Ford Focus 2012 Problems

There are lots of potential causes for this sort of behaviour, starting with an alternator that is not working properly or even a body computer that is on the way out. But these symptoms are also a classic indication of a very simple problem; a poor earth somewhere on the car. A modern car has multiple earthing points, and if one is a bit sketchy, it can throw the whole car into chaos. Flickering lights and gauges and warning lights on the dashboard are classic indicators of a bad earth. If that’s the case here, an auto electrician should be able to chase down the fault and fix it permanently.

Unless you’ve been the victim of a cruel twist of fate where something else has gone wrong at the exact moment you fitted the new neutral safety switch, it stands to reason that the new switch is not playing the game. You say you’ve tightened the selector linkage, but did you make sure the new switch was located precisely so that it could detect when the car was not in neutral (and, therefore, prevent it from starting)? By tightening the linkage, you may have moved the trigger for the safety switch to a position where it isn’t allowing the switch to make contact and let the engine crank.

In the meantime, try this: If the engine won’t turn with the gearbox in Park, move the selector to Neutral and see if that changes anything. If the car suddenly starts, you know that the new switch is working but needs adjustment to get it into the correct position.

By buying a manual Focus, you neatly sidestep the biggest problem with this car, that of the perennially faulty DCT transmission. As a rule of thumb, the advice is to never buy a Ford with this transmission, purely because its failure is a question of when, not if.

The irony is that the rest of the car was actually pretty reliable, so as long as the recall for a potential fuel leak caused by a blocked carbon-canister has been attended to, you stand a good chance of buying a reliable car.

Ford used the same body on its Focus from 2011 until the model was replaced in 2018. On that basis, the front door from either of the cars you’ve listed should fit your car perfectly. You don’t even need to worry about finding a door from a sedan or hatch as opposed to a two-door Focus, as Ford didn’t offer that model in Australia in a two or three-door (which would have had longer doors). Even the sportiest Focus, the ST, was a five-door hatchback. Ford did give the Focus a mild facelift in 2015, but the styling changes were restricted to the front and rear, with the doors not altering at all.

Finding a second-hand door shouldn’t present too many problems the Focus sold in reasonable numbers and many ended up in recycling yards. You might even strike it really lucky and find the door in the same colour as your car which might negate the need to have it painted.

The auto had serious problems with the Powershift dual-clutch automatic transmission, so serious that it’s a car to avoid, but of course those problems don’t affect cars with a manual gearbox. The manual is a good little car that can be bought with confidence.

I assume that the value Ford has put on your car isn’t to your liking. The trade-in value of your car is $4300-$5700, and I would guess Ford’s value is somewhere in that range. All you can do is to try and negotiate a more satisfactory deal.

Not all cars with the Powershift have been affected, but many have and it’s impossible to say yours won’t be at some time. If the deal with your dad is a good one, and it seems as though it is, then it’s probably worth taking the risk. If you can feel any shuddering when you drive it then it’s likely you could have a problem; if you don’t then you could be in the clear. It’s not really dangerous to drive it, but it is annoying.

There is a class action underway against Ford over the problems with the Focus automatic transmission. It sounds like you have as good a claim as anyone else.

There’s every chance that it is the dreaded PowerShift transmission problem. Ford generally takes responsibility for the problem, so it would be in your best interest to contact Ford and register your problem with its customer assistance people (13 3673), particularly if your warranty is about to expire next month. It's well documented the dual-clutch transmissions in the Ford Focus and Fiesta have issues.

There is a class action underway against Ford over the problems with the Focus automatic transmission. More information can be found here.