Purchased car march 29th 2014 with 12k miles. Shortly after car would shutter consistently upon acceleration and not excel in a timely manner.on sept 25th was driving and the car and it did not want to move from a stop. Rpm would would just go to 4 or 5 and eventually engage. I was able to drive it a mile home and park it. Took it to the ford dealer a few days later when they could get it in. They replaced the body control module $744.68. Drove it home and the next day it was worse. Called the dealership back and they told me since it was a transmission issue they could not get it in for three weeks. I drove it like this for months. March 2015 I took it to a different ford dealership and the diagnosis code p0902 came up. They replaced the clutch actuator and updated my sync. $452.65. They stated the code was an software issue. After that it was an intermittent problem. Drove it home and the next day nothing had changed. My sync no longer works.took it back to that same ford dealership and they now wanted to replace the transmission control module $873.41. And at this point I asked what if this don't work is there any guarantee? They said no. With it being an intermittent problem they could be anything. Before I brought it back the 2nd time they made sure that the check engine light was on so that they could put it on the computer and drive it.I love my car and just want it fixed. My car now has 57k miles and I continue to drive it not knowing if I am ever going to be able to make it to my destination. I can drive it for 1k miles with no issues or for three weeks straight barely wanting to move. I have read a lot on the forum website and there are hundreds of people with the same problems. Why? So today I am reaching out for some sort of assistance in finding a fix for my car, since the dealership showed no concern. Any help would greatly be appreciated. Thank you.
2012 Ford Focus transmission complaints
Page 34 of 49: complaints 971 to 1,000 of 1,448, newest first, as owners wrote them.
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.
We have been experiencing on multiple occasions a transmission shudder and loss of acceleration during shifting.
This vehicle has a pretty significant engine shudder as well as a rattling noise between first and second and second and third gears. Vehicle at times feels like it is going to stall out. This is a safety issue in all intersections and this vehicle should be recalled.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle was engaged into the drive gear and it suddenly accelerated independently. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was informed that the vehicle was operating as designed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 40,000. The VIN was not available.
During times of frequent stop and go (accelerating and de-accelerating) the car shudders and acts like it is going to stall. It does not accelerate or de-accelerate properly sometimes. I did not notice until about 40,000 miles and have had this problem ever since. Some model of ford focuses are under recall, however when I went to the dealer they said my car specifically was not being recalled yet it was exhibiting the same issues.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving at 45 MPH, the vehicle started to decelerate. The contact coasted the vehicle to the side of the road and shut the engine off. Once restarted, the gear shifter failed to shift into drive. The failure recurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, but the failure could not be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 68,800.
Starting this past winter, my ford focus's transmission shakes, shudders, and slips, etc consistently when starting from a dead stop. The first time it happened, the vehicle actually wouldn't accelerate. I've had it in to ford and they made the problem a little better but the vehicle still noticeably shakes when accelerating. It can also be very hesitant to accelerate when at higher speeds as well. Ford has checked the issue again and says that its "within tolerance". I find it absurd that they would consider what my car does to be acceptable. This is both annoying and a safety concern considering the acceleration is not always there the way it should be.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH, the vehicle lost power. In addition, the accelerator pedal was depressed but the vehicle failed to accelerate as the rpms increased. Also, the contact mentioned that the horn failed to function. The failure recurred on numerous occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer, who diagnosed that a module in the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 35,000. Updated 09/10/15*lj updated 11/07/2017
It's like it doesn't want to shift and then that hesitation you feel and it'll kick in,? Driving down the street transmission will stop working. There is never any warning signs. Very dangerous. Does not matter if you are going up an hill or driving flat road and speed has no factor either. Then the car will turn off on its own. There are a lot of complaints with transmission problem with ford focus. Every complaint is about the same transmission issue. Ford focus 2012 is a lemon....... Now family can't ride in this car. Not safe! It just sits at home.
7/1/15 car had sudden loss of power. The double clutch transmission was in d but acted as if in neutral. Pulled into a business driveway. Parked car. Put selector in p, car dash said car was not in p and would not allow key to be removed. Called a ford dealer, had car towed to dealer. Waiting on them to work on car. (they said they did not have available time in shop until 7/9/15)
I was driving on a four lane highway around 1030 pm.. I started up a hill when all of a sudden and I do mean sudden! Lost all power to the transmission and if there had been a lot of cars on the road I could of been injured or killed.. I have had previous problems with the transmission shuttering rolls back when you come to a stop on a hill..
