There are 50 owner-reported electrical system complaints for the 2013 Ford Focusin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The vehicle was serviced at Bartow Ford in Bartow, Florida, where approximately $1,100 was paid for the installation of a Body Control Module (BCM). Less than two weeks after this repair, the vehicle was returned to the same dealership due to issues involving the windshield wipers. According to the dealership’s own written statement, their technician began diagnosing the issue by replacing a blown fuse and tracing the wiring harness. While inspecting the wiring harness near the heater hose area, the technician observed coolant dripping onto the harness. When the technician touched the harness, it immediately caught fire. The shop foreman then had to disconnect the battery to prevent further damage. This fire occurred while the vehicle was in the possession and control of the dealership and during active diagnosis by their technician. Despite this, the dealership is now attempting to charge approximately $3,700 to repair the wiring harness and related components. We find this unacceptable. It is unreasonable to expect the customer to pay for repairs to damage that occurred during dealership service and inspection. This situation raises serious concerns, particularly because the dealership had recently performed electrical work on the vehicle involving the BCM only two weeks earlier.
Power steering randomly stops working when vehicle is running. It happens most often right after I start the vehicle. I can turn the vehicle off and back on a couple times to get it to work. I am worried that it will happen while active driving. Power steering light comes on dashboard. It has happened many times.i will list the last date that it happened.
There is an issue with the vehicle not receiving gasoline and the car has left me stranded
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle stalled and shut off at a red light. The contact stated that after ten attempts the vehicle restarted. The vehicle was not taken to an independent mechanic or dealer to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was 196,666.
The washer fluid pump leaks causing liquid to make its way along the electrical wires leading to the Body Control Module (BCM) and causing corrosion on the electrical connections and rendering the vehicle either inoperable or causing it to stall in some cases.
While driving on busy street, car gave sudden warning light 'stop safely now’, car then slowed and shut down on its own, not giving enough time to find a safe place to pull over, posing risk of serious injury to myself, my son, and my wife, as this happened to all of us while driving this vehicle.
Horn stopped working three times. Was replaced by a certified mechanic both times and once again horn stopped working. Horn is getting wet because of its placement from what the mechanic he also said it’s a safety issue that does needs to recall
Bought my car from a dealer Ford and it was fine to start out then the battery died put a new one in kept doing what it was took it in to Ford They said it was the battery so I bought a new battery I asked them to check the alternator starter and the electrical wiring and things to see if they were something wrong with them they told me no that they had checked each one I can’t be driving in the whole car will shut off and shut back on then when you get in it the next day there is no electrical working had to call [XXX] when I was grocery shopping to have them to come look at it they jarred the car little bit and it started up then my brother got in the car to start it lights and dash lights kept going off like it was possessed but would not start Would like to know if they are any recalls on the electrical of the car it’s a 2013 Ford Focus INFORMATION Redacted PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6).
Car acted like the battery was dead, then when the car started the Check Engine Light engaged. The car did not have to be jumped. Put the car in Drive and accelerated. The Transmission changed gears rather rough. After a couple miles the car, although in reverse or drive had, zero acceleration power. Seemed as though I was in Park or Neutral. The 3rd day with this issue, I was prompted that the Transmission was overheating. Please note that the car had been started and in park for 5 minutes. Took the vehicle to the auto shop and found the TCM failed at 54 thousand miles. Before this issue there was not any sign of issues. Looked at my maintenance records and found the TCM had been reprogrammed by an Official Authorized Ford Dealership.
The stereo has faulty mosfet components IT SOUNDS LIKE MACHINE GUN SHOTS I almost hit another car and drove off the road. Even when the car is off it does this! this is a MAJOR safety issue no one is doing ANYTHING about. Half my dashboard is on my floor in order to make this stop! I can’t lock or unlock my doors without the key fob so if I needed to get out of the vehicle fast I have to reach in my pocket to hit the key fob. The radio also drains the battery while the car is off and making VERY LOUD MACHINE GUN SHOT NOISES. A new stereo unit is about $1000 this is a MAJOR safety problem as you can’t even turn the volume down ITS ON FULL BLAST! Whether the radio is on or off the only option is to take the 1.5’by1.5’ section of the dash “the whole middle” and put it somewhere else until this can be fixed! RANDOM FULL BLAST GUN SHOTS ARE NOT SAFE! I’ve read a LOT of forums and there are A LOT of people that have been in accidents because this is so LIAD and uncontrollable. Please let me know what I am supposed to do about this as your site says the radio is not covered? I’ve driving down the highway and the gunshots go off NON STOP for random lengths of time it is NO EXAGGERATION ITS AS LOUD AS GUN SHOTS! I shouldn’t have to drive my car with ear plugs or headphones I wear at the gun club while shooting guns! The mosfets on the pcb board are not adequately cooled, they break down because the heat for the car blows HOT AIR right on/around them. The design of the stereo uses the plate on the back to keep them cool, not possible while running the heater! I am unsure what to do as I need to be able to safely drive my car without it shoot full blast blank gun shots at me!also the FUSE for the radio does NOT blow shutting the stereo off when this happens. The mosfets get so hot I worry I’ll have an electrical fire while driving! This radio is NOT SAFE when the cheap components don’t function correctly and the safety features like fuses DONT WORK! I DONT WANT TO CRASH!
Radio makes loud popping noises on occasion. This is available for inspection upon request assuming a fix is not made. This loud noise could put the driver and others at risk because loud popping noises could scare dive. This problem has been inspected and confirmed by an audio shop. The radio works on occasion but often has popping sound and cuts out.
