Once upon a time, Ford sold sedans and hatchbacks in America. The Fiesta and the Focus were two entry-level options that delivered good value and solid fuel economy, at the cost of catfish-like looks. Throughout the 2010s they stood as fantastic commuter cars for millions, while enthusiasts reveled in turbocharged, ST- and RS-badged performance models. I owned one, and I absolutely loved it.
But as the 2020s approached, a singular problem reportedly began to plague a great many of these otherwise pleasant hatchbacks and small sedans. Unless you were smart enough to opt for the stick shift, your Fiesta or Focus was equipped with a six-speed “Powershift” dual-clutch automatic transmission.
This gearbox was allegedly faulty, leading to a class-action lawsuit involving nearly two million current and former owners. Here’s how it went down.
The Legend Of Ford’s Economical Dual-Clutch Emerges
Ford’s intentions with the Powershift were pure, of course. Because there’s no torque converter to spin, dual-clutch transmissions often deliver slightly better fuel economy and quicker shifts versus a traditional automatic gearbox—the type of things you’d want in a car like a Focus.
Except, the Powershift also felt like a dual-clutch, rather than a torque-converter automatic. It slipped the clutch to get the car moving, and it shuddered when you crept in traffic. Sometimes, you’d have to put your foot on the gas to get rolling. It was like you were driving a Porsche with an early PDK with a lot of miles on it, except you were in an economy hatchback.
The transmission used a dry-clutch setup instead of a wet-clutch setup to keep efficiency up. That means the clutches operated independently of the transmission oil in a—you guessed it—dry environment, which means there was no fluid to dampen the gears’ engagement. This simply exacerbated the dual-clutchness of it all, leading to owners voicing concerns.
Where It All Went Wrong
I have an unusual amount of first-hand experience with these first-generation Powershift transmissions. My dad bought a 2014 Focus hatch new from the dealer, and while he liked the car, I slowly saw the joy from his eyes fade the more he drove it. He complained constantly about the transmission, noting its shuddering and rough shifts, especially at low speeds. I probably put around 1,000 miles on the car myself and had similar complaints. It often didn’t react how you wanted it to, and wasn’t ever consistent with its shifts or delivery.
And it’s not like replacing parts or changes in the software did much to help, at least according to Car and Driver:
Owners have reported replacing clutches, output shafts, and entire transmissions. They’ve come back for software updates. More often than not, as described by owners we’ve spoken to and on forums across the internet, the problems reappear even after service technicians claim the transmission is within normal factory limits.
All of this culminated in a 2017 class-action lawsuit affecting roughly 1.6 million current and 400,000 former owners of 2011-2016 Fiestas and 2012-2016 Focuses equipped with the Powershift transmission. Ford eventually settled in 2020, giving beneficiaries the option to sell their car back to Ford, receive a cash payment up to $2,325, or receive a discount certificate of up to $4,650 on the purchase of a new Ford, depending on each owner’s situation, according to the settlement’s official website. The Detroit Free Press reported back in 2020 that the settlement payout could eventually exceed $100 million, depending on how many people step up and make a claim.
And as Car and Driver points out, this wasn’t the only lawsuit Ford had to deal with regarding the Powershift. The company also had to pay out 291 owners in Thailand a combined $720,000 over the same problems. Unlike the settlement in America, Ford issued a formal apology to its affected Thai customers, according to Detroit News:
We apologize for the inconvenience caused by the Powershift transmission problems and we reiterate that we will work earnestly to take responsibility for fixing them according to our customer service procedures.
Though Ford never formally admitted fault for the transmission’s problems, an investigation published in 2019 by the Detroit Free Press claimed the company knew of the gearbox’s flaws, yet continued to sell them anyway. From the report:
A high-level, confidential analysis by Ford in 2012 acknowledged rushing the cars to production, taking shortcuts to save money and apparently compromising quality protocols instituted with fanfare by then-CEO Alan Mulally. That review, obtained by the Free Press, also said the transmissions would be phased out and a different technology used going forward, but that didn’t happen. The Focus went out of production after the 2018 model year; the 2019 Fiesta is the last of the line.
