2012 Ford Focus consumer reviews

I admit, the car sold itself at first. At long last, we finally had the premium European Ford Focus with a ton of class-exclusive features, a premium-like interior, a wonderful chassis, and a sophisticated powertrain. Well I've had my Tuxedo Black 2012 Ford Focus Titanium sedan for almost a year and there's a 2011 Toyota Sienna in my driveway right now. Why? Because the car is at the dealership again and that's my loaner vehicle. Even the new version of MyFord Touch didn't fix this car, it made it even worse...more on that below. MyFord Touch has been a disaster. I loved the system at first and thought it was nice and easy to use. Not long after, the problems began. The screen began to froze until the vehicle was turned off (not a couple minutes like it is supposed to do for the scheduled maintenance, much worse). I have the new version of MyFord Touch on it now, and that made half the "buttons" stop working and screwed up the bluetooth as well. The transmission is simply awful in almost every way unless you drive like an old lady. The dealership will try to tell you there's a break-in period, and we all know it's a dual-clutch automated manual, but there's simply no excuse for the way it behaves with the jerkiness and random unnecessary clutch slipping between gears. My car has almost 9,000 miles on it and let me tell you, it won't get better as it breaks in. I've had it reflashed too, that made it slightly better at best. Let's not forget the rattling interior trim that the dealer also hasn't had much luck fixing. So those are the things that ruin this car and make it terrible to actually live with. The part that the rest of the car is so good compared to everything else in the class simply frustrates me even more. I love the design, inside and out. I love the steering, I love the handling, I love the quality of the ride, I love all the features. It feels almost like a premium vehicle and it gets fantastic gas mileage, I get 35mpg with it in warm weather. It also has just about the smoothest, quietest, and most powerful 4cyl engine in the class. It's a little too small in the back and the trunk isn't too huge, but the two HUGE flaws (MyFord Touch and the simply awful transmission) make the car very irritating to live with. So I'll be driving my Sienna minivan loaner until I get my car back. It probably won't be fixed like last time, but that's what lemon laws are for... One last thing I want to emphasize. Plenty of people say the PowerShift transmission is "not that bad", which I suppose it isn't, but that's because they don't drive a 2010 Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 turbo DSG on a regular basis. My mom has that car, and the Volkswagen dual clutch transmission makes the Ford transmission look like a joke. Just stay away from this thing or buy a cheaper version (get an SE with the sport package) with a manual transmission.

Talked my husband into getting a NEW car after not having a reliable car to drive on vacations and long trips so we got this Focus. Well vacation was great MPG almost up to 38-39. When we got home noticed when I would start the car the center dash lights would be color stripes like when your tv goes off the air after hours. So took a picture to prove to techs I was not seeing things. Replace wireing harness on dash. Still MPG down now to 33.3.??? Why did it go down? Wippers stop after being on then start back up-recall just now out for that. Wires needed replaced over gas tank. Crome around windsheild pops off if you scrape too close to it. Loved the car when we first got it but I hesitate to drive it to wonder what is next to go wrong with it.

This is my third ford focus. I have to say the changes they made in 2012 are amazing. I would recommend this car to anyone

I have had nothing but problems with this car. The remote keyless enty only works sometimes. Ford refused to fix this problem. Transmission is jerky. The seats in this car actually hurt your backside if you drive for even a half hour! My legs actually go numb because the seats are so hard. Even my 15 year old says the seats hurt! I would not recommend this car to anyone! Don't buy it, you will regret it like I do. I have been trying to sell this car for months now and no one will even touch it!!

Nice! I can voice activate my cell phone which is synced to the car. Makes it so much safer than the old way. The gas mileage is anywhere from 36 - 39 mpg which costs less than $150. to drive from Colorado to L.A. Even in these times!

Beautiful, stylish, comfortable... but with unpredictable lags, jerks, shudders and delays, the car is a chore to drive. What a pity that the fabulous styling and features are undermined by a supposedly advanced dual clutch system that results in anything but a smooth ride. Not at all what I had expected - this one is going back to the dealership.

Electrial problems, transmission problems, SYNC problems, paint issues, car looks great but nothing but problems. Sorry I bought it, very dissappointed in Ford.

