Used 2012 Ford Focus Sedan Consumer Reviews
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The Best American Car Ever!
sobemen, 02/26/2012
2012 Ford Focus Titanium 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6AM)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
I recently purchased this Ford Focus Titanium Edition. I can't stop driving this car. It is the best American car I have ever owned. Having owned BMW's. Land Rover's, Porsches, Toyotas, Honda and Nissan, I feel quite confident in providing Ford with the highest accolades around this product. I bought the extended Service warranty which is a great value. Ford has come a long way and their customer service and the entire purchase experience puts them well ahead of other car manufacturers All my friends and family just love to look at the fine engineering and body style of this vehicle. I also enjoy the fuel economy and German ride of this vehicle. Congrats Ford on an excellent job!
bad tranny
john, 02/04/2016
2012 Ford Focus S 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
7 of 8 people found this review helpful
Jumps and grinding noise don't buy don't buy.
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2012 Ford Focus for sale near you
3 of 558 listings
- SE 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $5,55518 mi away
- BEV 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $5,79525 mi away
- SE 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $5,15025 mi away
See all 558 listings
Everything I thought it would be... and more!
geriacci, 08/13/2011
2012 Ford Focus SEL 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6AM)
25 of 33 people found this review helpful
I thought I would provide an in-depth review of this fine car for any prospective buyers out there. I purchased a Blue Candy Metallic SEL Sedan model with 303A trim last month. After scouring AutoTrader for about a month, I got lucky and this gem turned up in my own city. I scooped it up even before they had a chance to list it on their website. 1,600 miles later, I have nothing but praise for this car. I'm glad that automakers seem to be giving more respect to the compact segment. After exhaustive research, my selection was narrowed down to the Chevy Cruse, Mazda3 and Hyundai Elantra when I started seeing internet buzz for the new Focus. Since it was a Focus, I dismissed it offhand as the capable yet unremarkable car it used to be. Then I started to read some reviews and watch some demo videos on YouTube. I became very intrigued with the MyFord Touch system. I'm a fairly practical car buyer. My previous car was a 2006 Nissan Sentra, which ran fine and got pretty good gas mileage, but had no personality. This time I wanted a fuel efficient car that would be a little more fun. The Elantra was my #1 choice due to its aggressive styling, above-average size and upscale interior. After the Focus turned my head, I was torn between the two. The Elantra has better gas mileage and a better warranty. But the Focus has more to offer technology wise. Sure, the Elantra Limited trim also has a touch screen with navigation and a premium stereo, but the Focus has a 10 speaker Sony system with a subwoofer. The Elantra only has 6 speakers and no sub. My Sentra had a sub in the trunk and I was reluctant to give that up. Focus also has an advantage with Microsoft Sync (which so far has worked really well). Im not sure what the extent of the voice command usage is on the Elantra (nobody ever had a Limited in stock in my area, plus I couldnt find many details online). At the end of the day, I was lured away from the Elantra by the seemingly superior tech in the Focus cabin. When I actually went to test drive the nearest one (about an hour from my town), I was blown away by its appearance, both inside and out. Any pictures you see online really dont do this car justice. People still cant believe this car is a Focus (my brother in particular was stunned). The tech does not disappoint, though the touch screen is occasionally slow to respond (usually only when you first start the car). Touch sensitivity is quite good, and voice commands yield the desired results 9 times out of 10. I still get a kick out of requesting albums and songs by voice (so far the funniest one has been Princes Irresistible B***h if you didnt know, the selection is repeated back to you, so its often amusing to hear the frumpy computer voice repeat the occasional odd phrase). Its infinitely better than screwing around with an iPod interface while youre trying to drive. If you dont like using voice commands, the touch screen iPod interface is excellent. MP3 sound quality is quite good, but I can still tell the difference when I put in a CD. You can also use a regular USB flash drive for music if you dont want to pay iPod prices (flash drives also respond to voice commands). The sound system is quite good overall, though the highs are occasionally a tad shrill (I think the multiple front speakers are probably to blame for