2013 Ford Focus consumer reviews

Have a 2013 and I am setting at my good ford dealer waiting on y my 3rd transmission in a year. It's a shame cause I get excellent gas mileage whether in the city or highway. Will not recommend

I've had this car for about a year now with 78,000 km on it. I bought it used and sales man never advised me of the "automatic clutch". I've never been so frustrated with a transmission and the dealership. I have driven standard cars before and it feels like a first time driver attempting to switch gears. It stalls and crunches just before acceleration. Every time I sent it into service, Ford said "it is normal and needs an update". Overall, the car is super stylish and great on gas but the transmission was the worst idea Ford has ever come up with.

I rented one of these over the weekend. At first, I was horrified by the way it performed. I was sure somebody had trashed the tranny. Then I listened. This is a SIX SPEED transmission! It uses every gear in order to get the best mileage possible. If you learn to cooperate with the car instead of listening to your first stick shift, you can have an enjoyable ride. Here's where I got messed up in the beginning and I'm convinced you are too: The engine revs much higher than you expect and you let off on the accelerator. This causes the car to lurch forward. Then you press again. The cycle continues... A steady or slightly increasing pressure gives a smooth curve, but you MUST ignore the tachometer and your ears. When you want to stop accelerating, let off the gas completely. By doing this and using the cruise control as much as possible, I was able to achieve 38 MPG driving through winding, mountainous country roads (according to the car - on the last leg I refilled, drove 71 miles and filled again - 1.28g - you do the math). BTW, on that last leg I passed people 3 times on roads that require you to accelerate hard to pass. Learn the car and it will be good to you.

I just bought my focus about 2 months ago. It only had 15k miles on it. During test drive I noticed the jerking & mentioned it to salesman. Like all the others, I got the reply "it's normal, it will "break in" around 20k". I've never had a ford, their cars used to be junk, but I've had multiple people tell me they've come a long way. I liked the car & it was a good deal, so I figured I'd go for it. After 2 months of driving-No-this is not normal. It is like driving a standard...if you didn't know how to drive one. I got a new card for dependability. Now I'm not even sure I can rely on this one. I'm very curious if running the E85 has anything to do with the performance? I'm sure more run regular unleaded, I have been using the E85, about to switch to unleaded to test the theory. Have a feeling it won't make a difference.

I bought this car in April 2013 and I've only had one issue with it. It was shuddering and making grinding noises so I took it into my Ford dealership. They told me it was a recall issue with the clutch. I had no idea about this being a recall. They put a new clutch in and so far so good. I have 13,000 miles on it and other than the clutch issue I've had no other problems. It does seem to drive more like a manual even though it is an automatic. Love all the options that come with it...especially SYNC.

This car is the worse car I have ever bought in my life. When I was told that it had a Double Clutch Automatic Transmission, I should have walked away. Everyone told me how much they loved their Ford Focus so I went and bought a 2013 Ford Focus SE. I sent in traffic a lot because I drive back and forth from state to state. The transmission jerks and stalls out in the middle of traffic. This best way I can put this is it like riding with someone that does not know how to drive a manual transmission car. Going to see what my neighborhood Ford Dealership is going to tell me about taking it back. I am done with FORD!!!

Got a great deal on a lease on this car. other than the transmission making odd noises sometimes and it rolling backwards on hills its a pretty good car. always starts up and gets me places fun to drive. hate the placement of the cup holders horrible for short people cant even use the arm rest. not very roomy feel cramped with 5 people in it nowhere to put my handbag. Don't regret getting this car wayyyyy better than the falling apart Saturn Ion I used to have. also this thing does an amazing job driving in the snow!!

Transmission problems, just like many point out, make this car a poor choice. Transmission jerks, makes grinding noises, does not shift smoothly and rolls backwards. Ford tells me this is all normal. Car does not get mileage I hoped for. Had to trade it away for a Honda. Would not recommend this car.

Purchased our Focus in Aug. '13. Have over 17,000 at this point in time. Our 2001 Focus (over 200k of safe driving) was a good/safe car. The overarching problem with the '13 model, as noted by many Focus owners, is the transmission. As a driver for 44 years, I've never had a car/van/truck, drive like this bad Focus. As described by numerous owners, our car also skips, shakes, rattles and rolls. No transmission should behave this way. It's not reliable as we do not know what it will do while accelerating from a stop or a slow-down. This is also a safety issue as when the car acts this way, we have no control over its behavior and what action it will next take. A driver with no control over his vehicle!! Finally found a Ford dealer who is replacing transmission parts today. But even they say it's a temporary problem that will go away after the 'break in period.' They describe this time period as up to around 15k. I told them we're past 17k and it's no better. To them and other dealers and customer reps @ corporate Ford, I remind them that 90% of our driving is around town, and 100% of this driving includes the unreliable, unsafe transmission behavior. At this point, their eyes glaze over and they mumble the words that Ford requires of them. The corporate Ford customer service rep, has even told our dealer to not do work on our car; no problems he says even after we present our log of issues and concerns. Do not purchase the Ford Focus as it is a safety hazard for all!!

This is a fun little car and it is quite efficient. My personal current average fuel economy in very mixed driving is 31.7 MPG at about 17,000 miles put into the car. Even for a base model it still retains that stylish design. As for the interior I'm not a minimalist so I enjoy the dash and radio controls. I've taken much time to learn the controls and navigation through the Ford SYNC with MyFord system and it is not difficult to operate if you do so. Voice controls have been able to cooperate 100% of the time and makes the multitasking easier and the driving more fun for myself. 6 speakers because it is equipped with the SYNC system - sounds very nice with all of the different music I play. As for the dual-clutch transmission it has not given me any issues after adapting to newer driving habits. It's a bit difficult to explain how to drive to make the transmission shift smoothly but all I can tell you is keep your foot still - it doesn't like when you play around with the throttle, don't pump the acceleration pedal. Yes there are some shifting quirks here and there but once you've adapted to it, it's very fun and nimble. On this model there is only automatic windows in the front; the rear windows have the nostalgic manual crank. There is a USB port (SYNC USB) and an auxiliary jack (SYNC Line-In) and it operates well except for the few times it stopped working previously, nowadays I've had little to no problems. Steering wheel is comfortable and I love the setup of the radio, instrument panel, and voice controls on it. The interior is surprisingly comfortable and the engine is very quiet when at idle - a bit noisy, of course, when you're driving but I personally like the sound. One more plus from me is the integrated blind spot mirrors on the side view mirrors; it has been very useful so that I don't have to turn my entire head to look back most of the time (though I impulsively use the old look-back method, too). Overall, I've had minimal issues with this car so I value it high on my end. Thanks for reading.