This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
My son was driving home from Boston on 12/18/22, where he attends college. About 30 minutes into his drive home to NJ his car slowed down tremendously, and his RPMs were shooting up and down like crazy. He has about 69k miles on his vehicle. We get it towed to a Ford dealership in Medford, MA. The next day I drive from NJ to the dealership where they tell us that they have seen this problem a lot lately with 2018 Focus' and it could possibly be the TCM, which has a recall on it. Well unfortunately his VIN does not fall under the recall. Personally, if there is a recall on this powertrain issue for certain VINs, it should be on all of them. Who can afford $4200 nowadays to pay for their vehicle to get repaired"??" Especially a college student. We got him this car brand new in 2018. Well come to find out after they diagnosed it, it is the TCM. Code that the computer found is P07 ALPHA5.
Purchased a Ford Focus 2018 (42,000k miles) in August 2019 from Drive Time Stone Mountain as a graduation gift for my daughter. In December 2019, while driving she notices her ECO went out and it no longer turned off when the car stopped, 2 weeks later the car stops in the middle of the street. We take it to a dealership in Statesboro, GA where she attends college and they inform us that the motor needs to be replaced. The motor is replaced and the ECO comes back on but goes off again in abt 3 mos. not even a yr later same thing happens same diagnostic of motor went out. The same FORD dealership installs a new one. Sept 2022, she is driving car stops a good Samaritan who happens to be a mechanic told her its the motor and power train and it will cost $7000 to replace because we are 60 days past warranty. Needless to say the car is still there. I have since purchased her a Kia with a lifetime engine. However, I need for this FOCUS to be fixed as a good will courtesy so I can sell it or trade it in. Paying $550 a month for a note and insurance for a non working car SUCKS! By the way, the car has 61,000k miles on it when it went out this last time. The sad part is that there are hundreds of FORD FOCUS owners with the same issue! Why not put a recall on this hunk of junk??!!!!
2018 Ford Focus shutters, bucks when starting out from stopped position. Vibrates and lunges. RPM's too high. Dealer could not duplicate issue when I took it
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 50 MPH, the vehicle lost motive power and stalled. There was no warning light illuminated. The contact restarted the vehicle and the vehicle started operating normally. The vehicle was not yet diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was contacted, and a case was filed. The failure mileage was 90,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while starting the vehicle, the vehicle started to stall as if there was no gasoline inside the fuel tank. The contact stated that the transmission warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that after several attempts the vehicle started as needed. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and the contact was informed that the PCV needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted but offered no assistance. The contact was referred to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 100,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at undisclosed speeds and accelerating, the vehicle was shaking abnormally. There were no warning lights illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer and the clutch was replaced. The failure reoccurred and the clutch was replaced three times. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and informed the contact that the vehicle was 600 miles over the warranty, and the VIN was not included in a recall. The contact was referred to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The approximate failure mileage was 20,000.
While driving service transmission light came on, car won't shift, no reverse, 76,000 Miles on car. Check engine light on but no codes showing. No warning as this happened.
bought my car 2018 ford focus in 2019 used. its since been at the dealership 3 times. transmission is jerking and taking off by itself. they had my car for 5 months said it was fixed but almost a year later doing the same thing. the warranty just ran out, they said i would have to pay for it. the car is very dangerous. i still owe 10000 on the car. i am so heartbroken. i have no one to help me.
The automatic transmission control module has malfunctioned. When the car is stopped and the accelerator is pressed, the car will stall and jolt forward. This is an extreme safety risk as it could cause an accident and could be a life or death situation. The problem has been confirmed and diagnosed by a dealer. The vehicle was inspected by the manufacture company. The check engine light appeared as the vehicle was being given to the dealership for inspection.
I hit 75,000 miles in my Focus. Got routined maintenance. Having issues with the transmission. While driving the car it skips from 1st to 3rd, it will not reverse, and I have to get it jump started half the time. Haven-??t been able to drive my car since 05/2022. Ford acknowledged my recall but the VIN number isn-??t the same, so they aren-??t willing to help out much. The amount of money it-??s going to take to fix this car will not be worth it.
Transmission / Clutch Slippage. Apparently a well known issue for the 2018 Ford Focus. I am now looking at my 3rd replacement for the clutch as it continues to fail, most recently within 10k miles from the last replacement. Vehicle has less than 85k. Simple daily driving and the vehicle transmission starts to slip gears when leaving a stop, from 1st to 2nd gear. This is not good when crossing larger interceptions or going up hills. The longer I drive the vehicle, the worse it gets. Ford is well aware of this issue with the 2018 and earlier models, as are the Ford dealerships and Focus owners.
The clutch on the vehicle continues to fail. It has been replaced three times by a ford dealer. When taking off from a stopped position the vehicle makes a grinding noise and shudders when switching from first to second gear(Around 16mph). The shudders can be slight or aggressive enough that it shakes the entire car.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving approximately 40 MPH and depressing the accelerator pedal, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was not drivable. The contact towed the vehicle to the local dealer, where it was diagnosed with needing the transmission control module (TCM) to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired due to the part being on backorder. Upon investigation, the contact associated the failure with NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 54,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while idling at red traffic light, the vehicle jerked and shuddered and then hesitated while attempting to accelerate. The failure also occurred while attempting to turn the vehicle to the left or right and also while shifting into reverse(R). The contact stated that occasionally the transmission failed to engage as needed. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the clutch was replaced three times. The vehicle was diagnosed again and it was determined that the clutch needed to be replaced again. The clutch was not replaced. The contact stated the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Train) however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and opened a case. The approximate failure mileage was 50,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the clutch pedal was vibrating and slipping. There was an abnormal transmission noise detected. There were no warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it was diagnosed that an electronic update was needed. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact stated that the failure was related to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was approximately 98,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 70 MPH, the check engine warning light illuminated; the contact pulled over and turned off and restarted the vehicle and the vehicle operated normally. The contact stated that the failure continued and the vehicle would not accelerate as needed. The contact stated that the vehicle also shifted to neutral(N) independently. The contact was able to pull over safely. An independent mechanic diagnosed the vehicle and stated that the transmission was defective. The contact was referred to the local dealer for assistance. The dealer was contacted and they stated that the VIN was not under recall. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 70,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving the clutch was sticking. The vehicle hesitated and almost stopped before shifting into gear. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The transmission overheating message was displayed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who informed the contact that the transmission needed to be replaced. The contact called the local dealer who informed her that the clutch was rusted; however, the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The contact stated the failure was similar to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V845000 (Power Train). The manufacturer was contacted but no additional assistance was provided. The approximate failure mileage was 82,171,
I own a 2018 Ford Focus and am experiencing the same symptoms as other 2018 Focuses involved in NHTSA Campaign #18V845000, however my VIN was not part of the batch that was recalled. The car stutters/shudders when accelerating at low speeds/take off. It switches gears hard, often with a jerk or a clunk. It also switches gears inconsistently, ramping the RPMs at times. We visited the Ford dealership on 3 separate occasions to address this issue to no avail. The third time was 7 months after I purchased the vehicle - 1 month too late to qualify as a lemon under my state's lemon laws. I believe this recall needs to be expanded to include other 2018 Ford Focuses sooner rather than later.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- Wallington, NJ, USA