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.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced unintended acceleration, jerking, and hesitation. As a result, the vehicle was involved in a front end collision. The failure occurred and the vehicle was taken to all american Ford where it was diagnosed that the transmission was defective and the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred. The contact stated that the vehicle had numerous software updates and the clutch was replaced previously. A police report was not filed. There were no injuries. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided case number: 128-21707. The contact was referred to the dealer. The failure mileage was approximately 37,505.
Sometimes it won't go in reverse, it stutters, shudders, stalls (which is not great when trying to pull out in traffic or make a turn) won't go into gear (shift). Brought it in for tcm recall and they fixed and extended original warranty to 100,000 miles but now it's past that, my extended warranty is up. Took it again to dealer because of trans and they wanted $170 just to look at it. I'm on a fixed income and just don't have the extra. I had it "fixed" by a mechanic friend at his shop and he said this is an ongoing problem with this particular transmission! it has now become a safety issue and I don't know what to do! something needs to be done! Ford needs to make good on this!
When driving on city street to have the "check engine" light checked, the automatic transmission would go out of gear, the engine would rev up, then the transmission would slam back into 1st gear momentarily, then shift to a much lower gear (3rd?), moving at an unsafe speed for the traffic conditions, then slam back into 1st gear again before starting the whole process over again. Moving from a stop, the same thing would happen. Nor would it engage reverse to back up to park; it would only rev up. This car is unsafe to drive anywhere! Ford needs to recall this transmission asap, at no cost & permanently fix the ongoing problems with it, not just bandaid fixes.
Transmission stalls. Vehicle.jerks & grinds.wont shift into reverse.caused my wife to almost have accident on freeway. Class action in progress.wife has canser & cant get to dr.
Got car on 05/15//17, driving car stopped car gears wouldn't work car wouldn't move, had car in for this reprogrammed module, car did the same thing. Car has a manufacturer defect that can't be fixed. I told my brother if I and my dad end up dead in it he's to sue Ford.
- Columbus, OH, USA
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Transmission shuttering driving up an incline or from a stop. Began as a shutter which then evolved into grinding and violent shutter before replacing faulty clutch. Vehicle was taken to dealer a total of 4 times in the last calendar year for the same repair without it being resolved. Vehicle will slip and shutter consistently from stop, incline, or highway driving with engine RPM around 1200 - 1800 RPM.
5/4/16 car would not start in a parking lot and had to be towed to the dealer. Dealer replaced faulty tcm fsa 14M02 7/22/17 while driving 70 mph on the expressway car abruptly jerked, rpms shot up from about 2500 to 5000 loss of power. Had to pull over to the shoulder, put car in park and then back in drive, & transmission re-engaged. 7/24/17 while driving 65 mph on expressway car abruptly jerked, rpms shot up again. Loss of power. Pulled over to the shoulder, put car in park and back in drive, no re-engagement of the transmission, put car back in parked, turned it off, restarted car, transmission re-engaged. 7/25/17 drove to dealer, while driving shifting became increasingly hard/harsh, shifting became more delayed as well. Dealer reported faulty tcm and damaged clutch. Both are to be replaced on 7/26/17 fsa 14M01 fsa 14M02
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 10 mph, the vehicle inadvertently shifted into neutral. After several moments and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle shifted back into drive. The contact mentioned that the check engine warning indicator illuminated and he was able to drive the vehicle home with no further issues. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or local dealer for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the transmission was still under warranty. The contact received a class action settlement notice in the mail. The failure mileage was approximately 69,000.
Purchased car used and financed it and the second day the transmission started shuddering, getting stuck in low gear and almost got into an accident because it wouldnt go.took car back and had transmission replaced and the car does the exact same things it did before going out first time.
My car is having transmission problems, and loses power and has a hard time shifting sometimes. I got a recall notice at one time and lost the paperwork, and the Ford dealership refused to look up the recall and said I needed to have the paperwork to get it looked at.
On long trips (over 160 miles) with consistently high speeds, the engine torque and tachometer gauge level rises/whines, indicating a shift should be made in the automatic transmission, but the automatic transmission lags behind, causing the hover/forward stall due to engine torque, much like when you increase the torque causing the engine to "roar" before shifting in a manual transmission. This usually happens while accelerating on higher speed roads and highways at higher speeds, usually 40-70 mph range and mostly when on a long trip w/O stopping, except for gas. Car is always in motion and there is no change in engine temp and no warning lights lit.this problem has occurred many times in the past 18 months. The date indicated was the most recent date.
