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.
We purchased a 2012 Focus for our 18 year old daughter as her first car. The check engine light is illuminated and the car shudders as you accelerate like its shifting gears but it's a very aggressive jerk. Once it reaches certain speed it drives smoothly but if you stop at a red light or stop sign and accelerate again it does the same thing. The fault code for the check engine light states it's a catalytic converter problem. I did some online research and found a recall for what I thought was the cause of the issue (recall 18S32). Took it into the dealership to have the recall repaired and they reset the PCM but tech told me the gas tank "passed inspection" so no further repairs were needed. However, the car still shudders at acceleration. I was told I'd have to pay $135 for them to diagnose the problem. I am so afraid for my daughter who is a fairly new driver to be driving this unsafe vehicle. I will be searching for a class action lawsuit as I've read several complaints of the same issue on this website. I don't feel comfortable selling this car to anyone else with these problems either. Ford really needs to rectify this problem immediately before someone gets hurt or worse, dies! the car has 101,000 miles on it.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact took her vehicle to an unknown dealer to be repaired per an unknown recall. The contact believed there was a manufacturer defect with the throttle body and stated that the vehicle would hesitate to accelerate when the brake pedal was released and would then violently accelerate suddenly. The failure caused the vehicle to crash into a ditch. The air bags did not deploy. A police report was not filed. There were no injures. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer or independent mechanic for diagnostic testing or repairs. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 119,000.
The vehicle shudders from a compete stop or accelerating this has happened since purchase of the vehicle. Most recently the car will accelerate when driving or in worst cases while braking. The vehicle has ramped up to 6000rpm while braking going down hill. Upon contacting local Ford dealership about the unintended acceleration, they stated they had not heard of this issue before. Advised me to stop driving the vehicle and have it towed to their facility.
The car vibrated vigorously when accelerates from a complete stop, followed by sudden accelerations when switching gears. The car had only 28K miles on it when this happened.
When I put my gear in reverse, sometimes my car jerks and reverse faster than it should or other times the car would idle, I would see the RPM going up and hear the RPM but the car doesnt move. I'd have to hit brake and try to reverse again. When I come to a stop and try to drive, the vehicle either jerks or just takes off. The problem almost happens every time. Or when I am slowing down, the car would jerk or shudder. Whenever I take the vehicle to the dealership, they just tell me the shudder/jerks are in their normal range reading and basically tells me that is normal for the vehicle to do. All the shuddering, jerking, and being hesitant happens mostly starting from a stationary position, like at a red light or a stop sign. This has been happening every since I bought the car in 2016 August, as a used car. I've had to get a new clutch, and replace the new one because it wasn't working properly.
- Anaheim, CA, USA
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I purchased this vehicle from Ford of kirkland in Washington state in 2016, and noticed driving issues the day I drove it off the lot. This vehicle has a dps6 transmission and it constantly jerks, shudders and slips out of gear while driving at any speed. It often fails to accelerate or accelerates suddenly and out of control, especially when going uphill. It also frequently overheats, especially when idling, despite having work done on it several times that was supposed to fix this problem. I was told this was an automatic transmission when the vehicle was sold to me, and the dps6 is not an automatic transmission at all. I also frequently have issues with the electrical and radio system. The clock changes randomly and the audio switches unexpectedly to radio stations from blue tooth while driving and then fails to switch back to any blue tooth device, sometimes for several days until it randomly begins working again. This is especially problematic when I am relying on audio directions from navigation apps that are paired from my cell phone while driving. I was also told by Ford of kirkland service center that there is "nothing wrong" with my transmission or my vehicle and that I'm just not driving it "correctly, " which makes absolutely no sense. This vehicle and its faulty transmission are unsafe to drive. I do not let anyone else drive this vehicle because I fear for their safety and I only drive it myself in times where it is absolutely necessary, which I can prove by the very small amount of miles I have put on it since purchase. I experience the above stated problems every single time I drive it this vehicle, which is a clearly a lemon by definition. Ford broke the law by selling me this dangerous vehicle with a transmission that they knew was unsafe and by falsely advertising this transmission as an automatic.
