2012 Ford Focus
Problems, recalls and owner-reported issues
Power train is the leading concern among 3,801 owner complaints filed for this model year. This is the highest complaint count among 19 Focus model years with reports.
Of the 2012 reports, 108 involved a crash and 15 involved a fire. 88 people were injured and 5 people died.
What owners report most often
Recalls and investigations
Fuel system, gasoline, storage, evaporative emissions, canisterJun 9, 2026
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Focus vehicles previously repaired incorrectly under recall number 18V735. The Canister Purge Valve (CPV) may malfunction, causing the engine to stall unexpectedly while driving.
An engine that stalls while driving increases the risk of a crash.
Dealers will update the powertrain control module (PCM) software, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 29, 2026. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 26S40. Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) involved in this recall will become searchable on NHTSA.gov on July 6,2026.
Campaign 26V369000 on NHTSA.gov
Latches/locks/linkages, doors, latchJun 8, 2020
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2011-2014 Fiesta, 2013-2014 Fusion, 2015 Mustang, 2013-2015 Escape and C-Max, 2012-2015 Focus, 2014-2016 Transit Connect, 2013-2014 Lincoln MKZ, and 2015 MKC vehicles. These vehicles were previously recalled and repaired under recalls 15V-246, 16V-643 or 17V-210, however the repair may not have been completed properly. A component within the door latches may break making the doors difficult to latch and/or leading the driver or a passenger to believe a door is securely closed when, in fact, it is not.
A door that is not securely latched could open while the vehicle is in motion, increasing the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the latch date codes to confirm if the repair was done correctly, and replace the side door latches if necessary, free of charge. Owners will also have the option to inspect their own vehicle's door latches and enter the date codes into a website to determine if the latches are correct. Owner notification letters were mailed on July 27, 2020. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 20S30.
Campaign 20V331000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, storageJul 5, 2019
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012 and 2017 Focus vehicles equipped with 2.0L GDI gasoline engines and 2013-2014 Focus ST vehicles equipped with 2.0L GTDI engines, previously recalled under 18V-735. The affected vehicles did not have the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) updated as intended. Therefore, the Canister Purge Valve (CPV) may malfunction, possibly causing excessive vacuum in the fuel vapor management system.
The excessive vacuum may result in an engine stall while driving, without warning and without the ability to restart the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Powertrain Control Module. Dealers will also check for fault codes and replace the CPV as needed. If the CPV is replaced, dealers will inspect and replace the carbon canister, fuel tank and fuel delivery module as necessary. The recall began July 29, 2019. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 19S22.
Campaign 19V515000 on NHTSA.gov
Fuel system, gasoline, storageOct 22, 2018
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain 2012-2018 Ford Focus vehicles with a 2.0L GDI or 2.0L GTDI engine. The Canister Purge Valve (CPV) may malfunction, possibly causing excessive vacuum in fuel vapor management system.
The excessive vaccuum may result in an engine stall while driving, without warning and without the ability to restart the vehicle, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the Powertrain Control Module. Dealers will also check for fault codes and replace the CPV as needed. If the CPV is replaced, dealers will inspect and replace the carbon canister, fuel tank and fuel delivery module as necessary. The recall began August 19, 2019. Owners may contact Ford Customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 18S32. Note: Until the vehicle is serviced for this concern, owners are advised to keep the fuel tank at least halfway full.
Campaign 18V735000 on NHTSA.gov
Latches/locks/linkages, doors, latchSep 6, 2016
Ford Motor Company (Ford) is recalling certain model year 2012-2015 Ford Focus, 2013-2015 Ford Escape and Ford C-MAX, 2015 Lincoln MKC and Ford Mustang, and 2014-2016 Ford Transit Connect vehicles. A component within the door latches may break, preventing the doors from latching and/or leading the driver or a passenger to believe a door is securely closed when, in fact, it is not.
A door that is not securely latched could open while the vehicle is in motion, increasing the risk of injury to a vehicle occupant.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will replace the door latches with an improved part, free of charge. The recall began on January 27, 2017. Owners may contact Ford customer service at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's number for this recall is 16S30.
