general problems of the 2012 Ford Focus - part 2

Takata recall transmission light come on lose reverse an drive clutch stick its an auto.

Twice in the last month this car has stopped running, all the dash lights come on and it will not accelerate. The most recent time, my daughter was driving back to school in lubbock, TX going 80 mph when it shutdown. She tried to pull over but almost wrecked due to the fact she had no power brakes. I have seen many reports on the internet and youtube videos documenting the same thing she had happen to her. When she took it into the Ford dealership they of course could not find an issue and they would not give her a loaner or rental car during the time it took them to look at it. This is obviously a safety issue with Ford not having a fix. At this point, if I wasn't upside down on the car, I would trade it in on something different and it wouldn't be a Ford. I digress.

The transmission keeps slowing down the car. Won't get up to speed, cannot exceed 25mph.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. While accelerating, the vehicle shook without warning and the malfunction warning indicator illuminated. The dealer was not notified. The contact mentioned that he had the clutch repaired per an unknown recall a year ago, but the failure recurred. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 65,000.

Having problems maintaining speed ! when I excelerated it doesn't want to pick up speed then suddenly it picks up speed after pressing the pedal to the floor. Very dangerous. I saw this very same complaint from another Focus owner dated in March 2016 . Very scary!.

Was driving down freeway at 65mph. Rpms shoot past 5 and car accelerates on its own up to 80mph. Cars message screen read "transmission malfunction- service now". I was able to pull over to the left - as there was traffic. Was able to get off highway but could only get my car to get as fast as 30mph before the rpms were past 5 again. Ford replaced transmission computer module. Drove car for ~hour and a half next day. Car is jerking forward worse than before. Shaking in the transmission. Would accelerate ~5mph on its own. Happened 5 times during the duration. Doesn't matter if you're in motion or stationary - this car has a mind of its own and I'm scared to drive it. I'm positive had someone been in front of my on the freeway, when it accelerated to 80mph on its own, I would have rear ended them.

I was driving to get on the freeway and as I tried to accelerate it would not go any higher in speed of 25mph and then it speeds up drastically. I parked it and later that day car would not start after 15 minutes car turned on without problems then I drove it home and parked it and doesn't turn on at all. Put in new battery but car still would not turn on on computer screen says to contact manufacture.

Takata recall. Chronic transmission issues with the powerpoint transmission and clutch; services 6 plus times in 2 years for the same complaints, the dealer updates the transmission or replaces the clutch then 3 or so months later the same issues arise. When in stop and go traffic or car is shifting from 2nd gear into 3rd there is erratic shifting, bucking, her king, lurching forward, hesitation when trying to pull into traffic. This car is chronically unsafe!.

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact noticed a strong hesitation and delay upon applying the accelerator pedal. The contact had to apply force to the accelerator pedal to increase speed. A mechanic inspected the vehicle, but was unable to replicate or diagnose the failure. The mechanic recommended that the vehicle be taken to a dealer for diagnostic testing. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was not available.

Takata recall. Transmission control module (tcm) Ford recall fsa 15b22. My vehicle would struggle to shift into second and third gear whenever I was driving, so I took my vehicle to a Ford dealership for the tcm to get reprogrammed, as per the manufacturer's recall in June 2016. It seemed to help with the harshness of the vehicle's shifting, until Friday, September 23rd, 2016 whenever I tried to get my car to reverse and it acted as if the vehicle was still in neutral. It wouldn't go in reverse and my check engine light was now on. The shifter was in reverse correctly, and the reverse lights came on but the car went nowhere. My Ford dealership told me to drive it up to the dealership so they could look at it and diagnose the problem, so I did. It overheated three times in the 45 minute drive up, despite cautious driving. I had to have it towed to the dealership, which was not covered by Ford in any way. The dealership service department told me that my car would be diagnosed later that day (Monday, September 26th) and any necessary parts would be ordered by the end of the day. I hadn't heard anything back from them in over 3 days so I called for an update. They confirmed that the problem is the tcm and it needs replaced, as the "reprogramming" they did in June 2016 was too little, too late. The problem is that the tcm is heavily backordered, so the factory isn't even shipping our any tcm's until November 4th, which mine might not even be included in that shipment and it is "highly likely" that it will be closer to christmas before I get my car fixed and returned to me. To add insult to injury, they are refusing to provide me with a service vehicle, so I don't know what to do for the next 3 months that my car sits at their dealership awaiting its part. How am I to get to work? pick up my son from school? get gtoceries? I'm an only parent and cannot be without a car.

