Ford Fiesta
Problems & Worst Years

Small totals, consistent theme: the Ford Fiesta's complaint file is modest in every year covered here — 131 occurrences in 2015, 74 in 2016, 56 in 2019 — but the transmission appears at or near the top of all three. The 2015 file, the largest, is led by transmission control module failure (22 reports) alongside power loss or stalling during acceleration (18) and a throttle body malfunction causing power loss that owners flagged at safety severity (14). Warning lights for both engine and transmission, and engine stalls at idle tied to the stop-start system, fill out the list. NHTSA also shows two recall campaigns against the 2015 car, 15V005000 and 17V209000 — verify by VIN that both were completed.

2016 concentrates the story further: transmission hesitation and shifting issues (28 reports), another round of transmission control module failure (15), and jerking, shuddering, and slipping complaints make the drivetrain essentially the whole file. By 2019 the volume is down to 56 occurrences and the mix changes — rearview camera malfunction leads at 22 reports and is safety-rated, with transmission shifting complaints continuing at 11 and eight owners reporting unresolved recall repairs. The 2019 model year carries its own campaign, 19V629000.

What this means at the curb: judge the transmission above all. Drive the car in stop-and-go conditions where hesitation, shudder, and jerky engagement show themselves, and treat a documented control module replacement as useful history rather than a scare. On a 2019, confirm the camera works every time and that the recall shows closed.

These counts reflect complaints owners filed with NHTSA, not measured failure rates, and the later year's smaller file is partly just less time on the road. A pre-purchase inspection and the car's service records outweigh the year-to-year differences here.