CarComplaints.com Notes: You should probably steer clear of the 2012 Focus. Otherwise, you might not be able to steer at all.
The 2012 is the first Focus to offer Electronic Power Assist Steering (EPAS). It's also the first year with massive power steering failure. These things are not mutually exclusive.
This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
Steering assist failure notice appeared on and off for nearly a year. Notice would disappear after turning vehicle off and straightening steering wheel. At 77000 miles, warning came on again and would not clear. This is a serious safety hazard especially if it happens while driving on the road. I was lucky it was just in my driveway. Ford has recalled several cars of similar make and model for this same issue yet have not recalled the Ford Focus. This is a serious safety hazard especially if it happens while driving on the road. Ford needs to own up to their mistake and send a recall and fix the problem on all vehicles. I should not have to pay for a manufacturing defect. The car is now out of commission because I can't afford the repair and I am to scared to drive it as is.
I have had my Ford Focus for 4 years now and I have recently started having problems with the radio/sync. Load noises will interrupt the radio or come on even if radio is off. This has happened to me a number of times while driving down the road and scared the living daylight out of me causing me to swerve in to the other lane or caused me to slam on my breaks with cars behind me. I have noticed that many other for Focus owners have experienced the same issues and don't understand why this hasn't been recalled! it is very unsafe and won't stop when car is turned off and key removed. Please help! it is getting worse!
I don't know if my Ford Focus 2012 is included in the tamara airbag recall or not. My clutch has been replaced several times due to sudden acceleration when stopped or slowing down.: it's the powershift transmission. My door latches were replaced per Ford recall. New rear engine main seal replaced 7/12/17. Vehicle has only 32,746 miles on it. Tires already had to be replaced.
Driving (straight) on a highway going 55. Car slows down to crawl, making grinding noise, error message appears "parking aid malfunction". was able to pull to side of road, put in park and cut off ignition. Would not restart. Dashboard still says car is in drive.
Car was running fine then turned it off and 10 minutes later would not crank. Car will not start.you can jump start it and it starts. Now cut it off want crank
- Holly Springs, MS, USA
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The car needs now a replacement of the steering gear. The price is over $1500. The car didn't let me turn right or left and I just bought it at a certified carman Ford dealership. It showed problems at 117650 miles. This is a scam, I paid for insurance and I brought the car to change the oil earlier ans they didn't find any defect. Now, I cant use my car. I was in motion, the car seemed to move to one side, then at home while stationed, I couldn't move the car at all. No even right or left.
Very rough idling of engine while proceeding forward at start of acceleration. The "hill assist not available" light on the instrumentation panel came on, while the transmission seemed to transfer itself from a drive position to a neutral position. The car remained stationary while I attempted to accelerate using the foot pedal. At that point, I could not get the car back into a drive gear position. Immediately following "hill assist not available" message, a second warning light "transmission malfunction, service now" came on. During this moment, an additional red exclamation light engaged. When I stopped at a red traffic signal, my Focus's RPM idle quickly increased causing the Focus to lunge forward a few feet into an active traffic intersection. As I proceeded to make a right hand turn, the instrumentation panel displayed no warning signs, then suddenly came back on as the RPM idle went from 2,200 to 5,500 RPM in a neutral gear state. At this moment, I was nervous, as my mind was racing with thoughts of an accident; such as, the transmission could re-engage to a drive position at such a high RPM rate, forcing vehicle to thrust forward at an uncontrollable high speed, or the engine could perhaps overheat and/or the engine block could crack. The warning panel sporadically turned warning messages on and off as it affected the powertrain/transmission control. The waning light displays "hill assist not available" every time the transmission goes into a neutral position, while the gear is physically in its "D" (drive) position. This Focus leaves me wary while behind its wheel. Will this car eventually injure me or another person (s) while the transmission suddenly accelerates once again, causing an accident?
Driving down the highway and my power steering in my 2012 Ford Focus went out completely almost cause me to crash was going 70 mph and bearly was able to get to the side of the road safely.
My transmission shutters very badly I have had it at the dealer in los lunas New Mexico. It is still not fixed. My streering assist light came on and ihaveno power steering. After the last oil change to change oil light will not go off even after the reset procedures have been followed. The lighter does not work. O and to top it off I just got a recall letter something to do with electrical failure. But had nothing to do with the above problems. This is way many for a car of its age I am sure I have a lemon. What can be done?
Power steering failure- started with everyonce in a while id get the error notice of power steering failure so I would turn off the car start it back up and fine, it started to happen more frequently to the imbarrassing point of having to turn on and off the car 5-10 times just to have power steering, then I got a letter to update my car's software to help fix the power steering issue, I got the software update and 3 months later total failure, I now have zero power steering and now Ford wants me to pay $2200 to fix it, when it failed I almost crashed into another car with my kids in my car on the freeway, needless to say we are greatful to be alive, sad thing is all other models from 2011-2012 with the same exact power steering system get a recall why not the Focus? I wish I would have known before I would have never bought the car, Ford is a scam and doesnt back up its product, the power steering is broke because of their defective product
Vehicle in motion driving about 60-65mph on the highway, the check engine light turned on the dashboard. Vehicle could not accelerate felt as if on neutral. I began to lose speed and had the fortune no incoming vehicles were behind me. I shut the car off once on the side of the road. Vehicle after being off for 15 minutes was able to drive but reverse gear was none functional.
I purchased the car from Ford dealer used.transmission acted up after a month took in in and they said it would cost me $200 to look at it.I purchased the 2 year extended warranty, but would still cost me that.I left, a few month later the car would not move and transmission light came on.my insurance towed the car at that time the dealer kept my car for a week, charged me $500 for cables to the battery.1 week later I was driving back from Arizona to Nevada in the middle of the desert and the car light came on again car was shuttering losing power thank god I made it home.now about 2 months later I was driving home from work and turned my driver side door flew open..thank god I wasn't close to oncoming traffic and had seat belt on.however now my driver side door will not close or lock.
