After driving for 40 mins, the check engine light came on. I was in stop and go traffic and from stop (0 MPH) to 30 MPH the transmission would downshift violently and stall. I would give it gas, but the car would not move and the engine would rev up and lunge forward violently causing cars to almost hit me in the rear. I put in a similar complaint a few years ago about a shuttering when accelerating from a stop after 40 + mins of driving. This is unacceptable for a car company to allow this car out on the streets.
2012 Ford Focus engine complaints
Page 12 of 18: complaints 311 to 340 of 501, newest first, as owners wrote them.
This car has been a lemon. Ford has attempted to "fix" the repeated issue I am having with this car stalling out unexpectedly due to transmission failure. Ford replaced the TCM but the car still is unreliable. The service advisor at the o'meara ford in colorado told me that this car is a lemon and that he has not seen a product from ford this bad in many years. He also said that he has advised his family to not ride or drive one of these cars as they are unsafe and dangerous! This car has stalled out while I am trying to make a left turn, in the middle of the highway, and in many situations that have compromised my safety and the safety of my fellow motorists. I feel that ford needs to buy this car back and replace it as it is clear that this car can not be fixed in any lasting way. I ask the federal safety agency to please step in and investigate these dangerous cars before someone gets killed! I absolutely hate my ford and will not by another.
On 10/15/15 my car stalled and completely pulled back , died down to almost a halt then kicked into gear again , like a pull and let go motion. Out of nowhere, this gave me a scare since I was driving and could have been rear ended because of this complete stall in the middle of the road on n.e. 163rd street north miami beach towards biscayne blvd. Engine light went on and a screen message showed up asking me to service transmission now! I have had to park car until I figure what to do? This car has turned out to be a problem for me, first with the back driver side door latch where door just flew open while driving, (that's a different claim I have placed with the federal safety agency). I can't afford to keep fixing these problems appearing to this ford focus. Radio also went dead with a super loud disrupting pop sound and loud static electrical noises which could not be controlled by lowering volume or turning off radio , this loud pop sound startled me also while driving on turnpike from davie towards north miami beach. Would like to get ford motor to recognize that my ford focus 2012 is a lemon, if not the right term then it's a product of shoddy parts used to construct this car.
Transmission hesitation and car jerking when accelerating at especially lower speeds. Shuttering sound and lack of power and then sudden acceleration after the hesitation. Feels unsafe to drive. Have had in for ford service 3 times and going back for fourth time this week. Never seems fixed. Inclined stops on hills and intersection quick acceleration are very bad.
Ever since I have owned this car since may 2012 it has shuddered when driving, stalled while driving, and shakes and does not increase speed when the accelerator is stepped on. The car now does not even start when it is turned on, despite the battery being good. Car was towed into dealership several times and they supposedly fixed it. Did several repairs to it but to this date it still shudders and stalls while driving. The latest repair they did was to fix the alternator...we will see....have come to the conclusion this model has several defects and would term it as a lemon. It barely has 60,000 miles on it and a car this new should not be having these issues as they are safety issues and I fear for me and my childrens lives and safety as this car does not function safely and stalls when we are driving! When I expressed my concerns to ford over these issues they took no action except to tape record my complaints...they do not care about these safey issues....the car has been in the dealership service center four times in the last four months....the last repair bill cost me $650....but I have no faith that they (ford) have fixed the problems.....I am fearful to drive this car but I am a single mother and cannot afford to trade the car in for another as the ford sales person told me no bank would loan me money on another car as I owed too much on this lemon that ford has sold me....ford was of no help and does not care....I told them that it would take someone dying in a car crash from these defects in order for ford to do something about these issues.....these issues happen while the car is in motion and when it is sitting still...the car will not start and has to be towed into the repair shop...
While driving car lost per and almost caused a major accident I was going 65 MPH computer said my transmission was not in park.
