Owner-reported complaints naming the steering system, filed with NHTSA
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Reports naming the steering system — racks, columns, power-steering assist and steering linkage. Every record below is an owner-reported complaint about the 2012 Ford Focus submitted to NHTSA — not a confirmed defect, not a recall and not a manufacturer bulletin. 927 reports on file name it.
Complaints are reports submitted by owners and drivers to NHTSA. They are not verified and do not establish that a defect exists.
The 25 most recent of 927, in the owner's own words
The TCU/TCM has been going in and out of control. Sometimes it will work then others it will shut off. Speedometer won’t work, power steering won’t work, cruise control won’t work, etc. and when you do the transmission reset for it, it won’t work at all.
Electric power steering failed at 65,000 miles. No power assist in the steering. Trying to steer the car with no power assist is very difficult and not safe.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel seized. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the steering wheel became difficult to turn while driving. The dealer was contacted. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 128,604.
Steering system failure light came on and the Rack and pinion failed with no warning while I was driving on the highway at 75mph and the steering wheel locked up almost causing a potential fatal accident.
the car runs without power when shifted to drive gear. It is sluggish trying to speed up. Took to Ford Dealers on a recall with that is suppose to take care of it..nothing seems to have changed. I am not sure anything was done. trans makes a rough sound starting..
I was driving to drop my fiancé off at work when the "Steering fault, Service now" warning came on. Went home, parked the car. Start it up to go pick him up later, the wheel locked and "Steering loss, stop safely" warning came on. I just recently had my car inspected and had two new lower ball joints replaced. The one employee said my cars steering was working fine, and it was driving okay with no issues until today. Same thing just happened. You can't turn the wheel.
Experienced abrupt electrical steering motor failure. Power steering remains inoperable and available for inspection. Occurred during normal driving without warning, and effort required to manually steer was too much for my wife necessitating an emergency stop to avoid collision with oncoming traffic while trying to execute a routine turn putting us and the other vehicle in danger of an offset collision. This appears to be a known issue in FORD steering units but has only been addressed in Fusion models as a recall. The component has yet to be inspected as Ford will not pay for the repair despite the obvious ongoing safety issue, the vehicle will remain off the road for now in the hopes a recall is issued.
The Power Steering shut down suddenly while I was driving it. I am [XXX], and certainly did NOT have the power to turn the wheel like it needed. If there had been fast moving traffic at that time, I could have been hit and severely injured, Why hasn't this been recalled yet? The problem has been confirmed by an independent service center. I had to go there when my power steering intermittently came back on because it was only 6 blocks away from my house and I didn't dare try to drive it to a ford dealer which was 12 miles away. I'm not positive about the light coming on, but I believe I saw a circle with an "i" inside of it I was too stressed to notice completely, when I was trying to control my car. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
Power steering light intermittently comes on and vehicles looses power steering. Upon turning vehicle off then back on power steering will come back on. Can't get it to act up long enough for mechanic to diagnose. Only a matter of time before an accident happens. There are hundreds of complaints online about this same issue. Ford has issued some recalls but not on my particular VIN...
Since I have had this vehicle, the message " steering assist fault" for my electronic steering has been popping up in the dash screen since as far back as 2016 when there were recalls on the Ford fusion. However, a simple fix would be to turn off the engine and restart the vehicle, and it was go away, only to return a few weeks, or a month later. I repeated the same steps. Now, it has gone out completely, a few months ago. Back then, they told me it would cost about $800, now they are saying $2500. It has occurred various times going back to 2016 until currently, which it is out. Keep in mind, this message has appeared since 2016 and I believe I have contacted you all, who told me that only the Ford Fusion, which has the same exact electrical steering system, went out and that the recall only covered the Ford Fusions models.
Received Steering Assist Fault message. Vehicle has lost power steering ability without warning causing a safety issue
During some Christmas shopping within the past few weeks, my cars power steering went out completely with no warning or sounds to repair or seek assistance. Not only was my life in danger, but the safety of others in the vehicles surrounding me. I couldn't even turn my wheel if I tried. There have been other instances in other cars where I could strong arm the wheel and be ok, but there was absolutely nothing I could do about turning the wheel whatsoever! When my dad came with power steering fluid, we discovered that these cars don't even have a reservoir for power steering fluid and that this was more than likely a battery or module issue or worse the power steering pump. This is ridiculous that there is no service light or warning that the power steering is going out or losing power. Ford should fix this because it seems like this is an ongoing issue with Fords in general
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving and exceeding 25 MPH, the steering wheel was seized. The vehicle was driven to an independent mechanic, and the contact was informed that the power steering needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 90,000.
the car steering wheel first said steering fault and then after parking and less than 10 minutes, car hood was still warm, after car turned back on it said steering loss stop safely. this is after over $1300 in repairs and new tires went into the car, same day with less than 2 hours of servicing. The steering wheel in the car can no longer move at all. Not sure what to do at this point. After a few hours of research learned this was a common issue but there has been no recall. Car no longer worth the money or time. Ford used to be reputable but now it has gone down the drain even Ford mechanics don't know what to think or do.This needs to be addressed and fixed.