While accelerating and merging onto the interstate, the car surged forward briefly, made a banging sound and shifted by itself into neutral with the check engine light illuminating. After coasting to a stop on the shoulder, I placed the vehicle into park and shut off the engine, after a minute or so, I restarted the engine an placed it into drive. The car accelerated to about 20 MPH and again went into neutral. After stopping and restarting one more time I placed the car into low and carefully drove to the nearest exit where I stopped and called for a tow truck. The car was then towed to lithia ford.
I was driving my ford focus one morning in reverse after pulling out of a parking lot. When I went back t drive and started accelerating the car didn't accelerate. I got the error light saying " service car immediately" I finally got the car home (thankful I was only a few hundred yards away). Car has since been incredibly shaky and sporadic with the acceleration. I had the car taken to auto zone for a engine test and was informed the car has been getting stuck in first gear. Its clearly something to do with the terribly designed transmission that ford did.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While accelerating at various speeds, the vehicle failed to accelerate and jerked forward without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 3,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving approximately 30 MPH, the vehicle failed to accelerate while the accelerator pedal was depressed. The contact also stated that the gear shifter failed to move from park into neutral. The failure recurred multiple times. The vehicle was taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The mechanic stated that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 107,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving approximately 35 MPH, the vehicle lost acceleration. The contact had to shift into park in order to restart the vehicle. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. The technician diagnosed that the transmission control module failed. As a result, the vehicle transmission control module needed to be reprogrammed. The failure recurred once. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 51,000.
Car lost total ability to accelerate, as if it slipped into neutral. I was attempting to get into the passing lane. The transmission failed to shift but went into a state that appeared to be neutral. The rpms went through the roof and the car was suddenly decelerating as I was trying to merge into the passing lane, a large truck literally almost collided with my rear end as the event was so spontaneous that I had little ability or experience in dealing with such a situation. Pulled over to collect my wits, shut the car off and proceeded on after a while. The car was taken to ford dealership , russ milne in macomb mi, they told me there was nothing they could do without being able to replicate the event. Its obvious ford knows of this problem yet the dealership sends me back on the road with a known faulty transmission. Would not sell this car to someone else (dont want that on my head) and too little equity to trade-in (who would take it anyways). Ford is playing with a ticking time-bomb.. Someone will get killed because of this. I now stay in the slow lane.. Dont try to pass and just pray. No $$ to buy a new car and I have to drive this thing to keep my job/house/food/clothing. Trapped.
While driving (at multiple speeds, on multiple occasions), transmission disengages for absolutely no reason and car must be parked and restarted to move again. The engine does not stall, and you can rev the engine, but transmission will not engage (like being in neutral) to move vehicle. Took ford dealership multiple times to fix the issue because they needed an error code to work from, even though anecdotal evidence suggests that this is a well know defect of the transmission control module (I.e. Computer chip that regulates the transmission), in this vehicle, which was eventually replaced (and now the car runs fine). Submitting this complaint because it caused multiple dangerous road situations where I could not power the vehicle on a freeway with traffic at high speeds. This could cause injury or death that is completely avoidable by the replacement of one computer chip, and ford is most likely aware of it....updated 07/30/15
I bought the car used in november or 2014. After a few days of driving there was this a loud boom when accelerating from a stop light. After that the transmission would shutter so bad the car was not drive-able. I contacted the dealership where I bought it and they tested and told me it was the worst shuttering they had ever recorded. They told me ford would fix it for free but the part was on back order. I waited for over 2 months and they finally had the part. After getting the vehicle fixed it drove fine for about 7500 miles and then the shuttering started to occur again lightly at first but slowly increasing. I am now out of warranty and stuck in a loan with a car that doesn't drive like it should. I have owned many fords in the past and never had a single issue until now.
Was traveling at about 35 MPH, car lost power, rpms went up, car started rolling backwards. After a few minutes and tries I was able to get the car home (happened 2 times on way home also)
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving 40 MPH, the transmission failed and the vehicle stalled. As a result, the contact crashed into another vehicle. There were no injuries and a police report was not filed. The vehicle occurred on several occasions. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission failed. The vehicle was repaired; however, the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken back to a dealer where the repairs were unknown, but the failure persisted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 80,000.
