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.
Driving on the freeway my driver door just flew open. Now it won't shut unless I lock the door first in the slot in the door jam then close it. There is a recall on the same year on the fiesta, Fusion, and Lincoln mkz. This needs to be addressed as this is a safety issue, lucky I had my seat belt on like you should always but the door could have hit another car and cause an accident. I am lucky that didn't happen....
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the rear passenger side door failed to close. The contact mentioned that the door had to be tied in order to remain secured. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 46,000....updated 09/12/16
The door latch on my driver's door failed just after I got in it and began driving up my street. The door would not stay closed and an alert sounded. The Ford dealership has told me I have to replace the latch at a cost of approximately $800.
The driver side door would not close once I got into the car. I had to drive my car while holding the door shut. This is such a safety hazard! I took the car directly to san tan Ford in gilbert, AZ. San tan Ford explained to me that there was not a recall on the Ford Focus yet, only on the Fusion and the fiesta. I am furious to find out there has been over 73 Ford Focus vehicles reported with this latch issue and a recall has not been made. I am also aware that these malfunctioning latches can break on any of the doors in these vehicles at anytime. I do not feel safe having any family members including grandchildren ride with me in my car. San tan Ford gave me an estimate of $529 to fix one latch. In order for all of my latches to be replaced it will be over $2,116. This is unethical and hazardous to their consumers and families.
- Mesa, AZ, USA
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Passenger door will not latch. Drove for +/- 200 feet activating auto-lock while pulling on door to close it helped and it finally latched. Later I was on the freeway driving 65-70 it popped open again. After slowing down and struggling to hold the door shut, I managed to get it to close again because the auto-lock kept clicking.
In March 2016 the driver side door latch broke. As we were getting ready to leave home I opened the car door, but when I tried to close the door it would not latch. At this time, we were lucky that the car was in our driveway and not in motion or away from home. We had to tie the door closed to get it to our local Ford dealer. The dealer decided the latch was defective and needed to be replaced. This cost almost $500. Then, in July 2016 the latch on the front passenger door failed. In this instance, while my 16 year old son was driving, the passenger door swung open. Luckily, it did not hit anything as it swung open. He slowed down for his passenger to close the door, but just like the driver side door earlier this year, the door would not latch. My son's friend had to hold the door closed the entire drive to our house (about 5 miles on a highly traveled road that has a speed limit of 55 mph). This could have been a very serious or dangerous situation if my son had been driving on a highway or had been alone in the car. We immediately called our local Ford dealer to schedule an appointment and called Ford customer relations in hopes that they would assist with the cost of replacement. Even though the Ford Focus is under investigation for many vehicles having the same issue and other Ford vehicles have been recalled for the same issue, Ford has stated that they can not help with the cost of replacement because the vehicle has not been recalled. To make matters worse, there are no replacement latches available in the dallas area, and it will be almost a week before a new latch will be available. We also requested to have both rear latches replaced because I no longer feel it is safe for my 16 year old son to drive this vehicle with its original latches, but I was told that the rear latches are on back order and will not be available for at least a month.
The rear door latch will not latch. The door just suddenly flew open while I was driving and now will not latch shut. I was on a city street when it happened.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at 40 mph, the driver side door opened independently and failed to secure. The contact coasted to the side of the road then was able to resume driving by holding the door handle of the vehicle. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 84,000.
While driving my Focus and making a right turn my driver door opened in mid turn and flew open. I had to pull over on the highway since I tried to close the door and it would not close. After looking at the door the locking mech would not go back up it stayed down.
The driver side door will not latch closed. I cannot lock the car because of this. Only 33K miles on the vehicle. It will bounce back when it is shut and will open if not held closed while driving. Initial incident occurred when trying to close the door and it bounced back open.
Doors left side (both) latch failure-front and rear door will not stay closed-tech found latch is internally faulted stationary-doors would not latch, entering vehicle
I was driving down the street and my rear driver side door just opened as I was making a turn! luckily my work laptop did not fall out of the car or the door didn't hit the car next to me! I pulled over to shut the door but it would not stay shut. After further investigation it appears that something must be broken inside the door because it will not latch! as such I had to go buy some rope to tie the door handle to the door handle on the opposite side in order to keep the door closed so I could drive home safely.
Left rear door latch broke. The door latch will not latch and the door will not stay closed. A bungee cord was needed to hold the door close and had to acknowledge that the door was open on the car warning system. Potential of someone falling out of car without bungee cords holding it closed. Vehicle was stationary when the latch failed.
My rear driver side door latch is not catching. I was driving less than 25 mph and the door flung open with a 7 year old child in the back seat. I have attempted to close the door and it has not closed. I called to see if this was covered under the recall and the Ford customer service rep states that my car was not built in the Ford plant with the recall. This is a concern of mine because no matter what plant my car was built in no matter what plant it should be covered. This is clearly a part defect concern.
Driver side rear door will not latch closed. It happened when I arrived home and removed items from the back seat. Have to use seat belt to secure the door closed because the local Ford dealer wants to charge over 500 dollars to install a new latch assembly. When I drive the warning light on the instrument panel when come on every few minutes saying the rear door in open. This issue is very unsafe because I have a 19 month old that still has to ride in a car seat in the back.
Driver side door latches/unlatches whenever it wants while driving. Door won't latch shut when entering or exiting car. Driver door opened on its own driving down freeway today 7/23/16 and wouldn't latch back when I tried to shut the door. This has been going on for several months and has happened on multiple occasions. My car is less than 4 years old I shouldn't be having these problems. It is highly dangerous and needs to be addressed before serious injury or death occurs.
My 2012 Ford Focus has had two doors break during operation as is described in your current investigation titled "NHTSA action number: PE16001". the first door that malfunctioned was the driver's door. The second was the rear passenger door. In both cases, I had been driving the vehicle and parked, then upon attempting to close the door it would no longer latch. From that point on it was impossible to latch the door closed. In the case of the second/rear passenger door, my girlfriends' 9 year old sister was in that seat...when I went to open it for her to get out I discovered the door was open. This is extremely dangerous, obviously. I have also had to spend approximately $1000 repairing these doors at my local Ford dealership, as the car isn't operable in that condition and Ford denied my requests to pay for the repairs. I am aware that a similar problem in other Ford models has resulted in a recall, but for my specific model just your on-going investigation has taken place thusfar.
The driver's side door latch has failed and the door will not hold itself closed. When I attempt to lock the doors, it tries and immediately unlocks them. The latch mechanism itself can be pushed closed with your finger when the door is open however it doesn't actually stay closed. A spring forces it back open. The latch failed in the parking lot. When I got in to come home from work, the door would not latch closed. I thought maybe the seat belt or some other object got caught in it however that was not the case. In order to drive home, I had to hold the door closed as best as I could with one hand while attempting to steer and operate turn signals which is extraordinarily unsafe and distracting.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- El Cajon, CA, USA