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 husband was driving my car home from work and it began sputtering. Luckily there was a residential road nearby and he turned off the business hwy and the car died. It wouldn't start and was acting like it had no gas even though it had over half a tank. It had to be towed. It has now been in the shop for 3 weeks waiting on a back-ordered fuel pressure sensor. It's only a few years old. This is the most frustrating thing!!!
On January 27th.. my car (2012 Ford Focus SE 4door 5 speed) my car had 33,342 miles on it once it came into the service bay at asheville Ford in asheville nc. I was advised that the car would have to stay for the day and look into the situation. Car would die at random, lights would come on like a christmas tree (oil pressure light, battery light, traction light, ESC light, information light, check engine light) and a message would appear (engine malfunction service now). Asheville Ford was also notified of a sun visor popping, seat belts not releasing and creaking noises in the B pillars on both sides, and the ac was blowing hot air again (this was repaired on the 23rd before and already blowing hot air).
Car is shuddering, vibrating, rolling backwards on inclines, stuttering bad gas mileage at low speeds between 0 and 20 miles per hour. The car has been in 4 times to the dealer beginning on 5/3/12 through 11/14/13 it has been reprogrammed 3 times and a new transmission replaced it which has solved the problem temporarily but starts happening again. When driving in or pulling out into traffic because the car either hesitates so bad or just wont move for a few seconds. Needless to say there have been many close calls. The dealer has been proactive in working with me however this is not a dealer issue this is a manufacturers issues.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle stalled without warning. The vehicle was taken to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the fuel pump needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the issue. The failure mileage was unknown.
Issue 1: the vehicle is on its third clutch in the 2 years since purchase and continues to have transmission issues. When applying gas it stutters, lurches, or responds as if not taking gas. This week: Three times turning from stop sign left, right from stop sign, and right from parking lot. Apply gas to accelerate and vehicles stutters, pauses, and stalls for a moment. Two of the three, particularly one came close to resulting in an accident. This also occurred on a busy highway turning right at a stop sign on Oct 27. It has occurred dozens of times prior to the transmission repair events and now is starting to recur, with more ng a stalling/lurching than a stuttering. Ford is fully aware of these issues. I am taking it in for repairs again but feel it is unsafe and want the car returned. Issue 2: the vehicle achieves far below the advertised mpg. They advertise 27 and it gains 22.5 at best. Currently less than 22. Ford is fully aware of this issue and states that they cannot do anything. I have been complaining for 18 months or more.
- Portland, OR, USA
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On Sept 8 2014 I was driving home from work and once I got off the highway I noticed that my car was slowing down and the battery and oil light was on the next thing I knew my car shut off I restarted it and took it to the dealership ( since it is still under warranty ) to get it checked out. The service dept told me that it was the fuel pump and they were ordering the part but that was a lie not only did they not fix the problem it has gotten worse the car runs out of gas even though there is gas in the car it shuts off at slow speeds and the dealership basically told me that a 2 1/2 year car is covered under warranty and told me its going to be $2000 to fix it!! but on the bright side if Ford recalls the part then I could get reimbursed really!!
Feels as if the car is going to stall while slowing down. After taking off after a complete stop it shifts hard or shakes and sometimes makes a grinding noise.
Beginning in April, the car has randomly broken down several times, with no notice, putting my safety and life in danger. Cars had to come to a jolting stop to avoid from hitting me and on one occasion a police officer actually had to intervene to safeguard me from oncoming traffic. Please see the sequence of events below. Ofriday, April 12th-car broke down in a major intersection during rush hour traffic endangering my life and the other drivers around me. Cars were zooming pass at high speeds and braking abruptly to avoid crashing into me. Owednesday, July 2nd-car suddenly decelerated while I was driving across a bridge. Once again my life was endangered. I tried to get the car to accelerate with rapidly pushing down on the gas pedal, but nothing happened. The car eventually came to a stop and I was forced to turn the car off while still in the middle of the street and restart it. After getting the car started I drove it back to the dealership hoping they could resolve the issue. Unfortunately, the mechanic was unable to find anything through the diagnostic reading or multiple test drives. Omonday, July 7th-car began to decelerate while driving on a busy street. I immediately pulled over to turn the car off. When I was able to start the car again I drove it to carmax. On the way there I had to drive the car at a slow speed to prevent the car from cutting off on me again. Also, since the ac seemed to worsen the acceleration of the car I turned it off and drove the car for 15 minutes in the searing heat. In the end the car was with the Ford dealer from Friday, July 7th to Tuesday, July 22nd. Ofriday, July 25th- car broke down in middle lane of highway 64E right before entering the hampton roads bridge tunnel. Cars swerved to prevent from hitting me and once again my life and the lives of others was put in jeopardy.
I got my car started and pulled out of the parking space I was in and parallel with the street I was planning on pulling out into when the engine cut out on me. Fortunately I had not pulled into the street as I had planned when the engine quit on me. I kept trying to start the car and it seemed like the car would be about to start with just another second or two more as the starter was turning. The fuel gauge kept lighting up along with other lights though I had 3/4 of a tank of gas. I had to have the car towed Friday evening to the dealership and after they had my car for 4 whole working days, at about 11 am on the following Friday they finally figured out what was wrong with my car. I have a platinum warranty and at roughly 43,000 miles the dealership is going to charge me nearly $1700 for fuel filter, fuel pump and emissions in addition to the rental car I've been paying out of my pocket while they figure out what is wrong with the car, order parts, (the parts to take 3 days) and fix the car. I think this is very unreasonable for a car of so low mileage and could have gotten me injured or killed if I had pulled out into the street and the light changed when the car quit on me.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 65 mph, the service engine light illuminated continuously on the instrument panel and the fuel gauge became erratic. The failure occurred previously and the dealer replaced the evaporator canister purge valve but the failure recurred. The vehicle was recently taken to the dealer, who indicated that the fuel tank and valve would need to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 48,000.
Spiders or insects block the vents from the gas tank making it almost impossible to fill my gas tank. I bought the car in the summer of 2012 and it happened in the fall of 2012 and the fall of 2013.
This car has had transmission problems with the dual clutch automatic transmission it will shudder when changing gears, rollback, come close to stalling. I took the car in to be "reprogrammed" back in June of 2012 it drove okay with only minor hiccups with transmission until October 20, 2013. The car has less than 22,000 miles on it and the car is now not shifting properly. I put the car in drive and it was like I was still in neutral, once it did get going then it did not shift into 2nd gear properly. The car is not safe to drive. I will be taking back to dealership once again to reprogram hopefully at no charge. This car is a lemon and needs to be on a mandatory recall.
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.
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.
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.
While coming to a stop, the stop safely now warning chimed and vehicle lost all power. It would not go into park, or neutral to allow it to be pushed off the road. After several minutes of powering it on and off it eventually restarted and worked without incident until recently on 8/15/13 the same message occurred at a stoplight and the car again lost all power. After about 2 minutes it started and ran ok.
Was sitting at a stop light after leaving work and the "stop safely now" message appeared. Car would not move. After several cycles of turning the car on and off, opening and closing the driver door, locking and unlocking the car, it managed to reset itself and work again, only to have the problem recur about 5 minutes later, requiring the same steps to resolve the issue. The car worked normally the rest of the day after I arrived at my destination.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- New Braunfels, TX, USA