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.
Second & third time the power steering has locked out on this vehicle while stationary, thank god. The instrument cluster showed a message reading "steering fault and it was amber in color. Turn off vehicle and restarted vehicle as my spouse told me and steering was ok. Drove to a different location and stopped about one hour later started to restart vehicle to the system warning and status messages cluster was on and amber in color, turn off and restart vehicle and it was ok, drove home and it is as of this date still working..
Starting car and engaged engine& trans started to move when I found that no power steering. Found out that if you stop and restart car it might reset it did. This has happened twice more times. All had amber message all happened while stationary.
My daughter pulled out her parking space and was unable to turn the steering wheel. The steering wheel was beyond hard to turn for an adult male or female, suggesting that the problem was not a lack of power steering fluid but that the car's steering modules failed, while the car was being driven.
- Homewood, IL, USA
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Vehicle is a 2012 Ford Focus with only 46,000 miles. While starting to make a left turn from a stopped position the instrumentation panel showed a "steering assist fault" message and all power steering was lost. This nearly resulted in hitting another vehicle as I was not prepared for the steering to become completely manual, it was difficult at such a slow speed to turn the wheel. In speaking with Ford this is a known issue, recall was issued for multiple vehicles and multiple years for the same issue but the Focus was excluded.
Steering assist malfunction warning with loss of power steering. Happened at start up. Turned car off and restarted. The problem went away. The 4th time this happened, the power assist did not resume. Car now has no power steering at all.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 35 mph, the steering wheel seized. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred twice. As a result, the contact lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the median. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was not filed and there were no injuries. The vehicle was towed to ken grody Ford carlsbad (5555 paseo del norte, carlsbad, ca 92008, (760) 438-9171), but the cause of the failure could not be determined because the power steering was operable once the vehicle was restarted at the dealer. The contact stated that the front driver's side tire was replaced. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 72,000.
I backed out my Focus from the garage and heard a beep or noise to alert me of a problem. The steering wheel was rigid and dash message said something about steering malfunction. In addition was a square box with an "I" in the box. I then moved the car back into the garage and turned off the engine.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 50 mph, the vehicle began to steer and swerve in and out of lanes without warning. The contact had to remove his foot from the accelerator pedal in order for the vehicle to resume normal operation. The vehicle was taken to jd byrider auto sales (3700 w broad St, columbus, oh 43228, (614) 456-1717) where it was diagnosed, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. Out of consideration, the dealer replaced the front wheel bearing. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic for another diagnostic test, but the cause of the failure could not be determined. The failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.
One day I went to start my car up, and tried to turn my wheel and it wouldn't turn. Somebody was able to loosen it up for me that time. Two days after that I attempted the same thing and it wouldn't not loosen up at all. The wheel is extremely hard to turn. I've done a little research and seen that they have had this problem with a number of these models.
When operating the vehicle a sensor disables making the vehicle difficult to steer. Once I pull over and shut the vehicle off for a period of time it resets and I am able to drive. This has occurred on several different locations, roads and during different weather. The vehicle is difficult to control when this happens and am lucky that it has not happened when the vehicle is at a high rate of speed. It has also happened when you first start the vehicle on several occasions but have been able to reset the system by restarting the vehicle.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While the contact was preparing to pull out of the driveway, she noticed that the steering assistance warning indicator was illuminated and the power steering failed. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the rack and pinion needed to be replaced. The vehicle had not been repaired. The manufacturer and dealer were not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 120,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 30 mph, the steering wheel became difficult to steer and the power steering warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to tallahassee Ford Lincoln (243 N magnolia dr, tallahassee, fl 32301, (850) 877-1171), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage and VIN were unknown.
Loss of power steering assist. Intermittent. Happens on start up a warning of a steering problem with no power steering. Lost power steering once when driving.
While in motion on the interstate my consul gave me a notification that there was a "failure in steering assist" and to pull over safely. At witch time I lost my power steering assist. I pulled off at the next exit which thankfully led to baxter Ford South where they ran a service check the next day. After running the check they determined there was a failure in the power steering control module (pscm). The pscm was re programed to the last known code. They informed me that they did not know how long the fix would last. On the same day after driving 600 miles I received the same message and once again lost power steering assist. Note that the same failure has occurred in the 2011- 2012 Ford Fusion, Ford flex, and Ford Taurus. All have been recalled except for the 2012 Ford Focus model. I will attach and highlight my invoice from baxter Ford South.
Just like the other hundreds of Ford owners that are not on the recall list my Focus steering wheel locked up. Due to a manufacturing defect that Ford doesn't want to fix. Thank you very much Ford I almost died! I will never buy another Ford vehicle again.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While the contact's husband was driving 30 mph, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn. Also, "service steering now" and "advancetrac" were displayed. The vehicle was taken to larry H. miller Ford draper (11442 lone peak pkwy, draper, ut 84020, (801) 590-0561) where it was diagnosed that the steering needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 117,000. The VIN was not available.
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- Rockmart, GA, USA