 I bought my 2012 Ford Focus in October 2014.  I should have done the research, but I didn't.  I test drove the car and noticed a little shutter and how it went backwards on the hill, but didn't think anything of it.  I should have!!!Within two weeks of having the car, my breaks started squeaking.  I thought I needed to changed my brake pads.  They said they were fine and couldn't duplicate the problem.  Then two weeks later, it start stuttering to the point the car would shake every time I hit the gas to get the car moving.  Took the car back and thankfully the warranty covered that.  The brakes continued to squeak and I just had my mechanic change the brake pads anyway and the squeaking stopped.The car worked fine for a while then all of a sudden the stuttering came back and also when I would drive in the city and hit a even a small bump it felt like the back of my car would fall apart.  I took the car in and was told I needed new shocks in the back.  $450 dollars later I had new shocks and a realignment and that noise was still there!!!  The stuttering would happen EVERYTIME I hit the brake and then the gas.Finally after dealing with this for over 6 months, the car violently shook on a hill while trying to accelerate.  I couldn't take it anymore and traded it in the next day.  I didn't get very much for the car and had to take money out of my Savings account to get my new Nissan Altima.  Didn't want to, shouldn't have had to, but it was a great decision.I had my 2012 Ford Focus for a year and dumped almost $1000 of my own money on repairs and only put on 13,000 miles on the car.  This was a complete POS and the biggest waste of money ever!!DON'T BUY THIS CAR, YOU WILL REGRET IT!