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 car from a Ford dealership about 2 years ago and on 2 occassions now i have had problems with my power steering. First time i started my car after work and a steering assist fault message illuminated on the dash and the power steering was near impossible to turn. I was not able to drive the vehicle and had it towed to my mechanic who also found the power steering difficult to turn the next morning and it ran a code for him of steering malfunction. He said he thought the rack and pinion needed replacing and stated that only Ford could do it as it would need to be reprogramed by them as it is electric. So i had the car towed to Ford and they were unable. To diagnose it. A week later upon starting my car to head to work the sane steering assist fault message came on my dash so I turned off my car and started it again after reading online how common this problem is with this make of car and how that remedies it in the beginning. Car was able to start but i had it taken again to Ford as i am scared of it going out while driving or getting stranded agaun somewhere without power steering and so far Ford can still not diagnose it. This is really frustrating as it is a huge safety issue. I no longer feel safe driving my car. I get anxiety about being in an accident or getting stranded again late at night with my car. And i read it costs almost 3000 tp fix. This should ne recalled. I only have had this car about 2 years and i will never buy feom ford again. If i could afford a new car i would get rid of it because it is not a safe car. So upsetting Ford will not do a recall. It is way to hard for a woman to try to drive this car with power steering loss. Someone will be injured before Ford cares.
Power steering assist fault code pops up everytime I turn on my car, my steering wheel is completely locked, only have had car for 6 months dont have the money to replace rack and pinion which costs so much there should be a recall on this considering so many people have complained about this exact steering issue. My car was parked and running when I lost my power steering
The power steering assist failure warning came on and then went away after turning the vehicle off. The same issue came back the day after, with it being completely unsafe to drive the vehicle on the road. Turning the wheel is very difficult, and this problem has been commonly reported by others with the 2012 Ford Focus, yet no recalls have been issued. The car has not been inspected as of today, but others have reported up to $2600 of repair costs for this issue. Previous to this incident, the car did not have any other warning lights or other symptoms of dysfunction.
On engine startup the power steering doesn't function and there is a power steering assist warning. The fault is rectified by turning the engine off and on. I'm concerned that the problem may occur while driving.
Electronic power steering failed. My daughter almost lost control of the vehicle. If she had been driving on the highway, an accident would have killed her! The loss of power steering is a reoccurring problem with this vehicle. A simple internet search reveals the problem is common. Issue a recall before more people are hurt.
- Altus, OK, USA
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The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20-25 MPH, the steering wheel was stiff and difficult to be turned. The contact was able to drive to his residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed as power steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 112,000. The VIN was unavailable.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the steering wheel failed to operate properly. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and the steering wheel resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that a diagnostic test was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred twenty times. The contact felt it was unsafe to drive the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided the contact with a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000
This has happened 5 times and good thing it hasn-€™t happened while driving or that could cause a bad accident. The steering assist light has come on when I-€™m sitting in my driveway and start my car and when I turn the wheel it won-€™t move it-€™s locked. so I-€™ve shut off my car and restart it and then the wheel will turn. I see this is a problem for many people this is definitely not safe and should be recalled.
I started having a lot of issues with balance and the vehicle bouncing while driving. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods. Suddenly, on the way to get an alignment, I got a warning on my screen that stated -€œSTEERING LOSS STOP SAFELY-€. I was told by a mechanic that the electronic rack and pinion needed replaced. Doing research on this problem, I find that this is actually an extremely common issue with this year make and model. The vehicle had to be towed back to my residence costing me $125! If I had not been an experienced driver, this could have been a very deadly situation as I was traveling at 65mph at the time that I lost steering.
Electric Steering Assist light came on and off a few times over the past 2 weeks. As of this writing it is on permanently and steering the vehicle is now done without power assist. As a man I am able to drive but the rest of my family and wife are no longer able to operate the vehicle as to the difficulty in turning the wheel.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel ceased, and the vehicle was difficult to steer. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle however, the steering wheel was locked. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed as power steering motor failure. The dealer replaced the power steering rack. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA for assistance. The failure mileage was 66,103.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to reverse out of a parking space, the steering wheel ceased. The contact was unaware if there was a warning light illuminated. The contact cruised slowly in reverse out of the parking space but continued experiencing the failure while she drove to the used car dealer. The contact stated that the used car dealer took the vehicle to the local dealer and the local dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
The power steering electric assist failed when pulling into cross-traffic, narrowing avoiding broadside high-speed collusion. Have intermittantly expereinced power steering failure at vehicle start in the past, but never during vehicle operation in traffic. It is a known issue with several Ford vehicles in the 2011-2013 range, but Focus has been excluded from recalls addressing this issue.
Driving 40 MPH around a curvy mountainous road the Power Steering suddenly stopped working making steering almost impossible thankfully there was a pull off spot straight ahead or I would have been in a major accident.
THE CONTACT OWNS A 2012 FORD FOCUS. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE POWER STEERING ASSIST WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED AT START-UP. THE CONTACT WOULD RESTART THE VEHICLE AND THE VEHICLE WOULD RESUME NORMAL OPERATION. RECENTLY, THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WOULD NOT RESUME NORMAL OPERATION AFTER THE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED AND THE VEHICLE WAS RESTARTED. THE CONTACT STATED THAT EXCESSIVE FORCE WAS NEEDED TO STEER THE VEHICLE ONCE THE WARNING LIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO BE DIAGNOSED AND REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS NOT NOTIFIED OF THE FAILURE. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 128,000. Consumer stated steering was replaced.
Steering and hill assist light came on when warming up the car. Went to leave the parking spot and the car was extremely hard to turn in both directions. Shutting the car off and re starting temporarily resolved the issue for a few days at first! but it came back and did the same thing. This occurred again while driving on highway 200 @80mph causing me to almost leave my lane and hit a mini van! the car has been parked for about 4 months now and only used for very short trips in town (1 mile or less!) this is a well known and documented issue that Ford is refusing to issue a recall for! just another corporation not caring about their consumers! issue a recall already!
Vehicle steering assist failed as I was making a turn at approximately 20 mph. Steering the vehicle became extremely difficult. Vehicle was parked and turned off then restarted. Power returned after restart.
The vehicle was in motion driving on expressway and the power steering went out. I had my two grandchildren in the vehicle. I had a very hard time getting the vehicle over on the side of the highway. All Ford 2012 vehicles were recalled for this problem except the Focus.
At random times I receive the 'steering assist fault' notice and can't steer. I turn the key off, try again and it drives like normal. I took it to the dealer once, but there is no dtc code to tell them what to do, so nothing has been done. Today was the first time it happened twice in one day. The first time today was while backing out of a parking space like all the other times, but then a few hours later something new happened and it went out while going forward and pulling away from a residential curb. Luckily there was no traffic and I only moved a few feet away from the curb. I restarted it again and it drove like normal.
I started my car this morning to warm up, I live in Maine, so after 10 minutes I want to go to work and my power steering was off, I couldn't turn the steering wheel easily like normal and the car was running. Good thing it didn't happened later tonight on hockey 🏒 practice with my son. It's very big safety issue. Please advise. Thanks.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Lansing, MI, USA