My daughter was driving the car at a very high speed, the vehicle died suddenly, and she was forced to "glide" into the median. Took vehicle into dealership, and was told the trans module is on a "replacement program", and that the module is on back order. I was told that I could rent a car because there is nothing I could do. Most importantly, when I reminded the gentleman this was a safety issue, I was told that its really not a concern.

While traveling home from work, my car stalled briefly on main street. I immediately pulled into a parking lot to get my car out of the street. I turned it off and back on and resumed driving. I made it to my destination and got in the vehicle to drive again and the car would run go anywhere. The Ford dealership said to bring it to their shop for a diagnosis. I was on the way to take my 2012 Ford Focus titanium to the service department at empire Ford in abingdon, va. They stated the car would be ok to drive if I could get the vehicle to go forwards. I was traveling 65 mph down the interstate and the vehicle stalled out on the interstate. I tried to give the car fuel and began pressing the gas and the car would not move. Speed limit is 70 and 70-75 mph cars were coming towards me. I was forced to cross over the on ramp where cars were merging on to the interstate to get to the emergency side of the interstate. It was a pretty scary event and I felt that my life was put in danger. So, now Ford is saying there is nothing they can do but fix the tcm (transmission control module). There is no fix!!!! if there was, I feel like it would have already happened. So I am stuck with a vehicle that has been in the shop five times now for transmission issues. It is clearly unsafe to drive. What is it going to take in order for Ford to see there is not a fix for these models, someone losing their life?.

While driving the vehicle on the highway in a 55mph speedzone, the transmission would not shift gears, and then my car would not go over 35 mph. After taking it into the dealership, they simply said I was "driving the car incorrectly" and performed some kind of software reboot. Now, when traveling around town, my car (which is an automatic) sputters when changing gears after it is stopped like at a stop sign, red light, or in stop-and-go traffic, or going up steeper hills. It acts like it is a manual transmission when a gear is missed or its being choked.

Shuddering of engine between gear. Lose of power when accelerating. Red lines when trying to accelerate between first and second gear.

Car dies on highway while driving. Fuel system and sensors seems to be failing or fell apart inside the vehicle it will not show appropriate fuel levels. It stuttering after filling up to full tank. Vehicle is very dangerous to drive on a highway to work when fuel system is failing. Many complainst have been filed on other automitive websites and forums about this exact fuel system issue. Collapsed fuel system / fuel guage I just purchased this car 3 weeks ago and my previous pontiac grand prix 2006 gave me less issues than this Ford Focus. Something really wrong is here with Ford, I think they have gotten to a massive point they believe they cannot be held responsible for there mistakes or recalls since they are too tied into the dependecy of all the people.

The transmission on my vehicle has failed multiple times while driving the vehicle. While driving at idle speeds, the car shakes. The transmission failed while I was turning in an intersection and stalled. It then lurched forward and continued to function in a lurching and jerky manner. Just yesterday, I could not slow the car while traveling at 50 mph, despite pressing the brakes, due to the erratic behavior of the transmission. This lurching, jerking, erratic behavior is extremely dangerous and could potentially be deadly. I have had the transmission worked on a total of three times. Each time, the dealership told me that the problem would be fixed. This is highly irresponsible for Ford to ignore this issue and continue to put customers in harms way. This is an inappropriate way to handle a life-threatening issue.