Entering expressway the car lost power. The engine continued to run but there was no drive train. This cause a very unsafe condition as there was no notice at all. I was almost hit in the rear due to this. I coasted to the side and shut down the car and restarted. The car went into gear and I started driving. Less than an a mile it happened again. I continued to stay I the right lane and drove slowly. I called the ford dealer that has performed all the work on this car and told them I was bringing it in. During my trip to the dealer (akins ford winder ga.) the condition happened 12 more times. The check engine light did come on as well as a notice saying that the "hill assist was not available" . I have had this car returned to the dealer for recall related to transmission issues as notified by ford. This also appears to be a big issue with other owners across the country.
Above said vehicles transmission considered to be a powershift transmission has issues of jerking at low speeds of 20 MPH or upon acceleration. There is shimming and shuttering and the noise of what sounds like clanging metal parts. The jerking motion can be issue as the vehicle appears to lunge forward. Ford replaced the bands and clutch assembly but this issue seems to still appear on occasion. Ford advises vehicle is in normal specs and that this is the operation characteristics of this transmission. Not happy with this vehicle since I purchased but what options do I have ?
At 12,738 miles I took to dealer and complained about sluggish acceleration. At 14,886 miles I took to dealer and complained about clutch shudder and they installed new clutch and input shaft seals and axle seals, reinstalled trany with new hardware. Also complained that car would not start twice, on first turn of key. At 14886 miles, I was on highway accelerating from a stop. I got up to about 35 miles an hour and the car suddenly seemed to downshift, coming almost to a complete stop. Then it was very slow to accelerate up to speed again. This happened at two more successive stop signs, causing the vehicle behind me to have to slow down suddenly to avoid running into me. I also complained about the car sometimes scooting on the pavement upon acceleration as if "burning rubber" or "peeling out" also complained that one time, I turned the key off and I could still hear some kind of noise in the dash like something was still "working" like a cd player or something, which I wasn't even using.
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle started to lose power and stalled. The vehicle was taken to the dealer several times, but they could not locate a failure. When the failure occurred, the vehicle would restart but could not move. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact filed a complaint with the manufacturer, but the vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100,000.
When excellerating the car shuddered shifting into 2nd gear, had loss of speed and check engine light came on. This continued until the car was shut off for several hours and then drove fine. This pattern of shuddering and not shifting correctly happened for 1 week until I was able to get an appointment with the dealership where I purchased the car. The transmission seal was replaced and after picking up the car, it shuddered and the check engine light came back on yet again. It was so bad that I was not able to climb a hill on the interstate and the more I pushed on the gas the slower I went and the RPM's climed to 5 1/2 which it has never done. With fear of blowing up the engine, I had to pull off the interstate and shut the car off for 5 minutes. I was then able to drive home and back to the dealership the next morning. The transmission control module (TCM) was replaced and the car now shifts fine. I had complained on several occasions of the shuddering and lack of shifting and loss of power on other occasions when getting my oil changed and was told that the TCM was calibrated to the current specs but it would continue intermittently since I purchased the car new in 6/2012. It was worse in very cold weather. I had received a letter from ford extending the transmission seal warranty to 100,000 miles and the TCM to 150,000 miles. This has definitely been a hassle and problem. Ford did a crappy job of addressing it and should not continue to build cars with the duel ability of standard/automatic shifting.
The car shudders/hesitate when going from first o second gear in the aromatic transmission/6 speed transmission. I have had it checked by a ford dealership and they informed me the clutch/transmission is going. This is the second transmission for this care and now I am looking at a third one to be put in. Ford has made a transmission that is faulty in m eyes.
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.
The car has serious problems with trying to shift correctly. The car hesitates and lurches when accelerating and downshifting. At higher speeds on the freeway the engine is incredibly loud as if it's stuck in the wrong gear. Now the dealer discovered a transmission fluid leak as a result of this transmission problem. I see on-line hundreds if not thousands of complaints on this vehicle for the same issue. This car is unsafe. I never know whether it will hesitate or shudder when taking off so I drive it as little as possible. Having the air conditioner running only amplifies the problem. My car was purchased new and in short order will pass the 3 year warranty. My dealer, fox ford in grand rapids, michigan has a repair part estimate of several weeks to 6 months. The same message from two weeks ago. I invite any of your investigators to drive this car and determine how road worthy it is. Right now I'm stuck with a car that can't be traded in or sold.
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