Campaign 16V643000 on NHTSA.gov
Exterior lightingAug 1, 2013
Ford is recalling certain model year 2012-2013 Focus BEV vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights, manufactured September 15, 2011, through May 6, 2013; and model year 2013 Focus ST vehicles equipped with High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlights, manufactured February 16, 2012, through May 7, 2013. Due to a wiring incompatability, the front side marker lamps may not function. Thus, these vehicles fail to comply to the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) No. 108, "Lamps, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment."
Without the proper illumination of the side maker lamps, the vehicle may be less visible in night time conditions, increasing the risk of a crash.
Ford will notify owners, and dealers will modify the headlamp assembly wiring, free of charge. The recall began on August 16, 2013. Owners may contact the Ford customer relationship center at 1-866-436-7332. Ford's recall number is 13C04.
Campaign 13V335000 on NHTSA.gov
EquipmentOct 2, 2012
This recall involves aftermarket parts sold by Yakima Products, Inc. for use on model year 2012 and 2013 Ford Focus vehicles. This recall is being conducted by Yakima, not by Ford. Certain combined Q-Tower and Q128 Clip rooftop rack systems, part numbers 8000124 and 8000728, do not fully contact the door frame.
Without proper contact of the rooftop rack clip to the door frame, there is insufficient clamping pressure and friction. The system may slide off the vehicle when loaded with accessories, possibly becoming a road hazard to other vehicles or causing injury to pedestrians.
Yakima will notify owners, and Yakima or a Yakima dealer will refund the purchase of the Q-Tower and Q-128 Clip system. There is no replacement system available for the 2012-2013 model year Ford Focus. The safety recall began on October 15, 2012. Only vehicles equipped with the vehicle rack system are affected. This recall is being conducted by Yakima, not Ford. Owners may contact Yakima at 1-888-925-4621.
Campaign 12E035000 on NHTSA.gov
Visibility, windshield wiper/washer, switch/wiringApr 5, 2012
FORD IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2012 FOCUS VEHICLES MANUFACTURED FROM AUGUST 1, 2010, THROUGH OCTOBER 18, 2011. A SEAL IN THE WIRING HARNESS CONNECTOR TO THE PASSENGER SIDE WIPER MOTOR MAY BE MISSING.
WATER OR OTHER CONTAMINANTS MAY ACCUMULATE IN THE CONNECTOR, RESULTING IN AN INTERMITTENT OR INOPERATIVE PASSENGER SIDE WIPER MOTOR, REDUCING VISIBILITY AND INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
FORD WILL NOTIFY OWNERS, AND DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND AS NECESSARY, CLEAN AND PROPERLY SEAL THE PASSENGER SIDE WIPER MOTOR CONNECTOR. ANY INOPERATIVE WIPER MOTORS WILL BE REPLACED. THIS SERVICE WILL BE PROVIDED FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL BEGAN ON MAY 21, 2012. OWNERS MAY CONTACT THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP CENTER AT 1-866-436-7332.
Campaign 12V149000 on NHTSA.gov
Representative owner complaints
3,801 reports, newest first.
Power train, Fuel/propulsion system, Mar 7, 2022
While driving the vechicle it has problems accelerating and dies out in traffic to a rolling stop. I had the car diagnosed at a Ford dealership near me and was told it would be worse senario approx. $6500 to repair and that is because part of the transmission is $4000 alone. Despite the transmission issues reported on this vehicle the dealership would not comp any fixes. When in reality my problem is the same as many other owners that reported this issue. The difference is the car is newer to me but was previously owned. This is bad that Ford released a faulty transmission and leaves the owners with the burdon to repair.
Power train, Mar 1, 2022
My wife was pulling out from grocery store into highway when car jerked and almost stalled out!
Power train, Feb 24, 2022
For the past few months there has been a grinding type sound when shifting down to third. Then It went to shifting up to second and it doesnt want to shift out of second without jumping forward.