This car started to make loud engine noises which caused the car to shut off then it restarted on it's on I finally got it to parking lot when I cut it off it still was rattling and clacking like I was cranking it up on the left side of engine so I waited till about 30 minutes what ever it was it killed my battery then it started back up again but then through a check engine light on but when I got it checked it wouldn't read any codes so the display on board of the car read transmission shift in reverse but I wasn't in reverse so it was stuck in transmission mode and could not drive it I got it at a shop which they only would say a transmission, but they only wants to put a transmission in with out checking if it could be anything else like a electrical problem but he says no a transmission so now I'm only at 150k miles and this goes out without notice, I even asked about the transmission acuator but he says no the whole transmission, I just got the car like 3 months ago, and that is no good
Powertrain loss and loss of engine power, power control module. Engine failure on a busy highway. Putting me at risk of an accident. The car has been serviced by an independent service center. Has not yet been inspected by the manufacturer. Check engine and other warning lamps appeared
The contact owns a 2013 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 73 mph, the contact heard a loud knocking sound and received an electrical shock from the steering wheel. The contact sustained a numb left arm due to the electrical shock but medical attention was not sought. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was not taken to a dealer nor independent mechanic to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 142,938.
TRANSMISSION SEEMS TO BE SLIPPING AS IF THE GEARS ARE NOT CATCHING DURING CERTAIN TIMES OF SHIFTING. ENGINE SEEMS TO LOSE COMPRESSION. MECHANIC AFTER MECHANIC SEEMS TO HAVE A HARD TIME DIAGNOSING AND REPAIRING ISSUES.
CAR IS LESS THAN 6 YEARS OLD, STEERING COMPLETELY FAILS IN VERY COLD WEATHER DESPITE A FULLY ELECTRIC EPAS STEERING SYSTEM (NO POWER STEERING FLUID). IN ADDITION TO THE RADIATOR AND FUEL PUMP NEEDING REPLACEMENT WITHIN THE FULL LIFESPAN OF THIS CAR, IT IS VERY UNSAFE AND NOT ROAD WORTHY.
WIRING HARNESS IN TRUNK ALL WIRES ARE EITHER BROKEN OR EXPOSED CA'T ACCESS MY TRUNK HAVE TO PUT DOWN BACK SEAT AND GO TO TRUNK TO OPEN
DRIVER SIDE WINDOW REPAIRED ONES AND BROCKE AGAIN. 2 TIMES TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS AND HAD THE CLUCH REPLACED. AND DRIVER SIDE DOOR RUBBER SEAL KEEPS FALLING OFF
MY CAR IS CONSTANTLY HAVING ELECTRICAL ISSUES THE RADIO WILL CUT OFF IN THE MIDDLE OF PLAYING IT WON'T TURN BACK ON MY CAR LITERALLY HASS TO BE TURNED OFF FOR A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF TIME BEFORE THE RADIO WILL COME BACK ON AT ALL AND THEN IT DISCONNECTS AND MAKES A LOUD POPPING SOUND LIKE SOMETHINGS GOING TO CATCH ON FIRE IN THE CAR WON'T EVEN BE ON NOR WILL THE KEY BE IN THE IGNITION I FEEL THAT IT IS VERY UNSAFE DUE TO THE FACT THAT THAT KIND OF ANNOYS IS A BIG DISTRACTION AND COULD CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. ALSO WHILE DRIVING MY CAR HAS HESITATED A NUMBER OF TIMES WHILE AT A STOPLIGHT OR IN THE RAIN OR WHILE I'M TRYING TO MAKE A TURN OR WHEN I'M TAKING OFF IT DOESN'T MATTER IT'S LIKE IT DOESN'T GET ENOUGH GAS OR IT HAS PROBLEMS SWITCHING WITH THE RPMS AND THIS IS A CONSTANT PROBLEM THIS IS NOT JUST ONE OR TWO TIMES THIS IS SINCE I HAVE OWNED THIS VEHICLE AND IT'S A LITTLE BIT RIDICULOUS CONSIDERING THIS CAR HAS A FIVE STAR RATING DEFINITELY NOT A FIVE STAR RATING CAR CONSIDERING HOW MANY TIMES I'VE BEEN STUCK OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC AND ALMOST GOTTEN INTO CAR ACCIDENTS BECAUSE OF THIS CARI WOULD REALLY LIKE FOR THIS TO BE INVESTIGATED QUICKLY THIS IS A LIABILITY TO ANYONE WHO OWNS THIS YEAR MAKE AND MODEL OF CAR
POWER TO DASHBOARD WENT OFF, NO EXTERIOR LIGHTS INCLUDING HEAD LIGHTS, TAIL LIGHTS, BRAKE LIGHTS, FLASHERS, SPEEDOMETER, DIRECTIONAL S. THE ONLY THING THAT WORKED WAS THE AC. CAR WAS STATIONARY. THIS IS THE SECOND TIME THIS OCCURRED. IF THIS HAD HAPPENED WHILE DRIVING, IT COULD HAVE CREATED A HAZARDOUS SITUATION FOR ME AND OTHER MOTORISTS.*DT*JB
Showing 1–20 of 50 complaints
Complaints are unverified consumer reports submitted to NHTSA. A high complaint count may reflect vehicle popularity, not defect severity. Data sourced from NHTSA public records.
Data synced from NHTSA on Apr 26, 2026