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.
During a tight turn on a bendy road going about 55 mph the vehicle lost all power. As if someone turned they key off. Lights, infotainment, steering, brakes, everything was effected. Luckily steering doesn't lockup on a Ford Focus. And can be steered but without power assist. Once at a complete stop, the car could be restarted with no instrument lights on, as if nothing happened.
My car has almost gotten me in 3 accidents and it rolls back on hills I was pulling into a drive way and it started to roll back then it slowed down and there was a load noise and we started rolling backwards it was just a drive way. The car has absolutely no power at all it stutters and when you are driving in busy places and your car wont pick up enough ton enter on the highway or freeway its scary and its unsafe it will shake the whole car when it pulls back and stutters. It is awful and I went on a 3 hour drive to go on vacation I actually rented a car instead of taking my brand new car that I got to last me years fro now was the plan if it makes it another 1 year I will be surprised very dangerous Ford.
We took our car in yesterday because the engine kept lurching and stalling. They said it was the power train, and that it was a problem with the computer. The berge Ford dealership reprogrammed the computer, and today when I got in the car the radio was on. I just unlocked it and opened the door, and the radio came on. The key was not in the car at all, and the only thing I did was unlock it with the remote and open the door. I did not have this problem prior to them "reprogramming" it to fix the power train/transmission problem. Then when I started to drive it the engine seemed sluggish and it seemed to be lurching again, but not stopping for an instant like before. So I went from having transmission/power train problems, and a seat belt problem to having them both with a computer problem added in... I'm not a computer engineer, but when a piece of equipment has hardware problems it would make sense to replace or fix the hardware instead of reprogramming the software. I'll be taking it back in, and while the computer is out of warranty I think I should be able to get them to look at it and fix it without charging me because they caused the problem.
I have had numerous issues with transmission and electrical problems with my vehicle. I have had it in for service about 6 times in the past year. Car shifts hard, when driving, sputters, and even once stalled out in the middle of a intersection. I had these issues from day one with the vehicle but was told the cars computer has to "learn" how you drive. Electrical, the locks sometimes works, or the doors lock when they aren't supposed to. Key fob doesn't work sometimes. This is something that is ridiculous and Ford Motor Co. Should do something about it. My car has 27500 miles on it and runs like it is 15 years old! my warranty is up at 36000, so then all these issues become the consumer problem even though Ford is aware this is an issue they are having and won't recall until someone gets hurt or killed.
I have a Ford Focus bev ( battery electric vehicle), 2012. I came out from work and unplugged my car from the charging post and got into it as usual to go home. I pressed the start button and a mechanical warning window came up on the dash. I closed it and the "stop safely now" message came on. I closed it and the first message came back again. This went on for several cycles until I hit the start button again. I tried the start button again, and the same thing happened. I plugged it back in, unplugged it and tried again. Same thing. I called the dealer, the lady there called roadside assistance for me. They sent a truck to tow it to a closer dealer, where it currently sits. Initial diagnostics are not showing a cause. I will learn more on Monday. This is apparently a common problem according to the internet.
- St. Louis, MO, USA
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While driving approx 30 miles per hour on a B road, just after turning right the car displayed a "stop safely now" warning and the car lost all power to the drive train and the car literally stopped moving. Luckily, there was no one behind me when the fault occurred. I power cycled the car and I was able to drive away after a few minutes. I have never had an issue with the car until last night.
As I was driving all of a sudden a display stating "stop safely now" came on. I pulled over and the car would not go any further. I had to completely turn it off, open and close the door, and restart it to make it go again. It has happened 3 times now in the past few weeks.
While driving through uptown charlotte, the car gave a "stop safely now" alert and the car lost power. It coasted enough to roll to the right lane and then died. I could not get the warning flashers to work. I tried for about 7 minutes to get the car to turn off, every combination I knew. After that, the car 'reset' and I was able to get it to start. I drove away as if nothing happened. It hasn't happened since. It's not cool to have the car quit in traffic like that. I think the battery control computer picked up a radio frequency interference.
The vehicle came to a complete stop in front of the caldecott tunnel that separates the East bay to contra costa county. The vehicle stopped in the middle of traffic during commute time. Also resulted in a terrible backup on the highway. Spent over 3 hours dealing with this break down that included finding care for our children and finding someone to pick her up at dealership as it was after hours.
