Overview & Reviews

The Ford Focus has been completely redesigned for 2012. An all-electric-drive version of the Focus is also new.

• Nimble handling
• Refined and quiet ride
• Abundant list of upscale and high-tech options.
• Stylish and well-made interior
• Lively engine

• Quirky automatic transmission response.
• Infotainment controls are finicky to learn and use
• Backseat is a little short on legroom

User Reviews:

Showing 141 through 150 of 267.00

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  way to go Ford - 2012 Ford Focus
  By aenigmatic - June 8 - 6:41 am

  I have recently purchased my first domestic auto (other than my moms buick I had in HS) in this new Focus and I am really impressed. There are so many features it is easier to ask what it doesnt have than what it does have. More importantly, these features work well, all the way down to the rain-sensing wipers (!). The steering is responsive, the engine sounds great, and the fuel efficiency is best of breed. I have owned VW, Honda, Acura, Toyota, Nissan, Saab, BMW and Buick. I can truthfully say that this is the nicest car I have ever had, and no one will ever accuse me of being a snob for driving it.

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  Will spend huge amount of money on repairs. - 2012 Ford Focus
  By FrustratedFordDude - April 14 - 11:55 pm

  I bought this car at 100,000 from a used car dealership. Everything checked out fine, only 4 years old. My car started shuddering at acceleration, the dealership told me nothing was wrong. Had it for 6 months and my car eventually stopped shifting gears all together. Took it to Ford, they wouldnt cover it. The clutch had failed and the warranty I purchased wouldnt cover it. Costed me $1,800 to fix! Once they took the car apart they found more and more problems totaling another $1,000! Its been 2 months and this car is still being fixed. Ford wont even give me a loaner car. Once fixed, I plan to sell it and buy a non-ford car. Do not buy this car!

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  4DR Titanium - 2012 Ford Focus
  By jaybar2 - March 25 - 8:48 pm

  Weve had the Focus Titanium for a couple of months now and all I can say is that I cant believe this is a FORD. This car drives and handles like a much more expensive car and the best part is the handling. My wife who is not a car person commented last week that she likes how the car handles. This from a person who doesnt know the difference between a BMW or a Yugo so if she noticed the handling you know it has to be good. The gas mileage is pretty unbelievable and I mean unbelievable, yesterday I was cruising at a steady 65 MPH on the highway and eventually the computer showed 45.2 MPG! In town Im getting well over 30mpg, the highway mpg is in the diesel range! 40-45mpg.

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  At last the europeen Focus - 2012 Ford Focus
  By remiguertin - January 28 - 8:04 am

  We bought the 2012 Focus for my wife, to replace her 2000 Nissan Maxima. We were there to test drive a 2010 Fusion that they could not locate. While checking the yard, I saw this candy red Focus, showed it to my wife; it was love at first sight! We test drove both cars, the Fusion was really nice but the Focus felt more sporty, faster. Excellant steering feedback, the transmission works superbly. Nice comnination of ride and comfort. Closing the doors produced a solid sound.

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  Nimble and Thrifty - 2012 Ford Focus
  By rholzman - January 9 - 2:46 pm

  Have put 3000 miles on an SE with the sport package. Yes the transmission takes some getting used to and perhaps some wear in on the part of the car - it feels a little like a novice driving a manual transmission at first. The car handles well with even less body roll in the corners than the Acura Integra I drove and loved years ago. The brakes are superb and I suggest going with the sport package to get discs on the rear wheels if you get an SE. I am 65" and there is plenty of room up front for me. Averaging 32 mpg in mostly suburban driving. Overall this is a fine car.

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  75K No Problems with reliability - 2012 Ford Focus
  By Terry - December 25 - 8:03 am

  Owned for 4yrs and 75k miles. Drive 70 miles a day on main hwys to work. No major issues. 36 - 38 mpg. Just had serviced all good . brake pads 75% left. Upgraded tires for better winter traction. Rear deck material falling apart. Drivers rubber molding comes loose.

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  Not safe. - 2012 Ford Focus
  By Clarissa M. - August 3 - 5:30 am

  My grandparents bought the car when it first came out in 2012 so that it would have miles on it by the time I got my license. Before I had inherited the car, they had taken it in for faulty transmission problems (gets caught in 2nd gear, hesitation when accelerating etc) three times with no fix, just a resetting of the computer for it to go back to the same way it was in three days or less. I got it in August of last year, had some jerking after a full stop, rolls back in drive at some stops. I took it into Ford in October, no fix. Now, my heater and defroster have gone out completely, in the mornings if its foggy, I have ask for a ride to school & work. It has been having trouble starting, Ive had to try four times to even get it to start a couple days ago. I am barely pushing 30,000 miles, there is no reason why there should be this many problems with the car, especially it being only 5 years old. This car is not safe to drive. I definitely expected more from a Ford. I can say that I am very disappointed and very hesitant and scared to drive the less than an mile I have between school and home everyday.

