As I was driving approximately 60-65mph on the garden state parkway my windshield wipers came on without me telling them to. They cycled through fast, normal, intermittent, off for 60-90 seconds per cycle. After the second cycle I decided to exit the highway and find a place to park and shut the car off. I then hear a thud as I come to a light, 30 seconds later I see smoke. I pull into the parking lot and see lots of smoke and some flames coming from under my hood. I turn off the car and the wipers keep going. I get out and call 911 and within a few minutes my car is engulfed in flames.
2012 Ford Focus electrical complaints
Page 7 of 13: complaints 161 to 190 of 352, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Started with horn and tail light intermittently not working. Then intermittently as you are driving the car shuts off with no warning. This is a major safety issue! Everything locks up and you attempt to make it safely to the side of the road. All dash lights work but car won't start. Found same complaints on internet and youtube but no recall. Took to local ford dealer and they cannot find the issue. The diagnostic machine did not issue a code. I explained in detail the issue and asked for documentation of the issue. The paper they gave me said runs rough when AC is on. I said that is not the issue. They said don't worry the ticket is still open in the system. I asked if they could put a reader on the car while driven to catch the diagnostic code and they said no. So I am in same situation as other owners where my safety and others are at stake each time this car shuts off. Also dealer said they h horn with a screwdriver to make it work for now. So no horn, tail light and car shutting off intermittently are serious safety issues. Ford needs to recall this problem and fix it!
Driver window was slow to go up and down then finally quit working all together. Took it to dealership in tallassee alabama. Ben atkinson ford which is now tallassee auto. I was told it would cost me $275. To have it fixed.
I had my car towed to my mechanic because of it has been not starting/hesitating to start when in park. I also tried switching to neutral and attempted to start and got nothing. My mechanic ran a diagnostic test and its coming up with a security code issue stating my key does not read but will start several minutes after attempt. This has just randomly started happening and I have read multiple complaints in ford forums stating the same situation. All lights on dash and radio come on but car has no noise and refuses to start. I thought it was my battery or starter and my mechanic has confirmed that it was neither. I tried contacting the ford dealership where I bought this car and they refuse to fix it or even acknowledge the issue. This make has had more issues than I have ever had with any vehicle I have ever owned. Ford needs to step up because this is ridiculous. My husband has the same vehicle and his transmission is also on nationwide recall backorder for the same make and model. They should have had a warning for consumers that this was a terrible production year.
The steering wheel locks up and won't turn this has happened while driving and when I just start the car. I can put my key in the ignition and all the lights, radio, and chime works, but the car won't start. I had it checked when I got it started and the battery was fine and the altenator was fine and so was my starter. I have been having problems with my car for the past 4 years please help.
With less than 21k miles on the car and the alternator, it seized up, tore the pulley off, and shredded the belt and left my car dead. I was driving on the freeway and heard a metallic grinding and jingling sound. Had I not been able to exit when I did, I might not have been able to safely navigate my car to a stop. Ford is refusing to admit that it was their manufacturing that was responsible for this. They did not cover it under any of the remaining warranties on the car. My dad works in the auto industry and he was telling me that they test the alternators that his company makes to last 150k miles and that this should not have failed the way that it did.
Car was running fine then turned it off and 10 minutes later would not crank. Car will not start.you can jump start it and it starts. Now cut it off want crank
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. Within two weeks of purchasing the vehicle, it failed to start and the key was not recognized in the ignition. Also, the 6 speed automatic transmission failed to shift appropriately and the contact had to turn the vehicle off and back on due to the failure. There was also a sudden loss of eps and the steering assist fault warning indicator flashed. The vehicle became difficult to steer intermittently. The dealer (dave knapp ford lincoln, 500 wagner ave, greenville, oh 45331, (800) 717-3673) was unable to diagnose the cause of the failures. The VIN was included in the federal safety agency campaign number: 16v643000 (latches/locks/linkages) and two manufacturer service campaigns (transmission clutch shudder/transmission input shaft seal - 14m01, transmission control module extended coverage). The failure mileage was not available. Parts distribution disconnect. Updated 08/03/17
Car will sporadically and intermittently not turn over when key is in ignition. Battery is not faulty. Alternator is not faulty. Wiring is not faulty. All have been tested. From what I have experienced this happens when the car's internal software (or more specifically transmission control module) does not recognize is in park thereby preventing the vehicle from starting. This sometimes prevents the vehicle from being started from anywhere of 30 seconds to at an extreme instance nearly 45 minutes. Often times, the only way to start the car in these instances is to keep the foot on the brake, move the shifter into neutral and wait (for previously mentioned times) until the dashboard indicates that it recognizes the car is in neutral. (when this occurs, when shifter is first moved to neutral no gear appears to be highlighted in dashboard)
Our family took part in the recall campaign that was due to defective transmissions ford sold previously. (this campaign was not easy to discover). The car would stop in the middle of traffic randomly, and still does after the dealership applied the fixes ford suggested. My mother experienced total power loss twice and was almost in two accidents because of that. (the problem still persists). There are only 54,000 miles on the car and it is in great physical condition.
