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 the federal safety agency for this issue and no recall issued.
2012 Ford Focus steering complaints
Page 3 of 32: complaints 41 to 70 of 927, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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.
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 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
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.
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.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel ceased, and the vehicle was difficult to steer. The contact pulled over and restarted the vehicle however, the steering wheel was locked. The vehicle was towed to the dealer and diagnosed as power steering motor failure. The dealer replaced the power steering rack. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to the federal safety agency for assistance. The failure mileage was 66,103.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while attempting to reverse out of a parking space, the steering wheel ceased. The contact was unaware if there was a warning light illuminated. The contact cruised slowly in reverse out of the parking space but continued experiencing the failure while she drove to the used car dealer. The contact stated that the used car dealer took the vehicle to the local dealer and the local dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
The power steering electric assist failed when pulling into cross-traffic, narrowing avoiding broadside high-speed collusion. Have intermittantly expereinced power steering failure at vehicle start in the past, but never during vehicle operation in traffic. It is a known issue with several Ford vehicles in the 2011-2013 range, but Focus has been excluded from recalls addressing this issue.
Driving 40 MPH around a curvy mountainous road the Power Steering suddenly stopped working making steering almost impossible thankfully there was a pull off spot straight ahead or I would have been in a major accident.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that the power steering assist warning light was illuminated at start-up. The contact would restart the vehicle and the vehicle would resume normal operation. Recently, the contact stated that the vehicle would not resume normal operation after the warning light was illuminated and the vehicle was restarted. The contact stated that excessive force was needed to steer the vehicle once the warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to be diagnosed and repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 128,000. Consumer stated steering was replaced.
Steering and hill assist light came on when warming up the car. Went to leave the parking spot and the car was extremely hard to turn in both directions. Shutting the car off and re starting temporarily resolved the issue for a few days at first! But it came back and did the same thing. This occurred again while driving on highway 200 @80mph causing me to almost leave my lane and hit a mini van! The car has been parked for about 4 months now and only used for very short trips in town (1 mile or less!) this is a well known and documented issue that ford is refusing to issue a recall for! Just another corporation not caring about their consumers! Issue a recall already!
Vehicle steering assist failed as I was making a turn at approximately 20 MPH. Steering the vehicle became extremely difficult. Vehicle was parked and turned off then restarted. Power returned after restart.
The vehicle was in motion driving on expressway and the power steering went out. I had my two grandchildren in the vehicle. I had a very hard time getting the vehicle over on the side of the highway. All ford 2012 vehicles were recalled for this problem except the focus.
At random times I receive the 'steering assist fault' notice and can't steer. I turn the key off, try again and it drives like normal. I took it to the dealer once, but there is no dtc code to tell them what to do, so nothing has been done. Today was the first time it happened twice in one day. The first time today was while backing out of a parking space like all the other times, but then a few hours later something new happened and it went out while going forward and pulling away from a residential curb. Luckily there was no traffic and I only moved a few feet away from the curb. I restarted it again and it drove like normal.
I started my car this morning to warm up, I live in maine, so after 10 minutes I want to go to work and my power steering was off , I couldn't turn the steering wheel easily like normal and the car was running. Good thing it didn't happened later tonight on hockey 🏒 practice with my son. It's very big safety issue. Please advise. Thanks.
We have been having problems with the power steering failing twice on the highway and 3 times upon start up. This scared the life out of us on the highway. Fortunately traffic was lite and we safely make it across all traffic lanes to the shoulder. After restarting the car it operated normally? The internet noted similar events but no safety recalls. The most recent incident happened in my driveway. Upon starting the safety system indicated a (power steering assist failure). I had it towed to my mechanic and was told that the rack and pinion module had failed and the entire rack and pinion needed to be replaced at the tune of $2'500 dollars. I would make the assumption just the fact this happened driving at highway speeds would at least initiate an invesigation. This is 2012 vehicle and started while still under warranty but no fault code was ever presented to the repair technician there for apparently nothing could be repaired or replaced. I believe for safety reasons, and concern for others this should be looked into
My car was driving perfectly fine, then out of nowhere I got an error saying my steering assist was messed up. I pulled into a parking lot because my steering wheel started to lock on the highway. I turned my car off, and when I turned it back on I got an error stating that there was a "steering loss" and to "stop safely." my steering wheel is completely locked out of nowhere and is unable to drive with virtually no warning or error message prior to today. I looked up to see if others have had this issue and there are hundreds of complaints about the ford focus with this exact issue. Ford has ignored this issue for years and needs to make a safety recall for an error that was made on their end instead of causing people to pay thousands out of pocket for an error that was made by the dealer.
