Ford Focus LW Mk1 (2011-2012)

Great car – I have owned it for 5 years and only had one issue which was the water pump slowly leaking. It wasn't a big issue as it was only a few drops occasionally so I had to top it up about once a month. Other than that it's been fantastic. I also have a heavy foot so It gets driven hard more often than not. It's great on fuel as I drive about 100ks a day… Read more

so going from a Falcon to this has really cut the fuel bill. Also it's a manual so doesn't have the auto issues. I would recommend this car to anyone as long as it's a manual not auto and it's technology for the year is absolutely great.

DON'T BUY IT – Would you like to give away thousands of dollars to mechanics? Would you like a car that will sit nicely for months in the driveway? Then buy Ford Focus! Please!

I find this car great. Know your rights to have car fixed – I had same steering malfunction. Given the car had 65000k on it and car was serviced by ford each time and cost over $30k new i simply told Ford i would lodge complaint with Qld fair trade, such low kilometres is unreasonable given your own warranty is for 100 thousand kilometres. They offered to cover 40%. I told them your parts, your labour… Read more

marked up and only 40%? Kept calm, filed as i said and Ford paid 100%. Do not believe ford customer care. You are covered by consumer laws.

Awesome Car – I have been so lucky I've had the car only for three weeks and have encountered zero problems. I have the base model,the drive is smooth and quiet and the finish of the car is all quality. The comfort level is outstanding... Compared to my other cars. Fuel is great 7.3/100. Other all Im very happy..  Show details

Could be better – a solid car mechanically, just need to be careful of paint peeling on plastic parts of the chasis. This can end uo costing you a bit in cosmetic repairs, but wont stop you from getting from a to b. Fuel efficiency is pretty good across long drives but drops significantly in suburban traffic.  Show details

2014 Ford Focus lemon – I purchased a Ford Focus 2014 model. 59,000kms only 5 months out of warranty and my steering rack has failed. There was a recall for the 2014 Ford Focus manufactured in August between the 8th and the 15th for steering gears incorrectly placed. Mine was built on the 15th of August 2015 but yet no recall was accompanied with my vin. I nearly had an… Read more

accident when it failed. Ford have declined to fix this under good will even though it’s a manufacturer fault.

This is happening too often. Accidents, failures. It’s a joke. We should all come together and actually take these issues to the media. Out them and show Australia how crap there vehicles are.

Optional extras ~ power steering – Bought my 2011 Ford Focus Sports brand new from the day of purchase had issues but it was all in my head or my driving apparently... 3 clutches replaced, TCM module replaced and 1 week after the TCM was replaced power steering went. It is a money pit and according to Ford unroadworthy. These days my focus sits in its parking bay and never moves.… Read more

I can't afford to pay out the finance which is not even mine on it so I can't even sell it... So I pay the rego and just sit and look at it... Hate Ford.. Never again

DONT GET A FORD FOCUS – Last year I purchased a late 2011 Ford Focus titanium. It had at the time only done 60,000kms. It had a full service history, but hadn’t been used frequently over its lifetime. I started to use it as my main car and nearly immediately i experienced jerking, high revs and no take off speed. I put my car in to a ford dealer in January, the extended… Read more

warranty had ran out the month before. They have wiped their hands clean and not given me a cent of contribution. It is really disgusting that you can wipe a car off that has done that amount of kilometres. It is now going to cost roughly $6000-$8000 in repairs and I am struggling to see that this gorgeous well looked after car is nothing but a ride off!!!!

Best Car I’ve ever Owned! – Bought a 2011 Focus Trend Sedan Powershift used July 2018. Been an awesome car ever since. Very fuel efficient, really fun to drive, loves the corners. The boot has good space and is spring loaded so you just press the key and open it goes. 10/10. Onto the next Focus now! Show details

Absolutely disscusted! – I bought my Ford Focus from a dealer 3 years ago. Since the day I bought it there has been nothing but problems. Shuttering, Loss of Power, Clutch Problems, Loss of power and clutch problems at once, Transmission problems, to much power and now 1.5 months after getting it serviced by Ford the steering rack has failed and apparently needs $5000… Read more

to fix it. This has become a joke, why recall cars in America but not Australia? I ford case worker names "Leah" said that in Australia we have different "standards and regulations". Oh does that mean to leave people in a ticking time bomb so they can be seriously injured or die! Just so you dont have to admit your problem?