I have been having transmission issues with my 2012 Ford Focus. We purchased the car brand new off the lot it had 4 miles on it when purchased. Not even a year after purchase we started having issues with the gears not wanting to shift properly. We sent car to dealership for repair. It was fixed for a while up until recently and we have been trying to get it fixed since. I got into a wreck because my car bogged out at a redlight causing me to get stuck under a redlight and being hit while occupying the road. My car has been at dealership ever since. They called us about one week after the wreck to let me know that the recall for the transmission module had been fixed and they drove it and everything checked out fine. So my husband goes and gets the car and it breaks down on him not far from leaving the dealership. The car just completely quit shifting and bogged out and rpm shot up way high. He had to leave on the side of the road. So here goes trip 3 back to dealership for repairs for the same thing that has supposed to had been fixed. Why has the government issued a recall on the transmission for these cars. They are not safe to drive. Something needs to be done.

Focus has been under many recalls and at Ford for repair multiple times for transmission. Every 6 months issues occur causing me to take back into Ford. Last couple weeks I noticed intermittently, when I take foot off accelorator, rpms continue to increase, and car does not slow down, causing me to pump breaks multiple times to be able to stop. Yesterday during a snow storm, I again took foor off accelerator, this time the car again would still continue to drive without my control, causing me to spin out, not once but three times. I did not get hit by other cars as everyone was going slow, but I did have to call into work as my car was not safe to drive. This is now a safety concern for my Focus, and myself, and my paycheck. Something has to give as Ford, has offered nothing but to keep bringing it back when issues occur. This is not appropriate customer service, and I feel there is a huge safety concern for my vehicle.

For the fifth time in only eight months, the transmission has malfunctioned in this vehicle, causing it to stop accelerating or stall. It is a safety hazard, as it has happened on the highway twice and has been on the street in motion the remaining three times. Each time we have taken it to the shop at the owner's expense and it has required towing each time because it no longer accelerates. The transmission sensors (there are two) continue to misfire and fail, despite being replaced several times. This car was bought new in 2012 and has had issues since the purchase. We have two children and another is due at the end of January and I do not feel safe driving this car, as it has almost been the result of several accidents when it stalls and shudders.

Takata inflators: this vehicle in the "drive gear" lunges when gas is pressed and quickly takes off at the slightest press of gas making for a dangerous take off from stop lights and traffic signs while on major roadways. This vehicle when placed in the "park gear" jerks when placed in park and feels as if it will roll backwards while in parking lots or home driveway. The vehicle has been reported multiple times to Ford dealer for assessment and/or repair as "shaking" and "shimmies" while driving, to prevent this feeling, the emergency brake is used often. Once, the vehicle actually rolled backwards in the the "drive" gear but was identified as a defect and repaired by a Ford dealer. When placed in "drive" at that time it was showing on the dash as in "park". This too was corrected by Ford dealer by replacing tcm. Although repairs have been made to this vehicle since purchase, it continues to often shake and shimmy appearing to continue to have issues. As owner, I was not notified of the latest recall part prior to my warranty expiring which may have further resolved some of the lingering issues. Tcm has been replaced, the clutch replaced more than once,or tcm reprogrammed during multiple visits to the Ford dealer.

