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.
2012 Ford Focus repeatedly jerks upon acceleration. Stalls on hot days after extended operation, dash warning says "transmission overheating, pull over for five minutes". will not climb hills without engine racing, often quits on uphill roads, or will not keep up speed. Transmission quit entirely on May 20, 2019 in town of eager, AZ, with my daughter driving it on her way home from college. Was able to have her follow me back to el paso. Car has continued to stop due to transmission issue just driving around el paso city limits. Car transmission was serviced twice in 2016 at Ford dealership at owner's expense.
After purchasing the car, it stared to have transmission issues. Took it to repair shop. They reworked the front end and transmission. The computers on both the front end and transmission failed to sync together. This caused a total failure of the transmission. I had the transmission replaced only to have it fail four months later. The car started to jerk, jump forward and then stopped moving. The engine was racing but the transmission did not work. I was left in the middle of a busy intersection and thankfully had people help me push it out of the road. It's back at the repair shop, again its the transmission module and transmission. !
Car will start to shudder when accelerating after coming to a stop (ex. Stop sign/light). Vehicle wont start after pumping gas. Fuel gauge seems to be off even after a recall was done. When accelerating RPM will go up but the car wont accelerate.
I bought my vehicle in 2015. 2 months after I bought the car I was driving on the highway and the car shuts off. It was towed and fixed by Ford stating there was a recall for the computer system. As time went on the vehicle would stall and jerk switching out of gears. When I took it to Ford they stated I needed a new transmission but it wasn't the part covered under the warranty. In October I was driving and the indicator comes on stating transmission hot. The car from there would not reverse. I was in a different state on vacation and had to take the vehicle to a local shop due to Ford not being able to see the car for a week. It was stated the vehicles transmission was gone and I would need a new one. I spent over $1900 on a rebuilt transmission only for the car to still be slipping in and out of gears. If I am making a turn the car stalls and jerks before it picks up.
Was driving home on a fairly busy street then suddenly vehicle randomly started to jerk and kick while accelerating. When accelerating in drive, the car was stuck in neutral and then suddenly jolted and went to first gear then second and then back to first all in a span of 20 seconds. The RPM was erradict and rised and dropped dramatically. Coming to a stop, the car would hesitate and continue to move forward despite braking so I had to keep a wide distance from the vehicle in front of me for fear that the car will lunge forward upon accelerating or trying to stop. I had to drive less than 20 mph, any higher and the car was kicking and jolting.
- Henderson, NV, USA
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The transmission feels like it slipping. And it rakes time to change gears sometime the car blinks hill start assistance unavailable and it keeps reseating the mpg millage and trip timer. This morning when I locked my car it was like a door was open but I checked all the doors and they was locked
Got the fuel system recall last week and Ford sent the dealership the wrong software. Car is parked in garage, scared it ill overheat and leave us stranded.
This car also has that terrible transmission, mine replaced four times the fuel flaps both get stuck and it floods, won't start problems with tire lug nuts, two piece design? who designed me what a piece!
While traveling on city streets and on the interstate the vehicle experiences loss of power, shifting issues and inability to accelerate in traffic creating an unsafe condition while traveling on roadways
My car has, since the time I bought it, stuttered randomly when accelerating. This has caused issues where merging into traffic from a stop can be unreliable, causing me to fail to enter traffic at the expected speed and causing increased risk for a collision. I think it might be a transmission, since it feels like a gear is slipping. Eventually, through the stuttering, I will gain enough speed to where it stops being an issue. (possibly when entering the next gear)
2012 Focus transmission - loss of engagement while driving on to freeway, shifted into neutral causing a near accident towed in 3 times for repairs - authorized Ford dealer unable to repair transmission - filed two claims with Ford Motor Co -the letter we received at time of purchase dated August 2014 stated " we are committed to building high quality, dependable products". this is a well documented defective transmission and Ford is denying any assistance! our Focus is cannot be repaired and has been at larry miller Ford for 8 months. Please hold Ford accountable and issue a recall. Thank you.
Four transmission fixes for clutch assembly due to shuddering and one complete breakdown. One fix for losing acceleration while turning left at traffic light.
The transmission shudders and frequently does not shift properly (automatic transmission) and has even failed to apply power when pulling into traffic risking a collision by not accelerating properly. The transmission also failed once while on a hill causing me to roll backwards and nearly caused a collision with the vehicle behind me. After I hit the brakes to stop the rearward roll, I tried to accelerate and the engine just revved until the transmission slammed violently into gear. These issues have been present from day one of owning this vehicle but the dealership and Ford insisted that this was how it was supposed to function.
Whenever weather is above 75 degrees, the check engine light goes on and the vehicle starts going up and down in RPM, usually going down to 500 RPM while stationary. At random times, it would go up to 4000 RPM with just a short acceleration while in an intersection. During one hot day last Saturday (8/27/19), it was above 85 degrees and the car would not even reverse when I was at a dead end of berkeley. I had to wait for my car to cool down before it eventually started reversing again. I already had my clutch replaced 2 years ago due to another recall on the car, but now this clutch has failed me. I went to the Ford dealership and after their repair specialist inspected my car (which will cost me $200), they confirmed the clutch is no longer working. My 2012 Ford Focus is out of its 7 year extended warranty, so they quoted me $3,300 to have this clutch replaced. I refused to pay this and they told me to call the Ford customer relationship center at 1-800-392-3673. They said I can complain, but they likely will not help me. This is the 4th time I have been at this dealership for repairs and the other 3 times was due to a recall issue. I spoke with the customer relationship center and explained my situation. Unfortunately, they cannot repair this clutch for free since its no longer under warranty. What the customer rep (April) suggested to do was to keep my receipts for the repair and hopefully Ford might come with a recall where they can reimburse me for the repairs. I wanted to escalate my complaint, but they said they will just tell me the same response.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle would not shift into gear when attempting to accelerate. The contact also stated that the vehicle stalled while driving various speeds. The vehicle was included in NHTSA campaign number: 19V515000 (power train) regarding a stuck canister purge valve. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously included in an unknown recall for the same failure. The contact scheduled a diagnostic appointment in two weeks with tasca automotive group (1300 Pontiac ave, cranston, ri 02920, (800) 788-2114). The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While the contact was attempting to make a left turn, the vehicle seized. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The contact was able to shift into park, restart the vehicle, and drive to her destination. Later the same day, while driving up a hill, the vehicle began to hesitate. The contact associated the failure with NHTSA campaign number: 14V212000 (power train) and NHTSA campaign number: 14V614000 (electrical system). The vehicle was taken to Lexus of dayton (located at 1777 lyons rd, dayton, oh 45458, (937) 438-7455), but the failure could not be duplicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The failure mileage was 42,000.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- El Paso, TX, USA