I have a Ford Focus 2012 it has power lock on the doors. 3 doors lock with the remote just fine the door behind the drivers seat wont even close. It opens when I turn corners. This is a safety issues especially when I have small children, this car has had two recall fixes one with car rolling back even though it is an automatic and a transmission failure all due to electrical issues. I feel that the this is another one given that my passenger left rear door cant even be manually locked its only locked and unlocked electrically, there is nothing blocking the door to make it not close only the lock itself.
Since the purchase of this for Focus 2012 two years ago, the engine will suddenly stall out and stop working entirely. I am 6 months pregnant and after bringing this car in for numerous repairs of this issue, with no real resolve, I am now furious. I was driving down a 4 lane highway at 65 mph and my engine said "parking assist failure" and the car died. I was almost hit by multiple cars as I tried to coast my way to the shoulder of the road. I turned the car off and back on and it started again. I called the dealership and was told I could bring it in "but they already fixed it." Then just a few days later I am at a busy intersection, and it stalls again..this time wont turn back on. I have been given the run around from Ford, and the Ford dealership, and I need out of this car. I have always driven volkswagon's, and this was my first Ford. Never again. Meanwhile, I am underwater on my car loan now, because I have a car that is worth nothing.
On Saturday, May 16, 2015, I was traveling East on interstate 40, memphis, Tennessee. Suddenly the gas pedal bumped twice and my vehicle went completely dead in the middle of this busy interstate. The electrical system just died, my emergency flashers wouldn, T even work. Iall I could do was continue to lay on the horn and wave my hand out the window trying to get the oncoming traffic to realize my car had stopped. My husband told me to get out of the car. I went to the side of the road. A good samaritan, stopped and was able to push my car across the two lanes of traffic and safely on the right median. This happened between 7:30 and 8:15 in the evening. My husband arrived on scene and we planned to return in the morning with a battery hoping that was the problem. I am currently unemployed since 03/15/2015, I couldn't afford to have the vehicle towed. I do not think this was caused by the battery, I think it was a defective transmission. I purchased the vehicle in March, 2013 as a certified pre-owned vehicle. Every problem I've had with this vehicle has been with the transmission. There was in fact an issue with the clutch, I received a letter from Ford Motor Company that the replacement part was defective and may need to be replaced again. The warranty on the clutch was extended to 100,000 miles. I have a message screen on this car. There were no warnings given to me. I definitely feel this is a safety issue! what makes a car completely die as you are traveling 55mph" I have spoken to Ford and they say that particular model does have some issues, but they said they had no idea what could have gone wrong. I was told to just feel lucky I wasn't killed. All I want to know is why would a car going 55mph suddenly just die, with no warning" I guess someone will have to be killed to get any answers. Thank you.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving at 5 mph, the vehicle lost power. In addition, the accelerator pedal was depressed and the vehicle failed to accelerate but increased in rpms. The traction control and engine warning lights illuminated. The contact also stated that hill start malfunction was displayed across the message board. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 40,500.
I was driving at a steady speed of 40 mph on a flat road. I was gradually slowing down as I was coming towards an intersection and gradually applying the brake. The car was going at about 10 mph and then I attempted to accelerate as I was about to drive on pass the intersection. However, the car suddenly lost power completely and it could not accelerate at all. I was stuck on the road. I repeatedly pressed on the gas pedal to attempt accelerating a few more times and the car just would not move. Each time I press the gas pedal, I heard a loud noise coming from the front of the vehicle but the car didn't move. The engine continued to remain running and both warning indicator and traction light suddenly came on. I had to shut off the engine by turning the key, and attempted to restart the car, both the warning indicator light and the traction light went away and the car seemed to behave like normal as I could move my car again. I then took the car to the Ford dealer to investigate the cause, but the technician said that there were error codes within the ABS module but they could not explain or figure out why the ABS module would suddenly stall the car. All they did was to clear the code in the ABS module, but that does not appear to solve the underlying problem. Plus, there was no assurance that this problem would not happen again. Sudden lost of power can lead to extremely dangerous situation and I earnestly NHTSA could take action to this investigation to improve safety for me and for others driving the same car model.
The traction control in the vehicle operates in an unsafe manner in snowy road conditions. When climbing a slight grade in snow, the traction control continually reduces engine power to the point that the vehicle will no longer move forward. As the vehicle slows to a stop while modulating the accelerator, the engine will not rev above 1500rpm without the traction control cutting off power. Controlled and sustained forward momentum is required for safe driving in snowy conditions. That is not possible when traversing typical roadway inclines in snowy weather with the traction control engaged. Additionally, it takes no fewer than seven inputs from the driver to engage or disengage the traction control system; something that must be done frequently in this vehicle to keep it moving safely in snow. This creates undue driver distraction in already demanding driving conditions. A manufacturer retrofit of a simple on/off switch for the traction control system, as installed in most contemporary vehicles, should be the minimum remedy.
Was driving with my mom when all of a sudden her power steering gave out and it was incredibility hard for her to steer. I took over and drove home now I drove vehicles with out power steering before but this was by far the toughest steering vehicle I drove. It was completely dangerous and irresponsible of Ford to not address the issue as of yet. Thankfully I was with my mom that day and nothing worse happened but it could have ended alot worse.
While driving on a busy road, the power steering suddenly stopped working and the car became very difficult to steer. When I returned home and restarted the car, the power steering worked normally again. It is being checked by the dealership today. On the phone, the dealership said it would be difficult to diagnose the problem if it wasn't still happening. This seems like a significant safety hazard.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Tempe, AZ, USA