Wow!!!! 874 plus complaints filed on the steering I'm lost for words when or what is it going to take people the federal safety agency .. Ya I told ford and the dealer what I felt and I can promise you I got my point across nothing will ever be done because ford has some smack and people belive it even or government . I spoke with a engineer in detroit and was like talking to a brick wall .I fixed my steering fault and found several factors to blame I will tell you look into a software called forscan if you have issues and if you are lucky and have not get a better heat shield made that tissue thin tin that is on top the rack and 5 points of ground to paint redo grind paint off and use that red coating also a ground on aluminum daaaaaaaa move it
While driving home last night just after exiting the highway, my steering wheel suddenly became stiff as if it was locked. Power steering fault light came on. I had to use all my might to keep it in a straight line just so I can make it home.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that while his girlfriend was driving at low speeds in a parking lot, the electric power steering failed as the power steering faulty warning light illuminated. The contact lost power steering assist and crashed into another vehicle's rear that was parked. No injuries were sustained. No air bags deployed. No police report was filed. No medical attention was contacted. No damages were made to the contacts vehicle. The federal safety agency action number: pe13031(electrical system) was a possible solution to the failure however no recall was made to determine VIN information. The vehicle was seen at an independent mechanic who diagnosed the vehicle and determined that the rack in pinon needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer el cajon ford (1595 e main st, el cajon, ca 92021(619) 579-8888) was contacted and informed the contact to speak with ford manufacturer to discuss options for repair. The failure mileage was 96,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that while attempting to reverse out of a parking lot, the steering wheel seized without warning. The contact turned and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle resumed normal operation. The vehicle had not been diagnosed nor repaired. The contact stated that the vehicle was unsafe to drive. Parkway ford (2104 peters creek pkwy, winston-salem, nc 27127, (877) 836-4271) was contacted and informed of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 143,292.
The electric power steering quit working, making it almost impossible to steer.
Steering power assist malfunction when I put key in ignition and attempted to exit a parking lot, vehicle very hard to turn steering wheel in either direction.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated while parked, the vehicle was started however, the steering seized and locked in place. The contact stated that it was difficult to turn the steering wheel. The power steering assist warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was notified of failure. The failure mileage was 170,000.
Power steering turns off periodically at startup. One day, it simply ceased to work on startup. My car was stationary. In my driveway.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the power steering feature was inoperable. After restarting the vehicle, the vehicle performed as designed. The contact stated while pulling into the driveway and turning, the steering wheel was loose. The contact stated the steering assist fault message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to bokan ford (2 franklin park w #1, st albans city, vt 05478, (802) 524-7343) where it was diagnosed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 30,000.
My 2012 ford focus with less than 49,000 miles lost power steering on november 9, 2020. No power steering at all. Luckily, I was driving straight at about 20mph on my own street when this happened so I could turn it around and go home. (about 300 feet or so.) I called the ford dealership where I bought it and they quoted me a price of about $2100 to repair it but said since it was no longer under warranty then I would pay the entire bill. I took it to another repair shop (tuffy automotive) and had it repaired for $2119.74. The repair consisted of the entire rack and pinion unit being replace, a computer reprogram and an alignment.
Ford focus famous steering assist fault ,light on no steering and u3000 codes well im ase certified retired and ford is yanking customers and dealerships lie .for a brief moment you may aslo have a hidden code u140 ,running scan shows malfuntion light deactivated not sure if this is tied to reflashing ECM or some cover up I will find what was done . The code u3000 ford says differant after investigating the entire car grounds ,grounds to aluminum,some shield to protect the pscm what ,,,,that will be fixed my way it all comes to heat and voltage also many hours of searching and calling module builders mine was a u3300:53 deactivated period dead no good ,all the same and the units are on the fusions as well . I dealt with dealership just wipe my nose is all on and off the assist fail happened many times and as close as the pscm is to the hot ,hot pipe I can see heat and the pump poorly built . Sitting in a parking lot for doctorand come out and assist stayed on no cycle would fix . Anyone with mechanic skills download forscan run test but save your profile trust me also look up as built calibrations and may want look at etis.ford .... Recalls that dealership failed to fix good luck
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2012 Ford Focus?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history