Hi everyone,

We picked up our 2011 focus mk3 on Saturday, we were advised last weekend that the car would be valeted and treated with diamondbrite. I'm not 100% sure it has been valeted as it still smells musty inside and dare I say it a bit like stale smoke! However this is only our first problem, the second one I am hoping somebody on here will be able to give me some advice.

When the car is at low revs it judders, any idea what can be causing this? Other than this it seems to drive fine, it's an automatic transmission if that makes a difference.

I don't know whether to phone the garage we got it from (they are 38 miles away) or pop over to our local ford garage which is about 5 mins away.

Thanks in advance SW

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Phone the garage you got it from and let them rectify your concerns.and if judder needs a ford fix then let the selling garage organise that too.

Thanks for your reply, apparently the car also stutters a bit when changing gear so my husband advised me this morning...never rains but it pours.

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As above - take it back to the dealer.

Where did you buy it from? Some 'backstreet' dealers are known to put a car out with faults, get it back and then they claim the repair from a third party claim firm, to save them the outlay. I have had that happen before!

Also, the dealer may have actually been unaware of any fault, some cars get driven, some merely parked until sold.

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We bought it from TrustFord at Ashton Gate, hoping they're not dodgy.

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As its a ford dealer, then let them have it back, demonstrate the faults you have with a road test, explain the smells inside, insist on a courtesy car free of charge . and only hand over courtesy car keys back after road testing your car after so your happy faults are sorted.

I Bought an Auto 2011 Focus 1.6 from a dealer on 3rd December. When I went over to see the car initially it was being valeted so I was unable to test drive it. The salesman told me the gearbox was lovely and smooth.

I bought it because it was a nice car and the finance was good. However, after a week or so, whenever I set off from a junction (worse if I was turning), there was an almighty judder, similar to the one you get as you are stalling a manual - or the noise on the floor when a washing machine starts it's final spin. It's only in the low gears at takeoff - after that it is smooth.

After doing a little research online, I discovered that this is a common fault with the 61 Powershift box and the 1.6 engine.

The dealer sent it to Ford who updated the software and it appeared to be ok for a while. Now it's started again. You cannot put your foot down from stand still at a junction without it juddering and trying to change gear. This is dangerous when trying to overtake a parked car and something is coming the other way.

Unfortunately, it seems this is a design fault with the gearbox and there isn't really any satisfactory outcome other than handing back the keys.

I'm not sure they'd have it back as a return for a refund, can't afford another car....hate 2nd hand cars. Other than the slight judder at low revs and slight stuttering when changing gear the car is perfect.

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Same here, I love the car (apart from that) but I said I was happy with it when it was 'fixed' so now I think it's something I will have to live with for the duration of the finance, as I too wouldn't be able to get another.

Of course, you may have a better result than me though, I don't wish to bring doom and gloom. :)

There is a proper fix for judder.

Fingers crossed they can get this fixed for us and we will be on our way. Going to call them at lunchtime, will update you this afternoon.

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So the husband decided to give the car a week to see if there was definitely a problem and not just his driving. We have established that there is a judder problem and also that when it changes gear from 1-2 it is really abrupt.

Called trust ford today and they told me to book it in to their service centre, however they are unable to look at it until 13th April and no courtesy car available until 4th May, I told the woman on the phone this was not good enough so she said she would see what she can do and hopefully call me back with a satisfactory solution.

Question is, how long can we keep driving it with this judder and is it likely to get worse the more we drive it?

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You can keep driving with the judder, probably wont get any worse in the short term, definanatly get a coutesey car as it may take a few days to get fixed, it probably wants new seals and clutch pack

is it the 1.6 ptrol focus you have?

Yes 1.6 petrol automatic focus

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Busy ford garage if they cant give you a car until may, or more like it they dont want the warranty work and hope you go somewhere else

Hope im wrong on the that one

The woman from trust ford has just called back and said they can look at the car on 13th April, we can drop it off 11th and collect 18th so we don't have to miss any time off work. Apparently she has managed to prise the salesman's car from him for us to use for the week whilst they fix our car. I half hope she was joking cos that sounds a bit weird.

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