2012 Ford Focus Steering Problems
- 791
- Owner complaint records in our dataset
Records are owner complaints, not a measured failure rate.
Owner complaint recordsComplaint records reflect reports in our dataset and do not measure how frequently the problem occurs across all vehicles.
Among these 791 stored complaint records:
- 20 indicate a crash
- 21 indicate injury
- 2 indicate fire
- 3 indicate a death
What owners report
- power steering · 103 records
- steering wheel · 44 records
- steering assist · 43 records
- assist fault · 15 records
- steering failed · 13 records
- failure mileage · 12 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 60–100k mi | 339 |
| 30–60k mi | 165 |
| 100–150k mi | 138 |
| 1–30k mi | 76 |
| 150–400k mi | 19 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Electrical System · Steering
The electronic power steering goes out without warning while driving on a city street !!! The internet is teaming with complaints about this on this vehicle. Does someone have to die before the nhtsa takes action ?
ODI 11209116
Steering
Power steering assist fault warning..results in loss of power steering dealer had to change complete steering rack told us it could happen again since it is same rack that was faulty.ford has not made changes to this system or ordered a recall
ODI 11209807
Steering
The power assisting wheel steering has malfunction and leads to very difficult wheel turning. It increase the risk of accident when the malfunction was suddenly happens when driving on road. Ford franchise dealer store has verified that this issue happens on 2012-2014 ford fusion and focus and the issue happens without car being hit or involved in any accident. Ford has already announced recalls for 2011-2014…
ODI 11207948
Steering
Steering assist malfunction on console display upon start of vehicle. Steering is almost impossible and vehicle poses a serious hazard if this happens while i'm driving. Recall is issued for similar problem on other models, yet no recall is issued for the same problem on the focus.
ODI 11205519
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving 20 mph, the power steering failed and the contact's daughter lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle drove into an embankment, crashed into a light pole, and flipped over multiple times. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's daughter sustained head and neck injuries that required medical attention. Police report number: 85507869 was filed. The vehicle was…
Crash reported · 1 injury
ODI 11205818
Air Bags · Steering
Tl* the contact owned a 2012 ford focus. While driving 25 mph, the power steering failed and the contact's daughter lost control of the vehicle. The vehicle crashed into a pole and the vehicle flipped over multiple times. The air bags did not deploy. The contact's daughter sustained neck pains that did not require medical attention. A police report was filed. The vehicle was towed and deemed totaled by the contact's…
Crash reported · 1 injury
ODI 11205802
Fuel/Propulsion System · Steering · Wheels
Takata recall i noticed that this vehicle "chugs" when it is sitting idle, and that sometimes it feels as if it wants to stall while idling. There is already a recall out for this issue but i have not been informed of it. It says that 10/22/2018 there was a recall for this issue. Onto the next issue, without warning my vehicle began to shake (this car is my daily driver) and then i began to hear whining whenever i…
ODI 11209269
Steering
Steering beings to lock intermittently during driving, steering wheel locks during driving, steering wheel then becomes very hard to turn upon start up. I was driving on the freeway nearing a curve to exit when issue happened. This car cannot be operated without power steering for someone who is eldery, sick, even a normal person. The wheel just wont budge. I am trying to secure funds to pay out of pocket
ODI 11206064
Fuel System, Gasoline · Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact received a recall notice for nhtsa campaign number: 18v735000 (fuel system, gasoline). The contact stated that the manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. Stuart powell ford lincoln mazda (225 s danville bypass, danville, ky 40422, [redacted]) was contacted and confirmed that the parts were not available for the recall remedy. The…
ODI 11203423
Steering
LOSS OF POWER STEERING
ODI 11202542
Steering
Owner of a 2012 ford focus 4d se, experienced the loss of power steering "power steering assist". It has happened to me twice within minutes of each other. Going down a city street and lost control it was extremely difficult to turn to get off the street to safety. In the process of turning i came close to hitting a car. Turned the car on and off, figured works for electronic devices, the "power steering assist" was…
ODI 11202915
Steering
Have had several instances of the power steering not functioning upon start up. Warning light came on, but reset and worked upon restarting. Occasionally steering will take extra time, approx. 5 seconds, to function upon starting however yesterday it would not reset and function properly. Had to drive approx. 5 miles with no power steering. Worked properly after parking and restarting car after approx. 15 min.
