2012 Ford Focus complaints

The transmission fails to engage 2nd gear from time to time so it will start to go then go to neutral many times leaving you in the middle of intersections.

Was driving along a curvy road when it suddenly down shifted and I had no safe place to get off the road. I continued to try and get to a safe place and then it went in to neutral and couldn't move at all. Thank goodness another car didn't come it could have killed me. It then went back into gear and I did make it to a safe place to pull over and call a tow truck. The said it needs transmission control module. By the look of all the complaints on the TCM they need a recall before someone gets killed.

Slow acceleration rough shifting in transmission E8 and E9 Code's detected on my OBD reader at auto zone

We have had many issues with our Ford Focus since purchasing it the summer of 2020. First in October 2020 it needed new clutches & throw out bearing. Which cost over $1,400. Second we have had to have both left & right wheel bearings replaced. In August of 2021, we started having transmission problems. The Ford dealership reprogrammed it. It did not fix the problem. We contacted Ford & was told it is the transmission control module which is under warranty. We were told it is taking 3-6 months for the parts to get in. Our Ford dealership ordered one over 6 months ago & still has not got it in. We need our car for transportation but haven’t been able to drive it for two months. Ford needs to step up & offer a solution. We are very discouraged, disappointed & unsatisfied with Ford right now.

I need to change my transmission control module

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after refueling and starting the vehicle, the vehicle was shifted into drive and drove several feet before losing motive power. There were several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was restarted and then driven to an independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the canister purge valve had failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that there was a recall for similar vehicles however, the VIN was not included. The local dealer was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact was provided the cost for diagnostic testing but declined to have the vehicle diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 160,000.

Was driving on interstate when transmission suddenly quit working. The gears would not engage and then I got a "transmission overheating" message and the dashboard lit up in red warning lights. As I was pulling off to the side on the interstate trying to dodge must faster traffic, the engine quit. I waited for about 30 minutes then cranked it again. I got almost a mile down the road when the whole sequence started over again. I drained and changed the transmission fluid thinking that might be the problem but this had no effect. The transmission overheating warning would come on before I even made it a mile down the road. I have not taken to dealership yet because I am not sure I shouldn't just junk it. Ford is never going to recall these bad transmissions and I am sure I will have to pay between $3,000 to $5,000 for a new transmission and do not want it anyway if Ford is just going to put in another transmission that, like this one, their own technicians found faulty. You can inspect this vehicle any time you want.

I bought my car from a Ford dealership about 2 years ago and on 2 occassions now i have had problems with my power steering. First time i started my car after work and a steering assist fault message illuminated on the dash and the power steering was near impossible to turn. I was not able to drive the vehicle and had it towed to my mechanic who also found the power steering difficult to turn the next morning and it ran a code for him of steering malfunction. He said he thought the rack and pinion needed replacing and stated that only Ford could do it as it would need to be reprogramed by them as it is electric. So i had the car towed to Ford and they were unable. To diagnose it. A week later upon starting my car to head to work the sane steering assist fault message came on my dash so I turned off my car and started it again after reading online how common this problem is with this make of car and how that remedies it in the beginning. Car was able to start but i had it taken again to Ford as i am scared of it going out while driving or getting stranded agaun somewhere without power steering and so far Ford can still not diagnose it. This is really frustrating as it is a huge safety issue. I no longer feel safe driving my car. I get anxiety about being in an accident or getting stranded again late at night with my car. And i read it costs almost 3000 tp fix. This should ne recalled. I only have had this car about 2 years and i will never buy feom ford again. If i could affor

Loss of power on major highway. Could have been hit in the back because car just stopped moving. Dash board had lights flashing, no up hill movement, transmission check immediately, no shift, check engine it was lite up like a Christmas tree. I was scared I was going to get killed. transmission- yes, towed to Steet-Ponte Ford dealer, nothing wrong, no reps called, lights first appeared at that moment, took car home worked for one day and repeated the same problem. Took it back to the dealer and they replaced a part in the clutch and said if that didn't work a fork would have to be replaced for $1,500 also I had to pay for the first repair $300. Took it home worked for 3 days and is still sitting in drive way

I've already lost count of how many times I changed the transmission of this car and now I have to change it again. So I don’t know what to do now Thank you

Vehicle would shake and completely shut down whenever I would stop at a red light or stop sign. It put myself and others drivers at risk because the vehicle would shut down on extremely busy roads, this happened on multiple occasions. There was an inspection by a service center but at the time I didn't have the funds to pay for it.