By the time of the 2012 review, which was labeled “Lessons Learned,” Ford had sold more than half a million of the cars.
“There is no fix at this time,” system testing engineer Tom Hamm wrote separately in an October 2012 email to four colleagues. “We have a task force working on the issue but they haven’t identified any fixes at this time.”
By then, Ford had known for some time that the transmissions had significant problems.
So What Happened to These Cars?
Of course, because there was never a huge recall or crushing campaign, many of these Fiestas and Focuses still exist on the roads today. Ford sold hundreds of thousands of each model, and a quick perusal of Facebook Marketplace in my area lists dozens as running and driving just fine, despite a real, concrete fix never being issued.
I get asked all the time about beater car or commuter car recommendations, and oftentimes I want to recommend something like a Focus or Fiesta of this era. They look fine, and the interior is a perfectly nice place to spend an hour-long commute. Plus, they’re small, maneuverable, and fuel-efficient. With prices (at least in my area) hovering between $4,000 and $7,000 for Focuses and Fiestas of varying miles, they’re super tempting. But knowing this transmission issue exists, I can’t possibly tell someone it’s worth the trouble. And that’s a shame. An otherwise lovely duo of small, affordable cars made essentially useless.
Years after my dad sold his Focus, my uncle picked up a version of the same car, just in red instead of black. While he never complained about how it drove, he remarked about having a tough time selling it because people would constantly try to lowball him over the perceived transmission problems. In the end, he ended up keeping it. I wonder how many other owners have faced the same hardships.
The Best Solution Is Also The Most Enjoyable
By now, I’m sure you’re screaming into your screen about how whoever wants one of these cars should just buy a manual version. I agree! I learned to drive on a friend’s five-speed 2012 Focus sedan; it was an excellent car. I’ve also spent some time in a base, manual Fiesta, and it was lovely. But this is America, which means most people don’t want to row their own gears. Manual versions are slightly harder to find, and because they don’t have the Powershift’s issues, they’re usually priced slightly higher. It shouldn’t be that way.
There’s another side to this coin, obviously, if you are willing to row your own gears. The base cars are great, but personally, I’d always spring for an ST model. I bought a Fiesta ST new and drove it throughout college. I took it to autocross events, rallycross events, track days, and even ice racing. Not only was it great to drive, but it never once gave me even a hint of any problems (being a new car, I didn’t expect it to).
These days, used Fiesta STs and Focus STs are dangerously affordable. Clean, later-year cars painted in a cool color with the desirable Recaro buckets can be had for around $15,000. If you’re the type who doesn’t care about the number on the odometer, clean-title, running Fiesta STs can be had for as little as $6,000. Focus STs are similarly priced. This one has just 78,000 miles on the clock, and it can be yours for under $9,000. For being world-class hot hatches, these prices are enticing. From a fun-per-dollar perspective, I’d wager the STs are right up there with most Miatas.
There’s also the Focus RS. The all-wheel drive super-hatch ended up dealing with a manufacturing debacle of its own involving incorrect headgaskets, and while most of the cars were fixed via a recall issued by Ford, it still carries the weight of that reputation. Still, they’re excellent cars. For around 20 grand for an average example with 100,000 miles on the clock, the Focus RS isn’t nearly as affordable or value-for-money oriented, but I wouldn’t dismiss it if you were in the market for a proper, supercar-hunting canyon carver.
My whole point here is, if you or your loved one is considering a used Focus or Fiesta, buy one with a third pedal. Otherwise, you may regret it.
Top graphic images: Ford
Had a ’12 SE manual hatch and a ’16 ST. The SE was Corolla-reliable until it was totaled with a little over 200k miles on it, but it looked, drove, handled, and felt better than a Corolla, was cheaper, faster, and got better mileage. Looked and drove like a quarter that, which was a welcome surprise after the Mazda3 that felt EoL and was starting to rot with under 170k. Nothing but routine maintenance, and little at that. Only sort of odd thing was a bad wheel bearing at about 50k. Even when it was totaled (by two cars rear-ending it in under 24 hours), it drove off the top of the Camry that hit it the second time and made it back to my house while the Camry was dead on the scene. Only drivability annoyance was the throttle calibration. I had to kind of pump it to move cleanly off the line, but I got used to it pretty quickly (and had to relearn in other cars). Lifetime average mileage driving through Boston traffic was about 36.
