There are 50 owner-reported fuel system complaints for the 2018 Ford Focusin NHTSA's database. These are unverified consumer reports and may not reflect confirmed defects.
The fuel pump has failed and causes my car to loose power after the car has started. This is able to occur while operating the vehicle and results in immediate loss of power. This component has been inspected by an auto mechanic and will be looked at by the Ford dealership. A check engine warning appeared on 27Oct2025. However, my vehicle had been showing symptoms starting as early as Nov 2023. The symptoms included: a clunking vibration while accelerating the vehicle and switching gears, stalling at low speeds, and making weird noises when switching between gears at low speeds. I first contacted a Ford dealership about these symptoms six months ago.
While driving the vehicle at 60 mph in traffic, all propulsion was lost and the car displayed "stop safely now." Fortunately, I had enough momentum to drift to the side of the road, but this was a very unsafe situation. The vehicle was towed to a dealership where they diagnosed the high voltage battery to have experienced a sudden failure. The vehicle has approximately 60k miles, and searching online indicates that this is a common problem at this mileage. The replacement batteries are jow only built to order, so the vehicle has now been out of service for over 2 months while waiting on a replacement battery.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after refueling and driving a short distance, the vehicle was parked. The contact stated that later while attempting to restart the vehicle, the vehicle failed to immediately start. Additionally, on several occasions after refueling, the vehicle failed to immediately restart. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer who replaced the canister purge valve, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The contact stated that the vehicle was previously repaired under the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 111,000.
Vehicle keeps dying while in idle or low speed, sometimes hard to crank. Battery/electrical has been checked.
Vehicle fails to start after refueling with gasoline. Research has revealed a faulty, purge valve as the problem.
After filling up gas tank, car continues to sputter and tries to stall. This only happens after filling tank.
My car stalls when I get gas. If I get gas, I have to try multiple times to start my car and once it starts, I can’t stop. If I stop, my car will turn off and I have to start it again. My car has died in intersections and on streets many times. I called ford and they told me that I am basically out of luck and will have to have it repaired on my own dime even though I am having the same symptoms of a current recall.
On several occasions over the last several thousand miles, several issues have developed (all without warning at the time of first occurrence). At random times the engine will shut off when lifting out of the throttle. The car will run out of fuel before the fuel gauge is on empty or the "Miles to Empty" indicator state there are more miles to empty. Additionally, when shutting off the car to fuel at a gas station, the car takes up to a minute of cranking to re-start. When it starts, it will randomly shut off for the first several minutes unless throttle is applied before it shuts off. On 10/30/24 when driving with the gas gauge and range to empty indicators not on empty, the car stalled when beginning a slight climb, leaving the car stranded at night in the left most lane of traffic. This suggests fuel tank deformation. When issues started, the Canister Purge Valve was tested and found to be working correctly. It appears Recall 18V-735 is the issue here. Every symptom related to Recall 18V-735 is being experienced ("malfunctioning Canister Purge Valve (CPV) that can stick open and a Powertrain Control Module (PCM) software that does not adequately detect a stuck-open CPV. A CPV that is stuck open in these vehicles can cause excessive vacuum in the fuel vapor management system, potentially deforming the fuel tank. If this occurs, the customer may observe a Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL), inaccurate or erratic fuel gauge indication, drivability concerns or loss of motive power."). Expanding this recall to cover 2018 Ford Focus with the 1.0L Ecoboost seems prudent as Ford should update the PCM to avoid drivers of this vehicle being stranded in unsafe situations.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while the vehicle was idling, the vehicle stalled and failed to immediately restart. The check engine warning light remained illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who diagnosed that the canister purge valve had failed causing the fuel tank to collapse. The contact was informed that the purge valve, fuel tank, and fuel tank module needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not yet repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure. The contact was informed that the VIN was not included in NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (FUEL SYSTEM, GASOLINE). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 78,283.
Engine light came on while after car hassertated withe code p144A engine detected running the PCM and obstruction in the EVAP SYSTEM PURGE VAPOR LINE IS BLOCKED AND TO REPLACE EMISSIONS SYSTEM PURGE VAPOR CANISTER PURGE CONTROL VALVE
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, the vehicle would shut off or idle roughly immediately after starting. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was able to restart; however, the failure recurred. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened and the contact was referred to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 147,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after refueling, the vehicle failed to start-up immediately. The contact stated that after starting the vehicle, the vehicle stalled. The vehicle was taken to the local Auto Zone and diagnosed with a faulty purge valve. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer and local dealer were notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. The failure mileage was approximately 90,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled and idled with the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact was able to restart the vehicle, but the failure persisted. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with purge valve failure. The contact was informed that the purge valve needed to be replaced. The dealer was contacted; however, the vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened and the contact was referred to the NHSTA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 83,000.
I bought this car in 2020-2021. My check engine light came on recently and when I took it in to get it fixed, I payed $1,140 (general maintenance, and fuel injector cleaner) and when I picked it back up they informed me that some 2018 models had a recall on my car. I called the dealership, and they informed me I had no open recalls. However, I am having all of the symptoms of the recall open on some of the same vehicles. Whenever I get gas, my car will not start. I have to turn my car over multiple times before it will safely start. Sometimes, when I get gas, if I slow down or completely stop my car will just turn off and then I have to repeat the same process over and over until it will start on its own. It has died in the middle of busy roads before and it is not safe.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle inadvertently stalled. The vehicle was towed to the residence where a relative diagnosed the vehicle and retrieved DTC code: P1416. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic who related the failure with an unknown sensor valve. The contact related the failure with the NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline) however, the vehicle was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was unknown.
Oil light on engine is on. Issue is related to recall. Not able to fix issue until early next year
My check engine light came on. I have the code P0456 indicating the evaporative emission system has a leak. This is the same code that caused a recall for 1,282,596 Ford focuses on recall #18S32. My VIN number is not in the recall, but I’m having the same problem.
previous recall 18V735000 that covered the fuel system was inadequate. my 2018 se is constantly displaying incorrect fuel levels, and it has multiple warnings regarding the fuel system.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after refueling the vehicle, the vehicle failed to restart immediately. The vehicle restarted after 2-3 attempts. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed that the canister purge valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was opened. The manufacturer advised the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 18V735000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the VIN was not included in the recall. The failure mileage was approximately 120,000.
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that after the vehicle was refueled, the vehicle failed to start. In addition, the check engine warning light illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had started a year ago; however, the failure had since become persistent. The vehicle was taken to the dealer where it was diagnosed with canister purge valve failure. The contact was informed that the canister purge valve needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and a case was filed. The contact was advised to contact the NHTSA Hotline to report the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 60,000.
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 25, 2026