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.
I bought my cpo 2012 Focus in 2015. Within days, I experienced the transmission lagging and the car excessively rolling back in reverse on inclines (I literally have to drive with two feet when braking on an incline in my automatic transmission car or I will roll backwards into the next car!) I had the car re-flashed once at the dealership, but it did not do anything. After further research, I was hesitant on taking my car back because other owners online said work performed by the dealership only made matters worse.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated drastically and would not accelerate when approaching a red light. Suddenly, the vehicle surged into an intersection and "transmission bad..service now" appeared on the instrument panel. The vehicle was driven to bob thomas Ford Lincoln (310 w coliseum blvd, fort wayne, in 46805, (260) 482-4456) where it was diagnosed that a new transmission was needed. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and provided a case number. The failure mileage was 63,000.
Transmission was not shifting into gears, then the reverse went out..talked to 3 different Ford dealers..asked about my warranty then said no recalls on this and out of warranty would be out of pocket..so I did have an outside warranty for repairs but they said nothing was covered..so I paid aamco to fix it..3500.00 and 2 months later I am at another aamaco (because of their warranty) the new aamaco place says transmission shot need a new one..about 5 grand..so..no we drove it back home and put her to pasture..I have all paperwork on all work done..and not done..but we travel for my husband's job..so my paperwork is home in tx..we are now in tn..for a few weeks.my car acted up badly, hot transmission, had to stop several times just to get it to the shop.. also..would be great if it at least had a dip stick to check your fluids. Also on first transmission work..we had to rent our motel room for 3 extra days waiting on the car repair to be completed. This after he had it a week already..I also have phone numbers and quotes from 2other people that would have worked on my car if they had the tools to work on a dual transmission.
Vehicle stalled in an intersection while turning after a transmission warning came on hud. Attempted to restart and it would not turn over. The display showed that the car was in drive, even though I had pulled over to the side of the road and put it in park. It took me unplugging the battery to be able to restart the vehicle and get to a safe place. The vehicle had very little pulling power and struggled to get out of the flow of traffic. The dealership has diagnosed the problem as the transmission control module and the transmission, which has come to light recently as faulty and known to fail
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While at an intersection, the contact depressed the accelerator pedal, but the vehicle failed to accelerate. Also, the transmission malfunction service indicator illuminated. The contact moved to the shoulder of the road, turned the vehicle off and back on, and the vehicle returned to normal. The vehicle was taken to healey Ford Lincoln (2528 NY-17M, goshen, NY 10924, (877) 706-3640) where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The dealer replaced the dual clutch and updated the PCM, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made ware of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in a recall. The failure mileage was 129,000.
- Walden, NY, USA
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Dps6 - transmission- Aug 2013 went in for shuddering, Sept 2014 went in for shuddering, Nov 2014 went in for shuddering, March 2015 shuddering, October 2015 - shuddering, October 2016 shuddering, November 2016, shuddering, September 2017, shuddering, November 2017, shuddering, January 2018, shuddering. Driving and accelerated at S stop sign and went out of gear at a stoplight was unable to move forward at the green light, turned off car and restarted in order to proceed
My Ford Focus shutters and does not accelerate properly. I have had my dual clutch replaced by Ford 2 times and the problems persist. Now car is now out or warranty with 120,000 miles and now Ford claims it's my problem. I first got my clutch replaced at 60,000 miles, then 85,000 miles and the problems keep reoccurring. My car can't accelerate without shaking and shuttering and it poses a hazard when in traffic. It is unsafe and Ford has refused to actually fix the problem over the past 5 years.
My 2012 Ford Focus has 125,000 miles. The transmission stopped working as my wife was pulling into our driveway and it gave the error codes P2832 and P287B. It will move a little, but makes a loud grinding noise. These error codes are supposed to be covered by tsb 16-0044. I took it to garber Ford in green cove springs, fl. Yesterday they told me it will require a new transmission and will cost me over $5,000. If this is a known problem item from Ford, why isn't Ford replacing it? I cannot afford a new trans, and I cannot get sell the car as it now doesn't run and I still owe $4,000 on it.
The transmission has been refreshed 2 times now the transmission shifts hard when taking off it is jumpy when taking off sometimes will not go into reverse and sometimes will get hot enough so you have to pull over when pulling out into traffic tou can't as inhave had the car stall before I bought this car brand new and have had nothing but issues with the transmission
I purchased my 2012 Focus new Nov. 2012. After a few weeks of owning the car, I noticed that the ride was not as 'smooth' as my prior car. I did not think anything of it, as I live in a city and assumed it was due to the stop and go of the city miles I drove as well as the winter season. By June 2013 with less than 8,000 miles, I began to notice that my car would roll backwards on hills when stopped in traffic while moving my foot from the brake to the accelerator and shake at various speeds. I was told by Ford that the issue was deemed 'normal' in 2013. In November 2013, I had 12 months of data to realize the gas mileage was not even close to what the dealership and my car buying research led me to believe. I was getting 16 city mpg and 20 highway mpg. I also began to experience severe shuddering and shaking of my car at low speeds. When accelerating from ~10mph to ~25mph, my car began to lurch forward and also shudder when idle. In Oct. 2014, I took the car for service w/ 12K miles. The service technician noted that there was nothing much that could be done as Ford had not issued a new transmission fix. I was not happy with this answer and took the car back the following week and spoke to the mechanic's supervisor. The supervisor agreed to 'reflash' the transmission, which was the approved fix by Ford at the time although it would worsen gas mileage due to reduction in gas efficiency to reduce the amount of shuddering and lurching I experienced. This fix did not appear to help at all and gas mileage got worse. In July 2017, I had the clutch replaced. The service technician acknowledged that the new clutch should help although it is the transmission causing the issues. Since July 2017, I have not noticed any remarkable improvement to the driving experience. During standard maintenance, Ford has told me there is nothing further that can be done.
