What 3,789 owners told NHTSA about the 2012 Ford Focus RS

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.

NHTSA ODI 11436250

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

NHTSA ODI 11436198

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.

NHTSA ODI 11435947

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.

NHTSA ODI 11435293

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.

NHTSA ODI 11435151

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.

NHTSA ODI 11434954

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus BEV. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the contact noticed that an unknown warning light was illuminated and remained illuminated for several days. The failure recurred several times. On one occasion, the contact was unable to start the vehicle. The contact had the vehicle towed to a local dealer who inspected the vehicle and diagnosed failure with an electrical wiring harness kit and that the battery was drained. The dealer was able to replace the wiring harness however, the battery was not replaced due to the cost of a new battery. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 92,000.

NHTSA ODI 11434038

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.

NHTSA ODI 11433768

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.

NHTSA ODI 11433661

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.

NHTSA ODI 11433493

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

NHTSA ODI 11433243

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.

NHTSA ODI 11433073

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.

NHTSA ODI 11433100

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

NHTSA ODI 11432863

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

NHTSA ODI 11432939

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

NHTSA ODI 11432400

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).”

NHTSA ODI 11432160

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.

NHTSA ODI 11431796

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.

NHTSA ODI 11431358

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.

NHTSA ODI 11430818

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 clutch replacement and was overheating. They admitted their fault and replaced it for free thankfully but why did they have to be in there in the first place? Ford needs to finally recall all of these vehicles and make it right. My family has been lifelong Ford vehicle owners and I'm about at the end of my rope with this car.

NHTSA ODI 11430862

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.

NHTSA ODI 11430866

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.

NHTSA ODI 11430436

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.

NHTSA ODI 11430209

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

NHTSA ODI 11429847