I've experienced both hesitation and lurching forward with this vehicle when accelerating and traveling at low speeds (5-15 miles per hour) this is scary when merging onto four lane or even when caught in bumper to bumper traffic. This has been an on-going problem ever since the vehicle was purchased new. The clutch has been replaced once or twice, but the problem continues.
Constant problems with the transmission and transmission control module including shuddering overheating lack of power jerking motions and constant replacement. From 2013 to current date.
My Focus has had numerous transmission problems over the past few years. My car would randomly not be able to shift into second gear and would leave stranded. While driving my car would randomly not shift gears, allowing me to go a max of 10 mph with my children in my car. Many times my car would not start at all. Sometimes when it did start, I could not even turn my wheel. I had the computer chip reset and within 4 months my car became inoperable. I took it to the shop and they said multiple service bulletins were found for my transmission that came back in the diagnostics and told me to take it to the Ford dealership. When I went there I was told it would be minimum $2K to get the internal clutch fixed, if that was the issue, upwards of $5K for the other transmission issues. I felt extremely unsafe with two kids and had to go out and lease a new car. I am furious now that I am reading that Ford knew it was selling 2012 focuses with faulty transmissions. I still have the car in my possession. I cannot even count the number of times my car would not shift or start, and while driving with my children in the car this happened. It caused me to almost be rear ended or stuck in intersections. The only thing that saved me on many occasions was quickly turning on my hazard lights/blinkers. I am outraged that this has happened. Prior to owning my 2012 Focus, I had a 2002 Focus and never ran into any of these issues and loved the car so much I bought another one. If I could go back in time I would never have bought the 2012 knowing what I know now. I am hoping a class action lawsuit is filed, and if not, I may find my own lawyer and go after Ford.
I was driving southbound in the left lane on I-495 from md into va, about to get to the ez pass camera. I seldom use the pass, therefore it is not affixed to the windshield. I had placed it on the dashboard in anticipation of the upcoming camera. Traffic was alternately slowing down and speeding up to approximately 35 mph. The driver ahead of me suddenly slowed nearly to a stop, so I pressed my brakes, which caused the ez pass to slide across the dashboard and up against the windshield. Unable to reach it with my seatbelt on, and because the car was barely moving, I unfastened the seat belt to retrieve the pass. At the same time the driver ahead of me slightly increased her speed, then suddenly slowed again, which I did, too. However, this time I had to punch the brake. It went straight to the floor, my car sped up, and I was unable to avoid rear-ending the car ahead. It was such a helpless feeling to try and stop and have no brakes! a "crash mode" message showed up on screen behind the steering wheel and the sync system automatically dialed 911. The other driver got out of her car and walked back to ask if I was okay. I was fine, but because traffic in the right lane was speeding past, and some cars were even passing us on the shoulder, I did not attempt to get out of my car. Eventually the state police, emts and a tow-truck arrived. My steering no longer worked, but once the other car was towed out of the way the responding officer was able to walk alongside my car, pushing it onto the shoulder while I attempted to steer. The tow driver took over from there. I rode with him back to md to the body shop of the Ford dealer where I purchased the car in 2011 and have had all maintenance performed and previous clutch issues addressed. It was in the shop for a month. I asked if there was something wrong with the brakes but was told there was no evidence of that.
I have a 2012 Ford Focus titanium hatchback. I took my car into bob tomes Ford for a shuttering problem and was told to wait and see to continue to drive the car. Months later I had the tcm replace and now my clutch is out. These were all issues at the time I originally brought my car into Ford. After the tcm was replace I tried to pick up my car from bob tomes Ford service center and the service team could not start my car or get it in gear( yet somehow they "test drove" it). My car has stalled in the middle of intersections, my check engine light has come, my transmission is overheating and asking me to pull over and wait 5 minuets. This is extremely dangerous as I am a mother and have up to 3 children with me at one time. I can not trust my car to get me from a to B safely. My car dies randomly when it wants to. My car is now completely undriveable. I am still paying on this car and I can not even drive it! I need something to be done about this asap. This is absolutely terrifying that Ford is allowed to sell cars knowing the transmission is faulty before they were on the market.
