2013 Ford Focus Electrical Problems

The evap canister purge valve has been a recurring problem for this vehicle. The canister was replaced in 2021, but continued having problems, as it pulled a vacuum on the fuel tank in upwards of 3/8 inch. (Documented by Murray Ford in 2023 and reassuredthere was no issue by them) the vehicle has displayed inaccurate fuel readings and caused our family to be disabled and then stranded in the night on highway 95. It put the safety of my family, and other motorists at risk The problem hasn't been duplicated because their "software fix" essentially ignored the problem altogether. There were no warnings. According to my vehicle it had at least 50 miles til empty. The fuel sending unit is displaying innacurqte fuel readings, and the fuel pump has displayed symptoms, characterized by surging, stalled when accelerating from a stop, and of course, completely shutting off, while on the highway. I've tried my best to trust and be patient with Ford and for them to do the right thing, but have been brushed off.

NHTSA ID

11750254

Incident

Apr 2, 2026

The vehicle was serviced at Bartow Ford in Bartow, Florida, where approximately $1,100 was paid for the installation of a Body Control Module (BCM). Less than two weeks after this repair, the vehicle was returned to the same dealership due to issues involving the windshield wipers. According to the dealership’s own written statement, their technician began diagnosing the issue by replacing a blown fuse and tracing the wiring harness. While inspecting the wiring harness near the heater hose area, the technician observed coolant dripping onto the harness. When the technician touched the harness, it immediately caught fire. The shop foreman then had to disconnect the battery to prevent further damage. This fire occurred while the vehicle was in the possession and control of the dealership and during active diagnosis by their technician. Despite this, the dealership is now attempting to charge approximately $3,700 to repair the wiring harness and related components. We find this unacceptable. It is unreasonable to expect the customer to pay for repairs to damage that occurred during dealership service and inspection. This situation raises serious concerns, particularly because the dealership had recently performed electrical work on the vehicle involving the BCM only two weeks earlier.

NHTSA ID

11725243

Incident

Mar 6, 2026

Our 2013 ford focus has had the shudder clutch replaced 3 times in 4 years. We paid $2500 for them to replace the clutch, forks, and adjust the tcm module. Within a year it went again. They replaced under our warranty from the first fix. Then a year later, it went again, warranty was out but ford sent a letter to replace for free. They did.. and now it’s broke again. It shudders and jerks so bad. My college daughter takes it to and from school and relies on it. I don’t understand how Ford gets away with this as it is an ongoing issue with this year make and model vehicle. It’s dangerous, will stall… and jerk. They charge to fix and all it is a bandaid for an ongoing inevitable failure again. On top of that all the electrical to the radio, speakers and such went as well. The vehicle has less than 98k miles on it. It is well taken care of. This transmission issue is Fords negligence. It’s dangerous, deadly; and I cannot believe they continue to charge for an issue they know about.

NHTSA ID

11700041

Incident

Nov 18, 2025

erratic shifting and eratic slipping gears , first happened while on highway and then it wouldnt go in any gear besides reverse and would say transmission overheat wait 5 min . caused another veihcal behind me to slam on there brakes and they ended up getting rear ended from the car behind them ..... all becouse of my cars tcm or transmission issues>!!!! also not too mention ` random unusual noises coming from clutch or shifter when not even start car yet _delayed start and delayed shifting .. i could go on and on this car is a nightmare

NHTSA ID

11686017

Incident

Sep 8, 2025

While driving, the electric power steering went out. I purchased this vehicle on Aug 15 2025 and the Carfax report did not have any information pertaining to an issue with EPAS. To have this repaired will cost me over $3k which I was not prepared for. Being that other Ford vehicles have this EPAS recall, shouldn't a recall be made on the 2013 Ford Focus as well.

NHTSA ID

11681687

Incident

Aug 16, 2025

Power steering randomly stops working when vehicle is running. It happens most often right after I start the vehicle. I can turn the vehicle off and back on a couple times to get it to work. I am worried that it will happen while active driving. Power steering light comes on dashboard. It has happened many times.i will list the last date that it happened.

NHTSA ID

11663878

Incident

Apr 23, 2025

Has a bad electrical problem and the transmission is got right

NHTSA ID

11633999

Incident

Nov 14, 2024

The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled and shut off at a red light. The contact stated that after ten attempts the vehicle restarted. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 196,666.

