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.
My wife and child were at a red light and when the light turned green and the gas pedal was pressed, the vehicle did not move only revved causing the man behind her to inch very close behind due to the light then honking his horn and yelling. In addition, after my wife and child returned home, I went to run to the store only to find that the vehicle does not turn over, not even sound like its attempting to as there is no noise when turning the key. I believe the vehicle does not recognize what gear it is in, thus will not start and has always had erratic shifting and lurching tendencies. I do not know what to do now, I have a family of five I support and no money to fix this. How am I going to get to work!!! I still have 5 years to pay on this...ughhh. Trapped
Discovered drivers side door will not close, stay shut, latch, or lock properly. Door may be pulled or pushed open when parked or at any speed and latching mechanism will not keep door in place. This is a highly concerning safety issue as this resulted in recalls for the Explorer, 2011-2014 fiesta, 2013-2014 Fusion, and 2013-2014 mkz with the same exact mechanism.
My car started stalling while I was driving it back from work yesterday. It happened quite a few times on my 1 hour and 15 minute drive home. I would have to push the accelerator quite hard to get it to move. I have an appointment scheduled for Tuesday at the dealer to get it checked out, but this is very concerning for me. There was also one isolated incident last week where I had it on drive and pressed the accelerator and it would not move. I kept pressing it and it started to drive after about 30 seconds.
I was driving to an early morning meeting (5:30am) when the driver side door suddenly opened without warning. Once the door opened, it would no longer latch. The car door had to be manually held firmly closed for the duration of the trip. With every turn, the door would attempt to fly open.
- Yuma, AZ, USA
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My 2012 Ford Focus takes a dangerously slow amount of time to accelerate on the highway and shudders excessively and very visibly (at any speed) when trying to accelerate. This car is a safety concern. Just this week it is not starting at all. I received a letter from Ford that there is a defect in the transmission in my car and they will replace it for free. I have read online that this doesn't fix the problem that others have continued to have these safety issues even after Ford replaces their transmission or transmission clutch.
The car seems to hesitate at acceleration from parked position. I noticed a slight "skipping" or jumping while driving off of the lot. Since then, I have noticed the same while driving on the highway. The dealer (used car dealer in Alabama) told me "its a good deal, good car"!!!
My wife was driving the vehicle on the freeway. She had opened and closed the sunroof about an hour before the incident. There was a loud popping/banging noise and the sunroof shattered. Glass shards covered the inside of the car, some of them were sharp. When she parked the vehicle the glass was bent out and not down. There was no known impact of any object with the sunroof, it appears to have exploded due to a defect.
We believe this is a serious safety issue as one of our kids almost fell out of the car because we didn't realize the door did not catch! the rear left door will not stayed closed. The mechanism is not catching at all and the door is a safety issue. A couple of months ago, the passenger front door did the same thing. We ended up taking it to the dealership and it cost $100 to repair, but we don't feel this is right.
Accelerating from a traffic light the car just died. I lost all power(power steering, power brakes). We pulled over and tried to jump the battery thinking it was this. I remembered a letter I received from Ford regarding a voluntary recall for the transmission control module(tcm). The car was towed to my local mechanic and via a diagnostic test it was determined that the tcm was defective. After a week at the Ford dealer the tcm was replaced free and the warranty was extended. The major concern that I have is if I was on the highway there would have been dire consequences - the car just died and we would have been sitting on the highway with traffic flying by us. There needs to be a mandatory recall for this situation before people die.
My transmission doesn't work right and never has, from the minute I drove it off the lot. It jerks, very hard at times, it shudders, and worst of all, it hesitates, so when you pull out at times you pray it kicks in before you end up getting hit and killed. I told my son after less than six months of owning this car that if I get killed because of it, I want him to sue Ford. They refuse to fix it because they don't stand behind their products! they don't care if consumers get hurt or killed, obviously. It looks good and rides good, but is a lemon because of the trans. They maintain that it only makes it miserable to drive, but they doubt you'll get killed, so refuse to help. These are some sort of transmissions that were converted from manual to automatic and not very well, at that. I've been to three dealers and they won't help, saying their hands are tied because corporate doesn't feel it's going to kill anyone. I thought I would buy a Ford, being from SE mi. Talk about misguided loyalty! just because nobody's been killed yet doesn't mean it won't happen. It doesn't work, plain & simple. And if it's this poor now, what will happen in another year or two? I am beyond disgusted and completely frustrated with this uncaring company who sells you junk for top dollar and then refuses to help you with a problem that is totally and completely their fault!
I bought a 2012 Ford Focus 2 years ago, since owning the car I have experienced major safety issues. Doing 55mph in my home town my transmission failed and my car came to a dead stop. This has happened on multiple occasions. My check engine light came on as well as my hill side assistant. I was able to pull into a lot. After this incident and leaving my car off for 2 minutes or so, I began to drive and my RPM's jolted into the 7,000's and my car accelerated uncontrollably pushing my speed to over 50 when I was only doing 30. Afterwards my vehicle once again de-accelorated in the middle of a busy road and came to a stop. I have brought my car back to Ford 3 times in the last 2 years with issues due to accelerating, jerking, hesitation and fail to shift. This accident had almost costed me and others our lives. Ford failed to assist me in the matter and told me there was nothing they could do about the way the Ford's electric automatic transmission system is made. This car is a dangerous vehicle and by no means should be approved to be driven or sold under these circumstances. After further investigation I realized I'm one out of thousands who have had the same issues with Ford Focus' purchased between 2010-2013.
The vehicle would not turn over. There was no clicking of the vehicle trying to start. After 4 tries to start the car it was left to sit for 30 min before we tried again. The car then was tried to start again did not start until the 4th try. Then the car started. It seems to be skipping a gear while driving will go from 6K RPM to all of the sudden jumping down to 2K rmp. There is something wrong with the clutch/ transmission with shifting and now something going on with the starting system.
(automatic hatchback) the car rolls back when in gear, on a steep hill. Shifting gears, it will hesitate on the highway and will jump gears and studder. A few days ago I was trying to back out of my driveway to get to work and when I put it in reverse, the car didn't move whatsoever, so I put it in drive to test and see if it was working, and it got in 1st gear just fine.so I tried to reverse again with the same issue. Then the engine light illuminated, so I left the car and got a ride to work, however that night when I came home, I tested the car out again and same problem, however a message popped up "transmission is not in park (P)" and I had it in reverse, so I put it in drive and the same message popped up. Now I cannot get it to move at all. While in drive, it will rev up, but it will not move! it will start up no problem, and sometimes it will drive, but it will lose power and not move again.
This vehicle has a pretty significant engine shudder as well as a rattling noise between first and second and second and third gears. Vehicle at times feels like it is going to stall out. This is a safety issue in all intersections and this vehicle should be recalled.
2013, 2014, transmission clutch replaced, 2015 waiting for another transmission clutch replacement. Rear ended in 2014 when car bogged down getting on highway. Car died twice while on highway. Told by Ford customer care & dealership car was safe to drive before both incidents. Car revs up to high rpms for no reason while driving.. very scary. !!!! car has not driven correct since the day it left the dealership !!
Car just simply stopped moving while driving down the road. Diagnostic light read transmission failure. Car had to be coasted to the side of the road. Luckily it was a rural road and there was little to no traffic or my child could have been seriously injured in a crash from being struck from behind. I understand that Ford is aware of these problems. Is it going to take someone or their child being hurt or killed to remedy the problem
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- South Glens Falls, NY, USA