In 2014 I was driving from grand forks, nd to bemidji, mn on the interstate going around 60 when my car shuddered and slowed down to close to 15. I was able to get onto the shoulder after being stranded in the middle of nowhere I was able to call for help. My car was then taken the the Ford dealership in bemidji and I had someone pick me up and was able to bring me back to grand forks. (Ford had refused to give a rental) around 2 weeks after I got a call stating that my transmission was fixed. I got a ride to bemidji, picked it up and headed home. Shortly after I got it back to grand forks I was driving around a residential area in grand forks when I stopped at a 4 way stop waiting for my turn, went to go forward and my car started moving in reverse. I had to slam on my break so I didn't hit the car behind me then I brought it to the Ford dealership in town. They "fixed" the issues and gave it back to me two more times, each time I couldn't make it out of the dealership without it shuddering and refusing to shift. Finally they "fixed" it at the end of the summer in 2014. This summer I was noticing the car was shuddering when I was in residential areas and it was stop and go, I brought it back down the the dealership I bought it from and they assured me it was fine but they would replace the parts to be sure. This weekend I went home to the cities and as I was driving back it broke again. I was in the passing lane going around 70 when my car shuddered, went down to 55, shuddered again and went down to 10. I was forced to swerve quickly into the left shoulder since I had a semi-truck behind me going 70 that almost hit me and had to cross the interstate to an off ramp to be safe. They have "fixed" it four times and it still breaks down. I've almost gotten into 4 accidents, missed days from work and I'm too scared to drive my vehicle at this point.

While driving car lost per and almost caused a major accident I was going 65 mph computer said my transmission was not in park.

Bought a new 2012 Ford Focus for my daughter so she would be safe. She just moved across the state for college. We have had constant symptoms with the transmission and she has been on the freeway 3 times when the car suddenly just comes to a crawl with the engine shaking and jerking. This makes the car unresponsive. Dealer updated tcm - pcm and replaced clutch and throw out bearing in August 2015. September 2015 she lets me know that while going to school on the freeway the car did the same thing, loss of power no control of throttle and the car is shaking and jerking. Transmission malfunction warning light came on again. Jerking and shuddering of the transmission. I'm afraid my daughter and others are going to be severely injured when this happens. No control on the freeway is very dangerous. I have read that people have changed their clutch and bearing 5 times? it doesn't seem to fix the problem and it appears to be a design flaw. It's like putting a band-aid on an open artery. Problem happens at slow and fast speeds.

The transmission clipped as to a 4th replaced faulty clutch while backing into the garage. The car jerked backwards out of know where and hit the side of the garage while backing in to park. The rear fender, bumper and parking aid sensors are now damaged thank you to a faulty transmission and clutch. I am tired of not feeling safe with my daughter in the car.

What has happened with my 2012 Ford Focus on August 18, 2015 has now happened 2 additional times since then. On 8/21/2015 my vehicle was dropped off at skinner & damulis to reprogram the transmission control module (field service action: 15b22 transmission control module reprogramming for overt tcm failure warning). On August 27, 2015 while driving down the road at 55 mph again I had the same loss of power, this time had an 18 wheeler behind me that was not slowing down, I pulled over to the shoulder and needed to use reverse and the vehicle would not go into reverse, it just revved like it was in neutral. I turned the vehicle off, called Ford, again, and told them my issue. After restarting the vehicle after the phone call I was able to put in reverse. I returned vehicle to skinner & damulis on 9/3/2015, vehicle was "repaired" on 9/4/2015 and invoice stated my concern: car having issues with revving and won't go into reverse at times and their correction was they found tcm & pcm software update and performed software update. On 9/25/2015 I again had the same issue with revving while driving (35-40 mph) and was again unable to get the vehicle into reverse. Car had 90,111 miles at the time. Contacted Ford and was given case# cas-7944030 and will be in contact with john from Ford by Monday evening. This no longer works for me. This car needs to go, it is going to kill someone, me, people in another vehicle, something and I am not going to have my family sued because this problem occurs again. I need a vehicle as an outside sales person and no longer feel safe in my 2012 Ford Focus. This car needs to be taken back by Ford and destroyed. It has no trade value and I do not want another family to have this car and get killed because of it. Please do something about this, I know I am not the only one with these issues. Kevin fike.