When asked how does a steering rack go in a car that has always been serviced including the last service by FORD themselves, is only 6 years old and that has NEVER been in an accident? Caseworker "Helen" said she has "NO knowledge" of how the cars work or what a steering rack is. IS THIS A JOKE TO FORD?

Employ workers who KNOW how your cars work and the problems! Peoples lives are at risk every day not only for the people in the cars and who is driving them but for others on the road too!

Ford closed my case and refused to help in any way, in fact, they became very RUDE regarding this situation. This will be taken further because i have had enough with this horrible car that is NOT ROAD WORTHY. If anyone would like to contact me in regards to the same problems you can do so on my email amanie.hadaya@gmail.com.

Electronic Power Steering Failure – Similar to others our 2011 Focus had intermittent power steering issues on start up which started in May this year. The local Ford dealer could not find a problem and denied it was a known issue when we took it to them to investigate. At the next service in September they advised they had installed a software update to specifically fix the… Read more

problem. But it made it worse and 6 weeks later we had total failure.

The car was towed to the dealer at their instruction and it was diagnosed as a total failure needing a new steering rack at a cost of $5,500.

We made a claim to Ford under Australian Consumer Law, and after a week they agreed to pay 60% of the repair cost. We advised this was unsatisfactory and we would lodge a claim at VCAT. A week later they agreed to cover 100% of the cost of the repair.

My advice is know your rights under ACL and stick to the facts, not emotions.

*We would not have purchased the car if we had have known this was a potential issue.

*The power steering unit is not a serviceable part and nothing we could do under normal driving could damage the part.

*We reasonably expect that the steering unit will last the life of the car.

*This is a major component failure.

*The vehicle is unsafe to drive.

This has not been a factory recall in the USA as some people state, that is a different car.

Gear box now the power steering – I bought my Ford Focus 2011 in January 2012 as a demo model...since then have had the transmission changed x 2...after being treated by the dealer as an idiot for 6 months each time I had to resort to begging for them to believe me and now find the power steering is gone...quoted $4300 to fix...the cars not even worth that much...Ford never again...what a lemon.  Show details

Ford Focus EPAS Power Steering Failure – This is just an update on the common EPAS failure in the 2011 - 2015 Ford Focus. I own a 2011 model, which is out of warranty by almost 2 years. After the EPAS steering failed, I was presented with a $6000 bill to repair it. I filed against Ford Australia in VCAT under the Australian Consumer Law. Ford settled and paid for the repair before the… Read more

court date and the matter has now been finalised. I urge anyone else with this issue to do your research and if possible, file in consumer court under the ACL.

Only a matter of time before there's a fatality – Yet another unhappy focus customer with a steering assist malfunction fault!!! My local ford dealership has quoted $5818 to fix what I find out after the fact - is a common fault of this model, 6yrs old and a mere 66 thousand on the clock!!!! I bought this car new in 2012 under the false belief it came with a 5 star safety rating! Not quite sure… Read more

how you earn that 5 stars unless steering is an optional extra!! I'm horrified to think of how many other unsuspecting families may be out there driving around in a ticking time bomb. Ford has deemed my car unsafe to drive and I'm not allowed to even drive it from the dealership because 'the steering could go at any time' they've been happy enough to let me drive my children around in it for the last 6 yrs!! Will be lodging a complaint with the ACCC... refuse to pay nearly 6grand for a known fault that has been recalled in America!

Power steering malfunction – I bought my car in March 2018, diesel titanium. Luckily I have a wet clutch gearbox, didn’t give me any trouble, however it’s not smooth. I have been getting this msg (steering malfunction, service required) for a month. I just turned off the car and turned back on, problem would go away. But today, it didn’t, I had to drive the car back home… Read more

without power steering.

I have been reading blogs and reviews, Ford recalled this issue in USA not in Australia. I will be contacting Ford Australia tomorrow and dealer. Hopefully I don’t need to folk out too much. I will keep you all updated.

I haven’t had very good experience with the dealers in the past. They need to learn some tricks from Toyota, my Partner bought a new CHR, I was blown away how good they were.

Additionally I used to lose engine power sometime, once or twice a year, dealer couldn’t find out why? Rubber seals came off from the doors every year.

