2012 Ford Focus Power Train Problems
- 1,052
- 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 1052 stored complaint records:
- 27 indicate a crash
- 11 indicate injury
- 3 indicate fire
What owners report
- Automatic Transmission · 4 records
- Clutch Assembly · 3 records
Mileage in stored records
| Band | Records |
|---|---|
| 1–30k mi | 330 |
| 60–100k mi | 243 |
| 30–60k mi | 239 |
| 100–150k mi | 96 |
| 150–400k mi | 20 |
Complaint records
Owner-submitted complaint content, presented as stored.
Engine · Fuel/Propulsion System · Power Train
Canister purge valve recall (cpv) and prior powertrain and pcm recall issues. History involving powertrain, pcm and cpv. Check engine light (cel) came on a few years ago and the car could not restart. Could have had an accident. Recently, in the summer 2019, cel on and gave a code about faulty catalytic converter when i spent $106 at green ford to read and diagnosis the code. The light went on and off and on…
Crash reported
ODI 11254200
Power Train
Car hesitates and shudders before pulling off from a complete stop. Create a tin rattling noice when make turns too fast. The hesitation is too dangerous.
ODI 11254032
Power Train
Vehicle stalls during acceleration, will not shift into reverse, skipping and shifting hard when driving, cuts off during driving (especially upon downshift) vehicle has a ford extended warranty to 100,000 miles or 10 years to replace the tcm. Dealership refuses to make the car safe because they say it is not a recall.
ODI 11254285
Electrical System · Power Train
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving, the contact heard an abnormal winding noise. There were no warning indicators illuminated. The vehicle was taken to uptown ford lincoln (2111 n mayfair rd, milwaukee, wi 53226, [redacted]) where it was diagnosed that the transmission module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was contacted and provided case…
ODI 11278443
Power Train
Have taken my focus four times to ford. Twice for the shuddering the car was doing to tucker ford in brunswick me. And now twice to rowe ford in auburn, me. Where a new clutch was put in and now the module that controls the clutch needs to be replaced and ford will not cover. They want 950.00 to do the work and i may get my money back in the settlement. The car has been there for a week and a half. I have taken…
ODI 11255317
Power Train
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. While driving 40 mph, the transmission failure warning indicator illuminated and the vehicle changed into second gear independently. The vehicle was taken to thomaston ford, inc (2230, 1011 us-19, thomaston, ga 30286, [redacted]) to be diagnosed, but the results were unknown. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, but the contact was not able to speak…
ODI 11252880
Electrical System · Exterior Lighting · Power Train
When you go to pull out the car wants to jump an stall then u be going down the road some an the engine light will come on an the transmission dont want to go out of gear the way it should i have a 7 month old grand baby an it scares me to drive something thats so defective. Please respond to this. Had it check at fors an they still ant fixed it
Fire reported
ODI 11301924
Power Train
Was driving home on a fairly busy street then suddenly vehicle randomly started to jerk and kick while accelerating. When accelerating in drive, the car was stuck in neutral and then suddenly jolted and went to first gear then second and then back to first all in a span of 20 seconds. The rpm was erradict and rised and dropped dramatically. Coming to a stop, the car would hesitate and continue to move forward…
ODI 11245389
Power Train
This car is my daily driver, it still rolls back on an incline and hesitates on take off and acceleration.
ODI 11245100
Engine · Fuel/Propulsion System · Power Train
My car has, since the time i bought it, stuttered randomly when accelerating. This has caused issues where merging into traffic from a stop can be unreliable, causing me to fail to enter traffic at the expected speed and causing increased risk for a collision. I think it might be a transmission, since it feels like a gear is slipping. Eventually, through the stuttering, i will gain enough speed to where it stops…
ODI 11243915
Power Train
Tl* the contact owns a 2012 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle hesitated at the stop light. There was no warning indicator illuminated. The contact called ganley ford west at [redacted] (located at [redacted], cleveland, oh 44111) and was informed that letters were sent out approximately five years ago and that the warranty would have covered the failure at that time. The technician stated that the…
ODI 11254259
Engine · Fuel/Propulsion System · Power Train
After purchasing the car, it stared to have transmission issues. Took it to repair shop. They reworked the front end and transmission. The computers on both the front end and transmission failed to sync together. This caused a total failure of the transmission. I had the transmission replaced only to have it fail four months later. The car started to jerk, jump forward and then stopped moving. The engine was racing…
ODI 11246127
Power Train
Takata recall when attempting to reverse out of a parking space, i put my car in the reverse gear however nothing happened. I tried several times, pressing on the gas pedal but the car would only back up slightly. After some time i was able to slowly back out and shift into drive. When i was in drive, the car was moving very slowly and jerking as i was in motion. I was able to get to a local garage to have my…
ODI 11252380
Power Train
Got the fuel system recall last week and ford sent the dealership the wrong software. Car is parked in garage, scared it ill overheat and leave us stranded.