this, i.e. too much separation of higher frequencies). You can always adjust the EQ to your liking, though (you get a 3 band EQ- bass, midrange, treble; there are no genre settings i.e. Jazz, Country, Dance, etc.). At first, I assumed the EQ settings would need to be similar to what I have always used (+2 or 3 bass, -2 or 3 treble, default midrange and -1 or 2 towards the rear speakers). This didnt sound very good at all, though. In addition to the bass, I ended up increasing the midrange and treble, which is something Ive never done in a car stereo before. There is a lot of power in the woofers (355 watts courtesy of an amplifier in the trunk) and you dont need to crank the volume in order to get great bass. The bass is very tightly controlled, however. Often times a song will start out heavy on the bass and you can feel/hear the speakers pull it back a little bit to avoid a potential speaker blow-out (this is usually only noticeable on songs with very heavy bass). The bass response is still excellent, though easily the best Ive personally experienced from a factory sound system and Id rather have the system pull the bass back than have a speaker blowout. The CD player reads CD text, which is awesome for those of us who use it on mixes. The iPod interface will display album artwork when it is available. The only annoying thing Ive encountered with the stereo is that it will sometimes switch inputs when you turn the car back on. For instance, Ill leave the car listening to a CD. When I get back in, the car is tuned to USB not sure why. Luckily this only happens if something is plugged in to the USB drive, and it doesnt happen all the time. The navigation system works extremely well, though searching for a POI (point of interest) or setting a destination does take some getting used to. The visual navigation screen has a couple of different views, including upcoming exit information and turns. You dont need to worry about missing a turn because not only is your next turn displayed on the driver screen (in the Information display next to mileage, trip info, etc.), but you get voice alerts when your turn is coming up. The voice alert even tells you what your next turn will be before you get on an interstate exit (Take Exit 254, and in 2/10ths of a mile, turn right onto Highway 6). The system got me through the confusing Chicago interstates and into Michigan without incident this past weekend (it even displays the speed limit for you!). Sirius Traffic Link gives you gas prices of upcoming stations and traffic alerts for your entire route. You can search for gas stations, restaurants and even stores via the POI setting. This feature was incredibly helpful while driving around in an unfamiliar city. After the 6 months of free Sirius service expires, youll have to pay $1.99 per month to keep Traffic Link. Id say its probably worth it, but I wont know for sure until its gone and I see the full extent of what Im missing. So far the air conditioning has been excellent; I was able to keep it on automatic even during the last few blazing hot weeks. The dual zones work well considering the size of the car. It has a max defrost feature that Im hoping will work nicely come winter. Hands-free Bluetooth phone service works quite well. I can converse at a normal volume and the calls come in nice and clear (bear in mind, quality of calls will also depend on your carrier and the coverage you get). My HTC Evo Shift automatically pairs with the car when I get in, and voice dialing is supported (Call Mom and Dad Cell). I have heard that voice dialing will not work for every phone, though. There is a SYNC-cell phone compatability chart here: http://www.nsapp.fordtechservice.dealerconnection.com/sync/usEN/sync_us_EN_iop_2_00.pdf The display provides battery level and signal strength. You can browse your contacts on the touch screen. Text messaging on the touch screen is not supported on my phone, so I cant comment about that. My phone also does not support ringtone transfer to the car speakers. I can stream music from the phone, but I cant select the music from the touch screen, only on the phone itself (though when I browse the phone on the stereo interface, a couple of my ring tones do show up). I dont have the Parking Assist feature, only the rear sensor (rear camera only comes with Parking Assist). Since I have to park pretty close to the wall, the sensor beeps every time I back out of the garage. The car handles quite well (my brother was very impressed and he is an auto snob when it comes to American cars) and the ride is very smooth on the interstate no more struggling to maintain cruise control speed when I go up a hill as with my previous car. Cruise control works very well, including the ability to increase or decrease speed without having to reset it. Plus if you have to brake, you can hit the resume button once you are able to cruise again and the previously-set speed resumes. Acceleration is a lot better than my last car. I no longer have to put the pedal