2012 FORD FOCUS Complaints

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle stalled. Additionally, the contact stated that the transmission was slipping in and out of gear and at times the vehicle failed to shift into the intended gear while driving. The transmission warning light was illuminated. An unknown message indicating a transmission failure was displayed. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle stalled while driving on another occasion. The vehicle experienced rough starts. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to a second local dealer, Star Ford (1101 S Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA 91204), but was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Ford has acknowledged a problem with the Transmission Control Module (2012 Focus SEL) soon after this car was released. "Failure" caused the car to lose power while driving on the highway three seperate times. Warning light came on, but would go off after letting the car cool down. In 2015 and 2019 they sent notice to dealers, and to owners, to pay for replacement of this part if it failed up to 10 years or 150,000 miles. The issue for me is that my module finally required replacement (per dealer) after the "10 year point" at 89,700 miles. Software updates were done by Ford earlier for this issue, mine in 2019. (delivery was May 2012, replacement November 2022) I was also part of a class action lawsuit for this issue which Ford closed at the same "10 year point" leaving many customers now responsible for the replacement out of pocket, for me $1100, (part $967.21 - $300 core return charge, labor $428.99) or you have an undriveable vehicle. The second, even more frustrating, issue is that there are no Ford parts available to the dealer to even do this repair. I contacted Ford Customer Care directly, a case number was issued, was told they would "escalate my part request" but waiting period was minimum 4-6 weeks, unable to help me. Due to the lack of parts, I had to pay myself for a aftermarket module to be installed (thus now no coverage for labor charges per dealer for using an aftermarket part) after one month waiting for a Ford part, car sitting at the dealer, that two dealers told me would not available for months, if at all. As they KNEW this part was defective, replacement should have been done to all affected vehicles before they would fail, not making owners at risk for when the inevitable failures would occur.

Vehicle began to shift hard while driving, making starting, stopping, and accelerating an issue. This continued for a few days with intermittent improvement until one day the vehicle would not even crank.

Car unable to go in reverse, risked personal injury from oncoming traffic because we were unable to back out of the way when light changed.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed but the brakes failed to stop the vehicle. The failure caused the vehicle to rear-end another vehicle. The contact sustained back injuries and scratches from the seat belt; however, medical attention was not yet received. A police report was filed. The contact then parked the vehicle in a parking lot, where it remained. The vehicle was not deemed totaled by the insurance company due to a lapse in insurance coverage. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The contact stated that prior to the failure, the vehicle lost motive power with the ABS, TPMS, and brake warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with transmission failure, and the ABS, TPMS, and brake sensors were faulty, causing the battery to drain rapidly. The dealer replaced the transmission and the sensors for the ABS, TPMS, and brakes; however, the failure recurred. The failure mileage was approximately 101,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 40 MPH, the vehicle shifted out of gear and decelerated unintendedly. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to veer to the side of the road. The contact stated that upon turning off and restarting the vehicle several times, the vehicle responded as needed while shifting into drive(D). However, the failure reoccurred the next day while starting the vehicle and shifting into drive(D). The contact was unable to drive the vehicle. The dealer was notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they could not assist as an unknown Extended Warranty had expired. The failure mileage was approximately 96,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the transmission was slipping and failing to recognize the intended gear. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and a local dealer; however, the mechanics were unable to duplicate the failure. The vehicle was then taken back to the dealer, where the clutch was replaced under warranty. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure recurred, and the contact stated that the vehicle was stalling while shifting between gears. Additionally, excessive force was needed to depress the accelerator pedal. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was 85,903.

My son was traveling on 3 lane highway in the far left passing lane when the vehicle acted like it went into neutral. He was able to coast through traffic on the busy highway to get pulled over onto the right hand side of the road. The motor was still running but the vehicle would not move. He could not put the vehicle into park so he shut off the vehicle and called a towing service. The towing service was also unable to get the vehicle into neutral. There were no initial warnings that anything was going wrong with the vehicle. The vehicle was then towed to Nielsen Ford in Morristown, NJ where it was diagnosed as being a Transmission Control Module issue.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that upon parking the vehicle and removing the key from the ignition, the vehicle continued to run without warning. The contact stated that the engine eventually turned off after approximately 3-5 minutes. The contact had taken the vehicle to the dealer where they informed her that they were unaware of the failure. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure and referred her to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000. The consumer stated the vehicle was turned in and the consumer has a new vehicle.

The Ford Focus 2012 has a very common problem that the transmission control module consistently malfunctions even after repairs, and the car loses power at 70 mph. This is what happened to me on a major highway, and I was fortunate to steer my car to the side of the road. The transmission on the Ford Focus 2012 should be recalled since this is very dangerous: losing control on a highway at high speed. Just because I was able to steer to the side of the road does not diminish the potential danger to me as the driver, and indeed I have read accounts of drivers getting into accidents because of this problem. Unfortunately, the transmission control module issue is not officially a recall; this seems like a dangerous oversight.