ODI 11245116
Power Train
The transmission and clutch have been defective since purchasing the car. Transmission was worked on under warranty but continues to be sluggish and unreliable especially when trying to move forward after a complete stop. Vehicle jerks and shutters. Clutch has now gone out per the dealer and ford refuses to take responsibility for this known defect. Car is undriveable at no fault of ours. Filed a case with ford and…
ODI 11241315
Fuel/Propulsion System · Power Train
Car will start to shudder when accelerating after coming to a stop (ex. Stop sign/light). Vehicle wont start after pumping gas. Fuel gauge seems to be off even after a recall was done. When accelerating rpm will go up but the car wont accelerate.
ODI 11246030
Power Train
While driving car jerking, rpm going high, speed slowing down. Warning transmission hot pull over as soon as possible. After sitting on side of road for 30 minutes (car said to do so for 8 minutes) car didn't want to crank, reverse not working and few miles down the road warning again, entire time sputtering and jerking. Very unsafe in traffic and almost rear ended several times due to the vehicle acting awful. This…
ODI 11240655
Power Train · Steering
My 2012 ford focus sel has an issue where a yellow icon will come up on the dash then display another icon saying that there is a steering assist malfunction and that service is needed. The steering wheel will not move and literally takes all of your power to get it to move. After several times of turning the car on and off it will work but always comes up with that icon again. This has even happened while i was…
ODI 11240489
Power Train
Ford will not repair the transmission clutch for no charge. Drops out of gear, shudders, stalls in motion, city streets, turning and highways. Have asked several times in the past to repair. Needs a recall on vehicles.
ODI 11234999
Power Train
Ford focus transmission jerks and shudders while moving and while accelerating . Have had multiple repairs with no fix. Have had car stall in the past while trying to accelerate on a city street while traveling at ~35 mph. It felt like transmission went to 6th gear instead of 2nd and stalled the engine. Problems started immediately after purchase, ~february 2012 still have car now and still doing the shuddering and…
ODI 11234698
Power Train
The car jutters upon acceleration with the changing of gears. When attempting to pass cars, the transmission slips and takes a second to get into gear and begin accelerating. Problems gaining speed to merge with highway traffic. Getting much worse by the day.
ODI 11234588
Power Train
I have stalled in an intersection before with oncoming traffic. We are scared to drive it and it is my only car. My children were in the car when we stalled in an intersection. It continues to stall or almost stall daily, it seems to lose power and then speed up. It also just stalled entirely one day while driving and then we have over $1,000.00 in bills from our mechanic. All of these incidents occurred while the…
ODI 11234520
Power Train
Takata recall : i was on the interstate at almost a complete stop and started to accelerate and the car had a violent jerk and almost stalled out. It never completely stalled out and quit, but it threw the code for the clutch actuator circuit low and continues to jerk in the lower gears from 1st to 2nd. Around 25-30 and again some around 40-45..however, once it gets to 50+ the car is fine.
ODI 11233986
Electronic Stability Control · Power Train · Vehicle Speed Control
The vehicle shudders from a compete stop or accelerating this has happened since purchase of the vehicle. Most recently the car will accelerate when driving or in worst cases while braking. The vehicle has ramped up to 6000rpm while braking going down hill. Upon contacting local ford dealership about the unintended acceleration, they stated they had not heard of this issue before. Advised me to stop driving the…
ODI 11234965
Power Train
We began experiencing transmission "slipping" about 2 years ago, around 120,000 miles. The car shudders at lower speeds and when you go to accelerate from a standstill, it shakes like the car is going in and out of neutral. We looked up the issue and it appears to be a big problem for fords everywhere but we were told we were out of warranty. The dealer offered to do a transmission fluid flush to see if that would…
ODI 11234893