While driving the vehicle on the highway in a 55mph speedzone, the transmission would not shift gears, and then my car would not go over 35 mph. After taking it into the dealership, they simply said I was "driving the car incorrectly" and performed some kind of software reboot. Now, when traveling around town, my car (which is an automatic) sputters when changing gears after it is stopped like at a stop sign, red light, or in stop-and-go traffic, or going up steeper hills. It acts like it is a manual transmission when a gear is missed or its being choked.
I own a 2012 Ford Focus SE that continues to display issues with the transmission. This includes delayed acceleration, jerking, and bucking. While I was driving on the freeway a couple of years ago the transmission control module failed resulting in the vehicle unable to shift properly. This endangered both my life and the lives of the other passengers in the vehicle. My Ford Focus has been in for service multiple times at different locations to include the dealership purchased from. The vehicle has been serviced both under the original warranty and the extended warranty and still displays issues with the transmission. I am having a hard time understanding why there is an extended warranty if even after I continue to explain what is happening with the vehicle the dealerships are not able to solve the problem. My concern is my safety and what Ford Motor Company plans to do. You ask for a date as to when this happened but it has been ongoing since I purchased the car in 2012. I look forward to hearing something other than the same lines I have heard for the past 7 years regarding my vehicle.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle vibrated and failed to gain speed. The contact mentioned that the failure occurred intermittently and the vehicle had to be turned off and restarted in order to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to long-lewis Ford Lincoln (2551 john hawkins pkwy, birmingham, al 35244, (205) 989-3673) where it was diagnosed that the clutch and seal needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 66,000.
Car has 60000 miles and has exact same issues as everyone else is posting. Shuttering, slow starts, loss of power on highways! how is this not on a recall list by now or do we wait for fatalities? these cars are unsafe for the roads! I just had clutch replaced and I am even scared to get the dang car back and drive it. Ridiculous something isnt being done by Ford. Wont be buying them anymore unless we get some help.
Takata recall I'll be driving and my car stalled often and has cut off on two occasion.then my engine light came on.I was driving happen to be at a stop sign and the and cut off and rolled had to restart.when ever I stop the car it take time before it speeds up.
Today's date I have called Ford Motor Company and spoke with miss.chris id#2191199 around 10:53 am pst.with the given recent opened number was # cas16420379 to state the said problems and to SE how we could possibly solved the said concerns we have.I have told, I have been denied or refused to have my vehicle to be re-serviced over again for the reoccurring previously fixed and serviced mechanical or electronic PCM related software or the hardware failures today's morning and I was told by one of their service advisor named as frank this vehicle can not be serviced any longer.because, this vehicle record's showing that the vehicle it is branded and/or salvaged and that it will void any kind of mechanical warranties and when I said this vehicle previously was serviced under the same condition and records and why can not be re-serviced over again for said previously fixed at your dealerships service department " when I asked what has been changed from before and until now " he did not give me a sufficient answer for my satisfactions. The transmission was operating in-properly and took the vehicle to the authorized local Ford dealership in the city of costa mesa, ca-92627.checked it in to the service area and registered it with service advisor#7217 to Mr. Ned shortsleeve's cares for the said problems. And that we claimed the said issues we were experiencing.1-the check engine light comes on and stays solid on and when that happened the transmission won't operate properly 2-then they have placed the tcm the side door latch it may break per the manufacturer's safety recall and was asked the dealer to replace the said door component and we were told the part it is not available and needs to be ordered so can be replaced. We will be called when the part is arrived but, we never been called.
Last month check engine came on while driving. Car jerked and acted as if it wanted to cut off and when putting car in reverse the car would not go in reverse. While driving on July 14th after taking the car to Ford dealership which they reprogrammed tcm the check engine light came on for the same code as before about shift fork B issues. While driving the car jerked a couple of times and acted as if it wanted to cut off and not accelerate. Ford states they will not fix the issue unless for the current recalls on the clutch and tcm failure.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Ellenwood, GA, USA