Car always shudders when accelerating from stationary zero mph. This car has a sel option and is driven only in automatic transmission. I have never used the sel option! the shudder causes sloppy acceleration delays from zero starts, lights and stop signs, just like a manual shift being driven by a driver unskilled clutch/shift coordination. The same thing occurs when braking for a light, then at low speed, the light turns green and you change to accelerating instead of completely becoming stationary.
Car jerks and bucks when proceeding from stop to accelerating. It's been doing this for the last year or so and seems to be getting worse. I have only 25000 miles on the car.
Car shudders failed multiple times taken to Ford dealer for recalls clothes replaced flashed tcm module multiple repairs by dealer and serviced by dealer also purchased service program for vehicle all documented had to get towed to delearship because of stationary failure said not to drive
Stop safely now - Ford Focus electric I have had this Ford Focus since new and have had at least 5 incidents of "stop safely now" warning which renders the car powerless for at least a few minutes. This has occurred in situations such as in left hand turn lanes which is a hazard to me and other cars. Ford did a recall -- customer satisfaction program 15N03 and 15B23 which was an inspection of the high voltage wire harness. This inspection was performed on 10/26/2016. There was another occurrence on May 1, 2017, after this inspection. My wife was turning left on a busy street and got the message "stop safely now". she could not operate the vehicle for about 5 minutes. I don't feel safe operating this vehicle and my wife refuses to drive it.
I was driving my 2012 Ford Focus out of town while I was away for work and the clutch went while I was driving and almost caused me to go off the road.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving at unknown speeds with the cruise control activated, the rpms accelerated. Additionally, the clutch was slipping without warning. The vehicle was taken to a local dealer (Ford of clermont located at 1101 E highway 50 clermont, fl 34711 800-313-9787) where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module, electronic control module, and clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer opened case number: Cas12559345 and referred the contact to the dealer. The failure mileage was 51,691.
Help me understand why the NHTSA has not forced a recall concerning the major issues found with these transmissions" has Ford pulled the wool over the eyes of NHTSA just as they have with their very own customers" my car sits at the dealership because im not convinced the mechanic has determined the true cause of the trans to cause a loss of power while I was driving about 20-25mph the trans seemed to slip into neutral but when pressing the gas ped the engine wouldnt rev nor would the car go any faster. I was 1/4 mile from my house & turned around to go back, I shut the car off & back on, the engine revved & back to idle, I put in reverse & it hesitated to move but did, I put in forward & it revved up 2X again while I to coast to my driveway. My car has shuddered at times & seemed to hesitate to know what gear to go into although I figured it to be normal since I owned the car since 9/2016 & the more I drove the more I assumed it was a type of trans that acted like a manual when it changed gears, I have only recently learned of all the major problems while doing research. I am concerned for my safety after reading just a small amount of customer complaints. The check engine light was on when I experienced the loss of power and codes P2831 P2832 & P287B were present. The mechanic said the "mechanical mechanism" is "stuck" keeping the clutch applied. He made this assumption with the transmission still installed & not checking the internal components; he must be pretty darn good to do all that! he checked the tcm per notification 14M02 which surprising passed. To the best of my knowledge notification 14M01 was not checked which would require the trans be removed from what I read. Tsb 15-0121 also calls out a potential cause. They want me to pay $2500 to replace the clutch just to be able to further diagnose potential problems without fully diagnosing the problem. 78000mi
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 40 mph, the "transmission malfunction service now" indicator illuminated. The vehicle hesitated and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was towed to academy Ford (13401 baltimore ave, laurel, md 20707) where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module and transmission clutch failed and needed to be replaced. The module was repaired, but the clutch was not. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and stated that the issue was "in the process of being recalled" and transferred the contact directly to NHTSA for a "status update." The approximate failure mileage was 98,500.
2012 Ford Focus. Consumer writes in regards to transmission slippage, sunroof leakage and requests a repurchase. The manufacturer advised due to the age and mileage of the vehicle they would not be able to review the vehicle for repurchase or replacement.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- New York, NY, USA