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Issues with new 2012 Ford Focus

888K views 2K replies 468 participants last post by  PrDawg 
#1 ·
Well purchased my brand new 2012 Ford Focus on May 21, 2011. My vehicle had to be ordered and was delivered to me on May 24th. Upon driving it, I found that when I would come to a stop and push the gas to go, it would sputter and hesitate. I have been dealing with it for over 2 weeks and decided to contact my dealership.

I took the vehicle to the shop on June 3rd. The tech drove with me and felt exactly what I was talking about. He stated that he had to put it on the computer. Within 30 minutes, he came out with a piece of paper stating 2012 Focus automatic transmission shudder. Some 2012 focus vehicles equipped with the powershift/DPS6 transmission may experience a shudder/shake on start up or when slowing to a stop. This condition does not cause durability or reliably concerns and will deminish as the clutch breaks in. "IF CUSTOMERS COMPLAIN OF THIS ISSUE, PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE AND SHARE THIS SERVICE MESSAGE WITH THE CUSTOMER.

My question was, how long does this go on and when will it stop? No on could answer. Has anyone else felt this issue? I could not find any post on this prior to me putting this up. I stated I do not feel safe in the vehicle. The car at times when I pull out on the road feels just like it will stall out. After sending an email to the VP of the dealership, I was contacted by the service manager. He stated that he is working on getting an answer from Ford.. At the time of service there were 781 miles on my car. Today there are 1291 and still nothing has changed. I am awaiting a reply and will move forward if I don't like the answer.[bigcry]

Also, yesterday while driving, my shoe lace got caught on brake peddle. Has anyone else ever gotten stuck on the brake peddle? Just curious. It freaked me out.
 
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#429 ·
had ford recalibrate my tranny today, i realize how much of a joke ford dealer service reps are.... As i was complaining Mario from FORD customer service northeast called, i was too busy pointing out the many many flaws to answer my phone... I called him back 5 mins later and nothing and nothing the rest of the day.... Focus runs ok, now there seems to be a delay in sport select mode shifts... Thinking of trading my 2012 in for a 1975 chevy vega... Atleast i know i am buying a POS that way.... love ya ford.... We are quality control here, keep complaining to ford, without our complaints this will keep going....
 
#430 ·
Shuddering

We bought our 2012 about 10 days ago. We do A LOT of driving in town and have put almost 1000 miles on it, already. During the first 450 miles the transmission was smooth as could be. It was then that we noticed the shaking. It came on suddenly and was VERY noisy. I made an appointment to have it checked out and was told the same as others on here. Let it break in. UGH! Well.. 550 ish miles later and it is noisier, shakier, and substantially more embarrassing to drive with friends in it. This is NOT what I expected for a new car.

Did any of you have smooth sailing that turned into rocky roads after a few hundred miles or were your shakes from day one?

I want to love this car.. so far, not loving it. [bawling]

Suggestions?
 
#431 ·
focus transmission

You all should check out the Consumer Reports review of reliability and customer satisfaction with Ford cars. It came out yesterday and is available on the WEB. Ford came out near the bottom of all car companies because of the Focus and Fiesta Transmission problems. So your problems are not just break in issues or isolated quirks. They are endemic to the transmission. I also read the Ford is getting a new 8 speed transmission ready for the Focus and Fiesta and that it might be ready by the first quarter of 2012. You all might have to wait for that new transmission and have Ford exchange the present one for the new one. I don't see any fix for the present one. Why else would Ford put a nice girl like Natasha on a full time job of soothing ruffled feathers on the WEB. She is so overloaded with complaints, that she even admitted she couldn't keep up with her backlog when her server went down for a few days. Also JD Powers, is not publishing their data for the 2011 Fiesta, which should be out by now. My guess is that the results are so embarrassing to Ford, that they don't want to mess up their relations with Ford by publishing such bad results.
 
#433 ·
You all should check out the Consumer Reports review of reliability and customer satisfaction with Ford cars. It came out yesterday and is available on the WEB. Ford came out near the bottom of all car companies because of the Focus and Fiesta Transmission problems. So your problems are not just break in issues or isolated quirks. They are endemic to the transmission. I also read the Ford is getting a new 8 speed transmission ready for the Focus and Fiesta and that it might be ready by the first quarter of 2012. You all might have to wait for that new transmission and have Ford exchange the present one for the new one. I don't see any fix for the present one. Why else would Ford put a nice girl like Natasha on a full time job of soothing ruffled feathers on the WEB. She is so overloaded with complaints, that she even admitted she couldn't keep up with her backlog when her server went down for a few days. Also JD Powers, is not publishing their data for the 2011 Fiesta, which should be out by now. My guess is that the results are so embarrassing to Ford, that they don't want to mess up their relations with Ford by publishing such bad results.
So in other words,the resale value of the 2012 with the powershift transmission will be incredibly low!Thanks again Ford!

