Vehicle GPS goes out and I have no idea if/when the road changes (curves, turns, and if I'm on the correct road or not) apparently APIM module goes out all the time. From stop to start vehicle shudders, lurches, and hesitates. Several times wrecks were miraculously avoided. It's only a matter of time before one does. While driving vehicle looses power, high revs, and losing MPG. For being fuel efficient its burning a lot of it. Ford refuses to even acknowledge my problem. Waiting for my powertrain warranty to expire which is very soon.
2018 Ford Focus transmission complaints
Page 8 of 12: complaints 191 to 220 of 319, newest first, as owners wrote them.
The Ford DPS6 transmission has lost reverse and buck, jerks and possibly sudden acceleration. It’s a 2018 Ford Focus with the same issues as the 2012 models and up.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 35 MPH, the vehicle started to shudder and then decelerated without warning. The contact stated that after several minutes the vehicle started operating normally. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the clutch was replaced, but the failure reoccurred. The vehicle was taken back to the dealer and the transmission module was updated, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to the dealer again and the mechanic stated that the transmission module needed to be updated. The manufacturer was not contacted. The failure mileage was 8,000.
The vehicle is a 2018 Ford Focus SE sedan. The purge valve canister caused my car to stall in traffic and it would not start for up to 20 minutes the recall number is 18s32 but my car specifically does not have this recall, the service engine light is on it turned on right before the car stalled, this is a safety issue because it could lead to a crash due to stalling. The transmission is slipping when it is cold outside and it will not shift until 7,000RPM there is no recall on this but my vehicle has 74xxx miles and should not be having this issue, there is no warning light about the transmission. Ford is going to do a diagnostics for my purge valve but has stated they will not repair unless I pay for it due to lack of recall.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the check engine light illuminated. The contact diagnosed the vehicle and retrieved information indicating a transmission failure. While driving to an independent mechanic at 30 MPH, a message to "Pull Over Safely" appeared on the instrument panel as the vehicle started to overheat. The vehicle was diagnosed by the independent mechanic with a defective clutch. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but offered no assistance. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was approximately 62,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated she noticed the vehicle was not shifting correctly while driving. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer and the clutch was replaced, but the failure recurred several times. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and referred the contact to the federal safety agency Hotline to file a complaint. The failure mileage was 88.
The transmission is going out, they’ve replaced it and it’s still a bad transmission. Having a bad transmission could cause the car to shut off in the middle of the road causing an accident. My engine is constantly overheating, my car gives me warnings to stop the car because of overheating. I can’t even drive on the expressway because i’m scared my car is going to blow up or something. The electrical inside the car does not work, i can’t unlock the doors on the driver side but on the passenger side i can. The sunshade blocking thing you pull down lights don’t come on, nothing about the car really works. The car jerks when driving like it’s about to shut off in the middle of the road, that’s a safety defect or whatever you wanna call it. The car makes a ticking noise when you start it up and OH the idle, let me tell you about the idling of this car. I could be driving 25-35 MPH and the car idles up to 5! literally, it’s unsafe! I have to use my flash light at night when getting things out my car, getting my baby brother out of the car. it don’t make sense.
Car will not go in reverse transmission went out and needs tcm repair, so to shift fork b circuit going out causing damage to transmission
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the transmission experienced rough shifting while the vehicle jumped, and the engine revved loudly. The transmission fault message was displayed. Additionally, the fuel gauge level was inaccurate. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the transmission control unit (TCU) needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired and remained at the dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 73,474.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving 30 MPH, the transmission started to hard shift. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact took the vehicle to the local dealer, but the mechanic was unable to duplicate the failure. The manufacturer had been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.
The contact's son owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at various speeds, the vehicle was jerking while depressing the accelerator pedal. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with transmission failure. The vehicle was then towed to a dealer where contact’s son was informed that there were several possible causes for the failure; and he was provided an estimate for a diagnostic test. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was informed that the vehicle was not under warranty or recall. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was unknown.
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 4200.00 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 in
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.
This VIN needs to be updated clearly because I was experiencing transmission issues that were extremely unsafe causing the vehicle to jerk left and ride on the road as well as not go into reverse - I almost got killed by upcoming traffic!!!! Ford as well as the dealership took no accountability but stated there was a recall with the clutch system and it needed to be replaced as well as codes that needed to be reset. My vehicles year, make, and model indeed have similar recalls so my VIN should be under that classification as well because it left the repair shop with $1,000 worth of repairs and it arrived to me unable to start! There’s still internal issues and unfixable transmission issues like many of the pending lawsuits have stated.
The car sputters consistently in 2nd gear
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 federal safety agency 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 federal safety agency 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 stopped at a traffic light, the vehicle failed to accelerate. The contact stated she depressed the accelerator pedal harder than usual and the vehicle jerked and accelerated abruptly. The contact stated that on another occasion there was an abnormal sound while shifting gear. The vehicle was taken to the dealer to be diagnosed and the contact was informed that the transmission and clutches needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was contacted and stated that the vehicle warranty had expired. The failure mileage was 58,000.
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 the federal safety agency 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 called on behalf of her daughter who owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that her daughter attempted to start the vehicle, but the engine failed to turn over. No warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was towed to the dealer where it was diagnosed that the transmission control module failed and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and the contact was advised that the VIN was not under recall. The failure mileage was approximately 50,000.
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 the federal safety agency 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.
I informed the dealership twice that something was wrong with my vehicle. I had it serviced twice, now I’m being told my TCM needs to be replaced.
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