What has happened with my 2012 ford focus on august 18, 2015 has now happened 2 additional times since then. On 8/21/2015 my vehicle was dropped off at skinner & damulis to reprogram the transmission control module (field service action: 15b22 transmission control module reprogramming for overt TCM failure warning). On august 27, 2015 while driving down the road at 55 MPH again I had the same loss of power, this time had an 18 wheeler behind me that was not slowing down, I pulled over to the shoulder and needed to use reverse and the vehicle would not go into reverse, it just revved like it was in neutral. I turned the vehicle off, called ford, again, and told them my issue. After restarting the vehicle after the phone call I was able to put in reverse. I returned vehicle to skinner & damulis on 9/3/2015, vehicle was "repaired" on 9/4/2015 and invoice stated my concern: car having issues with revving and won't go into reverse at times and their correction was they found TCM & PCM software update and performed software update. On 9/25/2015 I again had the same issue with revving while driving (35-40 MPH) and was again unable to get the vehicle into reverse. Car had 90,111 miles at the time. Contacted ford and was given case# cas-7944030 and will be in contact with john from ford by monday evening. This no longer works for me. This car needs to go, it is going to kill someone, me, people in another vehicle, something and I am not going to have my family sued because this problem occurs again. I need a vehicle as an outside sales person and no longer feel safe in my 2012 ford focus. This car needs to be taken back by ford and destroyed. It has no trade value and I do not want another family to have this car and get killed because of it. Please do something about this, I know I am not the only one with these issues. [xxx] information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6).'
When excelling from a stopped position the car jerks as if the clutch is not catching. I have taken my car to the ford dealership 4 times in one year. They have replaced the clutch plates and they said I had a transmission leak. A car that is still under full warranty should not be having these issues. The car still jerks although they have replaced multiple things on the car.
Purchased new and within 40,000 miles the clutch has failed two times and the transmission module has failed once and has had to be reprogrammed twice. The suspension makes loud noises on the front end whenever you hit any bump. I feel unsafe driving this car because it can lose the ability to accelerate at any time without warning.
While driving the check engine light turned on, the shift display started blinking (so the "d" was flashing) and then the vehicle slowed to a stop where it was turned off. Vehicle would not turn on again. The next day it started, and after inspection by retailer autozone read TCM module issue. Vehicle had a full tank of gas, recent oil change, and had battery replaced with new one as recommended. Following battery replacement the vehicle again slowed to a stop with shift and check engine light illuminated. Towed to ford dealership where a software update was done and told it would function properly. Approx 30 miles later the vehicle again came to a stop, but the check engine light did not illuminate, only the gear it was in blinked. Told by separate ford dealership that the TCM module needs replacement. Prior to software update check engine light would go on, but after that it would not but the vehicle did continue to come to a stop. Could rev the engine but to no avail. Stopping incidents occurred several times within a few days. Very dangerous when driving on highway or street as the 2012 ford focus se stops within a few minutes of alerting the driver to issue and will not restart.
While driving, my car suddenly stopped functioning. The engine light came on, followed by all other lights. I was able to pull the car over, but unable to restart. I called for a tow truck (aaa). After waiting for an hour, I tried the ignition again, and the car started right up. The same problem occurred the following night. The car was towed to the dealership, tom's ford in keyport, new jersey, where it still remains.
This is not the only issue, but this has been the most dangerous for me... For the past year, the car has lost transmission power while driving - I was on hwy 40 and the car just stopped working - twice I was in the middle of a busy intersection and the car cut off - I was at a near stop and the car stopped responding....this has been reported numerous times by others. The gas pedal just stops responding at all. The time it stopped working in the middle of the intersection, the gears would not allow me to move the car into a park position, it would not move at all. It allowed me to turn my car off, in drive. After sitting there for a bit and multiple restarts, the car engaged again. Ford's fix? They came out with a software update that may turn on my engine light before a failure. This is not a fix. I asked them if someone needed to die in their car or get crushed in an intersection for them to do something. I filed a formal complaint with ford. So frustrated and angry.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving 60 MPH, the vehicle suddenly lost power and failed to accelerate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine block fractured. As a result, the control module and the engine block needed to be repaired. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 150,000. The VIN was not available.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving at 25 MPH, the engine vibrated and the contact could heard a metal to metal grinding noise. In addition, the vehicle would roll back and lose power when stopped. The vehicle was taken to a dealer who diagnosed that there was a transmission failure. The technician cleaned the engine and replaced the clutch and rings, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failures. The failure mileage was 80,000.
My 2012 ford focus has been really messing up lately. After having it reprogramed since it was shuttering and such... On 3 occasions this car has completely fallen out of gear, twice while I am going full speed at approx 50 - 55 miles/hour. The display begins flashing and then complete loss of acceleration. I have had to coast into a turn and turn off the engine and then turn it back on and it would go back into gear and everything would be fine. The first time this happened I called the ford dealership in my town and spoke to them about this and asked them to look into why my engine would loose power completely and he said that he would look into it and never returned my call. On the second event the drive indicator d flashed and the engine light came on and complete loss of acceleration (50-55mph) and then I coast to a turn and shut off the engine and turn it back on and am able to put it into drive but this time the check engine light stayed on. I call the ford dealership and they have me bring it in and they look at it and discover it needs a new TCM so they order the part and then I take the car home. The next day I am in town shopping and I turn into a parking place and while I am in the process my car makes a clinking, screeching sound and then acts like it has fallen back out of gear again! This time it does not go back into gear so I call the dealership and they have it towed to them and then the TCM was put into it. I am now actually scared of driving this car. So, I have had the car reprogramed once...3 complete gear failures...new TCM... We need ford to buy back this car it is dangerous!!!