My passenger side window started having issues with not wanting to go back up after being rolled down. Then both of my rear windows & my drivers side door started doing the same thing and now neither of my front windows will roll down at all. This started just after my warranty expired and makes no sense considering it is garage kept and driven by 1 person. I hardly ever used any other window beside the driver side window so it makes no sense that all the other windows have had issues with not wanting to work properly before the drivers side did. Also my car has had a recall on it for almost 2 years and they still say the part is unavailable as of today. I am worried for my safety with the recall and also wondering if that issue doesn't have something to do with my windows working & not working sporadically
My first issue with the vehicle is a malfunctioning horn and front passenger side window. Then the transmission failed on me while I was driving. I had to have the vehicle towed to the dealership for service. Ford replaced the transmission after having the car for about a month. The dealership said they also fixed the horn. But that is not the case. The horn is still not working. I don't use the horn much, but I realized how dangerous not having one can be last week. I had to signal a vehicle backing up into the main road in order to avoid a collision. Since my horn was not working, I had to swerve. The vehicle is back at the dealership for service. The vehicle has been there for 3 days and they still have not updated me on the status of my vehicle.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving various speeds, a green and red light flashed on the instrument panel. The vehicle's downhill indicator illuminated without being activated. The vehicle revved and shifted into neutral. The contact stated that the vehicle eventually returned to normal. Other times, the contact would have to turn off the vehicle and restart it a few times until it returned to normal. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer, but the cause of the failure could not be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired and the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 71,000.
Notice came up on dash monitor "steering assist malfunction-needs attention". After re-starting the car you could steer it, and took it to a ford dealer and was told it needed a "steering rack" at a cost of $1600.00, not covered on the "drive train" warranty, even though I was told by the sales man from a different dealer where I bought the car, that a new steering rack had been installed at just over 3000 miles. The car now only has just over 45000 miles on it. Not happy! Car was not moving when the initial "needs attention" message appeared, it was parked in a parking lot, and just started to go home from work.
I was driving to get on the freeway and as I tried to accelerate it would not go any higher in speed of 25mph and then it speeds up drastically. I parked it and later that day car would not start after 15 minutes car turned on without problems then I drove it home and parked it and doesn't turn on at all. Put in new battery but car still would not turn on on computer screen says to contact manufacture.
"driver assist fault" again. This is the 4th instance that is happened in 3 weeks - where my car suddenly powers off while I am behind the wheel. The last three times it happened while my car was in reverse motion. Today, it happened while I was in drive but stopped at a red light in downtown charlotte, nc. Someone had to help me push my car out of the middle of the road. Occurred on my way to work around 3:30 pm est.
I started my car this morning, put it in reverse and began to back out of my driveway when the car locked up and lost power. I could not steer or brake and the car continued rolling backwards until it hit my garage and stopped. The lights came on my dash read "(I) steering assist fault". I turned the car off and on several times before the lights went out, the steering wheel unlocked and I was able to depress the brake and gain full control of my car again. I took the car to my ford dealer in kannapolis, nc (where I purchased the car) and they said the car would need to "duplicate the error" before they could diagnose it. I explained the car would have to be in motion for that to happen and I cannot stop the car if that happens again. I drive on the interstate and I am petrified this will happen while I am on the road and have no control over the car. The tech said there have been hundreds of complaints about the loss of steering power on these fords, but that until ford issues an official recall there is nothing they can do to fix it. It could be as simple as a software update.
Purchased 2012 ford focus used, 04-14-15. I test drove the car it jerked a little. The rep stated it was normal. The next 4 months it continued to jerk, skip, hesitate and just not move when you accelerated. In 08-2015 I rec'd a letter from ford, my car needed a TCM-software update. 09-09-15 I took the vehicle back to the dealership it took an hour to re-program the TCM. The dealership handed a printed copy of the TCM characteristics. I continued to drive the car with the same issues hoping it would go away. 10-19-15 went back to the dealer to have the TCM re-programmed again. I called ford to complain 10-19-15 and a case file was issued #[xxx]. I did not want to go back to the same dealership. 10-23-15 the car went to the 2nd dealership. Discovered the TCM had failed and had to be replaced., explaining to drive the car for a number of miles to correct itself. The drive had improved, but then started failing again. 03-16-16 I went back to the 2nd dealership, the TCM was replaced. Again the drive had slightly improved and had again failed. This time when the TCM failed, while driving on the highway the wipers came on without turning them on,even when the car was off. The next day the car wouldn't come on so I replaced the battery. Drove the car about 300 miles made a stop and it would not come back on. The car had to be towed and the local mechanic was able to get the car started again. Driving back home about 150 miles on highway all lights came on the dash, battery, fuel, trans, etc.. Wipers came on, power steering was lost and engine shut off. Rolled to side of road. Sat 5 min, then started as if nothing happened!? We made it home. Car not starting. 12-06-16 towed to ford. Tcm module crashed the computer operating system, replaced TCM and re-programmed system. 01-10-17 wipers still come on with engine off. W/return to ford 01-17-17. Information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While backing out of a parking space, the steering wheel stiffened and failed. Also, the instrument panel lighting remained illuminated. The issue recurred multiple times. The vehicle was towed to the dealer, but the failure could not be replicated. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The VIN was unknown. The approximate failure mileage was 60,000.