2011 FORD Focus Lemon – 2011 Ford Focus Steering has failed. Its a know issue with Ford Australia but they refuse to recall or fix. USA has done a recall but not Australia. Would not recommend. I refuse to pay for a part thats failed due to no fault of my own. Ford even told me there was nothing I could have done to prevent it and that it is a know issue.  Show details

Power Steering Failure – You can add my Focus to the list needing to have the power steering replaced. Submitted a claim to Ford Australia for compensation but was denied as the car is out of warranty and too old. It’s only done 30000km. $3004 plus installation for the replacement part which four weeks later I’m still waiting on as they have no stock in Australia. After… Read more

reading other reviews I will be following this up further with Ford Australia as I too should be entitled to some form of compensation. Apparently this issue was made know to Ford in May 2011; if I was aware of this, I would not have purchased this car. Other than that I have been reasonably happy with the car however in hindsight would not purchase again regardless of power steering issues.

Faults – I have had my Ford Focus sport for 5 years now bought it from new and about a year or 2 ago I had problems with the clutch shuttering I took it back a few times and they just blamed it on my driving. Wouldn’t look at it or fix it. Now I had to replace my heating core in it which they quoted me $2,200 to fix and wouldn’t come to the party to pay… Read more

for half as I only had an extended warranty which didn’t cover it. As a loyal member and customer I find this disgusting of ford to treat there customers like this. It is another obvious fault in the Ford Focus they would not admit to. I took it somewhere else and cheaper to get fixed and they said they have had heaps of them in getting the heating core fixed. I wouldn’t recommend anyone to buy a ford ever.

It's ok – Unfortunately it has the turning circle of a luxury cruise liner, making tight car parks a nightmare. It's an ok drive if not a little bumpy, you'll definitely feel it on uneven roads and when highway diving you'll get a lot of noise leaking in. Fuel economy is ok as long as you're not using it in the city as a work car, constant traffic light… Read more

stops will reduce efficiency. Very quick off the mark. Questionable audio jack and USB placement (back of the glove box). Don't hate it but wouldn't buy it again. Oh and a chunky middle section leaves long legged folks a little cramped for the sake of some ridiculous "holders".

Electric power steering failure – Dangerous driving experience. Spacious front, very little space at the back. Not reliable at all might be a death trap. Power steering locks while driving and could possibly be a death trap to you and family. Ford will not take responsibility in fixing the issue or recall these models, they have advised owners to fork the money to fix the issues and will not guarantee that the power steering fault issues will be fixed in the future.  Show details

Crap gearbox and Power steering issue! – I purchase this car with only 20,000 km on the clock. After driving it around for a couple of weeks the gearbox (Powershift auto) started clunking when accelerating. We had it serviced by Ford which seemed to fix it for a week or two then back clunking. We have had the transmission warning light come up multiple times (which puts the care into… Read more

limp mode) and when ford plugs their computer in it says there is no fault. We have also had the steering assist malfunction warning come up on the dash for the last couple of years. Ford said same thing. cant find the issue then they reset computer and off we go for another day or 2 till it comes up again. Three weeks ago the steering went and the warning signal came up when we started the car (Thank God we were not driving it at the time). Got it towed to ford and they said that the steering rack was showing a fault. Now this is going to be a $4000 fix!!!! probably not worth doing on a car we could only get $10-12000 if we tried to sell it and hope the gearbox doesn't pack it in after we fix steering. Will be interesting to see what happens with the ACCC case and Ford regarding faulty gearboxes. This is my experience with the 2011 model. The new ones may be ok?

Brilliant handling! – This is the best car I have ever owned. Superb dynamics, stylish and a real driver's car. The diesel provides exceptional economy with real grunt when you need it. Excellent for those long country trips. Very comfortable driving position with good support. A little cramped in the rear and boot could br a bit bigger.  Show details

Focus Power Steering Malfunction – After my ford focus trend 2011 was serviced on 1st Sep. 2017, the next day, the power steering stopped working. After 5 years & 8 months I've bought it new. My belief is that all those models = LW Mk1 (2011-2012) made in GERMANY has a problem with the steering, as I have seen many reports about same problem, IT'S A dangerous problem that can… Read more

cause a fatal accident & FORD MOTORS should honour the repair on those vehicles. My car always been taken to FORD motor service & never misses a service. The owner should not be paying for something that it's a defect from the manufacture. All these models should be recalled. There has been 12 deaths that were reported, and 160 complaints on the internet.

