My 2012 focus just hit 11k miles on it and I see a lot of people on here complaining about transmission issues. Also, at the ford dealership I work at they are in there constantly for transmission problems in fact right now there is 6 of them waiting to be looked at. Anyway, I'm trying to decide if it's a concern at the rate i'm putting miles on the car @ 6k a year if it's something I should worry about having bad transmission problems about the time the warranty runs out. Or if i should consider trading in the car and maybe avoid the issue all together I've been looking at a Fusion.
How wide spread is DCT issue?
Focus_2012
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My 2012 focus just hit 11k miles on it and I see a lot of people on here complaining about transmission issues. Also, at the ford dealership I work at they are in there constantly for transmission problems in fact right now there is 6 of them waiting to be looked at. Anyway, I'm trying to decide if it's a concern at the rate i'm putting miles on the car @ 6k a year if it's something I should worry about having bad transmission problems about the time the warranty runs out. Or if i should consider trading in the car and maybe avoid the issue all together I've been looking at a Fusion.
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Thank you for the input, Well right now I can trade in my focus and break even on the loan. Then I can get 6k off of sticker of the fusion i'm looking at. But I also hate to owe more money over all but I also don't want to own a car that i regret keeping due to problems with it.
Here is my take on the DCT issues:
1. Everyone is right. There are people with absolutely terrible DCTs. There are people with perfect DCTs. All of the DCTs have some quirks that some people might see as being "broken": think grinding sound at low speed 1-2 shift.
2. Some DCTs will probably fail early. This is true of just about any transmission. There are some that get through quality control or maybe have something happen in use that cause them to fail early. Other DCTs will last longer than the rest of the car. At this point its too early to say if these DCTs have a higher failure rate than other transmissions - or maybe Ford knows but we don't.
3. Some people love their DCT some people hate it. (See #1 above). Everyone is right. I love mine. I can see why some people might hate it. When I drive a slushbox now, I hate that because it doesn't feel like a real car. Other people feel the opposite, we're all right.
How to decide on the future of your car:
1. Do you like it?
2. Is it important to you to have a car on warranty?
3. How much can you afford to trade it in/get a new car? It's almost always cheaper to keep the car you have than to get a new one?
For me it's like this:
1. I love the car. It has some rattles that bug me. I love that it has a lot of pep.
2. Mine is off warranty and i'm ok with that i guess.
3. I could probably afford to trade it in, but I don't really want to deal with dealerships/hassle, etc. and I like it.
That's my take on the DCT issues. I will probably get flamed for this.
1. Everyone is right. There are people with absolutely terrible DCTs. There are people with perfect DCTs. All of the DCTs have some quirks that some people might see as being "broken": think grinding sound at low speed 1-2 shift.
2. Some DCTs will probably fail early. This is true of just about any transmission. There are some that get through quality control or maybe have something happen in use that cause them to fail early. Other DCTs will last longer than the rest of the car. At this point its too early to say if these DCTs have a higher failure rate than other transmissions - or maybe Ford knows but we don't.
3. Some people love their DCT some people hate it. (See #1 above). Everyone is right. I love mine. I can see why some people might hate it. When I drive a slushbox now, I hate that because it doesn't feel like a real car. Other people feel the opposite, we're all right.
How to decide on the future of your car:
1. Do you like it?
2. Is it important to you to have a car on warranty?
3. How much can you afford to trade it in/get a new car? It's almost always cheaper to keep the car you have than to get a new one?
For me it's like this:
1. I love the car. It has some rattles that bug me. I love that it has a lot of pep.
2. Mine is off warranty and i'm ok with that i guess.
3. I could probably afford to trade it in, but I don't really want to deal with dealerships/hassle, etc. and I like it.
That's my take on the DCT issues. I will probably get flamed for this.
I fully agree with what gkirk wrote,,,,,spot on analysis. I have a '12 DCT and have had zero problems with it, my sister also has a '12 titanium DCT with zero issues and she lives in suburban NYC with tons of stop n go traffic. It is the luck of the draw unfortunately, and i acknowledge some owners have horrible problems but that can happen with any tranny. Ive a friend who had a prev gen focus with an auto and it often gave him issues with sloppy or abrupt shifts, etc. personally if i had to do it over again id get a manual as i prefer that to an automatic. I was swayed by advertising to get the DCT and , while not too disappointed, do find it has 'around town' quirks, tho on the open road its fantastic.
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My car as of right now has only experienced a few occasional signs of what people report but from what I've seen i'm unsure as to how long this car will last.
I hate to say it, but 90% of posts I've seen here about the DCT failing, come from people with the 2012 model. If I were you, I think the smart move would be trading it in before the warranty expires. My 2014 has been fine, but it's only at 5k miles.
That's my 2 cents.
That's my 2 cents.
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IIRC the drivetrain warranty for yours was extended to 5/100, so it's not urgent to make a decision.
Trading while still under warranty is prob. a good idea for any car if worries about what might go wrong are an issue.
First year DCT could be a problem down the road, or it may not be - some are over 100,000 without issues while others have had multiple problems, and not just DCT.
