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.
On Oct.4, 2019, our 2012 Focus suddenly had a hard start and smelt of gas fumes in car. Took car in and had repair done which consisted of sender(bv6Z-9H307-av) and gasket(4L3Z-9276-aa) and paid out of pocket. Just under 2 years ago, had an issue where fuel tank got sucked up. Tank(bv6Z-9002-E) was replaced along with same sender and gasket as listed above plus tube as(bv6Z-9D289-B) paid out of pocket in Dec. 2017 but was just recently reimbursed due to a recall. I hope this will not be a continuing repair we need to do every couple of years since a recall 19S22 was issued.
We purchased a 2012 Focus for our 18 year old daughter as her first car. The check engine light is illuminated and the car shudders as you accelerate like its shifting gears but it's a very aggressive jerk. Once it reaches certain speed it drives smoothly but if you stop at a red light or stop sign and accelerate again it does the same thing. The fault code for the check engine light states it's a catalytic converter problem. I did some online research and found a recall for what I thought was the cause of the issue (recall 18S32). Took it into the dealership to have the recall repaired and they reset the PCM but tech told me the gas tank "passed inspection" so no further repairs were needed. However, the car still shudders at acceleration. I was told I'd have to pay $135 for them to diagnose the problem. I am so afraid for my daughter who is a fairly new driver to be driving this unsafe vehicle. I will be searching for a class action lawsuit as I've read several complaints of the same issue on this website. I don't feel comfortable selling this car to anyone else with these problems either. Ford really needs to rectify this problem immediately before someone gets hurt or worse, dies! the car has 101,000 miles on it.
I was driving on the freeway, at freeways speeds (approximately 65mph), my car's engine spontaneously stalled and shifted into neutral, all of the warning lights went on, and both the engine and brakes stopped working. While still moving at freeway speeds, I could not get the car engine to turn back on or get the transmission to re-engage out of neutral, and the brakes continued to not work. The brake pedal felt jammed, as if there was a power failure in the brake system; I could not get the pedal to move. I was able to coast without power to an off-ramp (I was still traveling >45 mph on the off-ramp), and then use the emergency brake to stop once on a surface street. After letting the car sit for a few minutes, I turned it back on, and the problem did not return. I drove the rest of the way home on surface streets. Following up on this, the check engine light was on; an auto shop replaced the evap purge valve assembly and oxygen sensor (see attached repair invoice) and that solved the problem. Based on this experience, it seems like the car stopped due to an issue with the fuel system, making the fuel/air ratio in the engine too lean. I do not know why the brakes also stopped working. I feel very fortunate that this occurred at night when there was no traffic on the freeway. If there were other cars on the road, this would have certainly caused an accident as I could not safely accelerate or brake. The engine stalling was not preceded by any significant acceleration or braking.
19S22 recall. I was driving home from port huron to clinton township. My car went from 70 mph hour on the freeway to 35 mph. Absolutely no warning. I cannot accelerate more than 35 mph. The very next morning I brought my car into the Ford dealership at 9 mile in harper because the same problem had occurred months before in May. I told her that same thing happened before my car is not accelerating my RPM shot up and I cannot go anywhere so she asked me to bring it in I did I asked her about the outstanding recall on the car she told me that her guys forgot to look at it. Ford had my car for a week I lost my job and I also do lift on the side so I'm out $1200 just in the week. They called me, and said itll cost around $2K for the clutch system. That's funny because I don't use the manual side of the car but apparently it's built into the transmission. So again I asked about the recall. It clearly states on your website that if Ford has to do the recall and there's any other repairs that need to be done with for the cause of all of this that the parts and labor are free. They charged my dad's credit card $1938.78. I asked her again but there was a recall down on the car she said oh well we did the recall and that was for the purge valve I said ok well where is that located she told me was in the engine so you didn't do the recall 1st you just went straight for the clutch? then you're telling me that had nothing to do with it well how do we know now after he took the 2000 and even admitted that you didn't do the recall 1st gear went straight to the clutch system so if you wouldn't did the recall 1st I wouldn't have been out $2000 if you just did your job. Then I pick up the car. And the same thing happened again, and the check engine light came on. So again I had to drop it off.
- Clinton Township, MI, USA
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Still having issues with the transmission, shuddering in lower gears, jerks and lunges. Sometimes the RPM's fluctuate. Also need to bring back in for service for the fuel gauge.
NHTSA safety recall notice 18S32/NHTSA recall 18V-735 I tried to take my car into the local pocatello, Idaho 83201 dealer courtesy Ford to get these defective parts replaced. They had my car for 5hrs, just started to reprogram the computer system and refused to replace the parts. I had approx. 1yr ago a stall problem when I was driving this car from pocatello to burley approx. 120mi. The car functioned fine on the way to burley but stalled out when driving back the 120mi from burley to pocatello. The service department at the local for dealership told me I had to bring my car in for an inspection to determine if I had a problem covered by the recall. After 5hrs of waiting and several calls to the dealership, I went and picked up my car. They said they were in the process of reprogramming my car. Why would they do this. The recall says the defective parts should be replaced and the system updated. I believe this dealership is trying to cheat me. I don't know what they did to my car. They refused to fix this.