The ST was likewise bulletproof and felt more special than just an SE with extra power, but the closed deck 4 Ecoboost has an Achille’s heel (don’t they all?) where coolant eventually leaks into cylinders 2 and/or 3 seeming like a bad head gasket or turbo water seal failure, but it’s a problem with the cooling passage either in the head or block where the official Ford remedy is engine replacement. Mine made it to just about 180k, though even blowing a cloud like Aeolus, it didn’t get hot and used surprisingly little coolant. I was pissed though, as the engine was perfect to that point, had a beefy bottom end and a closed deck which I thought would preclude HG issues. Lifetime average mileage was about 30.
I test drove the Powershift, as I had to special order a manual, and didn’t think it was bad, but then I hate modern automatics and feel like they’re frequently shifting some way I don’t want them to. Didn’t feel any shuddering off the line, but I drove it like I do a manual and I didn’t expect it to creep.
Ford KNEW these transmissions sucked but kept selling them anyway. What was wrong with a regular automatic again? If the excuse was mpg, the EPA should give them a 10-mpg penalty, and Ford should be required to replace every single PowerShit with a regular automatic.
The best part is that after Ford stopped selling the Focus over here, the Mk4 got a regular torque converter automatic, including the ST.
They used the PowerShit on purpose to sabotage small cars over here because they really only want to sell the F150.
You cannot put a DCT in D and expect it to drive like a regular car. Driving a DCT REQUIRES the use of the paddles to get anything good from it. Honda made a DCT with a torque converter, and it’s better, but still not as good as a regular automatic.
They replaced it and the Fiesta with that abominable shitbox, the Ecosport. They legit thought they’d get Focus money for a shittier Fiesta. To my shock, as I usually don’t think it’s possible to underestimate peoples’ intelligence, not many were fooled.
The Germans seem to be able to make perfectly fine DCTs. I think it’s really just a Ford (and Kia/Hyundai) problem. So, really, it’s a dry-clutch problem.
It’s not clear to me why anyone anywhere has ever thought that a dry-clutch DCT is a good idea after it was tried once.
I don’t know of any FWD-based DCT that has a flawless reputation, including the Germans. Some things should just be for RWD.
One of my greatest car-owning days was the one where Carvana’s janky algorithm gave me an offer of $4500 for my 2013 Focus Auto with 120,000 miles and non-functional electronic power steering (I did select “electronics issue” but there was nowhere to provide more details – I’ll bet there is now!) and they actually honored it!
Hated that transmission with a passion. Don’t think I made a right turn on red for about 5 years because you never knew when it would stumble.
My co-worker’s mother-in-law had a Fiesta with the now infamous PowerShift transmission. He was tasked with driving it every once in a while since his mother-in-law didn’t drive it much.
One day he had it at work and he asked me about odd driving behaviour of the car. I asked him if I could take it for a spin around the neighbourhood to see what he meant. Within 10 feet of driving the car I knew something was seriously wrong with it, so I told him to get his mother-in-law to take it to the dealership for repair because it should still be under warranty.
I believe Ford replaced her transmission. Several years later the class action lawsuit came out revealing how problematic that transmission was.
I once had a friend ask me to drive a Focus Titanium with PowerShift across the country in lieu of paying for shipping it. I considered it but a short drive in the car made me decide against it. It was that bad. And I’ve had other friends whose Focus was mercifully totaled in an accident.
The ST is great, but before long it will be tough to find one without mods and/or a ton of miles. I’m not a fan of the tacky interior, but it’s easily the best Focus. The RS is a hoot but as a daily driver it’s got a few drawbacks.
There’s more than just the transmission wrong with these.
