Thinking About Buying My Dad’s 2012 Ford Focus… Good Idea or Not?

I don’t have a car right now, but I need one for my daily commute (about 15 minutes each way). My dad is getting rid of his 2012 Ford Focus sedan. He’s replacing the tires and fixing the catalytic converter before handing it over. The car has 132,000 miles, runs well, and gets solid gas mileage.

He still owes $6,085 on it, and I’m planning to pay it off in full. I’ve heard these models have transmission issues—should I be worried? Worth buying or should I walk away?

If it’s a manual, go for it. If it’s an automatic, I’d stay far away.

Yeah, those transmissions are known for issues. If it’s still working fine and hasn’t been replaced, it might keep running for a while or it could fail soon. The main problems are the clutch and TCM. The clutch slips, which wears out the TCM faster. Sometimes resetting the TCM can help, but it’s hit or miss.

If it’s a stick, you’re golden. If it’s an automatic… run.

I have a 2012 and it’s kinda rough, but that’s more due to my car’s specific history. The transmission makes me nervous, but I haven’t had issues yet. If I sold it today, I doubt I’d get $6K CAD for it. Mine does have an emissions code, no A/C, some rust, and a rebuilt title, though.

Even if the transmission fails, you could always swap it for a manual. There’s a guy on YouTube who documented his swap, and even with all the mistakes he made, he still got it done. Watching that made me feel confident I could do it too when I eventually fix up my parts car.

$6K for a 12-year-old Focus with that many miles is a gamble, especially if it’s not a manual. That said, depending on how it’s been driven, it could last you to 200K miles. It’s just a roll of the dice.

Nope, I’d pass on this one.

Only if it’s a manual!

I actually love mine, so it’s not all bad!