Software problems of the 2012 Ford Focus

Car will sporadically and intermittently not turn over when key is in ignition. Battery is not faulty. Alternator is not faulty. Wiring is not faulty. All have been tested. From what I have experienced this happens when the car's internal software (or more specifically transmission control module) does not recognize is in park thereby preventing the vehicle from starting. This sometimes prevents the vehicle from being started from anywhere of 30 seconds to at an extreme instance nearly 45 minutes. Often times, the only way to start the car in these instances is to keep the foot on the brake, move the shifter into neutral and wait (for previously mentioned times) until the dashboard indicates that it recognizes the car is in neutral. (when this occurs, when shifter is first moved to neutral no gear appears to be highlighted in dashboard).

I started my car this morning, put it in reverse and began to back out of my driveway when the car locked up and lost power. I could not steer or brake and the car continued rolling backwards until it hit my garage and stopped. The lights came on my dash read "(I) steering assist fault". I turned the car off and on several times before the lights went out, the steering wheel unlocked and I was able to depress the brake and gain full control of my car again. I took the car to my Ford dealer in kannapolis, nc (where I purchased the car) and they said the car would need to "duplicate the error" before they could diagnose it. I explained the car would have to be in motion for that to happen and I cannot stop the car if that happens again. I drive on the interstate and I am petrified this will happen while I am on the road and have no control over the car. The tech said there have been hundreds of complaints about the loss of steering power on these Fords, but that until Ford issues an official recall there is nothing they can do to fix it. It could be as simple as a software update.

Power steering failure- started with everyonce in a while id get the error notice of power steering failure so I would turn off the car start it back up and fine, it started to happen more frequently to the imbarrassing point of having to turn on and off the car 5-10 times just to have power steering, then I got a letter to update my car's software to help fix the power steering issue, I got the software update and 3 months later total failure, I now have zero power steering and now Ford wants me to pay $2200 to fix it, when it failed I almost crashed into another car with my kids in my car on the freeway, needless to say we are greatful to be alive, sad thing is all other models from 2011-2012 with the same exact power steering system get a recall why not the Focus? I wish I would have known before I would have never bought the car, Ford is a scam and doesnt back up its product, the power steering is broke because of their defective product.

My vehicle lost all power in regards to acceleration and deceleration on the freeway at the speed of around 40-45 mph. I had to coast over two lanes and almost got rear-ended. The rpm would rev up but no power. Restarted car and problem went away. Next day had tcm flashed as part of recall. Two days later had the same issue only going 60-65 on freeway. Transmission went haywire and had to coast over and almost got rear-ended again. This time car wouldn't restart for about 2 min. No power. Engine revving and complete loss of power twice and I feel this car is a major accident waiting to happen. I do not feel safe while driving not knowing why my car is losing power even after the so called software fix.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While driving approximately 10 mph, the instrument panel lights failed to illuminate and the radio failed to operate without warning. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was determined that a software update was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. Eventually, the instrument panel lighting illuminated again. The manufacturer was not notified of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 68,000.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle experienced a loss of power and the software update warning indicator illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the technician refused to repair it due to a salvaged title. The contact received notification of NHTSA campaign number: 16v643000 (latches/locks/linkages), but the parts to do the repair were unavailable. The manufacturer exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not notified of the issue. The failure mileage was 80,000. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

Purchased 2012 Ford Focus used, 04-14-15. I test drove the car it jerked a little. The rep stated it was normal. The next 4 months it continued to jerk, skip, hesitate and just not move when you accelerated. In 08-2015 I rec'd a letter from Ford, my car needed a tcm-software update. 09-09-15 I took the vehicle back to the dealership it took an hour to re-program the tcm. The dealership handed a printed copy of the tcm characteristics. I continued to drive the car with the same issues hoping it would go away. 10-19-15 went back to the dealer to have the tcm re-programmed again. I called Ford to complain 10-19-15 and a case file was issued #cas-8073663. I did not want to go back to the same dealership. 10-23-15 the car went to the 2nd dealership. Discovered the tcm had failed and had to be replaced. , explaining to drive the car for a number of miles to correct itself. The drive had improved, but then started failing again. 03-16-16 I went back to the 2nd dealership, the tcm was replaced. Again the drive had slightly improved and had again failed. This time when the tcm failed, while driving on the highway the wipers came on without turning them on,even when the car was off. The next day the car wouldn't come on so I replaced the battery. Drove the car about 300 miles made a stop and it would not come back on. The car had to be towed and the local mechanic was able to get the car started again. Driving back home about 150 miles on highway all lights came on the dash, battery, fuel, trans, etc. . Wipers came on, power steering was lost and engine shut off. Rolled to side of road. Sat 5 min, then started as if nothing happened!? we made it home. Car not starting. 12-06-16 towed to Ford. Tcm module crashed the computer operating system, replaced tcm and re-programmed system. 01-10-17 wipers still come on with engine off. W/return to Ford 01-17-17.

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.

2012 Ford Focus. Consumer writes seeking reimbursement for vehicle recall repairs.

We took our car in yesterday because the engine kept lurching and stalling. They said it was the power train, and that it was a problem with the computer. The berge Ford dealership reprogrammed the computer, and today when I got in the car the radio was on. I just unlocked it and opened the door, and the radio came on. The key was not in the car at all, and the only thing I did was unlock it with the remote and open the door. I did not have this problem prior to them "reprogramming" it to fix the power train/transmission problem. Then when I started to drive it the engine seemed sluggish and it seemed to be lurching again, but not stopping for an instant like before. So I went from having transmission/power train problems, and a seat belt problem to having them both with a computer problem added in. . . I'm not a computer engineer, but when a piece of equipment has hardware problems it would make sense to replace or fix the hardware instead of reprogramming the software. I'll be taking it back in, and while the computer is out of warranty I think I should be able to get them to look at it and fix it without charging me because they caused the problem.

This is regarding Ford Focus electric 2012. I was pulling out of my office parking lot and driving at about 5 mph. I got the 'stop safely now' warning and within a few seconds the car stopped and I could not drive any more. Fortunately, it was the internal street and around 3 pm when the traffic is very low. I am glad this incident did not happen on the freeway in the left lane (carpool lane in California). I was able to restart the car and drove straight to the dealer(fremont Ford) but they did not have trained ev technicians to look at the car. Asked me to bring the car back on Monday(8/19/20013). Now the car is at the dealer. This is second time I have encountered this issue with this car. The first time I had was when I was pulling the car out of my garage at home. Ford even applied major software updates on my car in July but looks like the issue is still recurring.