I purchased a new 2012 Ford Focus ev on June 7, 2013. Twice (still in June), while driving at speeds approximately 50 mph, the "stop safely now" warning came on and the vehicle lost power. Both times I was able to restart the vehicle within a couple of minutes. I made sure to note all the indicators to provide the Ford service techs as much information as possible. When I brought the vehicle in to be serviced, the technicians professed no knowledge of the issue and contacted Ford for support. They could not repeat the issue and the car had no log of the events. Finally, I was told the problem was a faulted power control module (PCM). Unfortunately, this part was on a national backorder for 6 weeks (probably as a result of the known problems). After the part was finally replaced, I was told that the PCM would not program correctly, and that the transmission control module needed to be replaced. End result, I have my vehicle back, just in time to take it back for a recall. At least it hasn't stalled ??. yet.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the stop safely now warning light illuminated as the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to dealer where it was found that the high voltage cable had failed. The vehicle was repaired. The contact also mentioned that the failure recurred several times. The manufacturer was not contacted about the failure. The failure mileage was 7,500.
Car started on the right side of the car windows stopped working and the lights started blinking. Dealer replaced right side module. Then next was the blue tooth stopped working and the whole touch screen blacked out. Dealer replaced sync module and new touch screen. Next was the wipers coming on by there self.dealer replaced wiper sensor. Next was the door locks surging without a key in and dash cluster floating. Dealer replaced drive module. Right now the transmission is not working properly. I am just scared the death that the car is going to catch fire while driving the car.
This is regarding Ford Focus electric 2012. I was pulling out of my office parking lot and driving at about 5 mph. I got the 'stop safely now' warning and within a few seconds the car stopped and I could not drive any more. Fortunately, it was the internal street and around 3 pm when the traffic is very low. I am glad this incident did not happen on the freeway in the left lane (carpool lane in California). I was able to restart the car and drove straight to the dealer(fremont Ford) but they did not have trained ev technicians to look at the car. Asked me to bring the car back on Monday(8/19/20013). Now the car is at the dealer. This is second time I have encountered this issue with this car. The first time I had was when I was pulling the car out of my garage at home. Ford even applied major software updates on my car in July but looks like the issue is still recurring.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while parked with the keys in the ignition, the central locking system automatically locked while a child was inside the vehicle. The police were contacted for assistance however, a police report was not filed. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for a diagnostic testing where unknown repairs were made to the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was repaired but the failure recurred. The approximate failure mileage was 34,000 and the current mileage was 35,600.
Myfordtouch: Unable to be heard when I call from the car using my bluetooth connected phone (3 different phones used with same outcome). When driving in the car, directions, traffic, and trying to get the operator is not possible. (note: Directions sometimes work if the car is not moving.) I tried working with my dealership (bob maxey Ford in howell, mi, visiting them many times. The last time I was there, they brought in a Ford engineer (because I had escalated my need within the Ford company). After that it worked "most of the time" for a week, when all four quadrants on my screen showed power off for about 10 minutes then slowly each quadrant powered up. From then on I was back to where I was before ie no traffic, directions, operator, and phone use. Bob maxey Ford's service manager told me on my last visit that there was nothing more they could do.............I've had it!! I've paid for something that doesn't work.......... :(
Our 2012 Ford Focus electric totally shutdown after receiving the stop safely now warning alert. Car shut down in traffic within 30 seconds of receiving the warning. We had no time to react or pull the car safely to the side of the road. This is clearly a safety issue.
Incidence occurred twice in 2 day period. "stop safely now" error occurred while driving the vehicle. 1st instance was while breaking as approaching a stoplight. 2nd instance was while accelerating on freeway onramp. Both instances I lost all engine power and could no longer accelerate. I had to coast to a safe spot to put the car into park and turn off the vehicle but was able to restart it and drive to dealership for repair. Serious safety concern with this vehicle as driver may not have ability to coast to safe stop while driving on freeway or busy traffic. After researching online, there is rampant occurrence of this exact failure being described on vehicle owner forums for Ford Focus electric both 2012 and 2013 models.
Upon making a left turn vehicle completely powered down with no warning, after a second an audible beep and "stop safely now" message appeared. Vehicle had to be towed to dealership.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus electric. The contact stated that while attempting to decelerate on a rough driving surface, the vehicle stalled without warning. A warning message illuminated, advising the contact to move off the highway and into a safe location. The failure recurred twice. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was determined that the electrical connection was loose. The vehicle was repaired however, to no avail. The failure persisted. The VIN was not available. The failure mileage was 500 and the current mileage was 6,000.
The electrical system has a short somewhere that causes the horn to stop working intermittently and also the brake lights to fail intermittently. I have checked fuses and contacted Ford and there are no recalls. This caused an accident on 02/23/2013. A man backed into my vehicle in a parking lot (with my two babies in the back seat) and I couldn't blow the horn to let him know I was behind him. I was helpless to stop it from happening. I believe it is illegal in most (or all) states to not have a working horn on the vehicle. Ford refuses to recall, diagnose, or repair this vehicle at no cost to me. I believe that this is a very serious safety issue and I feel that nobody will take me seriously.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- New Braunfels, TX, USA