Found this article in Motor Trend that explains why Ford reliability took a drop:

http://blogs.motortrend.com/consume...-and-gm-are-missing-an-opportunity-18609.html

Good to see that it's not in our heads like many are implying!!
 
#435 ·
they recalibrate mine the other day, they made it worse... in drive will shift at 4000 rpm, alot hire than normal or my shifting.... shudder more noticeable and now my TPMS is on all the time now, all tires are right and two lights on dash so its a malfunctioning sensor.... just a bad taste in my mouth with ford....
 
#436 ·
This afternoon I got a call from a new woman from the Ford Customer Relationship Centre.She started by saying that I was not entitled to an extended warranty, and only offered me a non transferable 3 years service plan that covers nothing more than the basic warranty.In other words ,she gave me nothing.Then she told me that the reason that my car was not fixed was because I didnt went to the dealership in 2 months.I tried to explain her that it was useless to go there as long no new TSB's were out ,but she still insisted on it.I finally screamed at her to call my service manager and hung up.
I can understand that she new to the case ,but seriously WTF!!!When we talked Service plans ,she asked me if I was gonna accept it.I asked her what Plan it was,she didn't knew and it took a good 30 min to call back offering me the cheapest one she could find.If Ford wanna be sure I won't buy another car again ,they don't need to work that hard.The damage is already done.
 
#437 ·
BIG SURPRISE !!!ANOTHER FU.....IN PROBLEM WITH THE CAR!!!

This morning was the first time I had frosted windows on my car.I start the car and put the heater on defrost for the windshield.I got out and scraped my windows and noticed that the rear window defrost was working.I didn't remembered putting it on and checked the botton and it was really off.Not sure if it's working all the time or the switch is upside down but I never seen that before.

Has anyone else got the same problem??
 
#447 ·
My wife's 2012 SE is 2 weeks old and we just made note that the rear defroster is almost useless and we live in California. Takes 20 times longer than my 94 Integra to clear a rear window in the Bay Area.

Considering the clanking transmission, grinding noises on light acceleration with the hesitation, wind noise, and my favorite the can't drive straight on the freeway syndrome it's the least of our problems.

We are at 541 miles and I get more frustrated with every mile. Luckily it's only a 27 month lease if things don't get better.

I'm truly shocked to state I regret the purchase after only 2 weeks :(

Jerry
 
#444 ·
I purchased my 2012 Focus SE in May. It currently has 11K miles on it and the lag has subsided but is not entirely gone. It tends to lag from a dead stop and also low MPH to a quick acceleration.
I also have a 2012 Focus 5-door SEL with under 1000 miles. The tranmission shudders during 1st gear acceleration; feels like its slipping.
Hi likethekicker & Cheryl,

Shifting smooths out as the clutch breaks in, so your concerns may resolve themselves. You may want to bring it to the dealer for inspection. Please PM me your VIN, contact information, mileage, & servicing dealer name/state so I can assist.

Mine was built on 08/11/2011 so I had the TSB performed. Anything built after 08/12/2011 should not have some of the issues that the prior vehicles had.
Just replied to your other thread, but keep me posted on your shifting as well if I can help.

Different car, but my SO had her Fiesta reflashed last week and it did help.
Thanks for the update on her Fiesta. [:)]

~Natasha
 
#439 ·
I also have a 2012 Focus 5-door SEL with under 1000 miles. The tranmission shudders during 1st gear acceleration; feels like its slipping. I will wait a bit and see if it "works itself out", but my experience has been that things that don't seem right always get worse, not better. I hope this goes away because the thought of some mechanic doing surgery on my brand new car is VERY disheartening.
 
