2017 Ford Focus RS: True Cost, Problems & Verdict
842 NHTSA owner complaints · 0 recalls · data-computed verdict. No opinions — public data only.
Owner complaints: 842 filed with NHTSA
Complaints per year on the road: 93.56
What owners say
Verbatim reports filed with the United States safety regulator (NHTSA) by owners of this exact model year. Public record.
I bought my car in early 2022 or 2023 and almost immediately the car started shuddering when accelerating. I took the vehicle in to the place I bought it from and one other Ford Dealer. Neither places could "duplicate the problem." Bith times I had to pay money just to have it looked at, and nothing was ever fixed. My horn keeps quitting and the shuddering has gotten so bad and now there are new issues like loss of p…
I was driving and got a large nail in my tire. I pulled over and fixed my and went to start my car. The battery had died and we jumped it. We let it charge for a little bit and then started it back up. It started just fine and I went to put it in reverse to drive away and it wouldn’t engage but would engage to drive forward. We hooked the scanner to it and it was showing the TCM code. We took it to ford and they’re …
Catastrophic engine failure, engine died and was unable to shift into gear My 16 year old daughter was driving on a busy highway when the engine died, causing her to stop completely on a 55 MPH road. She was unable to get the car into a gear to have it pushed to the side of the road and had to sit in the car with traffic flying by her until we could get a tow truck (approximately 30 minutes). She was unable to get ou…
Recalls: 0 campaigns
| Campaign | Component | Summary |
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What it costs to buy — and what owning it really takes
Class-level estimates, priced as a compact car of its model year, re-priced to your country. Not a quote, not a valuation of one specific car — condition, mileage and options move it. How these are computed.
What it costs to run
EPA combined 22 MPG · estimated annual fuel cost $3,450
Re-priced automatically from your country's retail fuel, electricity and parts indices — change country in the bar at the top. Estimates; see methodology.
What this car's problems cost to fix
Ranked by the components owners of this exact model year actually complain about. Each figure is flat-rate labour hours x the local shop rate plus a parts band — an estimate of what this kind of failure costs, not a quote, and not a prediction that this car will need it. Formula.
- Power Train428 complaints · typical job: Transmission service or clutch-pack repair (7.0 h labour + parts)$1,290–$4,040
- Engine206 complaints · typical job: Cooling-system or timing-drive repair (6.0 h labour + parts)$1,040–$2,220
- Fuel/Propulsion System111 complaints · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement (3.5 h labour + parts)$680–$1,620
- Unknown Or Other76 complaints · typical job: Diagnosis and mixed repair (2.0 h labour + parts)$360–$940
- Engine And Engine Cooling70 complaints · typical job: Water pump, thermostat and coolant service (3.5 h labour + parts)$600–$1,040
- Fuel System58 complaints · typical job: Fuel pump or injector replacement (3.5 h labour + parts)$680–$1,620
FAQ
What is the most common problem with the 2017 Ford Focus RS?
The most-reported issue in NHTSA complaint data is Power Train (428 complaints in our indexed sample).
Is the 2017 Ford Focus RS a good used car to buy?
Our data verdict is BUY with a reliability score of 82/100, computed from 842 NHTSA complaints and 0 recall campaigns. See the verdict card for the top reasons.
How much does it cost to fix the 2017 Ford Focus RS's most common problem?
428 of the NHTSA complaints filed against the 2017 Ford Focus RS sit in the Power Train group — more than any other component on this model year. The representative job there is transmission service or clutch-pack repair: about 7.0 hours of labour plus parts, roughly $1,290–$4,040 at a US independent shop and re-priced to your country at the top of the page. It is an estimate of what this class of failure costs, not a quote for this car.
What does a 2017 Ford Focus RS cost to run per year?
About $7,157 a year in fuel or energy plus the maintenance band — roughly $35,785 over five years, before purchase price, insurance and depreciation. Figures come from available EPA fuel-economy data and industry maintenance averages, and are re-priced to your country.
Compare with
Other compacts of about the same age.
What will a 2017 Ford Focus RS really cost YOU per year?
Fuel, maintenance band and depreciation — computed from public data in 10 seconds.
Open the true-cost calculatorData sources
Complaints & recalls: NHTSA ·
Fuel economy: EPA fueleconomy.gov ·
Scoring: our published methodology.
Maintenance bands are industry-average estimates (AAA Your Driving Costs, CarMD index) — labeled estimates, not measurements.
Last updated: 2026-10-04.
Strong evidence — 842 complaints, 0 recalls on record
- 842 NHTSA complaints on record (93.6/yr of exposure) — in line with a typical year of this model (93.6/yr)
- 0 recall campaigns, 0 touching safety-critical systems