There are three small issues I have with this car: - The small shudder of the Powershift - The cheap steel wheels - Not being able to roll down windows in accessory mode The Powershift will take about half a second when you gun it to respond. It's plenty for me, as when I'm gonna do something risky, I get the power ready early just in case. Our family only has 4 cylinders, I'm used to low power. My other two gripes, cheap steelies and the window thing aren't deal breakers. They'd just be nice to have been fixed. I have a basic SE sedan (auto). They did well with the look otherwise, the sonic blue really stands out, even when dirty. It also feels more solid, the doors have that good sounding thud. The steering wheel is amazing, the controls are great, and the grips are actually very useful. Aside from that, the little details are great. The shifter has some kind of leather covering, as well as the handbrake. Looks better than the plastics of other Fords. The climate controls are also easy to adjust, though you have to remember where the adjustments are to not have to look down. I only wish I had a sunroof, or the sport package. Although, I don't really miss them. Visibility is also amazing, the windows are big enough, and the car has a trunk that doesn't extend too far out. While some people don't like the transmission, I drove it on a quick test drive and it felt good enough. You can't expect performance out of a 4 cylinder economical car that's made for fuel economy. Get the upcoming ST for that. Fuel economy for me is all over the place. Some days I'll get 39 on the stretch from picking up pizza to Target, and then 42 or 42.5 on the highway. Other days, it's as low as 23 city, 30s highway. It all depends on how you drive. It seems to respond better if you get up to speed moderately quick. Don't drive it like a grandma, that's how you get the transmission to lag sometimes. Also, last thing, I have the aux in the glovebox. Not very convenient, but at least it's there.

I have a bit of a lead foot, but still average about 34 mpg. I travel alot in varied conditions, and am very happy at 7100 miles. The auto trans takes a little getting used to, but, once you get the feel for it, it'll go like a scalded dog! Handling on the curves is downright fun, and I just love looking at it.

Great car but I want to "focus" on MPGs for this review. I bought this car 8 days ago. For the first few days, I was looking at the MPG computer readout in the dash display and it said I was getting about 26-27 MPG. I was LIVID because I was babying the car in mostly highway driving. I expected more like mid-30s at least. The 270 hp Altima I traded for the Focus was getting 26 MPG. I called the dealership to express my concern and they talked about break-in period, cold weather, etc. Well, over the weekend my wife and I went 2-hours round-trip to a mall doing 70 mph most of the time in high winds. I filled up before we left (333 miles on the odometer) and did so when we got back (457 miles on the odometer). The car used 4.16 gallons during those 124 miles. That's 29.8 MPG....not horrible given 70 mph and strong wind gusts. But I was still annoyed. The computer still said 27.2 MPG. So on Monday, I reset the MPG computer on my way to work. The MPG readout went blank and then re-appeared at 28.5 MPG. As I continued to drive, it went up and up and up so far that it hit 45.3 MPG. I have a back-road commute doing 55-60 mph. I was in disbelief and decided no more trusting the car's MPG computer. So the last time filled the car with gas was at 457 miles. Between that time and this morning, I have put 175 miles on the odometer which is now at 632 miles. Nearly all of these miles have been back-road 55-60 mph. GET THIS -- when I filled the car up this morning, I could only fit 4.06 gallons in the tank. Divide 175 miles/4.06 gallons and that's 43.1 MILES PER GALLON and me smiling from ear to ear. Wow. This is not a joke or a mistake. I'm stunned. I'm still well within the "break-in" period. I will admit I've been driving very conservatively to see how many MPG I could really get, but I'm still amazed. I don't even have the "SFE" package that is supposed to increase MPGs to 40+. Bottom line, for anyone wondering about the Ford Focus and its actual MPG capabilities, based on my experience you have nothing to worry about, and do not trust the MPG computer in the car. Do your own math each fill-up. I have a feeling a lot of people reviewing this car with MPG concerns are going by the car's MPG computer and aren't doing actual math. The computer obviously has issues calculating the car's actual MPGs. As long as this car remains reliable and all of the tech stuff doesn't crash and render the car useless, I will be absolutely thrilled with my 2012 Titanium Hatchback. My wife loves it too.