I previously had the 18S32 recall done. They said everything was fine even though ever since I had the tank, purge valve and computer retooling done it never drove right. It didn’t have accurate miles to empty and never seemed like it used to before all this was done. 2 months ago the car stalled while driving below 30mph. I pulled the car over and turned it off. I tried turning it back on multiple times and it didn’t work until finally I got it back on but it had a check engine light. It wouldn’t shift right and check engine light kept coming back on. We got it checked out and the Ford service center claimed it was the transmission and engine. We didn’t have it fixed then and we took it back home the check engine light never came back on. This last week 10/11/21 the car started smelling like fuel outside the car and wouldn’t accelerate well. Took it into the Ford Service center at a different location and they confirmed it was the fuel canister leaking and the fuel line to the fuel insert point was messed up. I noticed they had performed recall 18S32 on it before but it never fixed the issue and they did a 2nd recall on some vehicles because of it called 19S22. The Ford service center and customer care both said they can’t perform 19S22 recall because it doesn’t show up on my VIN number as needing done even though clearly I’m still having issues with the fuel system that was recalled in the first place. I’m now going to have to pay out of pocket for an issue Ford should be c

I was given engine codes P144A and P1450. Whenever I fill up my gas tank completely I have to turn the key multiple times to actually get the car to start. The lower the tank is before the fill up, the more times I have to turn the key to eventually get it to start. Everytime I turn and it stalls I pray that it doesn't blow up. It will make the quick triplet sound and then won't "vroom." The component to be complained about is the Engine/Fuel system, and it is available for inspection upon request. Well for 1 I wasn't sure if this stalling would occur while actually driving, and based off of online research it could happen, and 2 as I said previously I was genuinely worried whether or not the car would blow up, let alone start. I have seen a recall regarding this issue to other cars with the exact same make, model, and engine type dating back to 2019, but for some reason the recall isn't covered under my vehicle's specific VIN. The component has not been inspected yet because I am hoping to find a way to have the recall cover my vehicle so I don't have to pay as much for it. There hasn't been an exact "failure" more of a problem with unknown consequences. The light first appeared probably about 6 months ago, but the initial engine codes I got (I have since gotten them twice more, the most recent being about a month and a half ago) indicated that the only problem I MAY experience was incorrect display of gas on the dash. I didn't notice it at all, so I figured it wasn't that s

Before taking a cross country trip in July 2020 the vehicle was taken to a local Ford dealership and asked if there were any outstanding issues to do with the transmission or otherwise. The car was acting up some with shifting. They stated there was nothing and no issues. Of course they did not document this on the service ticket. On September 23, 2021 when pulling into a parking lot, a loud noise happened and warning lights (check engine and transmission reset) came on and then barely made it out of the path of the main road. Once in the parking lot, the car would not reverse. We managed to get the car pushed out of the way. Once the ignition was shut off, it took multiple attempts to restart, finally restarting in Neutral. The vehicle was towed to a different Ford dealership where we are told it's throwing codes related to the PCM Module for the transmission. After calling Ford Motor Company, we discovered the car was originally purchased in July 2011, so we are just outside of the 10 year extended warranty on this issues by a little over two months. We are the second owner and it only has about 90,100 miles, which is under the extended warranty mileage of 150,000. Ford Motor Company Customer Service has stated multiple times that I will get a call by a supervisor in one business day after I've asked to speak to a supervisor. I have yet to get a call back after a week and a half of trying. We have not had the car repaired as of yet since they won't call me back or escalate

Ok when I start the car and turn the key to on but I have to wait a second and during that second inside the engine it's like it sounds like when u change disc song on a jukebox and then when it does that then I could start the car but as of now nothing works or drives and barley bought it not even month ago from personal owner,but some advice and help please thank you.

Power steering assist fault code pops up everytime I turn on my car, my steering wheel is completely locked, only have had car for 6 months dont have the money to replace rack and pinion which costs so much there should be a recall on this considering so many people have complained about this exact steering issue. My car was parked and running when I lost my power steering

The power steering assist failure warning came on and then went away after turning the vehicle off. The same issue came back the day after, with it being completely unsafe to drive the vehicle on the road. Turning the wheel is very difficult, and this problem has been commonly reported by others with the 2012 Ford Focus, yet no recalls have been issued. The car has not been inspected as of today, but others have reported up to $2600 of repair costs for this issue. Previous to this incident, the car did not have any other warning lights or other symptoms of dysfunction.