Steering, Feb 17, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while starting the vehicle, the steering wheel locked and she was unable to steer the steering wheel on three occasions. The warning letter "I "was illuminated. The local dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
Power train, Feb 16, 2022
When i got to accelerate car will rev to high rpms and when i let go of the gas pedal it will shift to nxt gear then do it again, i have to let go of the gas pedal for it to shift correctly
Steering, Feb 4, 2022
When starting the car, the message displays "steering assist fault. Service required". The entire power assistance is not functional. The car can be manually steered under heavy effort. This issue came and went multiple times. Some times, the steering system started to work and all was good. Other times, there was no recovery. The last time the issue occured was while driving down the road. The message appeared and the power assist was gone. It has not come back online. It did not cause an accident as I was able to manually force the steering to do what I needed to exit the road safely. It appears reading online that the only recourse is to replace the entier system requiring the removal of the rack and pinon and the front assembly sub frame. Estimate costs are over $3000 and it must be done at Ford as it needs software to work correctly. This does not seem reasonable for a car with only 120,000 miles on it.
Power train, Feb 3, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to respond while in reverse. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to a local mechanic where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission replaced; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 118,000.
Power train, Jan 24, 2022
was driving down the highway at 65 mph and went to accelerate and the transmission dropped out of gear and would not catch could not accelerate all you could hear is car reving in rpm was almost in a accident no warning light came on. Just driving regular speed the car the car with not shift properly and just Rev up in rpm and warning light will come on saying transmission hot pull over and transmission malfunction. When you take off from sitting still it will jerk and take forever to get up to speed.
Visibility/wiper, Jan 24, 2022
DRIVER SIDE AND PASSENGER SIDE WINDSHIELD WIPERS FAILED TO OPERATE SEVERAL TIMES AND GET STUCK PERIODICALLY. TOTALLY IMPAIRED VISION IN RAIN. TOOK THE VEHICLE TO THE LOCAL FORD DEALER APPROXIMATELY 1 YEAR AGO AND THEY COULD NOT FIND THE ISSUE TO RESOLVE. THEY REPLACED WITH NEW WINDSHIELD WIPERS WHICH WE HAD JUST REPLACED 1 MONTH PRIOR. THEY TRIED TO ADJUST THE PLACEMENT OF THE WIPERS BUT THIS DID NOT FIX IT. THIS VEHICLE HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED BY ANY OTHER DEALER OR SERVICE CENTER. THERE ARE MULTIPLE COMPLAINTS OF THIS SAME ISSUE ON ONLINE SITES AND FORUMS WITH NO REAL SOLUTIONS PREVALENT. THIS IS A MAJOR SAFETY MALFUNCTION THAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED AND RECALLED BY FORD MOTOR COMPANY AND FIND A SOLUTION BEFORE ANY FATALITIES HAPPEN. THIS CAR IS DRIVEN BY MY UNDERAGE, NEW DRIVER! EXTREME SAFETY HAZARD!! NO LIGHTS, WARNING LAMPS OR PROBLEMS PRIOR TO FAILURE.
Power train, Jan 19, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while attempting to accelerate at various speeds, the vehicle would shudder and shake, the check engine light would illuminate, and the clutch would become stuck. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who diagnosed that the clutch needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer was also notified of the failure. The contact indicated that the clutch was previously replaced on three separate occasions. The failure mileage was 25,000.
Latches/locks/linkages, Jan 13, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the doors of the vehicle would intermittently fail to lock when engaged with the key fob. The contact received a recall notification for NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V331000 (Latches/Locks/Linkages) and the vehicle was taken to the dealer who inspected the vehicle and diagnosed that no issues were found. The contact stated that sometime later, she noticed that the key fob and the vehicle master power door lock window switch would no longer lock or unlock the doors of the vehicle. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact stated that she would lock each door manually in order to secure the vehicle. The contact also stated that the doors would make an abnormal clicking sound and unlock while driving. The door lock indicator on the instrument cluster would not indicate that the doors were locked while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who advised the contact that the OBD reader was not reading any codes. The contact stated that the failure had been reoccurring increasingly. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but did not provide any assistance. The manufacturer referred the contact to NHTSA. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 153,000.
Back over prevention, Jan 11, 2022
The back up camera flips and often doesn't work. Ford said it is a known issue but not fix available.