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  Great Car With a Few Caveats - 2012 Ford Focus
  By T - July 26 - 4:35 pm

  Love this car, albeit with a few minor nitpicks. Its fast for a base model, drives great with the 5 speed (I did not want the DCT!), handles fairly well and visibility is very good. Power delivery is linear, throttle response has only a very slight lag from the drive by wire system (1/10th of a second or so) and it really comes alive above 4k RPM. The electric power assist isnt as good for road feedback as hydraulic, but is better than other electrics I tested by far. The interior is somewhat on the small side, especially in the back but is just large enough for me and the seats are high quality for basic cloth. The only real nitpicks are the lack of S level features and a few noisy interior parts-no cruise, manual rear windows and no computer functionality except a trip meter. The engine is a bit coarse also and really needs super to run right. I can live with this considering I rarely use cruise and almost never have rear passengers, but do miss having a realtime MPG calculator. The sound system is adequate, but somewhat mediocre in terms of fidelity. Coming from an older VW GTI, this car has almost the same HP, handling, steering feel and responsiveness while getting much better gas mileage. Ive had no maintenance issues except having to replace a dirty air filter and a missing brake fluid cap that someone had sealed with plastic wrap and a rubber band (??).

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  Constant Transmission Problems - replace the TCM - 2012 Ford Focus
  By Thomas - March 20 - 3:36 pm

  I see a lot of complaints about the dual-clutch transmission and rightly so. In my experience it is garbage. When you take it to the dealership do not let them tell you that they dont know what it is because there has been at least one lawsuit filed in CA and there has been a recall on the Transmission Control Module. Make them replace it. Do not allow them to charge you for reprogramming a faulty TCM or Powertrain Module because they are simply reprogramming a bad component and bleeding your wallet dry. My local dealer was thoroughly inept and I eventually took my Focus out of State to Franklin Ford just south of Nashville where I found a woman in the service division that actually knew her job. Yes, I had to look in other States to find a dealer that didnt tell me the same lie the first dealer did. The other issue is that the dual clutches are dry rather than a wet system or the traditional torque converter. Anyone with any sense knows that slamming two clutch discs together over and over with no lubrication is just stupid. On a positive note the car is fun to drive...right up until the point that it leaves you sitting on the side of the interstate or the middle of an intersection with no way to move it...the mileage has been good, and the rest of the car has actually been reliable. Other negatives include an interior that wont even resist water stains so after a short time the seats look like the carpet in a daycare. If you are unfortunate enough to own one of these abominations, have Ford replace the TCM then sell it immediately to anyone willing to buy it. If I had known about this transmission I would have purchased a VW or Honda. An update: After replacing the TCM in 2015 my Focus is back at the dealer. They said the TCM is bad and that the clutches and slave cylinder need to be replaced. I have questioned the wisdom of replacing parts that we know to be bad in a transmission we know to be bad with identical parts. It makes to sense to me. At this point the only thing that would make me happy would be for Ford to abandon the apocalyptically horrible Dual Clutch Transmission and replace it with one that actually functions reliably. It is clear from the number of complaints on this board and others that there is something horribly wrong with these transmissions. Yet another update: The horn has stopped working and the transmission problems have made the car impossible to drive. The Used Car Manager at the local Ford dealership called me in response to a message I left about trading in "A car". After I told him that it was a 2012 Focus he never called me back. I went to the local GM dealership and a Sales Associate there told me that she refuses to sell the cars because they are unsafe and should not be allowed on the road. My Focus is sitting on a car hauler waiting to be towed to CarMax for an appraisal because I refuse to drive it. Because of this car and Fords obstinance about correcting this issue I will never purchase another Ford product.

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  New Focus - 2012 Ford Focus
  By krunr4 - March 9 - 7:37 pm

  Just purchased a 2012 Focus with the Titanium package. Candy Blue. About all I did not get was the sun/moon roof and nav. I figured Id buy a Garmin for much less $$ and be just as happy. Its nice to have a smaller car that fits in the garage with more space, gets better mileage...so far 27.2 with around 450 miles on it, it looks good, and has a great stereo. Transmission is sometimes sluggish when initially taking off from a stop and yesterday, some gas dripped on the pavement from somewhere under the car when I topped it off. Ill have to look to see about that.