to the floor trying to get on the interstate. The transmission shifts smoothly at high speeds but does occasionally act a little confused at low speeds (mostly when first accelerating after breaking). I know some people are really annoyed by this, but it doesnt bother me. I dont use the Sport mode so I cant really comment on it. My brother used it and was impressed, for whatever thats worth. The car is fairly quiet at high speeds with very low wind noise (though I hear the Cruze supposedly has the quietest cabin in the segment). The front windows are both one-touch up and down (very handy for those pesky tolls). The glovebox and center console are fairly roomy, but there are no other spots to put a cell phone or loose change, unless you use the cup holders. The cup holders are deep enough to accommodate bigger fountain drinks. Plastic bottles and cans dont feel too secure but so far I have not had one tip over. The holders are deep enough that tipping shouldnt be a problem. Its true that back seat leg room is not great, but the seats themselves are comfortable. The fold down center console (only available with the leather package) is a nice touch, though the drink holders are a little small. The auto dimming mirror works extremely well. I havent had much of a chance to test the auto-sensing wipers yet. I havent been able to get the Homelink button programmed correctly, so Im still using my clunky garage door remote. There is supposed to be a Learn button on my garage door receiver but I havent been able to locate it. The seats are quite comfortable. Its so nice to have a power driver seat again, and the manual lumbar support is sweet (note: both are available only with the leather package). The base of the seat could be a little wider for me personally, but keep in mind that Im a bigger guy (6 ft, 270 lbs). Front seat leg room is great, though I do have my seat all the way back. I dont need to have it there in order to drive comfortably, but I prefer to have the maximum amount of leg room. The trunk is pretty roomy for a compact. Its not as deep as my last car, but its wider and can fit more. I LOVE the capless fuel tank my brother opened it and observed, Did you know that your fuel cap is missing? Im sure I will love it even more come winter (no more fumbling around in low temperatures). Mileage has been excellent so far. While tooling around the city, I get an average of 32-33 mpg. On the interstate, I was getting 40-41 mpg for a good majority of the trip to Michigan (when traveling at 70 mph or slightly below). Once I went past 71, the mpg went down to 38-39. So far my peak mpg has been 45 while going 65 on the interstate for about 15 minutes. In summary, I am very pleased with my purchase and have no regrets (though the push button start on the Titanium model might have been nice ). This car strikes the perfect balance of luxury and practicality. The technology in the cabin is excellent and I am already very spoiled I dont think I could ever go back. I have received many compliments on the body design people can hardly believe it is a Ford, let alone a Focus. I hope you prospective buyers found this review helpful in your decision. One final note- my girlfriend, possibly the most frugal person I know (and who once said she would NEVER buy a brand new car), likes it so much that she ordered a Titanium model for herself! She ordered it on July 18th and it is scheduled to ship the last week of August. So the supposed production delays cant be that bad if she can get one in about seven weeks.
Red Focus
zak404, 06/15/2011
2012 Ford Focus SEL 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 6AM)
9 of 11 people found this review helpful
Just picked up my Race Red Focus three weeks ago.Love the colour,satellite radio and stereo. I bought the sedan over the hatch as it seemed to have less wind-noise and looked sportier to me. Car has been very good to this point,good pickup,great gas millage and still a head turner unlike Focus of previous years. This is my third Focus from wagon to mid-life crisis! Still has some wind-noise and rattles as is befitting the Ford tradition.
Overall, I love this car!
coffeegeek, 04/15/2012
2012 Ford Focus SE 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl 5M)
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
I purchased the 2012 4-Dr Sdn SE with Equip group 203A including cruise control, MyFord Sync and Sirius 6 Spkr Radio, and Optional Equipment of SE Sport pkg with Alloy Wheels, Select Shift 6 Speed Auto Transmission, Disc Brakes Front and Rear and Rear Spoiler. I am averaging 35 miles per gallon so far. This car easily keeps up with flow of traffic. On the Interstate it accelerates easily and cruises comfortably. The built in blind spot mirrors make it easy to double check for lane changes and entering on ramps. The steering is very responsive to maneuvers for unexpected circumstances. The trunk has ample room for shopping, or traveling. The fog lights are great in fog or rain conditions.