NHTSA ID

11630181

Incident

Sep 5, 2024

Mileage

196,666 mi

There is an issue with the vehicle not receiving gasoline and the car has left me stranded

NHTSA ID

11628728

Incident

Nov 28, 2024

P0236 , p0238, p007d, p0456, charged air sensor A fault, boost sensor range/performance fault, and other faults , crank car engine service now pops up everytime, clear codes pops rite back up, car stumbles ,misfires , no boost, no throttle shuts off . Only had this car a week . Performed wire splice and anything I saw that I could do to fix this . No help making payments on a car I can't drive is very frustrating. Replaced sensors. These faults pop up within 2 seconds of clearing codes and starting vehicle everytime.

NHTSA ID

11620504

Incident

Sep 17, 2024

Not shifting into gear properly, slipping out of gear into what seems like neutral, downshifting. Also electrical problems, radio not functioning, speakers popping and static sounds even with vehicle completely off.

NHTSA ID

11613253

Incident

Aug 8, 2024

Electrical Power Steering. While driving the steering suddenly locked up. There was no prior indication. Upon having a Master Mechanic check the vehicle, it was stated that it is a common problem seen by mechanics and after researching online searches, the Ford Focus vehicles from 2010-2014 have experienced the same issue. This is an absolute hazard. The cost to repair will be close to $4, 000. I am requesting that an immediate recall she be mandated by Ford. This was a close call for me on a main Freeway.

NHTSA ID

11607623

Incident

Jul 16, 2024

UNKNOWN

NHTSA ID

11597717

Incident

Jun 29, 2024

The washer fluid pump leaks causing liquid to make its way along the electrical wires leading to the Body Control Module (BCM) and causing corrosion on the electrical connections and rendering the vehicle either inoperable or causing it to stall in some cases.

NHTSA ID

11579433

Incident

Feb 14, 2024

My car has a transmission problem because when I run the car it goes from and back and is takes time to speed it feel like if I’m forcing the car to move I don’t run the car to much since I got it it has 48538 it also makes a lot of noise on the engine we noticed since we buy the car from car max but they say the car had no recalls. About June 2023 it started with more problems and I don’t like it much because my 19 year old daughter is driving my car for school. I would like if ford can fix the engine problem ASAP. I would like my daughter to drive a safe car and for her not to be on danger.

NHTSA ID

11576562

Incident

Aug 16, 2016

While driving on busy street, car gave sudden warning light 'stop safely now’, car then slowed and shut down on its own, not giving enough time to find a safe place to pull over, posing risk of serious injury to myself, my son, and my wife, as this happened to all of us while driving this vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11564063

Incident

Nov 15, 2022

I bought the car in November, 2021. I had it immediately start to shudder, noticed that for example when I tried to accelerate especially in the midst of turning in the middle of a busy road at an intersection I would stall and lose the ability to move the car, then the hazard lights would never turn on, then lost power to the components of the car which used to function normally. I’m a single mom caring for a child who has multiple disabilities and needs much assistance in which we are still being tested and on waiting lists for, and the last year our car was overheating always, despite the amount of work and repairs that we have paid for and other organizations helped us with, which is more than the cost of the actual cars worth and before any of these faulty parts or builds were common knowledge and available, I was never aware of this. I had the car in to multiple mechanics and we were told they couldn’t find the problem. We’ve repaired up to 5 grand or more and have been having to drive with the heat on for the last year full blast and windows down. We’ve had heat sickness and thrown up or ended up having severe headaches and dehydration. We then had the loss of power worsen, til 2 months ago. It was dead one morning and after jumping it, I couldn’t get it in reverse, so pushed it out and then it wouldn’t go over 10-15 mph nor would the hazard lights work. I got it to Ogden Ford, who said it’s the dual clutch part. I had it replaced and came up with the near grand. We have lost our entire life due to this, no help with outside assistance, almost homeless. Now we get a call saying the clutch part was replaced but the whole transmission has to be replaced and need to get 4 grand. Had told them no way I can. They had a salesmen call me to pitch a new car instead. I called Ford Motor company and asked customer relations to get help. They won’t even fix the existing recalls and we are losing our life. We need help. Please we have tried all we can.

NHTSA ID

11560477

Incident

Oct 2, 2023

My Ford Focus has a Steering Assist Fault. It failed in October 2022, and now I'm having to pay for replacement of the system because there is no recall on it for the Focus, unlike other models.

