2012 FORD FOCUS Complaints

The problem is with the transmission and dual clutch and electrical. My car shakes when still, doesn't want to go when I put on the gas, doesn't want to change gears. The electrical keeps going on and off and the fan goes on and stays on after I shut car off and get out and stays on. I took it to schicker ford on south kingshighway to get programmed and I got my car back it was worse.

The component is unknown and below is description. The car is stalling while accelerating and rushing forward when it does accelerate. At stop lights and when the car stops in traffic the vehicle is stalling. When the gas pedal is pushed to accelerate the stalling can cause a vehicle behind me to crash. After stalling, the acceleration causes the car to rush forward and it could cause my vehicle to run into someone in front of me. The vehicle was inspected at a dealership however I strongly believe their recommendations were not correct and that there is an easy fix for the issue above. They also claimed that it had nothing to do with the recall and did not provide information on the assessment about the recall. This particular recall does cause stalling so it is baffling to see that the dealership did not provide a written assessment on the report like they did for the door handles. I paid $150 for an assessment and around $200 for tow to bring the vehicle home after the assessment. The check engine light did come on and I took the vehicle to the dealership due to how unsafe the car was driving. I feared driving the vehicle and had it towed to the dealership for this poor assessment. I have not driven this vehicle in a year due to the unsafe driving conditions. I would like for the recall to be fixed and determine if that is causing the issue or not.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH and shifting gear, the transmission delayed while shifting to the next gear with the "Transmission Failure" message displayed. The contact stopped on the side of the road and shut off and restarted the vehicle, and the vehicle started operating normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the contact was informed that the transmission control module (TCM) needed to be replaced. The contact was informed that the vehicle was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 13V523000 (Power Train). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but provided no assistance. The contact was referred to NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was 77,000.

See incident 11525260 for details, as it describes both incidences where the ABS Control module failed. I am logging a second complaint so that the second module failure is recorded. Short version: The ABS control module failed again, leaving me with no brakes. The valve gets stuck open inside the module, making the brake pedal unpredictable and sometimes with no stopping power. Ford is unable to fix my car in a timely manner, and is refusing to provide a vehicle to drive until they fix it 2-3 months from now.

[Two incidents involving the same ABS control module. Early January 2023 and Late May 2023] ABS control module failed while going downhill (valve stuck open). Resulted in the brake pedal going to the floor. Had to stop by downshifting and the using hand brake. Whenever brake pedal is pressed after this, it goes a random distance to the floor with no pressure before applying some brake. Ford quoted me a 1 year lead time on replacing the part (and mentioned this is part of a pending recall. This recall will come out after they redesign a new module). They refused my request for a rental/loaner vehicle until it is fixed. I brought it to an independent garage to get the unit replaced. After that, my brake pedal worked as expected for a few months. Last week, the pedal went to the floor again. I brought it to a Ford dealership, and they confirmed that the new module already experienced the same failure as the original one. It is currently at the dealership, who will not have a part to repair my car again until August. I was refused a loaner vehicle by both the dealership and corporate Ford over this PENDING SAFETY RECALL, where they are unable to fix my car. I was told by they dealership that they won't stop me from driving my car in the mean time if I feel safe doing so. It is not safe, so I am leaving the car at the dealership. I do not have a date for when a new revision module will be made, along with official recall. Ford is refusing to reimburse me for my initial repair until they get around to officially announcing the recall. I also found out from them that they reprogrammed the ABS control module back in March 2013 while they reprogrammed a different module (I only new about the TCM reprogram). This means they knew the ABS module had issues 10 years ago, a month after I bought the car. They did nothing for 10 years despite the Fusions having the exact same issue. This is a blatant disregard for the safety of their customers' safety.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated the front passenger’s side door latch opened independently while the vehicle was parked in a parking lot. The contact called the local dealer and made them aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V331000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 115,000.

Causing vehicle to shutter or jerk making the driver lose control for a minute or two when driving. Happens only, when accelerating at from a stop or turn.

I was driving about 45mph when the car tried to downshift then upshift and it stalled in the middle of the road. The transmission light came on right as it stalled along with the traction control light. Which the traction control light it made me swerve into oncoming traffic almost causing an accident. So I got it to the opposite side of the road and went to put it in park and it lunged forward while crooked at the same time almost hitting a passing car. Over a year ago I had called a dealership about the TCM because every great while the car would shudder but nothing severe and was told the 10 yr 150000 mile recal didn't fit my car even though it was still within the 10 yr part but had 180000 on it. I ended up having the car towed to my mechanic since once I restarted it after a half hour wait before it would turn over tellingmy.no key was detected I turned the car around and went about a quarter of a mile down the road and it stalled on me and wouldn't go into park and I rolled down a hill towards kids getting dropped off by the bus after school let out. I ended up being able to turn it without power steering working into an abandoned house driveway. About 100 feet from a kid. Ford wants 400 to even diagnose it if I can get it towed there. The car should have been fixed under warranty last year but ford always finds a way out of fixing their vehicles. I have a 2012 ford focus se.

After completing door latch recall there is still an alert the the hatchback is open. And doesn't shut off. The dealer states that I have to pay for replacement since the recall shows complete. Except the instructions did not show anything in regards to this component , in regards to the fuel system, the dealer said I would have to pay for test to determine if the PCM would fix the engine ight after I took in for recall.

On April 29, 2023 our 2012 Ford Focus SE with a 5 speed manual transmission indicated a dashboard warning stating the power steering assist was inoperable. Steering was still able to be done manually, but with much greater input required, especially at low speeds. Being a manual transmission, this is especially problematic as steering regularly has to be performed one handed. Fortunately this incident did not occur while driving, but reviewing many other similar complaints on the NHSTA website, as well as seaching '2012 Ford Focus steering issues' online, it is evident that this loss of assist CAN and HAS occurred to others when the vehicle was in motion. This poses a serious safety risk to not only the driver, but others on the road as well. This is an issue known to Ford Motor Company as they issued a recall (15S18) for similar problems on other Ford vehicles, but not the Focus. I am requesting the NHTSA investigate this situation and take action to compel Ford to fix the Focus as well under a recall to prevent similar situations from causing potential injury or death. I encourage one of your investigators to try driving one of these vehicles without the power assist to see just how dangerous it is, especially in low speed maneuvers. This car is primarily used by my son for his commuting to and from college. He is the one that first saw the warning. I am very thankful this did not happen while he was in motion. I will be contacting my dealer on Monday May 1, 2023 to start the diagnosis/repair process.