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EnginePart report

2013 Ford Focus Engine Problems

Complaints
344about this part
Share
16%of 2,112 total for the year
Median mileage
49,528miles
Trend
FallingComplaints filed in the last 3 full calendar years are at least 25% lower than in the 3 years before.

NHTSA recorded 344 complaints about the engine of the 2013 Ford Focus, 16% of the 2,112 complaints for this model year. Where a mileage was given, the median is 49,528 miles. 7 of these say a crash was involved and 6 a fire, according to the filers.

Example complaints

Selected from NHTSA records; personal details are removed. They are consumer reports, not findings.

“My car is having issues shifting. It is an automatic car. There is issues accelerating. When stopped I hit the gas pedal and its fine until it shifts, then the car stalls for a few seconds and then catches up. It does this every time it goes to shift gears until about 35 MPH. It is out of warranty to fix the transmission, but it posses a huge safety risk.”

NHTSA complaint #11307933, filed 2020-02, 165,000 miles

“The transmission has been giving us problems since we got the vehicle. Right now, it is again in the shop. It is repaired and then there is another problem with the same system. When we take it into the shop, numerous problems show up. We have had the vehicle for only a little over a year so it would seem to indicate that there are serious problems.”

NHTSA complaint #11210151, filed 2019-05, 75,000 miles

“I was driving on the freeway at the posted speed of 65 MPH when the car engine RPM dropped to 2000 and then back up to 4000 the car immediately slowed to 50 MPH causing traffic behind me to slam in their brakes. The car wouldn't shift to speed up causing me to pull over and creep to a gas station.”

NHTSA complaint #11405231, filed 2021-03, 187,000 miles

“On my way from work went to leave and press gas paddle car. Act like it speed up hill . Car start stuttering making a grinding noise jerking. Got half way home it start smoking. . When I first bought car I had to put in shop because of transmission problems it one thing after another ive done already had several recalls done on it. Now its given me more problems. Always on the high way”

NHTSA complaint #11308278, filed 2020-02, 154,000 miles

“I was driving away from my boyfriends house heading to the interstate 95 . As I was driving I noticed white smoke coming out of the dashboard, I the car around and headed back to my boyfriends house, I put the car in park and jumped out, my boyfriend came outside and he was able to put the fire out.”

NHTSA complaint #11320363, filed 2020-04, 125,000 miles

Related service bulletins

Engine: other model years

YearComplaintsShare of year
201823228%
201723026%
201623420%
201517317%
201444217%
201334416%
201247513%
201133%
20104215%
2009167%
2008146%
200762%
200621%
2005112%
2004133%
2003182%
2002162%
2001322%
2000160%

Other parts of the 2013 Ford Focus

Transmission and drivetrain
1,102 complaintsElectrical system
276 complaintsSteering
273 complaintsFuel system
263 complaintsOther or unknown
198 complaintsVehicle speed control
112 complaintsBody and structure
84 complaintsLatches, locks and linkages
53 complaintsElectronic stability control
36 complaintsVisibility (wipers, defrost, mirrors)
29 complaintsAir bags
26 complaintsBrakes
24 complaints

← All problems reported for the 2013 Ford Focus

About this data. Data from NHTSA (ODI) complaints, recalls, TSBs and investigations, updated Oct 27, 2026. Complaints are unverified consumer reports and may be duplicated or inaccurate.

To check a specific vehicle for open recalls, use its VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls. Methodology