Power train, Jan 10, 2022
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the transmission warning message was displayed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, but the dealer could not duplicate the failure. The failure recurred. Additionally, the vehicle was unable to reverse. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer. The dealer diagnosed that the failure was related to a Customer Satisfaction Program Campaign Number: 14M02 (Transmission Control Module Extended Warranty Coverage) associated with the VIN; however, the warranty coverage had expired. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with NHTSA. The failure mileage was 149,929.
Electrical system, Vehicle speed control, Engine, Jan 9, 2022
Transmission has spontaneously went from overheating to not while driving, gears are slipping have speed and when it goes to shift all power lost, then it kicks back in. It was coded with transmission control module failure. The module and both actuators have been replaced now car will not relearn shifting patterns. Spontaneous overheating transmission messages just when car is turned on. Transmission control module has been programmed by dealership but all problems continue to exsist.
Power train, Dec 28, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the RPM would rise however, the vehicle would decelerate. The contact stated the transmission fault warning light was illuminated. The contact turned off the vehicle for 5 minutes before restarting and driving to his destination. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission and clutch to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired but was pending repairs. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 105,000.
Power train, Dec 22, 2021
Transmission slips and car shudders when gears shift. Car stalls slightly when moving forward.
Fuel system, Gasoline, Dec 21, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an unknown speed with a quarter tank of fuel; the vehicle shut off as the check engine light illuminated on the instrument panel. After the contact refueled the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart. The vehicle eventually restarted after multiple attempts. The contact then called a dealer and made an appointment to have the vehicle serviced. The contact towed the vehicle himself to the dealer and after a few days of service, he was informed that no faults were found with the fuel tank. Once the vehicle was returned, the failure persisted; the contact then took the vehicle to Berglund Ford (834 E Main St, Salem, VA 24153) and he was informed that his vehicle was included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V515000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the previous dealer had removed the recall from the vehicle after they failed to discover any fault with the vehicle. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and provided the contact a case number. The vehicle had yet to be repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 130,000.
Fuel system, Gasoline, Dec 17, 2021
The contact's daughter owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while her daughter was driving 25 MPH, the vehicle began to stall. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact also stated that while adding fuel to the vehicle, the vehicle failed to start, and the check engine warning light was illuminated. The local dealer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure and stated that NHTSA Campaign Number: 19V515000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) was serviced in 2018. The failure mileage was approximately 86,000.
Power train, Dec 2, 2021
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at 30-35 MPH, the vehicle inadvertently started shuddering. The check engine and other unknown warning lights illuminated. The contact veered to the side of the road and turned off the vehicle. The contact restarted the vehicle and drove; however, the vehicle was shuddering significantly and increasingly while driving. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who diagnosed that the transmission clutch and the TCM had failed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to NHTSA. The vehicle was not repaired. The approximate failure mileage was 79,950.
Steering, Nov 27, 2021
Power Steering Assist Failure warning appeared on dashboard and steering became extremely difficult. Frightened my pregnant daughter to tears.
Other or unspecified, Nov 16, 2021
Electrical power Steering assist malfunctioning
Other or unspecified, Nov 15, 2021
After starting the vehicle I had no power steering. I drove the car all the way home with no power steering. I shut down the car at home and restarted it and then the power steering worked. I’m very worried about others in my family driving this car and having an accident. This has happened in the past but after moving the car it would start working but not this time. I haven’t taken it to any dealer yet but I think Ford should fix this problem
Power train, Nov 6, 2021
While driving transmission seems to start to slip and then fails. Upon further research, found that there is a known issues with the TCM on vehicle. This issue came about while driving in traffic and could have caused an accident when the transmission stopped working if I was unable to get into a parking lot before it stopped working.
Power train, Nov 5, 2021
The transmission fails to engage 2nd gear from time to time so it will start to go then go to neutral many times leaving you in the middle of intersections.
Power train, Nov 2, 2021
Was driving along a curvy road when it suddenly down shifted and I had no safe place to get off the road. I continued to try and get to a safe place and then it went in to neutral and couldn't move at all. Thank goodness another car didn't come it could have killed me. It then went back into gear and I did make it to a safe place to pull over and call a tow truck. The said it needs transmission control module. By the look of all the complaints on the TCM they need a recall before someone gets killed.