Do tell, because my stickshift Focus was terrrific.
I assume the Focus was the same as the Fiesta, but my buddy’s stick Fiesta had a bunch of issues. Mostly related to the infotainment system being nonfunctional.
Well that’d suck, for sure. My old Focus’ infotainment was a bit kludgy but it got the job done.
I daily an OG manual Focus sedan, and she’s fantastic. Sure, luxury appointments aren’t her bag, but the driving dynamics are fantastic. The manual is, I believe, a Ford MTX-75, which is a great all-arounder.
Yeah, it’s a shame about the trans because these are decent cars otherwise. I’m a fan of hatchbacks like this (my previous run of daily drivers were Protege 5, SVT Focus, Mazdaspeed 3) and have historically been a fan of Ford products so when I was shopping for another used car in this segment (but with better MPGs) a couple of years ago I seriously looked at the Focus.
I only wanted a manual trans, so no issues with the PowerShit there, but as you said manual trans cars were hard to find, usually base models without the options I wanted, and selling for a premium. So I ended up with a 2015 Mazda 3 Touring 5-door MT6 instead.
great choice
For a short time, used manuals were a steal because the DCT trashed the reputation, but people figured it out and they’re weren’t that many of them out there.
New ones too. I bought a new 2014 Fiesta base hatch with a 5 manual. By then the DCT issue was apparent to the public, so Ford was offering rebates on all Fiestas. The manual was a -1300.00 delete on the sticker, followed by I believe 1200.00 rebate, plus a 500.00 discount received int he mail if I bought another Ford (had a 2007 Focus), and another 1000.00 rebate if I financed part with Ford credit. Brand new car for $12,925.00 without trade in. Fun to drive, 36 mpg, comfy on long trips, best car I ever had. Wanted to buy another one, or a Focus along as manual transmissions. Too bad for Ford.
Yeah, even after my ST blew up, I would have considered a Mk4 if they had sold it here (they changed the engine). Luckily the GR86 had just come out, so I bought that instead.
I bought my Focus SE first year it was out and had to special order it and I still only paid a couple hundred over $20k with sunroof, sport package, and 17″ wheels. The ST was even more a steal as it was $23k and change, but I heard of people who got them for even cheaper than that. What bothers me is they had the fundamentals down so well for the Focus and Fiesta, but they had to “Ford” them.
The good ol’ PowerShift. Single-handedly killing Ford cars in the US and Canada. The Focus and Fiesta were everywhere then nowhere once the transmission inevitably failed. I still see first gen Cruzes regularly but never Foci or Fiestas.
Had a focus ST, tuned, lowered, all the crap. Loved that car but had to sell it. Some guy bought it for his 17 year old son andddd I got a call a month later from a dealer saying they had it in their bay totaled and did I know the code on the door.
I think the problems were limited to the autos. The regular version of these sucked, but the ST’s and RS were the shit.
I knew a few people that had these. They seemed to be sold on the transmission as an asset they thought it was F1 tech or something. One girl made me drive hers because she claimed I would love it. It was a jarring experience. I asked her if it always drove like that she said yes because it has the “race transmission”. You could tell it wasn’t right and would probably fail. It ended up spending more time at the dealer then on the road not long after that. I think she is the only person I that ended up with another ford after ownering one of those. It was only because the dealer she bought it from didn’t sell many of those as they mainly sell trucks and SUVs so they gave her a deal on something else I think after it’s 3rd replacement transmission.
I loved my 2014 Focus ST, drove it for seven years without a single issue until the sunroof leaked in a car wash the week I was going to list it online. Dealership paid me handsomely anyways as this was 2021 and shit was bleak in the market. I think about picking up a cheap Fiesta ST from time to time, they’re fun as could be for a daily driver.
I went to the Ford Driving school in Utah, and the hertz at the airport had a fiesta ST, you had to ask for it. Got the lowdown from the forum guys and got it reserved. It was fun as hell, I almost liked it more than the Focus ST.