After we got the recall done on the car for the transmission module. The car has been having a popping and static noise coming from the radio and speakers when the car is on or shut off.
'my two sons were driving east on I-10, near schulenburg, tx, at the posted speed limit of 75 MPH, when the vehicle engine and related components shutdown (no power steering, no engine, no nothing), without any prior notice. It is by the grace of god that they were not injured or killed by the 18 wheeler truck behind them when the vehicle engine failed. The vehicle was towed to a local ford dealership, tommie vaughn ford, who diagnose the culprit part to be a defective transmission control module. Ford has issued a field service action (number 14m02) regarding said part. However, ford needs to recall all affected vehicles for this problem before someone is injured or killed.
Since purchasing my focus in november of 2013, I have had several issues with what appears to be the transmission that have caused me to fear for my safety as they have resulted in multiple near-accidents. I had the car looked at within the first several months of ownership and nothing was found, I then took the car back in when symptoms persisted and got the clutch replaced within roughly a year of buying. The symptoms subsided for a while, but have returned and are still an issue to date. Issues are detailed below: the car often chugs when in motion, especially during acceleration from a stopped position. There have been numerous occasions where the vehicle will intermittently and unpredictably refuse to accelerate in a normal fashion. This happens both while moving around 20-40mph and also when coming from a stopped position - say waiting at a red light or when waiting to turn left at a busy city intersection. This is terrifying as I never know when the car will accelerate normally and when it will not - at least twice in recent history I have attempted to make a left turn from a stopped position, had plenty of time to get through the intersection, but the car struggled and finally made it through too close for comfort. Other times, the rpms seem to rev up for no reason, and the car accelerates very quickly though the pressure on the pedal has not changed. Though the has happened with less frequency, it is almost more frightening as I feel like I am not in control of the vehicles speed while in traffic. Typically this happens when coming from a stopped position as well. Additional issues I've had include it rolling backward on small inclines - sometimes when brake pedal is sufficiently depressed and even momentarily when in drive and gas pedal depressed.
Takata recall. The car will die in the middle of driving. Doesn't matter the speed you are going the lights on the dashboard will light up and you cant accelerate or decelerate the car will just die.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact noticed a strong hesitation and delay upon applying the accelerator pedal. The contact had to apply force to the accelerator pedal to increase speed. A mechanic inspected the vehicle, but was unable to replicate or diagnose the failure. The mechanic recommended that the vehicle be taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a loss of power and the software update warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the technician refused to repair it due to a salvaged title. The contact received notification of the federal safety agency campaign number: 16v643000 (latches/locks/linkages), but the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 80,000. Vin tool confirms parts not available.
Hi my name is [xxx] purchased 2012 ford focus hatchback in north caroling parkway ford VIN: [xxx] in the past received several safety recall. 1) clutch grinding 2) car rolling back when on incline 3) system upgrade 4) latch issue I have taken my vehicle to ford dealer for all of the above with the exception of item 4 - awaiting part. My concern safety - my car still rolls back on incline and clutch makes grinding noise and car jerks. I took into dealer to ask for a review of this continued issue. However I was told my car exceed the 100,000 miles my car has 138,000 miles. Ford will not review my car unless I pay. All the above noted are for known safety recalls which my thoughts are ford should want to ensure the safety of the consumer. I am not the only person with this type vehicle others have the same issue. Reaching out to you please take exception and send me a recall notices for the car rolling back on incline and my clutch grinding causing car to jerk. Other then the noted safety recalls that I deal with the car is acceptable. My history, I work for an automotive company as quality engineer and fully understand the impact of defective product and recalls. Note: please understand I took the car in for the original recall; the car was adjusted, the question I have concern the adjustment was not a fix and continue to have issues. When my car was purchased, upfront I paid for all required services on the car and went to dealership within the arranged time for services. Your support and understanding would be greatly appreciated. The date noted below is when I took the car to the dealership the issue is a recurring issue. Kind regards [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving approximately 10 MPH, the instrument panel lights failed to illuminate and the radio failed to operate without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was determined that a software update was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. Eventually, the instrument panel lighting illuminated again. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.
The passenger front window stopped working and I'm afraid there is an electrical short.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving various speeds, the front windshield wipers operated independently. When the front windshield wipers were activated, the wipers failed to operate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the wiper switch and steering angle sensor failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. It was later diagnosed that the main computer system failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving at any speed, there was a loud booming sound coming from the stereo module intermittently and without warning. The failure occurred even when the power was turned off. The vehicle was taken to a mechanic who diagnosed that the entire stereo module needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 55,000.
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