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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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#1,444 ·
Our heads aren't in the sand. Our cars don't have problems, and if the do/did we have either made Ford fix it, test/design/implement possible solutions, or learned to live with them. We don't whine and complain just because of any inconvenience. Many of us have spent many, many hours trying to research and collect data for you people.

Ford didn't drop the ball. Cars have issues, especially first model year cars. Coming on here to ask questions is one thing. Coming on here for valid problems is one thing. But coming on here to say that you were in an accident that was someone else's fault, but still blaming the car is dumb. Especially when you do it on a site named 'Fanatics'. There's a reason it's not called Focus Whiners/Criers/Complainers.

Just as I told another guy who is having issues- Frustration/Anger is legitimate. How a man handles it defines him.
 
#1,446 ·
OK. If there are no problems to report, just move on. I understand how much you guys love your cars and hate how much trouble everyone else seems to have.

If there is nothing useful to add, just don't post. This thread is 73 pages in (for me anyway) and it is the first time I've looked at. No one is forcing you to look, this thread shouldn't affect your personal life and if you love your car, just skip the thread.

There should be no reason for any of this bickering. I understand you guys with issues aren't exactly happy but this is getting to be out of hand. Please consider this another warning.
 
#1,447 ·
[wave] Hey, remember us? All you guys need to brush up on your Member Rules please or suffer infractions. No personal insults. Period. I don't care if you don't use curse words, it's still the same thing.

I've also frequently requested that people who don't own a 2012 Focus have no real reason to be posting in a thread about "Issues with the 2012 Focus" unless they are offering real help to owners with problems.
 
#1,453 ·
I'll bring that up to our Ford Customer Service Representative. She will take your VIN, your dealer, and give them a call. A call from corporate makes dealers act right if they are not acting right. You can also try PMing "FordIVTteam" which are the people who can help you the best with My Ford Touch Problems.

Once again, your posts were deleted for being argumentative, non-informative, and off-topic.
 
#1,455 ·
customer service

I'll bring that up to our Ford Customer Service Representative. She will take your VIN, your dealer, and give them a call. A call from corporate makes dealers act right if they are not acting right. You can also try PMing "FordIVTteam" which are the people who can help you the best with My Ford Touch Problems......
We did call customer who contacted our dealer and we took it in and they reprogrammed it.....voice command system still did not work but now is when we started getting the hood open alarm everytime we drove it so we took it back again, they reprogrammed it again and the voice command system still did not work, the hood open alarm still was there everytime we drove it and now we could not lock the car because the alarm would go off and getting sd card faults on the touch screen and the screen would just go blank ....so everytime we took it back to a dealer nothing got fixed and another problem arose ..all the while we still had the transmissions issues which were getting worse by the day but was told to just keep driving it cause the clutches needed to break in and it needed to learn her driving habits and after 10000 miles I think was enough time for everything to get broken in and learn.then right before the accident was when the power steering fault started appearing and the mpg meter started going nuts so after the accident wife would not drive it anymore....so we had customer service involved along with the dealer but not one thing ever got fixed.....so what would you have done different than I did.....I would really like to know???...B-lou
 
#1,456 ·
I just got my Focus back from the auto body shop. I took it on a long test drive and I am happy to say that even after $7000 worth of front end collision damage the car performed as well as before the accident. The DCT was flawless, the steering excellent, and over all handling like it just came out of the showroom.
Seems I will suspend thoughts of getting rid of it lest some hidden problem shows up.
 
#1,460 ·
Well, with that mileage your car is still covered under warranty and those repairs shouldn't be costing you a dime.

Perhaps you mean you've been cheated of your time involved with having the car repaired which I understand is frustrating. Hopefully when you get it back you'll be able to appreciate it more.
 
#1,466 ·
The car was unsafe to drive the mechanic said we could pick it up and drive it until the parts came in. We said will you put it in writing that the car is safe for me to drive my family around and he didn't reply, my husband asked would you put your family in a car that needs a new steering rack and no reply so they called and said they are keeping the car. I refuse to put my family at any risk
 
#1,467 ·
Shifting issues 6 speed automatic

I purchased a 2012 ford focus se 6 speed automatic on June 1. Within a few weeks the car was not shifting properly. It went in for the recall and was still not better. It has been in two more times to the dealer and still not shifting properly. It is horrible at lights when you are stopped and hit the gas to go. It is constant jerking. In addition to that sometimes when you go to accelerate it sticks and I worry for my safety if I am pulling out to make a turn. I have talked directly to ford motor company as well as my dealer and both tell me that there is nothing wrong with the car and that this is the way it is suppose to drive. I have 10,000 miles on it and I do a lot of stop and go driving and I can tell those of you who are wondering if it will get better after it "learns your driving patterns or gets broken in that it doesn't. I took the car out of state recently to Georgia as I live in Florida and it was 100 times worse. At one point I was on a hill abd I thought the car was gonna stall out. I am very disappointed in Ford's response to this. How it's not a problem is beyond me when there has been a recall and their customer relations center is taking feedback since so many people have been complaining. I will not buy a ford ever again and I will be sure to let people know how poorly this situation has been dealt with by them!
 