#441 ·
question for Montana

Montana, I noticed that you asked Cheryl about the manufacturing date of her car. Do you think that Ford has managed to fix the transmission and that cars built after a certain date may now be OK? If so, after what date of manufacture do you think the transmissions are good? Jake1
 
#442 ·
Montana, I noticed that you asked Cheryl about the manufacturing date of her car. Do you think that Ford has managed to fix the transmission and that cars built after a certain date may now be OK? If so, after what date of manufacture do you think the transmissions are good? Jake1
Hi Jake,

The TSB that was released on October 2nd 2011 addressed some driveability concerns for those vehicles that were manufactured on or before 08/12/2011. Mine was built on 08/11/2011 so I had the TSB performed. Anything built after 08/12/2011 should not have some of the issues that the prior vehicles had.

Montana
 
#445 ·
Finally get some good news ,well kinda(I take all good news with a grain of salt after all the BS I got in the past months).After 18 weeks Ford is only a few days away of releasing a TSB for the front vibration issue.The problem is apparently a bad batch of bearing and Ford fixed that by changing supplier.But here's the joke! 3 months ago this information was release on this board,this thread,by sirhawkeye(post #124).If this turns out to be true and really fix my vibration problem,this means that some engineers really had a party in the past 3 months while I canned my summer vacation because of these idiots!!!

The only real good new is that I will get the 6yrs Premium Plus extended warranty that should help me resale that piece of crap for a better price.I'm not getting my hopes too high,but will be happy when this car will be someone else problem and I'll be the proud owner of a 2012 Mazda3 or Elantra.
 
#446 ·
i feel your pain, I am so sick of my focus and FoMoCo and Ford dealers.... Looked at a 2012 Subaru WRX Si limited.... time to go elsewhere after this ordeal... Drive, shudders like crazy, Sport select mode shifts automatically sometimes so sometime I double shift and i die in the street.... Even after the recalibration.... pretty sad profits outweighs people safety
 
#450 ·
Jellman123, Natasha from Ford customer service told to wait for the car to get used to my driving habits, i was patient and waited till it hit 3000 clicks.

After 3000 clicks problems was still there, not better not worse but still there. I had the car serviced 2 weeks ago as per again Natasha's recommendation......result= STILL THE SAME ISSUE with the transmission.

Natasha, seriously how long are we to be patient, i miss work time everytime i go to the dealership not to mention it's a waste of my time. If i wanted to go to the garage everytime i would have kept my old 2004 Focus instead..i'm seriously discouraged by all this. :-(
 
#451 ·
Here's the funny part of the Powershift transmission.Ford official response on it,is :"It's bulletproof,it's here to stay and the only problem is that people just don't understand it!".
The reality is that it's not only a dozen people who complain.Car critics who drove other cars with double clutch tranny all agree that the Ford Powershift is pretty bad.Even those who on the first drive thought of it as not that bad and considered it as "Car of the year" are having second thoughts after a longer driving period.

Ultimately the fate of this transmission rest in the consumers hands.If we don't buy it,Ford will stop making it.The joke is that in a few years the transmission will now be flawless,but the bad reputation will simply kill it.Ford is well aware of that and this is why the 8 speed transmission will be available in a near future.

This is not the first time we see this.A decade ago someone decided that the CVT was the way to go and most car manufacturers jumped in band wagon.While some CVT were good, most of them were crap and consumers didn't trust them and didn't like the feeling of a shiftless transmission.Some manufacturers added some fake gears to give it the feeling of a real auto trans but people simply didn't bought them.Today the CVT is only sold by a few car manifacturers in cars made more for economy than performance.

In conclusion,Ford can say what they want about the powershift transmission but the final word belongs to us.If we don't like it we can simply buy something else.It's not like the Focus was the only car on the market.
 
#457 ·
those who on the first drive thought of it as not that bad and considered it as "Car of the year" are having second thoughts after a longer driving period.
Beeptster: Not that I'm discounting what you say, just interested in seeing those long-term test comments. Where did you read this???
 
#453 ·
Hi I bought my 2012 Ford Focus SE back in June and I notice the shuddering as if it will stall. Brought it back to the dealer and as the others were told it would get better in time. Now it's November with close to 3,000 miles and it hasn't changed at all with stop and go traffic I feel it the most. I also experience the rollback as well. After reading all the post I will take it to the dealer again and again until we are heard. This isn't going away I can't afford to let this go.
 
#458 ·
elrosser: Have you tried a higher octane of gas yet? Did that for mine and the shutter literally disappeared.

As for the roll-back, it's to be expected unless you engage the HSA (hill-start assist). Since it's an 'auto-manual' it does have the tendancy of a manual to roll backwards if you don't have a foot on the brake.
 
