Hi i am looking for some advice i  have bought a brand new focus active X 1.5 Diesel automatic which i absolutely love however its developed an intermittent issue mainly when cold but sometimes when its to temperature, when i pull away from a junction or even just from a carpark it will move off and then suddenly seems to drop out of gear but only very briefly it gives you the feeling like the front wheels slipped on ice or something, also it sometimes tries to move forward when stationery at traffic lights when the auto stop start as not kicked in then at the next set of lights auto stop start works and all is fine. the car as only got 1200 miles on and yes its been back to the dealers where they did software updates and said all was fine but its still doing it and now its back with them again for the third time.

    

First thing is to ensure they really have updated the firmware on the PCM AND the TCM.

Make sure battery voltage is good, this really makes autos play up.

The transmission does work differently in warm up mode to prevent damage to the internals, it should last no more than 5 miles though.

Creeping when Stop/Start is not activating sounds like you are not using the autohold function 

14 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

First thing is to ensure they really have updated the firmware on the PCM AND the TCM.

Make sure battery voltage is good, this really makes autos play up.

The transmission does work differently in warm up mode to prevent damage to the internals, it should last no more than 5 miles though.

Creeping when Stop/Start is not activating sounds like you are not using the autohold function 

i can confirm we are not using the auto hold but with my foot firmly on the break the car should not be trying to pull forward its very much like when you try to pull away with the hand break still on and the cars try to stall, with regards to the PCM and TCM i only have there word for it that this as been updated even though the car is only 3 months old.

16 hours ago, WINI1974 said:

i can confirm we are not using the auto hold but with my foot firmly on the break the car should not be trying to pull forward its very much like when you try to pull away with the hand break still on and the cars try to stall, with regards to the PCM and TCM i only have there word for it that this as been updated even though the car is only 3 months old.

I would strongly recommend using the auto-hold feature.

You'll soon find it's very good.

49 minutes ago, DaveT70 said:

I would strongly recommend using the auto-hold feature.

You'll soon find it's very good.

I would agree with that Dave i have it in the other family car and use it quite often and speaking with my wife last night she has also used it and was using it on one of the occasions it was trying to rev and pull away it is very strange why its doing it but hopefully i will have some answers from the dealership today 🤞

ok so the Dealership have now spoken to me about the issues and here follows,

the auto stop start sensor unit was not configured correctly and has now been sorted and is working correctly.

the issue with the auto gear box jumping gears or ( changing a gear aggressively) there words not mine is because its an adaptive automatic gear box that learns your style of driving and so you may have sudden changes until it settles down however because both myself and my wife drive the car its changing all the time because we both drive slightly different however apparently this can be configured in a different way so they have changed the program which should solve the issue. errmm lets see as that all seems a bit made up to me ?????????

Do you each have a keyfob?  I wonder if the gearbox adaptions are saved on the 'MyKey' feature?

31 minutes ago, WINI1974 said:

the auto stop start sensor unit was not configured correctly and has now been sorted and is working correctly.

Well that should work for a few weeks.

31 minutes ago, WINI1974 said:

its an adaptive automatic gear box that learns your style of driving

I know that does sound far fetched but is actually true !

However I think it must in the end just average everything out and reach a compromise. I can only imagine the 'learning' process it must have with Hire Cars, Pool Vehicles, Company cars with multiple drivers. The gearbox's poor little brain must go in to melt down 🤣 

36 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Do you each have a keyfob?  I wonder if the gearbox adaptions are saved on the 'MyKey' feature?

now thats a good point i didnt think about that, when my wife drives shes usually with the kids but if i am in the car its usually me thats driving so we only use the one key, when i collect the car i will ask the question thanks for that Tom 

14 minutes ago, unofix said:

Well that should work for a few weeks.

I know that does sound far fetched but is actually true !

However I think it must in the end just average everything out and reach a compromise. I can only imagine the 'learning' process it must have with Hire Cars, Pool Vehicles, Company cars with multiple drivers. The gearbox's poor little brain must go in to melt down 🤣 

i did think that as well hire cars must be a nightmare for drivers i really dont understand why they have done this as each time you go out your driving will depend on the traffic surely. you could be driving on B roads one day in the city the next and then on the motorway 🥴 

If it's a hire car everyone will drive it like it's stolen, so shouldn't be a problem.

