The new vehicle was purchased on 9/3/12. Calls to the service department began on 9/5/12 for complaints of 'bucking and jerking' of the car in low speed shifting. The car was accepted on 9/8/12 for repair of multiple paint chips on the front of the car and for evaluation of the shifting irregularities. Upon delivery of the car (53 odometer miles) the customer was informed that the paint chips had been repaired and the transmission computer was reset. The computer reset was not recorded on the service agreement for that date. On 12/5/12, the car abruptly stopped accelerating and metal grinding prevented use. The car was held from 12/5/12 until 1/8/13 (35 days, odometer reading 7,068 miles) for repair of a broken rear window channel, repair of transmission with replaced clutch. On 1/23/13 the vehicle was towed again due to not starting during multiple attempts by the owners and the tow truck driver. The vehicle was returned to the owner on 1/25/13 with a service report noting a weak battery. The battery was charged by the service provider and no other service codes were reported. On 1/28/13, the steering wheel required both hands to turn and the car narrowly missed going off of the road. Upon attempt to restart, the ignition was weak and multiple warning lights displayed on the dashboard. The odometer reading reset to '0' and the mpg reading went blank. The car had significant change in ignition sound and with uncharacteristic humming noise and was turned off again. When the car was on the tow truck with the ignition off, key out, and door open, the radio began playing and could not be manually turned off. The car was transported to the dealership. As of 2/3, the car has been out of service for 46 days due to multiple infractions. The vehicle has had symptoms of stalling, failure to start, and loss of power steering. Alternator being replaced 2/4.

- Cumming, GA, USA

On 1/23/2013 at appox at 10:15 am I was driving to work! I was driving West bound 10 fwy! I was going about 75 mph in the fast lane. When all of a sudden the car speed drops to 30 mph in a matter of seconds, I right away turn on my hazards! but do to the fact that I was` in the fast lane it was very hard to get over safety as the car felt like it was going to turn off. I was very scared and afraid for my life I honestly thought that I was going to get hit and end up in the hospital.the thought of not making it did cross my mind. I tried pushing the gas petal to regain speed as the car did not allow me to do so. The RPM cage was going from 0 to 7 with in seconds. I begin to attempt to get the car over to my right shoulder towards safety. All I can see throw my rear view mirror and hear was all the cars that started honking at me, flipping me off, barely messing me as all the cars had to swerving around me. I begin to shake as it was a very scary feeling being inside the car while all you can do is see which car will me the one that's actually going to hit my car and the chain reaction that it could have caused. As I get over the four lane trying to not get hit by the speeding cars, the car turns off and I am now stuck in between the 10 fwy going West bound and the interchange to the 57 fwy going North and South bound. Now being stuck in the middle of these two busy fwy's I felt my life was in extreme danger as my mind didn't let me concentrate because all I my mind could pay attention to, was the rear view mirror as I seen the cars again swerving from hitting me and all I can hear again is the cars honking at me. I get on the my cell phone and call [xxx] for help !!!!(husband) we called Ford roadside service!!!! and the tow company was there with in 20 mins !!! information redacted pursuant to the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

- Montclair , CA, USA

I bought my 2012 Ford Focus hatchback in July of 2011. Almost immediately I noticed problems. The problems included the car rolling backwards on hills, sputtering when stopped (like at a red light), jumping upon acceleration, & briefly losing acceleration while the RPM??S revved. I took it back to the dealership & they told me that the backwards rolling, revving & jumping of the engine was a trait of the car. I told them it was dangerous depending on where I was when these things happened (for example, at an intersection or in stop & go traffic with a car in front of me). They assured me that there was nothing wrong with the car. On October 17, 2011, the car broke down. I pulled out of a parking lot & pushed down on the accelerator, at first the car started to accelerate, but once it got to about 15/20 mph, the RPM"?S began to rev & the car would not accelerate so I took my foot off of the accelerator & the car stopped revving. If I had been on a highway, this would have been very dangerous. My car had to be towed to the dealership. They reprogrammed the powertrain control module & transmission control module. The car would then drive, but the rolling backwards on hills, sputtering when stopped, jumping upon acceleration, & briefly losing acceleration while the RPM?"S revved still continued & after several trips to their service department, the dealership could still not fix these issues. I then received a letter from Ford referencing a customer satisfaction program 12B37 dated May 2012. It acknowledged these issues so I took it back to the dealership. Although they reprogrammed the powertrain control module, transmission control module again as well as the anti-lock brake system, the car continues to have the same problems. These problems could potential cause a wreck, injuring myself or others around me.