Excellent medium sized hatchback with all the euro features – Excellent size!! Much much bigger than a Mazda 3 and a Holden Cruze. Fuel economy on par with others in its class. capped price servicing actually works. Overall really really happy I feel safe and the car has everything I wanted! Cruise control is excellent. Standard sound system is impressive for a car in this price range.  Show details

German build Manual Trend – The car is overall great and has been running for 5 years and currently 85k with only front brake rotors and pads changed for $500inc in private mechanic. Focus is very cheap to run and cost under $300 for annual service and dealer will drive/pick up me to/from work if a loan car isn't available. As well aware the DCG issue and therefore went… Read more

straight to a manual car at the beginning, which turns out it was a great decision. The car have a less steering circle than other cars which means you gets a very engaging drive (compared with a latest subaru OUTBACK I owned). 2.0Lt Direct injection Petrol is still very strong in overtaking comparing those 1.8 craps in Japs and Korean poverty hatch. Despite it can appear to a little bit drinking problem around town but I always get a below 10 figure. In regular trip to interstate it gets only 6.9 on average.

The car is quite on hwy and well isolated thanks to the thick windows. Yet the only annoying thing with Ford is rattles happening inside the dashboard and doors and I still cant allocate the problem neither Ford. Shame on you FORD.

Overall it is a damn good reliable car which drives like an European but the rattles remind me that it was Uncle Sam who made it.

Very disappointing – We have had problems with the power steering.....the warning light would come on and would be righted by turning the car off and on. Now the steering doesn't work at all and will cost $3,500 to replace the power steering rack. Noticed this seems to be a common problem but FORD have rejected our claim for assistance to pay for repairs.  Show details

Worst car I've ever had – Have been having nothing but trouble with this vehicle since I got it in February this year. Only has 40,000kms on it and the rotors and pads have gone already. Gears are rough as guts sticking in 2nd gear while going up hills, feels like it's going to stall at the lights and I get pushed forward then back again in the seat when it changes gears.… Read more

Also sluggish as anything. I found out it actually had a clutch replacement done back in October 2015. 12mths on and it's running like crap and all Ford has done is a software update which has not fixed the problem. DO NOT BUY ONE OF THESE CARS.

February 11th 2017 Update: HATE HATE HATE this Crapbox

I'm taking it the people on here who have said these cars are good work for Ford. These are the worst cars ever. Powershift transmission can not be fixed and are unsafe to drive. Sick to death of the shuddering, losing power, jerking and gears slipping. Only 45,000kms on it and it is now sitting in at my local Ford service department awaiting clutch number 2 in just over 12 months. FOCUS - Ford's Official Crappiest Unfixable Crapboxes.

Lemon Electric Ford – For buying an "apparently new car" it was the most disappointing and time consuming thing I have done. Within the first 3 weeks of having the car I have an airbag deployment problem which indicated that the airbags were not working. I had taken the car in for them to fix it, they told me there was a bad wire and it had been fixed. 1 month later… Read more

the same thing happened. I took it back and expressed my concern because it was meant to be a new car. They said it was a console problem which they had apparently fixed. Another month later when it was raining my windscreen wipers were not working so I could not take it in until it had stopped raining. The dealer said they had not encountered that problem before and I had to wait a whole day for them to fix it. After 2 months the same problem with the airbag light came back. I also noticed that the indicators were not chiming on the console. They had to replace who console after me asking them to fix it 4 times already!

Driving is fine, never had an issues with the handling or gears of the car. Noise isn't too bad

Bigger space inside the car than it appears, can fit surfboards, bikes and have put a fridge in back.

Not bad in fuel, get around 600km out of a tank. Servicing is abit expensive for alot of "checking" and "inspecting" compared to what they actually change. I got quoted $150 for change of "genuine Ford windscreen wipers".

Not worth the trouble and time taking it back for the SAME REPEAT PROBLEM! I would never recommend it to ANYONE unless you want to punish them.

Ford Focus 2011 major issues - dual clutch transmission replaced 2 times and power steering rack fai – Like similar posters, we are now looking at needing to replace the power shift transmission for the third time, which is thankfully currently covered under an extended warranty issued by Ford (but only for 5 years or 160,000 kms), however the car has been in for repair for over 3 weeks now due to a power steering rack failure. This presented… Read more

initially, on occasion, approximately 2 months ago, as the power steering freezing and a warning message saying "power steering assist malfunction". Sometimes it would recover by itself or turning off the car and back on would fix the problem. I had the car booked in to look at this issue but unfortunately it failed completely and I had to have the car towed to the ford service centre. Ford are saying that the part alone will cost AUD$3800. They (Ford Australia) agreed to gives us a 40% discount. We have been trying to sell this car for 8 months but no one is interested due to the known issue with the power shift transmission. I have found a class action against Ford for the same Power Steering failure in the US for 2011-2014 Ford Focus models. When the issue occurred 4 weeks ago, my local Ford centre said they had not seen this issue prior to the week before when another Ford Focus 2011 presented with the same issue. Is anyone else experiencing the Power Steer issue too?