Auto hold ..possibly the best feature on the car! I didn’t use it for 1st few months. Last 2 years it’s never been off.

*I realise that’s not the issue. 

3 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Do you each have a keyfob?  I wonder if the gearbox adaptions are saved on the 'MyKey' feature?

It’s clever. Maybe not that much! 
 

1 minute ago, Alex.S said:

It’s clever. Maybe not that much! 
 

One feature.  Radio/audio will not turn on until seatbelts are fastened! Can set a 80mph limit too. 

2 hours ago, Alex.S said:

One feature.  Radio/audio will not turn on until seatbelts are fastened! Can set a 80mph limit too. 

Ah ok.  I've never used it on Ford's myself (no one else drives my car lol). 

Seen other cars where the seat, mirrors, audio and climate settings are all saved on the key fob.

2 hours ago, Alex.S said:

One feature.  Radio/audio will not turn on until seatbelts are fastened! 

Really ? 🤔

2 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Ah ok.  I've never used it on Ford's myself (no one else drives my car lol).

I’m the same. 
 

I think it was the ford website that I read about the possible 80 speed limit and the music thing, but there’s probably a lot more it does as well…but can I be ars*d reading the handbook when I’ve no use for the feature? No I can’t . 

 

2 hours ago, Wino said:

Really ? 🤔

Seems a bit petty ! 

8 hours ago, Alex.S said:

Seems a bit petty ! 

Lol. I meant does the radio really not switch on if your seatbelt isn't fastened.

Ford MyKey operational video:-

 

15 hours ago, Wino said:

Lol. I meant does the radio really not switch on if your seatbelt isn't fastened.

Ha yeah I meant petty feature for mykey. It’s 100% for owners letting their kids drive the car . Looks like unofix has posted a video about it already..I’m sure it’s useful to somebody somewhere..

Was it yourself who commented about Seat Leon being a possible replacement? On another thread ? Just looked at the MB website. £4k advance payment for a 150ps Leon , lower spec than my focus. I’m going to be driving a 2nd hand Ka at this rate. 

8 hours ago, Alex.S said:

 

Was it yourself who commented about Seat Leon being a possible replacement? On another thread ? Just looked at the MB website. £4k advance payment for a 150ps Leon , lower spec than my focus. I’m going to be driving a 2nd hand Ka at this rate. 

Yeah it was. The SEAT got the thumbs up from most national reviews partly for it's under pinnings and tech being almost identical as a Golf with it being VAG obviously but around 4k to 6k under the Golf price tag. 

My only main issue with SEATs is I dont like the S in the steering wheel. Always thought it looked tacky, lol .

Pretty sure it was me who suggested the Leon on MB lol...   But as I said at the time, they've also pulled the Xcellence spec (luxury spec equivalent to Golf Style) so you're only left with the FR or FR Sport now.  Both sporty specs with less comfortable suspension and less 'comfort' options inside.  

I probably would have gone for the Xcellence myself if it was still available on there - https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202110248831789

On that subject though, does anyone know if they've 'cured' the 1.5 TSI issues yet?  Don't really want a 115ps 1.0 TSI in a car of that size, and new diesels are becoming extremely rare, there are barely any diesel options left on MB.

Edit - The £4k AP is for the only DSG model left on there which is the mild hybrid 1.5 eTSI FR...  I don't want a mild hybrid myself (assuming they drive similar to the Ford version) but no idea how they compare with the standard 1.5TSI which is £2,599 AP as a manual FR.

Apologies @TomsFocus. It's becoming increasingly clear that there is very little options around at the minute other than replacing like for like (Mk4.5?)which in the present climate it might be better to hold on to for a bit longer ? 

Was hoping to replace mine around March (3yr point) but the way things are at the moment I can't see it happening 😟

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Apologies @TomsFocus. It's becoming increasingly clear that there is very little options around at the minute other than replacing like for like (Mk4.5?)which in the present climate it might be better to hold on to for a bit longer ? 

Was hoping to replace mine around March (3yr point) but the way things are at the moment I can't see it happening 😟

2019 can't be 3 years ago already...  😲  

There are quite a few options if you don't mind an SUV, automatic, and some sort of hybrid.  But the old staple of a regular height, large hatch with a manual box and no electrical input seems to be disappearing. 

I guess it depends why you want to change.  If it's just about losing warranty then maybe it's worth extending that for a year and seeing what the market is like.