The owners of certain Ford Fiesta and Focus cars have been receiving notices regarding an extended warranty coverage on their Dual Power Shift (DPS6) transmissions. The extension gives owners a 10 year or 150,000 mile warranty on the vehicles transmission control module (TCM). This customer satisfaction program (14M02) affects certain 2011-2015 Fiesta and 2012-2015 Focus vehicles, although owners of 2016 models have received notices as well

The Problem: There is no denying that Fords DPS6 transmissions has problems. Intermittent loss of engagement while driving, lack of power and a no-start condition are common complaints, but the problems are amplified by driver expectations. Ford calls their DPS6 an automatic, when in reality, it is a manual transmission that shifts automatically. Owner expecting it to behave in the same manner as a regular automatic transmission have resulted in an even larger number of consumer complaints.

This is not the first time Ford has released a customer satisfaction program extending the warranty on their DPS6 transmissions (14M01). In July 2014 Ford gave owners of certain 2011-2014 Focus and Fiesta vehicles a warranty extension to 7 years or 100,000 miles on transmission seals. Contamination from leaking input shaft seals caused excessive transmission clutch shudder during light acceleration

Ford says the problems have been fixed in the newer models, but driver complaints at the NHTSA website show newer Focus and Fiesta cars are still experiencing problems. Some common complaints include: Vehicle hesitates when accelerating from a stop or slow roll, shudders when cornering and excessive noise when accelerating and shifting.