I was traveling on a Highway on my way home and as I was turning in a curve at around 40 mph all of a sudden a message came up on my dash that steering assist fault which I didn’t know at the time I was to busy trying not to wreck my steering wheel locked In place coming out of the curve which put me in to the other lane of travel and eventually into a ditch and and thank god not into another vehicle, if there is not some kind of safety recall or major issue that should be a recall the governor or someone should address this immediately I was lucky I did not die. 1. So the system that failed is steering assist fault & yes it is available for inspection. 2 my safety and anyone else that was traveling in oncoming lanes life was in serious risk. 3 the problem is still there can’t get the steering to move to take it anywhere safely. 4 No it has not been inspected by anyone other than my brother to tow it home for me. 5 There was no warning lamps or malfunctions or symptoms at all until the incident happened the steering locked up I heard a tone and when I finally came to a stop these words where on the center dash display. Steering Assist Fault Service required.
My son was driving vehicle to work when the power steering assist failure light came on and the steering became difficult. He was in traffic and this could have very easily caused and accident as the car is now very hard to steer. Have not had it looked at yet because from what I have seen the cost to repair is well over $2000 and I don't have that kind of money laying around.
My power steering went out so my rack and pinion needed replaced and my car is only at 85,000 miles. This is a manufacturer error on ford's part and would like it to be looked into.
While driving vehicle power steering went completely out and warning message displayed. Control of car was difficult due to know power steering. No prior problems with steering before. have not had problem diagnosed as mechanics are all booked weeks out.
I had just came home after driving on the interstate to and from a family event. I wasn’t home but approximately 15 minutes and got an emergency call about a death in my immediate family. I started my car and the steering wheel wouldn’t move! It still didn’t move if you put it in gear! It was totally disabled and I was thankful that this didn’t happen while driving. Especially on the interstate. I had several children with me on that trip, whom along with myself, could have been severely injured or killed! I later found out that Ford recalled the 2012 Ford Fusion, but not the 2012 Ford Focus for the exact same steering loss issue. This should be against the law and Ford needs to be held accountable for this issue for the Ford Focus as well!
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated that on two separate occasions, the power steering assist failed with the "Service Power Steering Now" message displayed. The contact's husband used excessive force to drive the vehicle to a dealer where he was informed that the steering rack needed to be replaced. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was not under recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 52,000.
It was a fateful day on June 16th, 2020 when our lives took an unexpected turn. Engaged in a peaceful drive, cruising at a steady 60mph with the assistance of the trusty cruise control, we were abruptly jolted towards the left, instantly relinquishing any grasp of control we had over our vehicle causing us to loose control and wreck our car in a corn field. Reason for mechanical failure unknown
Power steering went out after a repair to the transmission control module.
On April 29, 2023 our 2012 Ford Focus SE with a 5 speed manual transmission indicated a dashboard warning stating the power steering assist was inoperable. Steering was still able to be done manually, but with much greater input required, especially at low speeds. Being a manual transmission, this is especially problematic as steering regularly has to be performed one handed. Fortunately this incident did not occur while driving, but reviewing many other similar complaints on the NHSTA website, as well as seaching '2012 Ford Focus steering issues' online, it is evident that this loss of assist CAN and HAS occurred to others when the vehicle was in motion. This poses a serious safety risk to not only the driver, but others on the road as well. This is an issue known to Ford Motor Company as they issued a recall (15S18) for similar problems on other Ford vehicles, but not the Focus. I am requesting the NHTSA investigate this situation and take action to compel Ford to fix the Focus as well under a recall to prevent similar situations from causing potential injury or death. I encourage one of your investigators to try driving one of these vehicles without the power assist to see just how dangerous it is, especially in low speed maneuvers. This car is primarily used by my son for his commuting to and from college. He is the one that first saw the warning. I am very thankful this did not happen while he was in motion. I will be contacting my dealer on Monday May 1, 2023 to start the diagnosis/repair process.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the instrument panel lights were dimly illuminated, the horn was inoperable, and the radio was not functioning properly. The contact stated that the steering assists warning light was illuminated. The contact was able to drive to her residence. The contact stated on March 8, 2023, the steering wheel seized. The contact turned off and restarted the vehicle and was able to steer to the right and park in a nearby parking lot. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the steering rack to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
The contact owns a 2012 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 30-35 MPH, the vehicle lost power steering functionality. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact was able to veer across a parking lot. The contact stated after investigating the failure online, she turned off the vehicle for a moment. The contact then restarted the vehicle while turning the steering wheel and the vehicle responded as needed; however, the failure reoccurred increasingly while driving. The message "Loss of Power Steering Assist" was displayed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the electronic power steering rack and pinion and outer tie rod needed to be replaced. The contact related the failure to Ford Campaign Number: 15S08. The dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
Higher-selling and older vehicles accumulate more reports. Counts are not failure rates and are not directly comparable between vehicles that sold in very different numbers.
Categories with enough reports to have a page of their own
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