check engine light.
Has a bad electrical problem and the transmission is got right
I started experiencing intermittent (what seems like transmission) Issues about a little over a year ago. It would randomly occur and usually after the engine was warmed up and I had been driving a lot that day. It would only occur from a dead stop and then starting to accelerate from 1st to 2nd gear. The RPMs would go way high but the car wouldn’t accelerate I would let off the gas and then give it a little gas right away and it would seem to “grab” and the car wouldn’t accelerate start to go. It has over time increasingly gotten worse increasing from just 1st to 2nd gear and now 2nd to 3rd gear. I have a transmission that is a dual clutch transmission so it is an automatic but when I want to I can put my gear shifter into “S” mode (sport mode) and the car then acts as a manual transmission needing the driver to change gears by pushing a + or a - button on the gear shifter either when accelerating or downshifting gears. It never acted up in “S” Mode only during automatic driving until recently. What sparked my need to write in about this is when I was driving down the freeway the car all of a sudden lost power but the RPMs accelerated up into the Red zone on my tachometer. Essentially I was dead driving 60 mph down the freeway and quickly losing speed cars were swerving around me and one almost rear ended me. It put my life and the life of my passengers all at risk and it was scary! I had a good friend of mine who is an ASE Certified mechanic look at the car and he couldn’t see anything wrong but because this happens intermittently I wouldn’t expect the problem to occur for him during a five min test drive. However it doesn’t change the severity of what I have been experiencing. There was a previous recall on my vehicle for this transmission and these exact problems and although it was repaired (under a different owner) I am experiencing the same issues. Maybe the replacement transmission was also faulty? since my “service transmission” light came on as well.
I am experiencing a significant issue with my 2013 Ford Focus that aligns with known recall symptoms. When I accelerate from a stop, the car shakes violently, similar to a washing machine off balance, and struggles to gain momentum. This issue impacts the vehicle's performance and safety, and I believe it may be related to a recall affecting this model. I kindly request your assistance in diagnosing and resolving this problem under the applicable recall or warranty coverage. Please let me know the next steps to address this concern.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. The vehicle failed to restart. Additionally, the contact stated that while the vehicle was stopped, the vehicle rolled backward. The contact also stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and informed the contact that the vehicle was out of warranty. The failure mileage was approximately 154,000.
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer but was not diagnosed or repaired. The dealer informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall for transmission failure. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue and informed the contact that the VIN was not under recall for transmission failure. The approximate failure mileage was 174,500.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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