Engine light went on, starting to get on interstate, car would not excelerate past 30 mile per hour all the way home about 45 miles
Purchased a 2012 ford focus in december of 2014. The transmission has had shifting issues almost the entire time that I have had the vehicle. In may, the transmission began stuttering at low speeds. When reaching speed on an interstate on-ramp, the vehicle showed the message "vehicle not in park" and shut off as I was pulling into traffic. A day later when driving it, it stuttered again and the check engine light came on. Took it, along with a defective part notice to the dealer for the automatic transmission clutch system, which the dealer said was the issue and supposedly replaced it under the warranty. The dealer also reset the "autolearn" feature in the transmission. For a few days it worked fine, then the stuttering and shifting issues began again. On august 8th, 2015 the vehicle was driven to the store, and worked as it usually did, with minor stuttering and grinding that appears to characterize the ford transmission. It was parked for roughly 30 minutes while in the store, upon starting and putting the vehicle in reverse, the transmission would not turn or gain enough power to propel the car out of the parking space. As it rolled back, it was shifted into the drive position, the vehicle began to propel until it went to shift and the car "missed" the gear and stuttered losing all momentum. This continued from every start/stop. Stopped at another store, when came back out the car would not start on the first crank, and the check engine light came back on. The power issues to the transmission on take off and the missing gears continued all the way to my home.
While driving in open country, vehicle suddenly shut off. After approximately 15 minutes the vehicle could be restarted. Drove the vehicle approximately 10 additional miles after restart and then the vehicle suddenly coasted as if in 'neutral" even though gear shift was in "drive" position. This time the gear indicator light flashed and the engine continued to run with the vehicle in "drive." shut off vehicle. Shut off the engine. After approximately 10 minutes, restarted the vehicle and drove remainder of trip without incident. Next day while driving in local country traffic, vehicle again coasted and appeared to shift to "neutral" without warning. Gear indicator light flashed and engine continued to run even though shift lever was in "drive." had vehicle towed to dealer for service.
There was a loss of power in february when I was driving so I took my car to ford and apparently there was a problem with the transmission. However, two days ago (july 27th), my car stopped working completely while I was driving. I was really scared since all power was off. Then I have to try several times to turn on my car again. There was a loss of all changes, reverse position did not work. Took the car to the dealer again and I am waiting for an answer. I do not want to drive the car until I know it is completely safe to drive it. I have a kid so this situation is very dangerous for me...updated 05-10-16 *bf updated 12/13/2017
Letter from senator isakson on behalf of constituent re 2012 ford focus issues. (attn: hanna yu). *smd the consumer stated the vehicle had four major repairs and 6-8 minor repairs done to the transmission. The vehicle would jerk. Also, while in the middle of a making a turn, the vehicle suddenly stopped.
The vehicle would not turn over. There was no clicking of the vehicle trying to start. After 4 tries to start the car it was left to sit for 30 min before we tried again. The car then was tried to start again did not start until the 4th try. Then the car started. It seems to be skipping a gear while driving will go from 6k RPM to all of the sudden jumping down to 2k rmp. There is something wrong with the clutch/ transmission with shifting and now something going on with the starting system.
Accelerating up a shallow hill the transmission began to stutter and jerk and grind as it changed gears. In the middle of the jerking the car shifted into neutral and revved up. Complete loss of power at speed. Pulled over to the side of the road (on a hill) put the car in park and shut the car off. When I released the brake the car rolled backwards down the hill - clearly the car was not engaged in park. I applied the brake to stop the car and engaged the e brake. I tried to restart the car it would not start. Error kept flashing 'parking aid malfunction - service required'. The failure left us stranded on the side of the road on a 95 degree day without the ability to start the car. I am currently waiting for ford dealer to determine the cause of the failure. The jerking and stuttering of the transmission is a very regular occurrence for my car. It happens at almost every startup, especially when hot. The jerking and stuttering has in the past resulted in loss of power to the point that I have almost been hit by oncoming cars when I tried to pull out into the street. I had also brought my car to the dealer previously complaining of severe jerking and stuttering and was told this was normal for the transmission.