(automatic hatchback) the car rolls back when in gear, on a steep hill. Shifting gears, it will hesitate on the highway and will jump gears and studder. A few days ago I was trying to back out of my driveway to get to work and when I put it in reverse, the car didn't move whatsoever, so I put it in drive to test and see if it was working, and it got in 1st gear just fine. So I tried to reverse again with the same issue. Then the engine light illuminated, so I left the car and got a ride to work, however that night when I came home, I tested the car out again and same problem, however a message popped up "transmission is not in park (p)" and I had it in reverse, so I put it in drive and the same message popped up. Now I cannot get it to move at all. While in drive, it will rev up, but it will not move! it will start up no problem, and sometimes it will drive, but it will lose power and not move again.

After driving for about a half hour in rush hour traffic in the southern California area, my car slipped from active gears (I believe 2nd gear) and right into neutral. I couldn't accelate and drive with trafffic, while travelling up hill my car decellerated quickly. In trying to get to the shoulder, I narrowly avoided an accident. After finally reaching the shoulder I was able to put the car in park (it started to roll downhill) and then apply the parking brake. 10 seconds later my car was running fine again. That following Monday I brought my car into the dealership to be serviced. This was the second time that this exact issue happened. The first time was the week prior to.

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.

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.

This is the second time in 2 months that I've had problems with this car's transmission. Not only does it stutter when shifting and take time to accelerate, but now the transmission is not working. In April, the car completely stopped accelerating, almost resulting in a crash on the highway. The dealership diagnosed it as a transmission censor and cost was paid out of pocket. This time, the car began jerking and the transmission light flashed. I drove the car home and because of the violent jerking almost wrecked on several occasions. I am taking it to the dealership for repairs today. Considering this car is only 3 years old, it should not be having any of these problems and I consider it unreliable and a hazard to my family and other drivers on the road.

Tl-the contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 35 mph the vehicle lost acceleration. The contact had shift to park and the restarted the vehicle in order to get it running. The vehicle was driving home then towed to the dealer and the diagnosis was the transmission control module failed. The vehicle transmission control module was reprogrammed. Since it was repaired the failure recurred once. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 51,000. Bp.

While driving in stop and go traffic, my cars engine light came on, as I was accelerating to move forward in line a warning stating the transmission is overheating pull over safely for 8 minutes. This is the fourth time something has went wrong with the transmission since buying this car in September of 2012. The first time this happened I was driving on the interstate going 70 miles per hour and I didn't have anytime to pull over safely, I had to coast because my car was running but would not go forward. That happened in December of 2014. Then two weeks ago I was again in stop and go traffic and the engine light came on and the car would not move forward, but no warning to pull over safely. I have taken the car to two different Ford service centers and though my car has codes stored they state it is how I drive or that an update was needed. When I ask about the car just stopping with the transmission overheating they say it is a safety feature for the transmission. In most circumstances this would be great but when this happens in a situation where the car can't or won't make it to pull over safely then someone is going to be seriously injured. I am very unhappy about the way my car repair has been going especially since I bought this car new and to tell me it is just the way the car runs or it needs an update and that will take care of it is ridiculous. Someone is going to get killed driving this vehicle and I pray it is not me.

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.

I was driving the vehicle down the highway and it all of a sudden lost power and would not shift and slowed down to around 40mph automatically and almost caused me to be hit from the vehicle behind me and had to immediately pull of to the shoulder. A message came up on the hud/display and said transmission malfunction service now!. I then shut the car off at a parking lot and let the car sit for over an hour and made phone calls to the dealer. This has also has happened when going to step on gas to yield at an intersection and the motor just went up in rpm but did not move or go into gear while in drive. This is vehicle is dangerous while driving due to these issues and the dealer acts like it is not.

I am filing a complaint against a 2012 Ford Focus se. The car has been making transmission noises that cannot be resolved for quite some time now and while driving on the 101 freeway, all of the instrument panel lights came on and the entire car completely shut off and no controls were working at all almost causing an intense pile up that could have killed my mother and I instantly. We were left in the middle of the freeway with not power of any use of controls until chp officers were finally blocking traffic from hitting us. This is the worst vehicle we have ever owned and Ford should be ashamed for being negligent,.