Tcm went bad and the clutches of the transmission. Ford dealer replaced the tcm but not the clutches. Instead I must pay $2,300 to replace the clutches because I'm out of warranty. Besides they charged me for the diagnostics. The car shudders often. Tcm issues used to make the stall on the road.
While driving the vehicle on the highway in a 55mph speedzone, the transmission would not shift gears, and then my car would not go over 35 mph. After taking it into the dealership, they simply said I was "driving the car incorrectly" and performed some kind of software reboot. Now, when traveling around town, my car (which is an automatic) sputters when changing gears after it is stopped like at a stop sign, red light, or in stop-and-go traffic, or going up steeper hills. It acts like it is a manual transmission when a gear is missed or its being choked.
Can't reverse. Does not shift gears properly. Randomly stops sending power to the wheels. Rpms bounce rapidly (high and low). Has happened in intersections and highways, putting me and others in immediate danger.
Aggressive jerking when shifting at lower gears during acceleration (multiple times per week; first occurrence in 2012) sudden, but temporary, loss of power with RPM spike during highway driving (like shifting to neutral). Has occurred while accelerating and merging from an on-ramp and while driving at steady highway speeds (~1-2 events per month; first occurrence in 2016)
When driving my vehicle on the highway, if I attempt to speed up to pass another vehicle it will lurch violently. One time it lurched forward and then stalled. Fortunately I was in the right hand lane and could pull over to the shoulder without incident, had I been in the middle or left lane it might have been a different story.
I made a right turn out of a parking lot, put my foot on the accelerator and my car would not go any faster. I pressed harder and harder on the accelerator and my car still wouldn't go any faster. I pulled off on a side street to get out of the traffic and put my car in park. I ran the shifter through the gears, put my car back in drive and it still would not go very fast. I turned around and headed back to my house and drove as fast as I could which was about 5 miles an hour. I went back into the parking lot and put my car in reverse and it would not go in reverse at all. I put it in park, again I ran it through the gears, put it in reverse and in would not go backwards still. This is not the first time I noticed problems with this transmission. I have brought this car back to the dealer twice because of the transmission and twice they have made repairs on the transmission. I have only owned this car since October 2018. Both times I had it back at the dealer they claim to have changed some module in the transmission but yet I go to my fordpass account and these repairs have yet to be documented by the Ford dealer. I find this rather strange like they know I need a new transmission but won't replace it. There have been more times that I was driving down the road and when I accelerated and the engine just revved up but my car wouldn't go any faster. I find all of the situations I have been in with this car to be very dangerous and I am lucky there hasn't been a major accident. I haven't even owned this car a year and I owe more on it than what it's even worth. I can't afford to just go buy another car and it doesn't seem like the Ford dealer wants to do anything about how dangerous it is. Please help me!
Multiple issues car disengaged from transmission when on highway. RPM shot way up but car not engaging to transmission. Had to pull over (coast) to side of highway with no power train. Required major dps6 replacement at Ford dealer in park city Utah initially when purchased car would roll backwards when in forward gear, the car still does this and will all roll forward when in backward gear. Car still constantly stutters when moving forward from stop. Jerking motions. I called Ford customer to complain and advised. They told me nothing could be done in 2012. I asked to put on record 'the car rolls backwards when in gear' when on any incline. There is children in my neighborhood! another complaint logged 2/22/17 1-800-392-3673 with Ford. The tcm was repaired and a complete transmission overhaul was done in sunnyvale ca.
Bought the 2012 Ford Focus used in 2016. It shuddered when entering the roadway after stopping and also when going uphill. Dealer said the car had to get used to me as a driver. After many complaints, they did something non-mechanical to adjust it. Reprogramming, maybe. Once it was out of its limited warranty, they said it needed a new clutch kit, which was $1500. The shuddering stopped. Last month, shortly after leaving my driveway, the car jerked forward and the check engine light came on. I pulled into a neighbor's driveway to turn around and go back home and it wouldn't go in reverse. Had it towed to the dealer. The tcm was replaced. This month, I pulled into my driveway, put the car in park, went to take the keys out of the ignition and saw a message that said the car was not in park. Ok. the engine was off, I could remove the keys from the ignition. The gear shift lever was in park. The dashboard display said the car was in drive. I took my foot off the brake and the car started drifting down the driveway. I put the parking brake on. The car would not start. Had it towed to the dealer. They said the shift linkage had come loose from socket. This is the worst car I've ever owned. There is no warning that a problem is about to occur. The car just ceases to function. I'm very lucky that I was in my driveway, or close to home when the car died both times. I'm afraid to drive this car and have 2 years left to pay it off.
When going up hill the transmission slips and motor revs up and down. At very low speed when pulling into uphill driveway the car lurches forward. When stopped on a small hill you can slowly let pressure of brake the car will drift backwards like it is in neutral. When first starting out of a parking position the car will speed up with out any change in throttle position.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Berkley, MI, USA