all vehicles · every Focus year · method

Ford Focus 2015

Safety complaints filed by owners in the first three years, per 1,000 sold.

0.64 per 1,000

0.8 times this nameplate’s own median · from 134 complaints filed in the first three years, of 1033 ever. 95% lower bound 0.53.

Against its own model years

The model year carries far more information than the badge, so this is the comparison that matters.

Model year	Per 1,000	Complaints
2008	0.23	46
2009	0.30	53
2010	0.47	78
2011	0.13	23
2012	3.11	655
2013	2.75	661
2014	3.29	748
2015	0.64	134
2016	0.83	154
2017	1.08	176
2018	0.99	134

What owners describe

Phrases over-represented in these complaints compared with the same component on every other vehicle. Counts are complaints containing the phrase.

Power Train 563 complaints

clutch	234	41%
transmission clutch	59	11%
hotline	48	9%
tcm	47	8%
shudder	47	8%
shuddering	43	8%

Engine 176 complaints

transmission	65	37%
clutch	37	21%
gears	20	12%
reverse	17	10%
purge	14	8%
purge valve	13	8%

Fuel/Propulsion System 141 complaints

transmission	32	23%
valve	29	21%
purge	28	20%
purge valve	25	18%
stalling	19	14%
clutch	18	13%

When it breaks

23% of reported failures happened before 30,000 miles (median 60,000 miles, from 675 complaints that recorded one).

Failures arrive late and spread out, which looks like wear. Service history matters more than model year here.

What NHTSA did

6 investigations covering this model year, 3 of which list a recall campaign.

Timing Belt Failure

What owners and forums say

Not built yet. This panel is meant to carry community sentiment beside the filed-complaint data, so the two can be compared. Showing something weaker here would defeat its purpose.

Check this yourself

Example records behind this page:

10724651 · 10726342 · 10730238 · 10730403 · 10730934 · 10745386

Limits of this figure. It counts safety complaints filed with the federal government, which is a floor on failures and not a census: problems that only cost money are under-reported. Complaint rates also reflect how likely a brand’s owners are to file, which cannot be separated from how often the car fails. Sales are calendar-year and the denominator for this nameplate is automated checks only, not verified against an external source.