- Dallas, TX, USA

Car lunges when accelerating or attempting to shift thru automatic or sport mode of the transmission. Transmission also temporarily pauses during shifting routine at all speeds, mostly at low speeds. It is like the cpu is overriding what the driver is prompting thru touching of the gas pedal or brake pedal. We've had it in to our local dealerships service department complaining about these conditions, they insist the car is working as designed. If so, Ford is in denial and most certainly appears to be a design flaw. I describe these concerns as if I was having to learn how to drive, all over again. This vehicle is dangerous to drive, safety should always be everyone's number concern. Ditto, the vehicle is not safe either. What is it going to take from Ford to admit and resolve this problem, an injury accident? I hope not. Then, top that off, we bought this specific vehicle for towing purposes. The factory requires the cpu and entire electrical system must be disconnected to tow. Unfortunately, each time the cpu is turned back on (reconnect the negative wire at battery), the cpu thinks it is new, thus, the lunging, sporadic shifting starts all over again. Help... Ford won't listen. Thank you

- Hemet, CA, USA

Experienced sudden electrical failure (loss of instruments, brake lights, turn signals, horn, etc.) - same problem as documented by other drivers (for examples, see www.focusfanatics.com/forum/showthread.php?T=282965). This behavior makes the vehicle undriveable and unsafe (had these issues occurred at night, the consequences could have been very serious). My dealer, franklin Ford (franklin, MA) seems to be unaware of the prevalence of this issue. I look forward to a speedy resolution. Ford Motor Company also claims to have no knowledge of the occurrence of this issue in other cases. A quick web search reveals that the problem is increasingly common.

- Wrentham, MA, USA

When accelerating, whether from a dead stop or coasting, 1st, 2nd (& now starting to do it in 3rd) gears audibly rattle and clunk. Very slow response time when accelerating after car is "warmed up." The more it is driven in stop and go and/or city traffic, the worse the acceleration (and rattling when shifting) becomes. So much so that when trying to pull out into traffic on 09/04/12 I thought the car would be hit. I had 3 kids in the car with me! and I always allow plenty of time to pull out because of this issue. It has been a near constant issue with this car which was purchased in May 2011. Car jerks when accelerating in stop and go traffic and will sometimes "jump" and rev into a higher speed. All the above issues had been addressed and "fixed" twice before the "customer satisfaction" recalls were sent out in May. Issues are resolved for a limited amount of time and then start happening again. Car still rolling back when brake is released at a stop on slight inclines. Another "customer satisfaction" recall. Minor issues: Barely be heard when speaking on the "sync" system while driving *clock changes time randomly *rear defroster doesn't automatically turn off speed changes after car is turned off to a random speed setting *radio will change to a random station *sometimes* after making a phone call.

- Harper Woods, MI, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that all of the wires on the trunk lid were exposed. The vehicle was taken to the dealer who did not offer any assistance since they were unable to alter the design of the vehicle. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure who did not offer any assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 100 and the current mileage was 1,000.

- Mt Wolf , PA, USA

Vehicle started but ran very rough.turned off ignition and restarted and my touch screen came up but then every thing went black. Tried to restart but no ignition, no headlights no radio and could not even put it in neutral. Towing service had to jump battery to get it into neutral so it could be towed.

