I've read many articles about the dual-clutch automatic transmission used in the Fiesta and Focus and the myriad problems people have been reporting. I'm also aware of the class action suit against Ford for this issue.
I was just stating that yes, I've experienced some of the same stuttering, hesitation, and other problems being reported, but that in my experience my car has done everything I've asked it to do.
A year or two ago, I took it in for an unrelated fuel system recall and had the TCM flashed and upgraded.
The point I was trying to make is that other than oil changes, a new battery, and a new set of tires, my Focus has been solidly reliable. A month ago, during the Texas ice storm, the car started at 6°F and made its way through a foot of snow to and from work and through compacted snow and ice the following day.
I'm nearing 40,000 miles on a six year old car. I was rhetorically asking if I am just lucky or is my transmission a failure waiting to happen?
I say this with no hyperbole intended, but I'm really happy with my Focus.
I just got here, but suggest you re-read what AMC posted if it's not making sense right away.
I will try to give you the concise blanket answer you are looking for.
Yes your transmission is failing since you are experiencing those issues, so no you are not lucky. If the Ford mechanic tells you that is normal for these cars then they are full of crap and kicking the can down the road. If you replace your clutch the issues will go completely away until you get right back to where you are today in 4-6 years based on your driving habits.
I think you need to re-evaluate what you consider a failure of something mechanical, again re-read what AMC posted. Once a part is not working mechanically as designed it should be replaced. Do you have to replace? No. The issue here is we are talking about a transmission that let's your vehicle do the most basic needed task of movement vs something like a power window. Sure the window motor is struggling, but you can refrain from using it to avoid complete failure. if it fails completely you may have a window stuck in the down position. Quite a huge difference from being stranded on the side of the road, or side swiped in traffic because it hesitated a lot worse then you were ever used too.
Oh and your little comment about this being a whole forum dedicated to 'promoting' Focuses but crapping on Ford's DCT issue is ludicrous. The Focus has been around for a very long time, way before 2016. We may own the cars but we don't have to be complete enthusiast fan boys of the 'brand'. There are forums like these around for all makes and models of cars and they are not necessarily promoting the vehicle. Sometimes you simply need advice from other owners on fixing your car and that happens in places like these. Meetups, mod talk, etc, yeah that happens here too because where else? Before the internet it was a lot more legwork and referring to the chilton/haynes manuals. They made a crappy newer model and it's illogical for anyone to say it's good just because it's a Ford, Focus, or because they own it. If you want to fan boy this up by all means go ahead and do so, you won't find many people here doing the same because we all know Ford and their Focuses won't ever love us back like that.
I have a 07 Focus with over 80k miles on the transmission and have not experienced any of the issues owners of the newer models with the DCT report. If my car did I would be troubleshooting the transmission because something is obviously wrong and I wont stand for that from a purely safety perspective. When it comes time to replace my Car I am not going with a Ford. I don't need a bigger car and they are abandoning the small ones. Even if they still offered the small focus or fiesta I would probably not go with them because of the DCT issues. if I had a 2016 like you do with the issue starting I would be looking to trade it in asap before it completely fails if i could not get a good solution from the class action and/or just get ford to buy it back. It's going to cost me a lot of money either way.
