Thinking out loud: What to do with a dual-clutchy 2012 Focus?

I think best by talking or typing so here goes: My wife loves the car.  I don't hate it.  Or rather I wouldn't hate it if the trans wasn't misbehaving.  I'm sure we're all familiar with the issues Ford has had with these things.  It hasn't been bad until recently and slowly seems to have been getting worse.  Today it was awful in stop and go traffic.

They extended the powertrain warranty on these to 100k, if I'm not mistaken.  The big question: Will the dealer be able to do anything that will actually fix the problems?  I'm not aware that there was ever a lasting fix for this but I'm sure someone on here know more than I do about this.

I haven't fully thought through any other options.  Again, my wife loves the car and would keep it forever if we could.  I also know the notoriety of the dual clutch trans problems probably hurts resale.  So, I don't want to get rid of it but I don't want to be saddled long term with a problematic Ford if that's what would happen.

It's got 85k+ on the clock and is our people moving mule so the miles will go up fast.  If a dealer is going to do anything that needs to happen soon.  I fully expect that experience to be a pain in the butt.

(If it were just me and I wasn't still paying back student loans I'd have already dumped it and would be making payments on a two year old Fiesta ST)

Reflash has "fixed" every weird-shifting Fiesta I have experienced.

The more I learn about the problems, the more I wonder if the reflash isn't just resetting all of the adaptives it learned from drivers who carry bad habits.

Knurled. said:

Reflash has "fixed" every weird-shifting Fiesta I have experienced.

 

The more I learn about the problems, the more I wonder if the reflash isn't just resetting all of the adaptives it learned from drivers who carry bad habits.

If that does turn out to be the case, then that furthers my thought that transmissions should never be adaptive and try to learn.  It just leads to them doing dumb E36 M3, especially when a different driver gets in the car.  X amount of throttle at Y road speed should always produce Z reaction from the trans, period, end of story. 

Apparently the fix is to replace the main shaft seal and a new clutch pac.   seems oil got on the clutch causing the judder.

I have a copy of the "Customer Satisfaction Program 14M01"  .   This includes the above plus any software calibation.

The program lasts for seven years or 100000 miles.

 As far as shifting problems with different drivers I don't have that problem since I am the only driver.

For problems: contact the Ford Customer Relationship Center a 1-866-436-7332 or visit www.Fordowner.com

Sounds promising. A fix under warranty would be great if I can have confidence over the long term that the problem won't show up again.

Now I just need to find a good dealer in the area. My dealer experience is limited to going to Honda to get new keys cut for the Civic so Logdog's been giving me helpful tips for interacting with a dealer's service department.

GRM friends are the helpfulest of friends.

Edit: so I'm hearing that I shouldn't let my wife drive it so the trans computers won't get confused 

A computer isn't required for that to happen...

If you want to go aftermarket look at FSWerks for an ECU tune. Not super cheap because you have to buy a SCT handheld tuner. They can probably change the shift programming..

One of my employees had one. Sold it back to the dealer for $6,500. He had it back in four or five times complaining about the trans since new. The trans had the issues since new but the dealer kept telling him it would adapt to him. It never it. In fact it progressively got worse. He had just over 50k on it. He had to push the dealer a bit but I guess it was not to bad as the dealer thought they were getting a sale on a new car.  He took the cash. He was so happy to get rid of it.  From the reasurch I did it looks like there is a class action suite in the works. The only fix I have seen is a new trans. Ford started offering a replacement trans that supposedly is a complete redesign in late 2016.  Cost of the trans is about $3,500. Plus installation.  

The issues he was having is the car jumping forward in traffic. There were also reports of them locking up at highway speeds resulting in loss of steering  control as it locks up the frount  tires. 

He went and got a used Honda. Same year with ten thousand less miles (40k) for $7,500. He commented to me it was the car he wanted to get new back when he was car shopping but at the time it was something like 8k more $$$. 

I had my Focus into the dealer for the door latch recall. The doors still stay closed and open when you want them to so I guess they did it right.  Certainly less complicated than the transmission issues.  No problems with the Ford dealer here.

P.S. A few days after the service, I got a notice in the mail  stating that the dealer paid for two months of Sirius radio.

It's sad these cars have so many issues. I just had one as a rental for the last 5 days and I was moderately impressed. SWMBOs car is a mk2 (US model facelift) and I felt the new car was leaps and bounds better. No road noise, enough power, fantastic mileage. It was let down by the interior somewhat but it's not bad. I actually liked the transmission, it shifts smooth and responded to what I asked of it. There were a few weird moments like when it didn't unlock the clutch on a decel and almost stalled. It's a shame, the tech is good and the car has a lot of potential. 

In reply to spandak :

They really did come close to building a great car. It's a fun chassis and I'd love it with a more rev happy engine and a clutch I could work by myself.  If it were possible I would trade it straight up for the same car with a manual but I don't think dealers work like that

I've had a lot of friends that have dealt with the Focus clutch shuddering. From what I've gathered how well it's fixed depends heavily on the dealership. Some will truly fix it by first trying reflashes and then replacing major components if needed. Others will just keep trying to flash it with 'updates' every time you come back. 

Most people I know have had their issues resolved and love the car. It might be a bit more painless now than when they were dealing with them a few years ago. It's worth a try to fix it in my opinion. 

The issue I saw. Was the dealer lip serviced my employee until he was just out of warranty now they wanted him to pay for the repair. He had the records proving it had been an issue since day one.  

He will never purchase another ford again and is telling everyone that will listen his story and how bad Ford (aka the dealer acting as a ford agent) took care of him. 

