Problems · by component

2012 Ford Focus steering problems

933 owner complaints to NHTSA about the 2012 Ford Focus cite steering, 25% of all 3,803 complaints for this model year.

Complaints
933
25% of all complaints
Crashes
23
Reported by owners
Fires
2
Reported by owners
Injuries
25
Reported by owners
01 —Owner reports

What owners say about the steering

Verbatim from NHTSA complaints, newest first
“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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jul 25, 2026Steering, Vehicle speed control, Unknown or otherODI 11752841
“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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Mar 24, 2026SteeringODI 11726736
“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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Jan 7, 2026SteeringODI 11709317
“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..”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Dec 29, 2025Steering, Vehicle speed control, EngineODI 11707435
“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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 17, 2025SteeringODI 11694021
“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.”
Owner complaint to NHTSAFiled Oct 8, 2025SteeringODI 11692211

Showing 6 of 933 reports. Read every report on NHTSA.gov.

Data from NHTSA Complaints API (owner reports, unverified) · synced Oct 28, 2026NHTSA vehicle page

Complaints are unverified owner reports to NHTSA and are not normalized for sales volume. One complaint can cite several components.