I have a 2019 Focus Vignale 1.5T(182ps). Soon after purchase it suddenly  performed an emergency stop, fortunately with no vehicle behind me. Ford dealer discovered an update was required. Then a few days ago I had a warning "Pre-collision assist not active" with a warning spanner, also the performance seemed sluggish: I drove immediately to my Ford dealer and was informed that the usual cause was a dirty windscreen interfering with the camera-when I turned the engine back on the fault cleared. Yesterday, I was being tail-gated by a van and I touched the brake very lightly to reduce speed and the car stopped dead ,resulting tin a lot of damage to my boot lid and rear bumper. Has anybody else experienced unexpected emergency braking? 

8 minutes ago, Peter 283 said:

Has anybody else experienced unexpected emergency braking? 

No, I have had the Pre-collision assist warning a few times but there has always been a reason for it and I have been in the process of reacting, so it has never tried to brake itself.

I once had a car with a faulty Servo that used to brake itself, but that was in the days before ABS, Electronic assistance etc, so it is unlikely to be your Servo.

4 hours ago, Peter 283 said:

Has anybody else experienced unexpected emergency braking? 

No, but like Tizer I periodically get the pre-collision assist warning lighting up on my dash.  I've had my car for about 16 months and until recently have not really understood why the warning should have been issued ... in all cases they had been caused by cyclists riding their bikes atrociously badly but nothing we as drivers aren't used to these days.

However the other day I was driving along in a bit of a daydream and the vehicle in front suddenly decided to make a left turn with no warning whatsoever ... the light was such that the brake lights were diificult to see ... may be they weren't working.  Whatever the warning came on (no braking though) and I was able to come to a halt comfortably.  I was truly grateful for the system and cannot say with any confidence I would have avoided a collision without it.

1 hour ago, Linds said:

No, but like Tizer I periodically get the pre-collision assist warning lighting up on my dash.  I've had my car for about 16 months and until recently have not really understood why the warning should have been issued ... in all cases they had been caused by cyclists riding their bikes atrociously badly but nothing we as drivers aren't used to these days.

However the other day I was driving along in a bit of a daydream and the vehicle in front suddenly decided to make a left turn with no warning whatsoever ... the light was such that the brake lights were diificult to see ... may be they weren't working.  Whatever the warning came on (no braking though) and I was able to come to a halt comfortably.  I was truly grateful for the system and cannot say with any confidence I would have avoided a collision without it.

I have had similar warnings when a cyclist has ridden towards me on the wrong side of the road, but the brakes were not activated.  There  was no question  that the car automatically made an emergency stop soon after I purchased, but yesterday's incident is unclear - I am fairly certain that I did not the brake too hard and I don't think I could  exert enough pressure to stop it dead and I am suspicious having had a fault warning only a couple of days previously.     

9 hours ago, Peter 283 said:

I have a 2019 Focus Vignale 1.5T(182ps). Soon after purchase it suddenly  performed an emergency stop, fortunately with no vehicle behind me. Ford dealer discovered an update was required. Then a few days ago I had a warning "Pre-collision assist not active" with a warning spanner, also the performance seemed sluggish: I drove immediately to my Ford dealer and was informed that the usual cause was a dirty windscreen interfering with the camera-when I turned the engine back on the fault cleared. Yesterday, I was being tail-gated by a van and I touched the brake very lightly to reduce speed and the car stopped dead ,resulting tin a lot of damage to my boot lid and rear bumper. Has anybody else experienced unexpected emergency braking? 

I feel sorry for your damage!!!🙁

My MK4 Focus has the same response with the other friends in here, only notification with loud sounds!!!

A red message appears on the screen and beeps loud (i can not remember what it says) but it does not brake at all !!!

I like it because in the very dangerous greek roads i drive all the time it is a life saver!!!

Cyclists are a big problem here in Greece!!!

In a great majority lots of them drive always right and i respect them a lot for their effort and the risk they get riding on these roads!

But there are a lot of them too, that are selfish and very very stupid with a bad attitude and behaviour against the car drivers...they think that they have more rights due to their hobby and their size of vehicle that they behave like as@@@@@!They curse all the time and they infiltrate among the cars in very narrow spaces and so does the cyclists with motos...When you close their (illegal) path (justified) they behave like sons of.....

Anyway, i think that this technology is good to continue developing because lot of people will manage to return safe and see their families again every day!!!

I hope your car will be fixed soon to enjoy it again with safety on the roads!!

Have a nice weekend!!!

Greetings from Greece!!1

 

Only yesterday the Mrs dropped me of at work and ahem.....borrowed the car for the day 😉

Anyhow she told me lastnight that the car stopped itself during one of her journeys and activated the red screen and alarm whilst bringing the car to a halt, the reason being as she was driving along there was a car in the distance waiting to turn right as the Mrs read the road ahead and assessed that the upcoming large gap on the other side of the road that the car waiting to turn right would have performed its manoeuvre .......it didnt 🙄 

So thankfully in her situation the system worked as it should and brought the car to a sudden halt in the wet conditions.

One thing I have noticed in my 3 weeks of ownership is that the brakes are difficult to modulate, and seem to be more powered than power assisted. So much so that when I get in my MX5 I think the brakes have stopped working! (They haven't).

I think its the brake assistance - which I had on a previous VAG car but its not quite a subtle on the Ford.

Perhaps this may be at the root of your problem?

PS I have my pre-collision assist turned off, it got damned annoying creeping past other vehicles in the Yorkashire Dales - narrow roads, tufts of grass causing sensors to kick in, very distracting! I didn't want to risk my car suddenly stopping when it should have just crept past the front of an approaching vehicle which is also just creeping past - you know the sort of situation!

12 hours ago, RMurphy195 said:

PS I have my pre-collision assist turned off

How do you do that?  Sounds like it is more dangerous to have it on than off in many situations.

1 hour ago, south_bound said:

How do you do that?  Sounds like it is more dangerous to have it on than off in many situations.

You can turn off the Emergency Braking and Steering in the vehicle settings but they turn themselves on again the next time you start the car. 

1 hour ago, Tizer said:

You can turn off the Emergency Braking and Steering in the vehicle settings but they turn themselves on again the next time you start the car. 

Just checked, amd so it does! Retains the "Alert Sensitivity Low" setting but rechecks the "braking" option check box. Grrrr.

YES. My sons girlfriend last week had the brakes suddenly stop the car on the M6 UK and she was hit by a 5th wheel truck and trailer and totalled the car.   Not sure how we can follow up with this.   She has also been nursing a whiplash.  Any advise ???