My check engingie light came on, took it to mechanic, he said it was a safety recall on the evaporative emissions purge valve, evaporative emissions canister, fuel pump module, fuel tank. Heartland forf in heber springs ark.,said they coded this car last December and now all of this is wrong with the car.what can I do? I can't pay for this and now its wrong with my car! it was a recall and nothing has been fixed on my car but the door latches.
Canister purge valve recall (cpv) and prior powertrain and PCM recall issues. History involving powertrain, PCM and cpv. Check engine light (cel) came on a few years ago and the car could not restart. Could have had an accident. Recently, in the summer 2019, cel on and gave a code about faulty catalytic converter when I spent $106 at green Ford to read and diagnosis the code. The light went on and off and on September 8, 2019, the car stalled and/or would not start back up many times when the cel was on. The car would not crank the next morning, twice, on the way to green Ford, and waiting on recall to be performed. The car has 151,000 miles and is a one owner vehicle. The powertrain, PCM and this current issue has been the only issues that seems to be connected.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. After fuel was placed in the vehicle, it stalled. The contact mentioned that when there was less than half a tank of fuel in the vehicle, it would stall then too. In addition, the fuel gauge was inoperable and did not display the correct amount of fuel in the vehicle. The vehicle was taken to five star Ford Lincoln of warner robins (900 russell pkwy, warner robins, ga 31088, (478) 273-8151) where the contact was informed that the vehicle did not pass the test; therefore, it would not be repaired per the recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.
I was traveling on an interstate in my 2012 Ford Focus 5 door hatchback on a trip with my son. My car had a half tank of gas remaining, so I refueled. I had to travel 100 miles home, I noticed the distance to empty only changed 20 miles or so. So from 436 miles to 416 miles to empty. The next day, I went to run errands, on a state highway, the distance to empty said 490 miles to empty and the gas gauge still showed the tank was full. I parked the car because of my busy schedule and used my spare vehicle. Last week, 8/27 I dropped my car off for service and perform recall 18S32 (fuel tank deformation, PCM, canister purge valve). The dealership called and said my fuel tank was deformed and would need replaced at my expense. Ford rejected the dealership claim that the fuel tank was not deformed enough, yet if I do not replace my tank, I will have a fuel system that is unreliable. I had no warning indicator lights or diagnostic trouble codes found on my vehicle. If I were to rely solely on my gauge and distance to empty, I would have run my car out of gas and put myself and family in potential danger. I have placed multiple calls with Ford service and dealership to have them explain what failed in the fuel system that I caused. There was nothing I did with the car that would be considered non typical usage. Finally, the dealership has photos they plan to share with me. I can provide to NHTSA when I pick up my car after service work has been completed to replace the fuel tank.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 65 mph, the instrument panel lighting turned off and the battery saving warning message illuminated. Shortly after, the check engine and ABS warning indicators illuminated. The contact stated that the vehicle seized in the middle of the street and was unable to be driven. The vehicle was towed to the contact's residence. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 18V735000 (fuel system, gasoline), but the part was not available. The manufacturer and dealer were not notified. The failure mileage was 155,000. Parts distribution disconnect.
On your vehicle, the PCM software may not adequately detect a stuck-open canister purge valve (cpv) within the fuel vapor system. If the cpv malfunctions and sticks open, it can lead to excessive vacuum in the fuel vapor system, potentially deforming the plastic fuel tank. This can cause the following symptoms: Illuminated malfunction indicator lamp (mil) with certain diagnostic trouble codes (dtcs) inaccurate or erratic fuel gauge indication inaccurate distance to empty (dte) engine stall and/or other drivability concerns related to stuck open cpv safety risk this may result in an engine stall while driving without warning or without the ability to restart, and can increase the risk of a crash. Unfulfilled promise the manufacturer said the piece would be ready in the first quarter of 2019; however, the recall still says 'no remedy''almost 6 months later.
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.
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!
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)
My car was a little less than half full with gas, went to fill it up because I was traveling about 45 min away. After I filled it up, tried to start car and would not turn over. Took someone else's car out of town, came back and it turned on fine. Then everytime I would get gas, it would not turn over, would have to pump the gas. Live where I had to park on a hill, once I tried to start the car, would not start. The gas was low, but not empty. I had enough for the car to start but it won't. saw there was a recall with these exact same symptoms but said that my VIN number was not effected.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- New Port Richey, FL, USA