I bought a Fiesta ST and it included the Driving School, but the fuckers gave me less than a month notice of when it was scheduled so I couldn’t take off work.
I turned it into my honey moon ha! I owe my wife a big trip for our 10 year next year.
I once flew into ATL at 1:30am and when I went to pick my midsized SUV my company reserved they were out of cars essentially and only had a manual ND Miata. They tried to apologize profusely, and I tried everything I could to see if they mark my account somehow so if a manual was available I’d get first dibs. From that point on I only got the boringest of cars oddly, never a manual…
My sister has a 16 focus SE with the 2.0 NA and five speed manual. Has put over 100k on it (has roughly 130k now). GREAT car. Absolutely fun to drive. It’s a shame the slush boxes ruined these cars.
The manuals are excellent!!
Knew multiple people who had these with the auto, they were absolute junk. One guy was fortunate enough to have his totaled and got something else, after a complete transmission replacement under warranty didn’t solve the problem. His Mom still has hers as far as I know, and it’s repeatedly been back to the shop. There simply isn’t a fix.
Ford in general is just egregiously bad quality these days. My MIL’s 2018 Escape had its engine blow with less than 75K miles on the clock. They were lucky that they’d opted for the extended warranty, because it was replaced at a cost of $8,500. My friend’s girlfriend was not so lucky. Her 2017 Escape just had its engine blow, again right around 75K miles. She does not have the warranty and Ford is refusing to help her. She’s facing that repair cost and still owes a good deal of money on the car, so that’s fun for her.
I’m sorry, this kind of stuff is just inexcusable for a modern car. It’s not 1985 anymore, 100K is break-in mileage for a modern engine. The fact that Ford refuses to own up to its mistakes and stand behind its products just adds insult to injury. I would not touch a Ford product with a ten foot pole. It’s like they never left the “malaise era” behind. There are few automakers with worse quality, even Stellantis seems like it’s doing better.
My dad bought me a Ford in 1984. I haven’t owned one since.
Ford’s got the action! Class action!
I don’t think there’s ever been anything Ford has done in their litany of mistakes that has permanently turned off customers from buying another one of their products than this transmission. I know of 3 people that simply will never ever ever buy anything else made by them. Most pissed off friend wasn’t even eligible for the class action lawsuit as he traded it in too quickly after the 4th time the transmission died so he also lost a lot of money before it was known these were crap.
My son bought a used ’14 Powershift Focus during the height of market dysfunction when the dealers held all the cards. It replicated a 16-year-old just learning to drive stick. It went through one major, expensive, and marginally effective repair before it was mercifully totaled in an accident.
I love my Focus ST and it’s been a fantastic all-around vehicle. The Fiesta is a great vehicle too, but if you’re using it as a DD, the Focus is infinitely more comfortable. If you want a very inexpensive auto-x or weekend carver, I think the Fiesta is better at that, but the Focus does it everything else much better.
Same goes for regular Focus/Fiestas as well.
I test-drove a new Fiesta in 2011 and was immediately thrown off by how bad the transmission was. It slammed into gear from every dead stop, throttle-induced downshifts were also extremely harsh, and when cruising, it felt like it was coming in and out of gear.
I told the salesperson that there must be something wrong with it, and he was like, “Nope, that’s just how the DCTs feel.” And I was like, “Nope, I’m not buying this car.”
I made the right choice and bought a Scion xB instead, which gave me nearly 10 years and 200k miles of trouble-free service.
Having owned a Powershift Focus before, I’ll honestly say that the driving experience is perfectly fine as long as you tend to actively pay attention to the way it behaves. A lot of the things that annoyed me about it just seemed to go away after a couple weeks of ownership, as my driving habits changed and I learned to work with it.
Still though, one of my better financial decisions was getting rid of it before anything major broke lol
Agreed. I rented one once and I thought it was kind of fun. It felt like what I’d imagine a clutchless manual like a Saab Sensonic would feel like as you could perceive the car changing gears while clutching in and out for you. It was a very tactile-feeling automatic, and probably similar to drive to the AMTs that many smaller European cars have. I didn’t find it particularly erratic, but you did have to get used to it and predict its behavior. It shifted a lot better if you lifted off between gear changes, but that’s probably not something most expect to do in an auto.
