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 car wont start, radio, locks, lights all work. But upon turning key, wont start. No noises. Sometimes the remote start will work. If it does not start, it will keep trying to start it over and over without me even touching the remote again.it will start about 1 out of every 10 times.keep trying and sooner or later it starts. 2012 Ford Focus, might be ignition switch ?
I had my car at the dealer 5 times for transmission problems under warranty. 2 months ago I had to pay over $2500 to have repaired out of warranty by an independent repair shop. The purge valve is also bad, they sent a recall bot cancelled it. My gas gauge has not worked in over 3 years, the sound system also has not worked in over 3 years. The dealer said there has been multiple complaints. The fan for the heat/cool only works on high(4). The ignition also is a problem, my mechanic said that he knows of many ignition problems on the Focus and other Ford models. I did receive a lemon law settlement a few years ago which wwas nothing compared to all the problems and expenses.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the horn started to fail periodically and then stopped working completely. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 133,000.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving 25 mph, the check engine indicator illuminated and the vehicle shut off. The contact was unable to remove the key from the ignition. After several attempts, the contact was able to restart the vehicle and drive home. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. A dealer and the manufacturer were not notified. The failure mileage was 101,329.
- Culpeper, VA, USA
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Started car and dash light indicated the following message, "transmission malfunction. Service now"like many others I have seen online.it also states engine needs service
The car radio goes off the windows don't go down and the transmission went on the car out off no where when I maintain my car every 3 months and as needed
The electronic power steering goes out without warning while driving on a city street !!! the internet is teaming with complaints about this on this vehicle. Does someone have to die before the NHTSA takes action ?
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While the vehicle was parked at a grocery store, the engine would not turn off. The contact pulled the fuel fuse to discontinue the flow of fuel and shut the engine off; however, the vehicle lighting remained illuminated. The battery had to be disconnected to turn off the lights. The failure recurred three times. The contact called roy O'brien Ford at 586-776-7600 (located at 22201 E 9 mile rd, St clair shores, mi 48080) and was informed that the failure was not a known issue. The vehicle was not diagnosed. The failure recurred and the vehicle was taken to elder Ford (888-467-5023, located at 777 john R rd, troy, mi 48083) where it was diagnosed that the body control module needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and did not offer any explanation for the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.
The rear tail lights are subject to a "brake lamp bulb fault" due to the shoddy wiring and wiring harness that affixes the wires to the trunk lid. After many open and close iterations of the trunk lid, wires become brittle and fray, and eventually fault. The problem is widespread throughout the forums with many individuals resorting to cutting the cables and resoldering or reattaching them with reduced wire tension. This is a major problem and can cause potential rear end accidents when the brake and tail lights fail to illuminate. The fault appears as soon as the car turns on, and can sporadically go away when driving. As sporadically as it disappears, it reappears and remains. This is absolutely a design flaw with wiring not shielded in any way and simply wrapped in tape.
Radio starts to pop and sound like machine gun fire. It goes off and on irregularly and even does it when car is turned off. Sometimes it will work for 10 minutes and then the popping and gun fire begins again. I am afraid that someone will think I'm shooting as them. If it comes on while driving, it is very scary. Could cause an accident.
Now when I start my car, the music may play for a couple seconds and then the loud popping takes over. Whether the volume is on "1" or "10" the noise is just as loud and startling. I would simply turn off the power to the stereo, but this did not seem to alleviate anything. Although not as consistent, the noise seems to intermittently come even if the car is turned off and the key not in the ignition. As stated, this noise is very loud and startling. It startled me enough that I accidentally jerked the wheel out of reflex while driving down the highway yesterday. Music is a luxury, but having the crap scared out of you by your own car while driving is a giant safety issue!!
Horn on my car and the alarm system doesn't work, this is ongoing problem with the horn on my 2012 Focus. Ford refused to repair or acknowledge this safety problem with my car. Reported the electrical problems to Ford in 2013-2019. This car has multiple problems, transmission repaired atleast 4 times.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While operating the vehicle, the engine, battery, and oil sensor indicators illuminated before the vehicle shut off. The cause of the failure was not determined. Hines park Ford (56558 Pontiac trl, new hudson, mi) and the manufacturer were notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 94,000.
Electronic power steering assist failures. Several times over the past four months my wife and I started the car and there was no power steering. The car was undrivable and warning on the dash indicated steering failure. Sometimes two or more restarts were required before the warning went off and the power steering returned. Although it hasn't happened yet while driving the car. My research on this failure showed that its highly possible that it could happen while driving and cause injury or death. Farther research shows that repairs could cost as much as $2,200
Sometimes when the car is started and you go to back up or even pull in to park the steering wheel locks up and does not allow you to turn it. The radio makes this horrible loud crackling noise and imposes a tremendous safety concern when you are driving down the road and the speakers cut on and off without you ever touching the stereo system, I feel for those who have sensitive hearing or even the elderly if it happens to them because it is horribly loud and even with the radio off it still pops and squeaks, also the canister purge I just spent 700 last year replacing fuel pump relay switch car just cut off going down the 4oad and would not start back
When driving the radio would do one loud snap and stop working. If I restarted the car it would work again, but the engine would sputter upon restart. Now the radio just won't work. It crackles and creates very loud noises through the speakers even when the car isn't on and the keys aren't even in the car. It scares me while I am driving and does not stop. I now have no radio too. It sometimes turns on but doesn't play anything, but other times doesn't even do that. The noises don't stop the entire time I'm driving. It is getting worse as time goes on.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Niagara Falls, NY, USA