#1,470 ·
I took the car in at 1000km then again at 9000 the mechanic said there is something very wrong but at the same time said you can drive it till we get parts(no way) 26,000 dollars for a car that is unsafe no way am I driving it. So 2 times and wanting a letter to take to my laywer telling me it was safe to drive which they would not give me because if something happened they could be sued!
 
#1,474 ·
trade

Well it's been a week and no word on it yet. Will keep you posted. But wondering what did they give you on a trade?[/QUOTE
Paid 26500 and traded it for 20000 so took a 6500 loss not including mileage which I figure it wont be long before ford would have been way better off paying me the 6 grand just to shut me up...I am pretty tenacious when I feel I have been wronged.......B-lou
 
#1,476 ·
Same issues with my car from about 500 miles into the purchase; car now has 15,000 miles on it. I have it into the dealership 3 times complaining about the shifting and occasional grinding noises during in town shift patterns. The dealership hears the noise, reports it to Ford, Ford replies the noise is typical. I have talked to a regional customer service manager for Ford who says they can't do anything until the dealership deems the noise not "typical", the delearship will only deem the noise not typical if Ford tells them too. I'm stuck.
Ford has lost a customer over this deal. I will also persuade my 5 kids and anyone else in my family to avoid Ford. I have owned 2 Taurus', an Escort, a Fusion, and an F150. So sad.

Case # 349582582
 
#1,477 ·
Try going to a different dealership you can to any ford dealership. The grinding noise same as mine shifting thing same steering pulls to the left not safe keep pushing the matter do not take it at all. Raise hell if you have to. That's why I went on here is to get ppl to push that matter.
 
#1,478 ·
You basically did the right thing by refusing the car while waiting on parts. I can tell you from personal experience that should you feel there is a problem with the car that severely impairs the value, use, or safety of the vehicle, STOP DRIVING IT IF AT ALL POSSIBLE (use a second car if you have one). The mileage that you put on the car will be used against you in court by Ford. So you know what? There is a problem with your car, you shouldn't have to put up with it everyday, so just leave it parked.

Keep your paperwork organized, follow the law to the letter (sending out defect notifications, etc), and take notes of names and conversations that have taken place thus far. Certified Mail via USPS will become your new best friend. These are your only tools should you need to persue your Lemon Law rights in your state.
 
#1,481 ·
I was in the same situation. The service managers said I had excessive transmission noise. Two different dealers. I even sent a video to my regional manager in which the noise could be heard. The engineers told me to roll up my windows and turn the radio on. If I couldn't hear the noise, then I didn't have a problem. (the service manager said he knows others who were told the same thing). Corporate Ford told me to go back to the dealer and drive another Focus to compare. I told them I was not interested in what any other Focus does, only mine.

The issues with my car were bad, but Ford customer service was worse. I can understand having problems, but is it too much to expect them to be fixed? I've bought new cars for the last 25 years, including some first year models and only one time was I in for service. (recall). My Focus is gone. The trade-in loss was not as bad as the headaches from dealing with Ford.
 
#1,483 ·
I'm really sorry to hear that Jen! In your case, I definitely would have threatened the lawsuit if there were no alternative means of recourse. I sincerely hope the fixes work for you. I know that if Ford could have fixed my vehicle I'd be loving it right now. Unfortunately they chose to ignore my car's issues and lose all dignity in the process.
 
#1,484 ·
And just to clarify, I leave my advice for those that may tread here in the future. I know those here right now have already traded/sold their vehicles or are continuing to work with FMC. I lurked in these threads for months while I let the legal stuff work out and followed others stories [8D]
 
#1,487 ·
delete

And just to clarify, I leave my advice for those that may tread here in the future. I know those here right now have already traded/sold their vehicles or are continuing to work with FMC. I lurked in these threads for months while I let the legal stuff work out and followed others stories [8D][/QU
The mods will lock or delete this thread because we are not cheerleading for FMC as being the greatist car company ever that could never do anything wrong and if we complain we are just whiners crybabies etc.....B-lou
 
#1,485 ·
I 100% agree with you!!!! My very first brand new car purchase was awful I traded in my other car because I wanted safe and reliable(wish I didn't) and that's something I didn't get. Understand if I bought a used car all these problems. Will never ever be a repeat ford buyer.....
 
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