#459 ·
As far as I'm concerned it doesn't even come close to being "car of the year." I read where Ford went to 20th in quality ratings due in large measure to Focus and Fiesta transmission problems, also problems with electronics. I had to have my car in several times for the transmission. TSB 11-10-02 really helped but its still not perfect. Also I had to have it in for front end noise. They had to replace front struts and bearings. A TSB will be out on this problem in near future. Then on Friday in middle of rain storm my wipers went on the blink. Now holding my breath to see what else goes wrong.
 
#462 ·
Is making us wait that long the smartest thing Ford can do???

I bought my car in June because I needed it in July and August, and we are in November and the car is still a worthless piece of junk.

So far Ford spent 5000$ cdn(probably more that 8000 if paid from my own pocket) of unnecessary repairs.Almost a month use of a crappy loaner.Ford promised me a 6yr extended another 1300$.And all the people who tried the car in the past 19 weeks who will obviously not touch a Ford with a 50ft pole.

Also I spent a lot of time thinking ,and for now the only option in my mind is to pay another 4 or 5 thousant for another once this pos is fixed.And funny enough the first car on my list is the Elantra.A few years ago Hyundai was pretty much synomymous of cheap crap.Today they are great value with a surprisingly good quality.When I try to find dirt on the Elantra ,the only thing I find are Toyota dealers bashing the Elantra and Sonata.Coming from one of the biggest car company in the world ,I think this is the best publicity Hyundai could ever ask for.

If Ford can't supply us with good quality cars,we'll go with a car company that can.
 
#463 ·
First post here so bare with me. 2012 Focus 650 miles on it and it just started doing the shudder or skipping filling in first gear. Talked to the dealer today and the service manager says we know we have a problem just dont have a solution yet. He said to drive it untill 1,000 miles or so and see if it gets better. ( Told him that's the answer I knew I would get). He said there was a reprogram for it but my car should already have it because we just got it last week. Will be watching this thread for a future answer.
 
#466 ·
First post here so bare with me. 2012 Focus 650 miles on it and it just started doing the shudder or skipping filling in first gear.
Hi BobbyB2770,

Pretty good for your first post! I see your PM in my inbox, and I'll review it in the morning.

Have a good evening! [:)]

~Natasha
 
#467 ·
Just talked to my local dealer and asked him why its been two months waiting for a part. He put me on hold and said that the place that has the parts shows having them in stock but not set the be shipped. He said his manager is going to call them and see whats going on.

I brought to his attention the key fob TSB and the transmission TSB and he said no problem on applying those updates when I get there for the bearing to come in. I asked him about the new MFT update and he said they just got the update in last week and he will update that as well. He seemed great but now its just a waiting game and making sure that they do all he said he would once it gets there.
 
#470 ·
I am at 13K on my Titanium. As far as hill assit .. I have an "automatic" .. and it works. If you are on a hill and stop by putting your foot on the brake, when you release your foot off the brake you have about 3-5 seconds of hill assist. That is more than enough time to get your foot from the brake to the gas. If you are not getting that amount of time there is a problem. I love the feature since a dual clutch transmission is not a real automatic and will have roll back.

The stutter went away after 500 miles. The transmission works the way it was designed up to yesterday. Yesterday it was sluggish up-shifting. I took it to my dealer this morning. There are a bunch of TSB that they are going to perform on it today. I will keep every one informed on how that goes.

As far as the MyFordTouch, if you have not had your dealer update it yet, it is something you can do yourself. All you need to do is download the files on to a 1 gig thumb drive and than plug it into the USB in the car. It takes about 45 minutes to upload into the car. the down load on to the thumb drive depends on your internet speed and some other factors.

The 2012 Focus is one of the most advanced cars out there ... and yes .. being the first one out of the gate there will be some bugs.

When I am driving the car it just feels like a car that costs a lot more. Ford is working feverishly to solve the problems. They worked so hard to climb to the top of JD Power and Consumer Reports .. and now they have tumbled.

Alan Mulally has taken the fall very seriously. In an interview he took responsibility but his comment went on to say ... I will paraphrase "The quality of the Ford products are right up there with the best with the exception of the MyFordTouch and the dual clutch transmissions. We have two items to fix. This is far better than having mechanical and engine failures across the board. With two problems Ford can focus on these two items and get back to being at the top again."

I respect everything Mulally has done. With risk comes reward. Some times with risk comes failure, but if you learn from mistakes you will lead the pack and not be a follower.
[loveff]
 
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