Faults:

1. Defective gas tank - collapsed at 50k.

2. Wire harness recall - causes stalling issues while driving.

3. Mass air sensor - defective at 70k.

4. Throttle body - defective at 70k.

5. BCM reprogrammed - mfr's advisory.

6. Ongoing stalling issue - two dealers unable to identify the cause for over 2 years.

General Comments:

I don't want to sound biased after writing up the items that were replaced, so I will recommend you join several online Focus ST forums and search for stalling issues.

If you're thinking about escalating to Ford Corporate: Ford's customer service doesn't get involved in these types of issues - they explicitly told me this over a phone call when I called to open a case (which they did). After opening that case, they simply told me to go back to the dealer after I had already been to two of them over six times. They suggested I go visit a third one.

Faults:

Transmission replaced after numerous visits to the dealer complaining of dangerous behavior. 33000 miles, July 2015.

- Was told the new trans is a newer part number, however it's starting to show the same symptoms as before within 5k miles.

Driver's seat belt won't retract. Replaced July 2015. It's doing it again.

General Comments:

Like the way it looks inside and out, and it handles well on the highway.

I really wanted to like this car, but I can't wait to get rid of it. Interior door panels and dashboard rattle worse than any car I've ever driven. Anything below 45 degrees out and it sounds like the car is going to rattle apart.

The Microsoft Sync infotainment makes no sense; Ford has not updated this software, not even once.

The transmission is a complete disaster and I'm embarrassed to have to explain to passengers why it's acting like this. This transmission is an embarrassment, and I have no clue how Ford has not seen the largest class action suit in history. I can't wait for it to happen. Everyone I know with this car and the Fiestas have had the same transmission issues, or are already on the 2nd or 3rd replacement. Do not buy this generation!!! Thanks for the garbage Ford.

Faults:

What is wrong with the car is the automatic transmission. When starting from a stop, the transmission will shake, grind, vibrate and lurch the car backward and forward. After the initial start, it seems the transmission has a hard time finding the right gear. This leads to more shaking, grinding, vibration and lurching. This will continue until the car moves beyond the third gear.

The car has been back to the dealer twice. First time the service manager said that the car is "learning" how we drive and to give it some time to adjust... no improvement. Second time was to reprogram the computer that runs the dual clutch of the transmission... the lurching is gone, but the other symptoms are still there. The car is scheduled to go back to the dealer a third time next week. I'm assuming another reprogram of the computer is going to happen, but in all honesty, I believe that the transmission is very poorly designed and Ford should replace it. Otherwise the car is just an embarrassing piece of junk.

General Comments:

Gas mileage is good, and the car's electronics work well. The design is nice and sporty.

The front seats, however, are extremely uncomfortable. Short trips of an hour or less are not too bad. But long trips are another story. After a couple of hours your legs go numb, and your back can really start hurting.

Overall, I would suggest you look at another car manufacturer.