On engine startup the power steering doesn't function and there is a power steering assist warning. The fault is rectified by turning the engine off and on. I'm concerned that the problem may occur while driving.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate as it was losing power. The contact stated that it felt like the vehicle was unable to shift gears. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who stated an issue with the transmission and recall with the fuel tank. The contact stated that the PCM was updated to the latest calibration. The vehicle was serviced for NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) and NHTSA Campaign Number: 16V643000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages). The failure recurred a year later after the recall service. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer who stated that the clutch needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and no assistance was offered as the extended warranty had expired. The failure mileage was approximately 95,000.

Electronic power steering failed. My daughter almost lost control of the vehicle. If she had been driving on the highway, an accident would have killed her! The loss of power steering is a reoccurring problem with this vehicle. A simple internet search reveals the problem is common. Issue a recall before more people are hurt.

I took my car to the dealership to repair the recall associated with the purge control valve (Buckeye Ford) the said it was fine. I have had my car towed twice due to it stalling on the road the mechanic at Meyers garage in ft Loramie Ohio has reset the low fuel code twice even thought I have had a full tank of gas.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated, and the contact continued driving to work with no further issues. The contact took the vehicle to an independent mechanic who connected to the vehicle to diagnostic machine which diagnosed the failure as a malfunction of the canister purge valve. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 126,300.

Backup camera works intermittently. More often than not it does not work at all. Sometimes it works for a few seconds and then stops working. A message appears on the screen to take the car in to the dealer. But the warning beep sound still works.

My car has been shuddering but nothing ever pops to sensor there’s a problem. My car only has 109k miles on it. Serviced pretty regularly I think the transmission is going out and I have only had the car since November of 2019. If I would’ve did my home work I would’ve went with a Honda. Now my car won’t reverse or go any faster than 15 mph

Car has 122k miles. At the end of August 2021, the electronic power steering failed while my son was driving home from work, making the car difficult to steer while driving. The car displayed a notification of power steering failure. The dealer has had the car for two weeks, they confirmed a complete failure in the electronic power steering module. The dealer said they have to replace the entire steering rack at a cost up to $2500. I see this similar failure has led to a recall on the same year Ford Fusion, but not on the Ford Focus. Clearly this has to be a manufacturer defect. 900 complaints in NHTSA for this issue and no recall issued.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 35 - 40 MPH, the check engine warning light was illuminated, and the fuel gauge was not working properly, moving from full to empty. The vehicle lost motive power. The contact was unable to restart the vehicle and had the vehicle towed to an independent mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed the failure with code P1450, and the fuel pump and canister valve were replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but informed the contact that there was no recall associated with the VIN that was related to the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 152,000.

My car is sitting in the garage because I was told not to drive. Parts from Ford transmission issue are on back order. I'm a 66 year old and I need my car to go to work. I called Ford to see if they would do the Lemon Law and after review they said no. I have had numerous issue with my car. My car has only 45000. I took it to a couple of other places and they said they are back up 3 to 6 months on the same issue with Ford transmission. I read an article about the Ford issues in your web page and it's identical with the issue I'm having. Clutch locks and I am unable to reverse and the car is not accelerating when I hit the gas pedal. It jumps. I need help with this. Thank you

Shift fork calibration not learner #P287B . .Shift Fork A Position Circuit Range #P2832.. Shift Fork A Position Circuit #P2831

The transmission went bad and I had to replace the clutch , the car would not go in reverse and left me on a busy street , the car also will turn off if the gas in under 80 miles til empty

The transmission is not shifting properly and looked online. Ford has had this issue with lots of the 2012 Ford Focus SEL’s and there is lots of opinions on how to fix it. But the issue is the same. There need to be a recall. I just bought this on 8/23/3021 and it has 53000 miles. Please get Ford to fix this issue. It is dangerous what if I was on the highway! I hope it’s not to late for Ford to fix this. I notice it when I first bought it. I would start accelerating from a light and 1st 2nd or 3rd great as I was accelerating it was having difficulty shifting and was stuttering. I first thought I wasn’t driving it right like I was accelerating to slow maybe not enough throttle. Then I left this morning and once I turned of my block the car started shuttering and had huge problems shifting in to 2nd and 3rd. I couldn’t even accelerate turned it around. Drove back to my house and called the dealership. There towing it to the dealership and are going to look into the problem. This is unfair I just bought it. And if Ford had done the right thing and made a recall for it I wouldn’t be having this problem in 2021 with a Ford Focus SEL with 53000 miles on it. Thank you for listening. [XXX], Colorado INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).”