Working in a Dealership puts you in a good position to see a good deal when it comes along, planning ahead to take advantage when you see what you want at some time in the future might be the best course for you. It's an individual decision for sure.
Luck
Trading while still under warranty is prob. a good idea for any car if worries about what might go wrong are an issue.
First year DCT could be a problem down the road, or it may not be - some are over 100,000 without issues while others have had multiple problems, and not just DCT.
Working in a Dealership puts you in a good position to see a good deal when it comes along, planning ahead to take advantage when you see what you want at some time in the future might be the best course for you. It's an individual decision for sure.
Luck
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I'm sure that the high % of '12 failures are just because they are getting up there in miles, from what I can tell, there are two high probability points for DCT failure: within ~5k miles of purchase and ~35k of purchase. But generally, the '14 seems to be better.
To the OP: I think it's definitely personal preference. The tradeoffs are pretty even in my eyes between the two, but if the deciding factor is the longevity of the car and taking the lower risk on having issues, then the peace of mind will probably be worth the trade.
While I see post after post of people who swear up one side and down the other that the percentage of cars with a problem is really really small, when you talk to techs at dealers they say they do many of these a week and parts are on constant back-order. Those facts don't really jibe for me.
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If there's still 0% financing out there, I would go for it, especially if you get A or D Plan pricing. Yes, there will be an uptick on what you owe, but you're getting a lot more car that will no doubt suit you needs longer and most importantly, a more reliable tranny with the 6 speed. If you're having doubts now about the DCT, chances are they aren't going to go away and you may start obsessing about it, which will drive you nuts.
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Thanks for the input, you guys have been a great help in making my decision.
First you have cut through the nonsense (and there is a lot of that here) and fully understand the issues with the DCT.
The suggestions that they "fail" for no known reason and that it's simply luck of the draw (as to whether or not you will experience problems) is absurd.
Keep in mind that the "gearbox" has proven itself to be very reliable up until now.
The root cause of most problems are related only to the clutches not engaging smoothly.
If you have a 2012, the known issues are:
1) A defective (leaking) oil seal, which can contaminate the clutch assembly.
2) Half-baked firmware (which can easily be upgraded).
Unfortunately, many of the "complaints" are the result of bad service.
Conversely, many that have had issues and have gotten good service are now happy with their DCT.
My point is this:
How can you possibly make an informed and intelligent decision without a full understanding of the (potential) issues with your transmission?
The decision as to whether or not to keep your car is yours to make.
Ignorance clearly does not work in your favor.
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I once was in the hunt for an MK3 because my dealer offered a straight trade for my car for a DCT 2012. I drove some that were great, some that were bad. The biggest thing I noticed was the way it drove rather than if it had problems or not. Some hated rolling traffic, jumpy, spuratic, hesitant, where some drove fine but shifted different than my conventional 4 speed auto. I know a lot of people with Foci that don't give two shits into modding cars, have DCT's and all of them say their car is not problematic or even has a single issue. My bet is some of the problems is made up in their head, they want it to have a problem so it does, when really it drives like any other DCT. For instance, my mom drives a DCT SmartCar, to me it drives weird, but before I joined the forums I really liked it honestly. The human mind is weird, take that into consideration before trading in. I am not saying the DCT doesn't have problems, what I am saying is have a friend drive it, if they say it is weird, quirky, problematic then maybe think about trading it of course dependent on financial situations.
If you had driven one with real problems, you would know it. There is no "maybe" when it is shuddering, bucking, hesitating and grinding.
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I'm not saying there is not a real problem in some of them, but I also do not believe that 90% of DCT owners have a problem like the DCT owners on this site. Literally almost every DCT owner on this site complains about something with their trans, where I know at least 10 people, including my parents who have DCT Focus that do not have a single problem, not a single person I know personally that is not on this forum/is on this forum [
][][][][][][] about their DCT. If I was looking for a Focus and saw this Forum I would run, and probably never buy another Ford product ever again. Good thing I bought my Focus first and joined the forum second is all I am going to say.
][][][][][][] about their DCT. If I was looking for a Focus and saw this Forum I would run, and probably never buy another Ford product ever again. Good thing I bought my Focus first and joined the forum second is all I am going to say.
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How do you know if the firmware on your vehicle is up to date and does the dealership update it free of charge?
I've been in a few that have done the shuddering, bucking, hesitating and grinding that you speak of and my car has experienced all of these at some point in time but it's not a all the time situation and not sure if that would fall under normal behavior or if the firmware or something needs to be updated.
I've been in a few that have done the shuddering, bucking, hesitating and grinding that you speak of and my car has experienced all of these at some point in time but it's not a all the time situation and not sure if that would fall under normal behavior or if the firmware or something needs to be updated.
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My car does all that with a traditional auto, when I make U-Turns sometimes it doesn't go all the way then hits and goes, it shudders in fourth some times, and bucks through slow traffic....
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That seems unusual for a traditional automatic.
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I haven't driven a single auto that hasn't done all of that time to time. I guess I just notice it more since I am constantly worried about my trans, and curious to compare Trans's with other cars, even my dad's 2012 Fusion does it every once in a while, could be that I am to light on the throttle, but who knows.
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