I shudder (lol) to think of the cost of upkeep though, especially on that rental example. One thing that was particularly unfortunate for them is that Americans like automatics that creep, and those creep by just slipping the clutches indefinitely.
I owned a 2011 Fiesta from 47K to 88K miles and never had issues with the DCT but I also consider myself lucky more than anything else.
It was very competent at constant HWY speeds and when stomping on the gas, but it made me cringe in stop and go traffic. The other Fiesta we owned with a 5 spd was much better and sold with 145K miles in it. It just had a super short gear ratio so it would scream at 80 and above
I was just thinking about this the other day. I’ve lost count of how many people I’ve told to avoid automatic Focuses/Fiestas in their search for an inexpensive used car. It’s just become default advice. I drove a Powershift equipped Fiesta for maybe five minutes and I understand why people are pissed. When taking off from a stop it was like a coin toss if the car would accelerate or not.
A good friend of mine had a stick base Focus hatch for a couple years, and despite the transmission being faultless, he still had it down for several weeks due to a fuel tank recall. I have truly never met a single person with a modern Ford that hasn’t had some abhorrent issue with their car before it’s 10th birthday or 6-figure mileage. I just don’t understand why anyone puts up with it, Ford products are just not designed or assembled well.
Fusions weren’t nearly that bad, and I had a ’10 Focus built on the old platform, which were very solid. The Duratec engine is really quite good, and the old 4-spd automatics were fine and even had transmission coolers. I remember looking at Focus hatchbacks around ’13, you could get a nicely trimmed SE spec for very reasonable money, but word about the transmissions had already gotten out. It’s a shame because the handling was every bit as good as a Mazda3 (which I also owned, 1st Gen). In a job I had from 14-17 we had a base trim auto Focus sedan in the pool and I drove it a few times. Once I was accelerating (modestly) on the highway and suddenly it was like somebody threw it into neutral. I put it in neutral, then back in drive and it was ok. But it was very herky-jerky and the guy who drove it the most hated it. Ford could have performed triage and substituted a different transmission during the multi-year production run, but they didn’t- and just kept claiming software tweaks fixed the problem, or, they blamed the user. It’s a shame.
I believe they paired a regular 6 spd with the very few ones they sold with the 1.0 Ecoboost. They addressed the transmission on that one but messed up with an oil bathed timing belt design. So I guess you’re still much better with a 2.0 engine, manual car.
I had a Focus auto as a rental and I HATED IT. I could not imagine living with it on a daily basis. Everything about the car was very nice except the transmission but that part kind of matters.
The manual versions of the non-ST cars are CHEAP due to the automatics being unreliable. Awesome used buy (as long as you avoid the 3 cyl EB).
“Hey look I bought the one with the good transmission so it’ll be reliable!”
*Wet-belt EcoBoost skips time immediately*
Yeah honestly those three-cylinders should have an Achilles Heel of their own written for them
Lewin did write an article about a year ago discussing why so many people hate wet timing belts, but the 1.0 EB only had a slight mention. Shame too given how well reviewed that engine was on debut, even dooming Clarkson to making it into Chernobyl due to it being so good on fuel.
Won some big engine of the year award…if only they had a crystal ball back then.
true, it was on Ward’s Best 10 engines at least once.
I considered a Focus ST back in early 2014 when I was looking for something fun. Ended up with a new Abarth 500 that needed a new axle or two in 7 years of fun.
Did the Focus sedan use the same transmission? A friend had one when we first became friends and he had plenty of transmission problems, ended up trading it in finally.
Yes. The Fiesta, Focus, and EcoSport used the same Getrag DCT that are all covered by the recall.
I bought a Fiesta ST in January 2015. Hit 100k this summer.
The North American market Ecosport never used the DCT. What puzzled me a bit is they never got that 6F transmission in the 2.0 Focus while they did for the lower volume Ecosport.