ODI 11195304
Steering
Bought this used for my son's first car. Power steering went out while driving. Only 80000 miles on this car. This could have killed my innocent boy. Recall this before someone dies!!!
ODI 11194399
Power Train · Steering
The power steering for a while worked intermittently, but 1 month ago that stopped working completely.
ODI 11209250
Steering
On two separate occasions, the car lost steering ability without any warning while my son was driving on a busy highway in traffic. He was luckily able to pull over without crashing, though required considerable effort to maneuver the car out of traffic, as steering required full strength. The steering assist malfunction message appeared after the 3rd incident when he started the car in his driveway. I cannot…
ODI 11193955
Power Train · Steering · Unknown Or Other
The transmission is under class action lawsuit. Having trouble with since buying in 2012, still waiting on outcome of that. Today. March 27, 2019, "steering wheel assist- service needed". Steering out wheel will not turn. I work i need a car. I will be calling ford today. My ford focus se is no longer under warranty, over 140,000 miles on it. I was not able to leave home for work today. Sometimes when i turn the car…
ODI 11191773
Electrical System · Steering
Electronic power steering assist failures. Several times over the past four months my wife and i started the car and there was no power steering. The car was undrivable and warning on the dash indicated steering failure. Sometimes two or more restarts were required before the warning went off and the power steering returned. Although it hasn't happened yet while driving the car. My research on this failure showed…
ODI 11192305
Steering
After a [redacted], i stopped to fill my tank. When i restarted my vehicle, i received a warning that the power steering boost had failed. I checked under the hood and did not see any other problems. I was able to drive the car back to drop off my passenger, although the steering was extremely tight. After my friend left my car, the power steering came back and the issue has not recurred. I did some research on the…
ODI 11193050
Steering
Steering quits intermittently.. It's a well known and documented safety hazard as i have seen hundreds and hundreds of similar complaints. Just adding one more to the list. Don't see a full recall in the future but a little help with a very expensive repair would be nice.
ODI 11196059
Steering
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving 10 mph, the steering wheel seized and was unable to turn. The contact called denny menholt ford (located at [redacted], butte, mt 59701, [redacted]) and was informed to schedule an appointment for diagnostic testing. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 124,000.
ODI 11208762
Steering
After turning on ignition to the car a warning comes up "steering assist fault" on the information screen near the odometer. The steering wheel is then very hard to turn. This has happened 2 times in the first day of the issue. When i turn the car off and restart the car the problem goes away. I have researched and found several complaints of the same exact issue i am having and some have reported losing steering…
ODI 11190401
Exterior Lighting · Power Train · Steering
Transmission was not shifting into gears, then the reverse went out..talked to 3 different ford dealers..asked about my warranty then said no recalls on this and out of warranty would be out of pocket..so i did have an outside warranty for repairs but they said nothing was covered..so i paid aamco to fix it..3500.00 and 2 months later i am at another aamaco (because of their warranty) the new aamaco place says…
ODI 11232498
Steering
While driving approximately 45 mph in traffic on the 5 freeway in los angeles, a warning came up on the dashboard stating "steering assist fault - service required". After the message displayed, a turn in the road was coming up and i noted that i had no power steering and had to use excessive force to turn the wheel to make the turn. Luckily i managed to nurse the car back home without causing an accident or going…
ODI 11189913
Steering
Steering became very stiff, almost jerking at times, when turning. Feels like it takes a couple seconds for the steering to correct itself like there's a delay from turning the wheel to the car actually turning. Does it at low city driving speeds and on the highway. We drove it saturday, it was fine. It didn't get used sunday, and problem started on monday morning. When turning at low speeds there is also a grinding…
ODI 11190463
Steering
I was driving down the street still in my neighborhood the steering went out .i the car was almost impossible to turn ,i was able to get back home thank god i wasn't in traffic yet. When i restarted the car it reset itself, and continued to do the same to point i can't drive it at all it's too hard to control while driving. Ford said it would be 2245.00 to fix it that there is no recall or anything, that's a lot of…
ODI 11219674