2012 Ford Focus Consumer Reviews
Review Summary
Most Helpful Reviews
Positive Review
I have never owned a compact car before but wanted somthing that is good on fuel but also fun to drive. So, I bought a 2014 Ford Focus St. So far this car has not let me down. It is really fun to drive and gives me great gas mileage. I get an average of 25 mpg and that's with hard driving. This car just loves the curves. I really can't find anything wrong with this car at all.
VS
Critical Review
This vehicle has transmission issues that Ford is aware of and has lowered the bar on what is an acceptable performance level to avoid responsibility. It shudders when starting from a stop and the problem gets more noticeable the longer the vehicle is driven. It has been in for service four times with the initial response being to reset the clutch adaptive learning module, to no effect. The last two service visits haven't even produced an attempt to fix the problem, just a notification that the vehicle performs to Fords specifications. This response is despite the fact that the service rep knows exactly what our complaint is when we tell him what the vehicle is. Thus far, the closest they can come to assuming responsibility is to extend the drive train warranty to 10 years, which accomplishes nothing since they are unable or unwilling to do anything about the vehicles issues. In conclusion, this has been the most unsatisfactory vehicle experience I've ever had (and I had a Pontiac Fiero back in the 70's) and I'm stuck driving a defective vehicle or taking a beating on getting out of the lease. It's probably not appropriate to condemn an entire make of cars based on one terrible experience, but if this is Fords idea of customer service, I wouldn't take the risk of dealing with their next problem that's too big to deal with.
2012 Focus Reviews
Showing 8 of 868 reviews.
Well appointed on higher-spec models; Good driving dynamics; reliable if you care about your car at all; common issues mostly tr
Can only get the 6-speed with the aforementioned unreliable engine; non-ST-or-RS manuals relatively rare; hard to heel-toe
I have owned this car and kept it well maintained as its second owner. What I can say is that the average Focus of this era is NOT a reliable car. However, if you can find one with the 2.0L Ti-VCT Duratec and the 5-speed manual its a great little car. Very practical, for what it is, a premium econobox, it is really fun to drive. Good gas mileage. The MTX75 transmission is known to be very reliable. Ford has been using it since the 90s. This specific engine is also very reliable if you keep up with basic maintenance. I would not touch this car with a 100 foot pole if it had an automatic and/or the 1.0 L Ecoboost. Both of these components have major design flaws. But if you can find one in good shape with the 5 speed and the 2.0L Duratec, you are in for a good time. Seriously, this thing zips pretty good if you know how to drive a 4 banger.
6 speed is smooth shifting
SYNC infotainment is weak, no CarPlay
This is the page for the ST model!! It only comes in stick shift!! Ignore those reviews mentioning transmission issues which are obviously referring to the plain Focus with automatic transmission. (Duh!) My wife and I love our 2013 Focus ST, the manual transmission is one of the smoothest shifting I've ever driven. (We have always owned at least one manual car.)
Lots of features and sporty design
Transmission issues, vibrating car
Bought a 2018 Ford focus hatchback in 2022 and overall the design and features are great. Unfortunately, the transmission dual clutch issue is real and will only drain your wallet. This issue cannot be permanently fixed, the only thing that the dealership can do is replace the clutch. This can take several days to do, as its a time consuming service. The transmission started to shudder less than a year of owning this car. The shuddering is equivalent to "bunny hopping" in a manual car, except, my car is automatic. Without addressing this issue, the transmission will get worse and could lead to gear slippage and gears no longer responding. I paid to have the clutch replaced and that cost just over $4000. Although the car no longer shuddered when accelerating from a stopped position, every single time I turned the car on and drove it, the car SHOOK LIKE A LEAF. The seats would vibrate intensely. I told the dealership and they said to bring it in again and they took things apart and tried to put them back together. Turns out the things that the engine sits (?) on were moved somehow during the clutch service and therefore that led to the car vibrating as it wasn't aligned properly. The vibration was really bad and finally after another year I took it to a garage and had them fix and align it properly. Now it drives smoothly without vibrating or shuddering, but I know that this clutch has a time limit so I plan on getting rid of this car before that time runs out. Do not bother buying this car as an AUTOMATIC. My mom has the same as a manual and its had no problems. The problem is the automatic version.
nice mpg and good-looking car
coolant system sometimes brokes, transmission failures.
The main problem of this car is a transmission. DSP6 will not let you fix the issues. This gearbox is not automatic; I mean, on the surface it is, but "under the hood" it is a manual dual-clutch with a transmission control module. You can use the car only if you are commuting long distance; traffic will degrade the clutch.
i bought my focus from the original owner for a cheap price. i changed the oil plugs and headlights and a few other things. i feel this is a great car, its great on gas and roomy. hope to get ea lot of miles from it.
my dad has this and i like it becasue its fast, and the silver color fits well with it but the only thing it could work on is transmission, eiather way, its good
Lost money on this car. Bad transmission system. Had an ext warranty to cover the cost of many transmission repairs.
Comfortable, 40 mpg highway, Reliable.
Driven my Ford Focus across country several times. Very comfortable to drive. Averages almost 40 mpg on the highway. No mechanical issues. Only normal maintenance costs: oil, brakes and tires. Love the 5 speed manual transmission. Plenty of get up and go!