- South Milwaukee , WI, USA

Vehicle started up but the display screen that is visible behind the steering wheel was black. Shut off vehicle and tried to restart but the vehicle would not start. Also, I had no headlights and could not shift into neutral but the radio worked. A week previously to this incident my date on the my touch system changed back to 4/20/2011 and the time was off by 2 hours previous to the current time. It eventually went back to the correct date and time by restarting the vehicle several times with a delay of about 5 minutes. This is the second time in a month that I had to have the vehicle towed in for repair.

- South Milwaukee , WI, USA

Vehicle central locking system locked the car while parked with the keys in the ignition. Locksmith was called to force entry. Alarm did not activate when door was opened.

- Royal Oak, MI, USA

Two incidents. While driving at a speed of about 25 miles per hour, the vehicle lost power and stalled on an arterial street. Traffic was light, and there was no danger to me or other motorists. The vehicle would not restart. Had the car towed to the dealer, and was told it was out of gas. The gauge had been reading 1/4 full at the time of the incident. The gauge continued to give false readings (moved from lower to higher amounts during the course of exhausting the fuel supply) over the next few weeks. Eventually the dealer diagnosed the fuel tank was warped, and replaced the tank. One week later, while driving the vehicle at night on an interstate highway approaching a major freeway system interchange, at a speed of approximately 60 miles per hour, the vehicle lost power and shut off, causing me to have immediately attempt to move across four lanes of moderately heavy traffic. This happened on a slight uphill incline, so the car lost forward speed very quickly. During the emergency maneuver, I was forced in front of another motorist, nearly causing an accident. The car was exhausted of fuel, but within ten minutes prior had shown a reading of 1/4 tank remaining. Immediately prior to the incident, the gauge needle was actually indicating 1/2 tank.

- Milwaukee, WI, USA

The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph, the transmission began to hesitate in a jerking motion and the vehicle stalled. The engine restarted and the vehicle was able to resume. In addition, on a separate occassion the transmission warning indicator illuminated on the instrument panel for a few seconds. The failures occurred numerous times. The vehicle was taken to an authorized dealer eight times for the same malfunction. A diagnosis was performed in which a trouble code was not detected. The computer system, ABS, and drive train were reprogrammed more than one time. The failure persisted and the dealer was unable to resolve the problem. The manufacturer and dealer stated that the vehicle functioned as designed. The approximate failure mileage was 350.

- San Antonio, TX, USA

2012 Ford Focus. Consumer writes in regards to engine, transmission, drive shaft and electrical system problems. The consumer stated the vehicle would jerk forward, hesitate and would not go into gear fast enough when changing lanes. The right passenger power window was slower that the driver's side, the door locks would not open properly. Updated 05/25/12

- Newark, CA, USA

While stopped behind red light all screen system, sync system, radio including sound system went black. Did not start over till next day in the morning and as soon as start the car errors after error came up for nav system, phone connection. Had to reset every thing. These errors are coming up every day. There will be risk of losing other system including air bag, power steering, break and other important system while this system going off. Took the car to dealer and service trained specialist told me that is my phone problem!!! after long drive when trying to take off car is shaking, there is big safety issue with seat belt. While driving, if for any reason unlock the seat belt there will be no warning light or warning sound that seat belt is off. If car is running and leave the car when you are back and start driving there will be no warning light and sound that seat belt is not in use and can drive all you want. After long drive while trying to take off car is shaking.

- Waterford, MI, USA

While backing out of a driveway the steering system failed, I rolled down a hill and into a wooded area. The system gave an indicator light of steering system failure and also the braking system did not engage. I lost complete control of the vehicle.

- Huntington, WV, USA

After a week of purchasing our brand new Focus started noticing the automatic tranny surges and slips. Like its bucking feeling. Sometimes it surges almost hard enough to put you on the dash. Kinda scary in traffic. Car has only 4500 miles on it and now has electrical problems in dash and upon going down the road you will vibrations like a bent axel or worn bearing. Its a new car!!!!!!!

- Mccarley, MS, USA