So. Back in February we bought a 2016 focus with 22,000 miles on it. Gorgeous car. Car salesman at Bill Brown Ford in Livonia Michigan assured me that the problems with this trans were sorted out by 2016. Liars. Anyhow, fortunately the car is good looking. 

because it started acting up a little while later. Shuddering a bit on upshifts, and then worse on down shifting from 2-1 while rolling to a stop without touching the gas or brake, it would make a pretty awful grind. Like the synchros were bad or something. 

https://youtu.be/Xk5efPOIEgs so into the dealer it went. At this point it had like 38,000 on it or so. Ford customer service and the dealer down played the issue. “You must understand these cars don’t drive like a normal automatic mr joey48442, you must drive them hard”. Ok I said, maybe but I don’t think it’s right, please take a look. Which they did and promptly installed a new clutch. That fixed the shudder but not the bang. So I took it right back the next day and they told me “well sir it does take the trans 1500 miles to relearn your driving style”. Again I said that may be but it’s not right. The service writer seemed skeptical but I convinced him to go for a ride with me. He did, and when he heard it he joked that it sounded like I fell in a hole in the parking lot. So they took it in, and somehow discovered all of this: for some reason you will need to click the box  the first photo worked but the second didn’t  

they took care of it, and it drives fine, but at 38,000 with these issues I don’t trust the car a bit. I’ve had a ford one way or another for 20 years, but not anymore. They know it’s a problem and they just keep making them. At least it doesn’t explode like a pinto. Holy crap my 1k dollar escorts have been more reliable!

We had a 2012 purchased in November 2011. So basically one of the first ones. 

Transmission behavior was always sluggish and shuddery,  progressively got worse till my wife had to limp the car into a parking lot and let it cool down. Drove it straight to the dealer for repair.  They had not extended the warranty yet at that time but we had purchased an extended warranty on the car. Trans PCM had to be replaced.  I think this was around 60 or 70k miles.  

Fast forward a few years, same story. At 153K miles the same thing happens this past summer. I guess the warranty on some components might of extended to 150k miles at this point.  I don't remember the details but remember that they were not going to warranty replacement of the PCM, again. $900 to have it replaced and we immediately sold the car to my father in law who runs a used car dealership so he could flip it. Went and bought the wife another car.   

So hooray, we were about done with the $330/mo car payments, and now we got another 5 years of them instead of having a car that's paid for. 

We've also had a lot of fords over the years but this DCT transmission left a bad taste in my mouth. Its a shame because the rest of the car was pretty darn nice. 

In reply to boaty mcfailface :

Yeah that’s how I feel as well!  Gorgeous car, drives nice, interior is fine, we like the car, even if the stereo sucks compared to our 2008 focus but it’s ok. It’s a bummer it’s killing ford for me now. I own three fords at the moment, and two Mazda’s!

The Focus is a real nice DD with the 5 speed manual.  Ours is a 2013 SE sedan with the appearance package, so we have the leather interior, fog lights 17" alloys and 4 wheel disc brakes.  I like it way more than I should.  Just turned 60k miles and no problems.

We dumped the wifes 2014. Loved the car, handled great, did everything I needed it to do. But 4 visits to the dealer was getting old. There is a class action lawsuit out there and they are willing to fix the issues. The problem (at least a year ago) was lack of supply, service manager said if they could get the "error message" when driving that they would move forward with clutch packs etc. But the wait could be months, I was able to break even on a trade in so I ended up on a preowned Sonata since we had a kiddo on the way and needed space. 

thedanimal said:

I was able to break even on a trade in so I ended up on a preowned Sonata since we had a kiddo on the way and needed space. 

That would be an ideal scenario, a close to even trade.  Our Focus is paid off and otherwise in pretty good shape so there is a lot in favor for keeping the car.  My concern is that we want it to be a car we'd keep for years. At this point I feel like I'd be taking a gamble on the trans.  I don't like gambling

A weird thing happened last night.  Started, idled, and then the dash lit up with CEL, traction light, and a "Hill start assist unavailable," message.  I shut the car off and then it wouldn't start back up or even crank.  With ignition on I could see the tripodometers and avg. mpg readout had reset to zero and if I put the trans in neutral a "transmission ready" message would show on the dash.  10 minutes later after multiple attempts the car started and everything was back to normal except for the reset trip computer.

It's definitely going to a dealer soon.  Fortunately I found out my father in law "knows a guy" at a nearby Ford dealer and highly recommends their service.

We hate ours now. They (Ford dealership) replaced the clutch at 51k and now it idles lika an Allis Chalmers. When told to resolve it they simply said no.

It will be someone else's problem soon enough.

BlueInGreen44 said:

A weird thing happened last night.  Started, idled, and then the dash lit up with CEL, traction light, and a "Hill start assist unavailable," message.  I shut the car off and then it wouldn't start back up or even crank.  With ignition on I could see the tripodometers and avg. mpg readout had reset to zero and if I put the trans in neutral a "transmission ready" message would show on the dash.  10 minutes later after multiple attempts the car started and everything was back to normal except for the reset trip computer.

It's definitely going to a dealer soon.  Fortunately I found out my father in law "knows a guy" at a nearby Ford dealer and highly recommends their service.

Got video?

My wife's 14 Focus started shuddering pretty bad at the 20k mile mark. 

A new Honda CRV fixed the problem entirely.

Update a few weeks later: The odd no start was a symptom of the 6 year old battery nearing the end of its service life. I should have expected that.

The transmission has stopped misbehaving too. My wife swears that the weather change makes it act up. That would be weird. It’s still going to the dealer for the door latch recall and some other little things and then I think we will be near the point where we make the decision to keep the car forever or sell/trade it for something different.

I’m sure I’ll start a new thread soon asking for advice and opinions regarding that decision.