A North Texas driver is raising concerns about his 2014 Ford Focus transmission, and he's not alone.
A few years ago, Brian Sirois became the proud owner of this 2014 Ford Focus.
"When I got it, I was very, very pleased. It was great," said Sirois.
He said the car was great on gas and had a smooth ride. But in May, the drive became anything but comfortable.
"The shifting started getting really rough and was bucking," he explained.
Sirois said that shortly after, his check engine light came on. So, he took the car to his mechanic.
"He told me other Ford Focuses of the 2014 had the same problem," Sirois recalled.
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His car had 73,000 miles on it, but after learning this may not be an isolated issue, he decided to take it to a Ford dealership.
"Sure enough, they go look at it and they say, 'Yep, this is the same problem we've been seeing,'" he said.
The problem was with the transmission control module and the clutch. Sirois said he was told the control module would be covered, but he'd have to pay for the clutch out of pocket because his VIN wasn't on "the list."
After asking what the criteria was for deciding what VIN numbers were on the list, Sirois said the service manager couldn't answer the question — he just knew the car's VIN didn't qualify.
So, Sirois had to pay $1,700 out of pocket.
"So, when I got home, I figured I need to do some research on this," Sirois said. "Sure enough, I went online and it seems a lot of people have problems with the 2014 Focus."
A number of consumers on carcomplaints.com claim their 2014 Ford Focus is jerking, shuddering, vibrating and shaking, and the transmission is to blame.
There was also a class action lawsuit against Ford on behalf of consumers nationwide. The lawsuit claimed that Ford defectively designed its dual-clutch transmission in certain 2012 to 2016 Ford Focus vehicles.
"There's a history to this," Sirois said.
He wanted to know why certain 2014 Ford Focus transmission repairs were covered, and others weren't. He called NBC 5 Responds to get answers.
We've learned that Ford has a "Customer Service Program" that extends coverage on certain 2012 to 2015 Ford Focus vehicles with transmission clutch problems.
Ford told us they rely on "the data" to determine which vehicles are included in that program, but wouldn't go into detail about that data.
But Ford's corporate office did eventually give Sirois more information.
After we got involved, he got a call from a manager at Ford. He said the manager told him the VIN list had to do with where the Focus was manufactured and when it was made.
"It sounds like your net's not big enough because my car has exactly the same problem," said Sirois.
He said Ford then agreed to pay back half, which comes out to about $850.
Sirois said he's happy to have some money back, but hopes that Ford takes a closer look at its transmissions.
We heard from another woman in Denton who had a similar problem with her 2014 Ford Focus. Ford also agreed to cover half of her repairs as a gesture of goodwill, which came out to about $500.
Ford told NBC 5 the transmission problem is not a safety issue, and customers who are experiencing a problem should see their dealership or call ford customer service.
There's currently a settlement in the Ford class action lawsuit involving certain Focus transmissions.