CEL came on while I was traveling. When I took my car to get it read, the error code was p1450, unable to bleed up fuel tank vacuum. After filling up my car with gas, it would struggle to turn on. I would have to push down on the accelerator while turning the ignition so that my car would start properly. Even then it still felt like it was stalling and wanted to turn off. I am aware that this issue was part of another recall related to my gas tank becoming deformed. I wound up replacing the vapor canister purge solenoid and that seems to have fixed the problem.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 20-25 MPH, the steering wheel was stiff and difficult to be turned. The contact was able to drive to his residence. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed as power steering failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 112,000. The VIN was unavailable.

My car randomly started stalling out while driving. A check engine light came on, and when I took it in to get read, the mechanics told me they were the codes pertaining to the recall on this car for the purge valve malfunction. The local dealer will not grant me an appointment to look at it and complete the recall for another 5 weeks.....my appointment isn't until October. In the meantime, I dont have a safe vehicle to drive, as the chances of me getting rear ended are high. The vehicle stalls out 6 to 7 times every 40 miles.

I bought the car in 2012. It has not run properly since that year. We took it in for computer flashes and the recalls each time they asked and several times more because the lurching, shuddering, and delayed acceleration would always come back. I had to readjust how I drove the Ford Focus compared to any other car knowing that it sometimes stuck or delayed in acceleration. It also would sometimes jolt forward. It rolls back once at a stop sometimes while the car is running. I would have to adjust how far ahead I pulled from people in lines to make sure they had enough space between parking or in line so I didn't roll back and hit them. My car died in the middle of the road on way to get gas back in 2017. We took it in to get looked at and cost hundreds of dollars to fix a fuel tank that suctioned in on itself. We found out a year later there was a recall for that same issue. It was supposed to fix the fuel gauge reading issues too but even after being "fixed" it still never read right. I could never tell what the actual contents of my fuel levels were which is dangerous especially on long road trips. The struts started to leak and go bad well before they should have. This car is totally unsafe between the constant transmission/computer issues, the fuel tank system, door latch recalls (2 of them). We had to have the radiator replaced because one of the Ford Service Centers screwed something up when they did the clutch recall. It broke down while driving the day after the clutc

I was told I would need over $1,000 in repairs for bad engine and transmission mounts. It shuddered off and on the whole time I owned the car but it seemed to get worse in the last 3 years. Not sure how much of that is caused by a bad fuel and transmission system but it seems like there is one thing after another with the Ford Focus.

I have an automatic transmission. Driving down the road the transmission feels as though it just goes into neutral as if it were a manual. It's like driving a manual & kicking it out of gear while your foot is on the gas pedal. This cause the RPM's rise all the while the car is in neutral. The one thing I found to get it back on track is to tap the brake. This will make it go back into gear. It has been doing this for a couple of years but it seems to be getting worse and more frequent.

My car was always serviced by local Ford dealership. Yesterday my car would not go into reverse. I called the Ford garage here in WIlliamsport Pa and the told me that they could not work on it until 9/1 as the man who dealt with transmissions was backed up. The man in the service department told me to have the car towed to the Ford garage and if they get a cancelation they would work on it sooner. I called onstar and they arranged to toll my vehicle tomorrow. I bought my car new and never had any problems until now. I read all the complaints filed for this make and model and it seems I am not the only one with this drive train problem.

Passangers wiper motor stopped working, then driver side stopped working within 2 weeks of the passanger side failure.

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.

The vehicle believes a door (Driver's side in this case) is ajar when it is in fact completely latched. This issue is intermittent and repeats several times during a short (10 min) trip. When the issue occurs the vehicle unlocks all doors (central unlocking) and turns on the dome light. When it randomly thinks the door is shut it will lock all the doors and turn the light off. This process repeats at random intervals. Unlocking the doors while driving is dangerous, especially for those of us who have children. I have engaged the child locks as a mitigation step. The dome light coming on randomly at night creates a distraction and degrades driver visibility.

Transmission is dangerous. Vehicle stutters through 1st gear continuously, as if the clutch is constantly slipping. This is most prevalent on hot days. The only way to get around this condition is to floor it from stop. This hesitation and unreliable application of power could cause accidents as the afflicted vehicle tries to turn onto a road where traffic does not stop. I have developed the habit of expecting my vehicle to basically die during the turn, and thus will not turn without a very large (sometimes unreasonable) margin of time to clear the turn. This hesitation may also increase the risk of being rear-ended by another vehicle who expects the afflicted vehicle to accelerate as normal. This transmission issue is part of a class-action settlement with Ford, arbitrated by CAP Motors under Ford PowerShift Transmission.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Electric Steering Assist light came on and off a few times over the past 2 weeks. As of this writing it is on permanently and steering the vehicle is now done without power assist. As a man I am able to drive but the rest of my family and wife are no longer able to operate the vehicle as to the difficulty in turning the wheel.