WHO NEEDS STEERING RIGHT? – I have had numerous troubles with my car, 1st it was sold to me as a 2012 model. When it's only a 2011. 2nd my radio... Stops working. Happened 6 times over 12 months and finally they decide to replace it. It's happened 2 more times since. Apparently it's the coding?? I'm still skeptical! 3rd and most importantly my power steering just… Read more

randomly turns off!! You get a power assist malfunction note. The dealership said its due to a

Faulty battery (which passed every single one of their tests) I have had the battery replaced and it still does it. The dealership not only didn't give a damn that my car was not safe. But either do Ford.

Will never ever have another ford as long as I live

Want out of this car 2 clutch replacements numerous sync issues – Now in a car 3 years old the slave cylinder has fallen apart we have a 15 year old Toyota still more reliable than this car and have still not had to replace a slave cylinder Handling is good for short periods in between numerous issues. The car has only 60,000 kms and is not driven hard I now have to disconnect the battery terminal on a regular… Read more

basis to reset the sync if I want it to continue working

Ford have known and admitted to the problems and I now have a car that has devalued dramatically I will be looking hard at the buyback that they have in place or I am off the the dept of fair trading as they have sold me a vehicle that was not cheap and is definitely unreliable

Worst car, gearbox and service ever in the earth – Briefly, I would noy buy any more product of Ford. I would recommend even donkey may much better then the Ford products for transport. Dashboard it is ok but full of mechanic comes with a lot of issues. You should stay far from Ford. Ford authorized services really bad too. They are just distracting the customers till date of expired extended… Read more

warranty. You will be regret if you buy any Ford product especially Focus and Fiesta. Japanese cars are would be best choise for the next one. Good luck for your decision.

Ongoing Automatic Trans Faults – This is my second installment. Basically the focus LW is a good car with plenty of power and is well built.The problem is the duel plate dry clutch Auto trans.Ours has now done 50000ks and the auto still shudders ,fumbles and dithers on upshifts.There is also a rattle coming from the trans when it shudders,Ford has attempted to fix these issues… Read more

five times.The trans has been out twice.I have documentation to support this.The dealer told me three months ago they cant do any more!

I contacted Ford Australia "customer service". after talking to the repairing Ford dealer they came back to and i quote."THE CAR IS OPERATING WITHIN FORD SPECIFICATION " Oh i get it now ,the transmission shudders ,and rattles so this is normal! The customer service people at Ford Australia are very apt at being polite and appeasing customers but really they just want you to go away and sell the car so they are relieved of the responsibility.

These issues are well documented world wide with a class action currently in the US .

All Ford Aust did here was to extend the warranty on the trans .If this is not admitting liability i dont know what is!

The 2016 Focus in due Oct and believe it !!they have gone back to the old style torque converter.

The ACCC are now handling my case along with others with exactly the same problem.

I will keep you informed.

Great Car - Watch Servicing – I purchased this Car New in 2012. What a great performance car. Plenty of Power and get under 6 litres per 100k. It doesn't seem to matter how you drive it it uses the same amount of fuel. It just does everything so easily. Very quiet for a Deisel. My friends don't even know. Just watch the servicing with the Dealer. The oil is very expensive… Read more

and the filter is difficult to get to. Consequently they don't do the filtwr and put cheaper oil in it.

I caught my Dealer by marking the filter and looking at the oil on pickup.

I use my own mechanic now. Also the dealer mechanics are not well trained.

All in all a great car a little ahead of its time for Australia.

Update 5/6/2018

I just traded this car after the Transmission Failed at 80,000k. Cost $3000 to fix. Ford would not come to the party as they said it was only the Petrol ones that had a problem.

Well I think it is the Diesel as well but it is taking a little longer for that to show.

I think it best to avoid all Ford Focus with this Dual Clutch Transmission.

Great reliable vehicle – We bought our Focus in April 2012 and it's been a great little car. We can manage 3 child seats across the back, although it's tight, and boot space is great for such a small car. No significant troubles although we have experienced the occasional clutch shuddering common with this vehicle - the dealer has said it is not severe enough to meet the… Read more

recall criteria and most of the time it's not noticeable - just every now and then. With a growing family and towing requirements it needs upgrading for us now, but overall I would definitely recommend this car for a good compact runabout or first car.