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 this car on 08/19/2011 and the next day while taking off from a stop sign the car would shudder, I do not have this issue when the transmission is cold but in stop and go driving and normal city driving after it has warmed up. Also when you depress the accelerator from a stop the vehicle will go for a second then have a nice sized flat spot so even the people in the car will go forward as if the brakes were coming on. I took the vehicle to the dealer and the tech drove it and verified that it did have this issue. They contacted Ford and Ford stated that it was normal and told them to do nothing. I complained to Ford customer service and all the lady had to say was that it is normal. Also Ford had stated that these are isolated incidents, if they are indeed isolated then they cannot be considered normal but rather a defect that Ford does not want to address. I was told that the clutches require a break-in but Ford does not state any break-in procedure that pertains just to the clutches other then the normal 1000 mile break-in for the vehicle in general. I and others I have communicated with all have these issues after the 1000 mile break-in and feel it is both a safety issue and a mechanical defect from Ford that would cost to much to repair so they claim it is normal.
I was driving and stuck in traffic. Going slow, 5-10mph, the car started shifting really strange, not moving when initially accelerating and then jerking from first to second gear. My destination was 3 blocks ahead of me so I stayed on route and parked when I arrived. As I got back into the car it wouldn't start. I managed to get the car to start after "messing" with the auto shifter and leaving the car in nuetral. Once started the car would not go into gear, or move when placed into D, R or L. I shut the car down and it would not start again after that. The transmission control module (tcm) is what the dealer told me had failed. It took a solid 7 days to get my car back. The first couple of days were spent trying to figure out what went wrong. The car has always shifted strange and continues to shift strange to this day. The problem was fixed but I think it is just a matter of time before it fails again.
- Lincoln Park, MI, USA
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- Chino, CA, USA