NHTSA ID

11560214

Incident

Oct 9, 2022

After the Stop Safely Now alert flashed I tried to get off a really busy street and my car turned off in the middle of traffic. I was blocking traffic and cars were trying to pass me on both sides forcing them to drive around my car using the oncoming lane. 3 men helped me by stopping traffic on both sides so that they could push my car off the street onto a church entrance driveway. This is the second time I have had my car stop dead in the middle of busy traffic. The first time I reported this very dangerous problem, my car stopped dead in the middle of a busy intersection.

NHTSA ID

11559929

Incident

Dec 13, 2023

I had my engine on in park and it stalled left me stranded and dashboard said engine fault service now when I tried starting the car it would turn over and I heard a bunch of clicking and the lights were flickering the dash and radio had no power and my wipers wouldn’t go off. I had to abandon my car on someone’s private property until I could get it towed they ended up calling the cops and gave me 48 hours to remove my car off there property. In my 2013 Ford Focus se I have experienced reduced engine power, hesitation, ENGINE STALLS while driving with NO WARNING Front and rear lights flicker and dim random spikes in voltage and inconsistent start-up issues like sometimes the vehicle does not start when turning the ignition on and car suddenly starts or idles down unexpectedly and stutters/lurches when driving. Also sometimes my radio fails to have power. I have replaced relay fuses starter fuses purge valve bought a new battery bought a new alternator I changed o2 sensors spark plugs filters etc I took it to Fred Martin Ford and they advised me they found intermittent communication failure between PCM and TCM. Performed wire trace on harness found harness frayed that runs along transmission unit. There are wiring harness recalls on Certain 2013 and 2014 Model Year Focus ST and Escape Vehicles Equipped with a 2.0L Engine Engine Wiring Splice Repair Safety Recall 14S17 My 2013 Ford Focus SE 2.0L Engine does not fall under this recall how come? There are several other customers having the same wiring harness issues.

NHTSA ID

11511641

Incident

Mar 21, 2022

Electric power steering goes out without any warning. I took my car to the dealership to get rotors and tire rods put on.Go pick up my car, soon as I pull off the lot get down the road my car is pulling to the pulling to the right. I keep driving, it's pulling to the left. I took the car back and told them my car is doing something weird. The tech gets in the driver seat and I get in the passenger seat. We driving and he said yeah that is weird. Now, when I took my car there for repairs, it wasn't doing this. They do some testing and they tell me my Electric power steering is going out. Without any warning.I don't know if they did something to it or it just went out. It's a safety hazard because there was no warning light or anything. That's an accident waiting to happen.

NHTSA ID

11511356

Incident

Mar 9, 2023

At approx 01-05-2023 while driving at a speed of 30 to 35 mph Transmission quit with no notice. Dealer says it needs a total rebuild with a cost of approx $3500.00 to $3900.00 The dealer or Ford refuses to make things right with me. Ford told me to make payment arrangements with the dealer and suck it up. I still have a loan on car for approx $7100.00 . Car is currently disabled and is parked for good.

NHTSA ID

11503286

Incident

Jan 6, 2023

Car acted like the battery was dead, then when the car started the Check Engine Light engaged. The car did not have to be jumped. Put the car in Drive and accelerated. The Transmission changed gears rather rough. After a couple miles the car, although in reverse or drive had, zero acceleration power. Seemed as though I was in Park or Neutral. The 3rd day with this issue, I was prompted that the Transmission was overheating. Please note that the car had been started and in park for 5 minutes. Took the vehicle to the auto shop and found the TCM failed at 54 thousand miles. Before this issue there was not any sign of issues. Looked at my maintenance records and found the TCM had been reprogrammed by an Official Authorized Ford Dealership.

NHTSA ID

11488574

Incident

Aug 24, 2022

Horn stopped working three times. Was replaced by a certified mechanic both times and once again horn stopped working. Horn is getting wet because of its placement from what the mechanic he also said it’s a safety issue that does needs to recall

NHTSA ID

11487642

Incident

Oct 3, 2022

Bought my car from a dealer Ford and it was fine to start out then the battery died put a new one in kept doing what it was took it in to Ford They said it was the battery so I bought a new battery I asked them to check the alternator starter and the electrical wiring and things to see if they were something wrong with them they told me no that they had checked each one I can’t be driving in the whole car will shut off and shut back on then when you get in it the next day there is no electrical working had to call [XXX] when I was grocery shopping to have them to come look at it they jarred the car little bit and it started up then my brother got in the car to start it lights and dash lights kept going off like it was possessed but would not start Would like to know if they are any recalls on the electrical of the car it’s a 2013 Ford Focus INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).

NHTSA ID

11483869

Incident

Aug 28, 2022