2012 FORD FOCUS Complaints

Power steering was intermittent starting in 2014, usually on hot days or when driving for an extended period of time. By intermittent, I mean it would have power assist, then none, while driving with only a dash indicator "i". Finally, in 2016 the power steering utterly failed. Ford was unable to diagnose the issue if the car was not currently in the failed state. Ford wants the entire electronic power steering module replaced. Forums have indicated this is a known deficiency in heat-shielding the electronics within the module and failures while driving could lead to accidents and death.

I was driving down the freeway in the middle lane and all of a sudden my car went into neutral and I could not get rpm's to go past 1500 and I was stuck with rush hour traffic blowing horns at me and I coasted to a stop could not get over to the breakdown lane so I sat in the lane till a man in a pickup pushed me over to the side of the road. I had no money for a tow so I called a friend to come and help me get it home we pulled the car to my house and I started trying to figure out what is wrong, internet said the other Ford Focus problem is in the clutch actuators and to replace both top and bottom and that would fix the problem well none of the parts houses had a listing for clutch actuators so I went on Ebay and found several for all different prices I checked with the Ford dealership and they had them for $160.00 per actuator, too much for my budget so I purchased two actuators from Ebay after waiting a week for them to be delivered I installed them and it did not work same problem check engine light stayed on and my hand held checker even after clearing the trouble code P0805 came back and here I set no car I called the ford dealership and they said it would be a month or longer before I could even get an appointment and it would cost several hundred dollars to fix my car. I am very upset over this whole ordeal. I have been looking on the internet and it appears that the 2012 Ford Focus is one of the worst vehicles and it has many problems and what I went through it is a very dangerous vehicle to be on the road!

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the steering wheel failed to operate properly. The vehicle was turned off and restarted and the steering wheel resumed normal operation. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic however, the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that a diagnostic test was needed to determine the cause of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure recurred twenty times. The contact felt it was unsafe to drive the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided the contact with a case number. The failure mileage was approximately 104,000

The transmission clutch had a recall. It was repaired . 14,000 miles, 2.5 years later the same problem arose. Ford denied anything being wrong with it. Took it into dealership for a different recall and the slipping occurred again which wasn’t there when previously taken in. When bought car, salesman stated that was the normal way the car ran.

Transmission Control Module failed. Check engine warning light came on, vehicle began to lose power, so I pulled over. When I attempted to put the car in reverse, it would not respond. Car had to be put in neutral, pushed onto the street before it would go into ‘Drive’. Car was sluggish and would only go a maximum speed of 20mph. Dealer has confirmed that the TCM is faulty. There were no prior warning lights or incidents to indicate that there was a problem - the check engine light came on and there was an immediate loss of power and no reverse. Ford Motor Company customer service has been contacted, but they refuse to do a warranty repair because the warranty was exceeded by 1 month by the time I was able to get a diagnosis by the dealership. The car is well below the covered 150,000 warranty on the TCM. There are 126,672 actual miles on the car as of 7/29/2021. There currently is a class action lawsuit because of these TCM issues with Ford Focus vehicles. The TCM replacement part is currently back ordered and has been for weeks, according to the parts manager at the dealership. Since that is the case, I am unable to get this vehicle repaired, or even get a good estimate when a part may become available, therefore, I don’t yet have any repair receipts to provide at this time.

Car stumblinhg, shuttering and hesitates. Woodhouse Ford replaced or worked on my transmission in 2017 but apparently the parts were either faulty or they did not repair properly. I do not feel as if I should have to spend the money to have a faulty part replaced again after just four years and considering this has been an issue in 2012 Ford Focuse's and Ford is completely aware of the transmission problems I feel as if I a being ripped off. My car needs to be fixed for free along with the door latches that are currently on recall and the dealership refusing to replace them.

This has happened 5 times and good thing it hasn’t happened while driving or that could cause a bad accident. The steering assist light has come on when I’m sitting in my driveway and start my car and when I turn the wheel it won’t move it’s locked. so I’ve shut off my car and restart it and then the wheel will turn. I see this is a problem for many people this is definitely not safe and should be recalled.

Our Ford Focus BEV had a recall in 2014 (Ford# 15N03) It is a high voltage wire harness issue. The car will completely cut power to the drivetrain and shut down leaving a message on the dash saying "Stop Safely Now". We took it in for the fix in 2014 however the issue still continued after about a year and continues still. My wife just had this happen to her with the kids in the car. This issue puts the driver and passengers in very serious danger when the car just stops responding while moving in traffic. Ford said they would not recall the issue since the issue was "fixed" and that wire harness was only good for a 1 year warranty which expired in 2015. I am hoping Ford will do the right thing and fix this issue for good. Thanks for your help in this matter. -Dave

I started having a lot of issues with balance and the vehicle bouncing while driving. I replaced the inner and outer tie rods. Suddenly, on the way to get an alignment, I got a warning on my screen that stated “STEERING LOSS STOP SAFELY”. I was told by a mechanic that the electronic rack and pinion needed replaced. Doing research on this problem, I find that this is actually an extremely common issue with this year make and model. The vehicle had to be towed back to my residence costing me $125! If I had not been an experienced driver, this could have been a very deadly situation as I was traveling at 65mph at the time that I lost steering.

This cars braking system is inconsistent enough to cause major damage or death. The ABS module sticks the same as in Fords previous recall "fsa 19s54" for 2006-2010 models Fusion, Mercury Milan, and Lincoln MKZ. They recalled a part causing ABS braking issues on those models and the EXACT same issue is happening in my 2012 Focus and will cost upwards of $2000 to fix, essentially making the car a lemon and not worth fixing. When the ABS fires as you brake over rough surfaces or bumps or rain, the brake pedal goes very deep and almost loses all braking ability. I had to swerve into another lane to avoid someone and was lucky enough that no oncoming traffic was there. Thankfully I'm a good enough driver not to have crashed. They can't stop making a car in an effort to avoid past carelessness. They must issue a recall or reimburse people for the part itself "ABS module" which is now 1.5 months backordered. Thank you.