First incident traveling approximately 45 MPH, as automatic transmission shifts gears, the transmission slips out of gear. Shifting to neutral and back into gear does not work. Pulled vehicle onto the shoulder, put into park, turn off the engine. Engine will not start, no crank. Let vehicle sit for a minute, retry starting, vehicle runs normally. Next incident around 2 weeks later. Similar experience, but travelling approx 75 MPH on highway. Required to pull over, restart vehicle. Check engine light on at restart and engine running at lower RPM than normal in all gears. Vehicle rests overnight, runs normally with no check engine light. Subsequent incidents increase in frequency, without check engine light. Simply need to pull over, restart vehicle. Most frequently occurs while traveling on the highway at higher speeds. 6th or 7th incident, about a month after the initial incident. Check engine light remains on. Vehicle service scheduled but not yet performed due to backlog of transmission service repairs at ford service center.
(automatic hatchback) the car rolls back when in gear, on a steep hill. Shifting gears, it will hesitate on the highway and will jump gears and studder. A few days ago I was trying to back out of my driveway to get to work and when I put it in reverse, the car didn't move whatsoever, so I put it in drive to test and see if it was working, and it got in 1st gear just fine.so I tried to reverse again with the same issue. Then the engine light illuminated, so I left the car and got a ride to work, however that night when I came home, I tested the car out again and same problem, however a message popped up "transmission is not in park (p)" and I had it in reverse, so I put it in drive and the same message popped up. Now I cannot get it to move at all. While in drive, it will rev up, but it will not move! It will start up no problem, and sometimes it will drive, but it will lose power and not move again.
2013, 2014, transmission clutch replaced, 2015 waiting for another transmission clutch replacement. Rear ended in 2014 when car bogged down getting on highway. Car died twice while on highway . Told by ford customer care & dealership car was safe to drive before both incidents. Car revs up to high rpms for no reason while driving.. Very scary. !!!! Car has not driven correct since the day it left the dealership !!
While driving home, I came to a stop behind a car at a traffic light. When I tried to accelerate, the car would not move. It was as if the car was in park and I was stepping on the gas. The car behind me almost crashed into the back of me. I had to completely turn off my car while in the middle of the road and restart the car. No later than 15 minutes later while on a hill by my apartment, the car once again would not accelerate. If I hadn't pressed on the brake as quick as I did, it would've rolled back on the car behind me. I have had 3 transmission related issues with this car and 2 incidences prior to today that involved endangering my life. I have taken it to ford 3 times in one year. This car is indeed a safety hazard and with all the complaints and lawsuits, needs to be recalled.
In october 2014 there was a recall regarding transmission clutch shudder. I made an appointment to have the transmission looked at on 11.19.14. On the day prior to said appointment, roy o'brien ford canceled my appointment stating there were no parts available. I have now been calling both the dealership and ford motor company for eight months attempting to have my vehicle inspected. I also filed a case number with ford on 01.13.15 - #cas5815506. To this date nothing has been done. I finally called ford again on 5.11.15 and was told, by patricia - a 2nd level customer service rep" that it's "not really a recall". Take your car in to see "if" it needs service. Well, I can't very well do that when the dealership won't reschedule an appointment. This is vehicle has dangerous potential to stop running at any moment. These models with transmission issues should never be sold.
Since the purchase of this for focus 2012 two years ago, the engine will suddenly stall out and stop working entirely. I am 6 months pregnant and after bringing this car in for numerous repairs of this issue, with no real resolve, I am now furious. I was driving down a 4 lane highway at 65 MPH and my engine said "parking assist failure" and the car died. I was almost hit by multiple cars as I tried to coast my way to the shoulder of the road. I turned the car off and back on and it started again. I called the dealership and was told I could bring it in "but they already fixed it." then just a few days later I am at a busy intersection, and it stalls again..this time wont turn back on. I have been given the run around from ford, and the ford dealership, and I need out of this car. I have always driven volkswagon's, and this was my first ford. Never again. Meanwhile, I am underwater on my car loan now, because I have a car that is worth nothing.
1. Car occasionally drops out of gear on highway causing cars behind me to swerve around 2. Car at stops signs/stoplights occasionally drops out of gear on acceleration. Almost got hit by a truck when making a left and car slowed to a crawl due to dropping out of gear. 3. Reverse gear does not work occasionally
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving at various speeds and attempting to accelerate, the vehicle hesitated to accelerate. All of the warning indicators on the instrument panel illuminated. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the engine had a leak and needed to be repaired and the brake line and circuit board failed. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.
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