2018 FORD FOCUS — Complaint #2081276
Open-data reference.
NHTSA Complaint about POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM) filed April 8, 2025
NHTSA complaint #2081276 (ODI reference 11653449) concerns a 2018 FORD FOCUS and was filed on April 8, 2025. The owner reports the failure occurred on October 8, 2023. The vehicle had 85,000 miles on the odometer at the time of the incident. The report was geocoded to Missouri based on the filer's self-reported location. The affected component is categorized as power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm/pcm/tecm), one of NHTSA's standardized taxonomy codes used to group defect patterns across make, model, and year.
The filer flagged the following severity indicators: crash: no, fire: no, injuries: 0, fatalities: 0. No crash, fire, or fatality was associated with this report, which places it in the early-warning stream rather than the priority-review stream. Because a VIN was supplied, this complaint is tied to a specific vehicle and not just a model-year cohort.
Individual complaints are consumer-submitted and unverified by NHTSA engineers — the agency's role at this stage is to collect, index, and make them searchable. What matters for federal action is the pattern: when many owners of the same FORD FOCUS cohort independently describe similar power train:automatic transmission:control module (tcm/pcm/tecm) failures, defect investigators have grounds to open a PE and request manufacturer data. Related filings for the same vehicle and component appear below, and the detail page for the full 2018 FORD FOCUS shows the complete component-level complaint distribution alongside any active investigations or recalls.
Complaint Description
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving from a complete stop, the vehicle hesitated and experienced hard transmission shifts. There was no warning light illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where the transmission clutch and the clutch actuator were replaced. The contact stated that while her significant other was driving approximately 25 MPH, the vehicle stalled. The driver was unable to pull to the side of the road. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the driver noticed that the engine had fallen onto the ground. The vehicle was towed to a second dealer, Don Vance Ford, Inc. (MO-38, Marshfield, MO 65706), where it was determined that the motor mounts needed to be replaced. The vehicle was repaired. Additionally, the contact stated that the vehicle had failed to respond upon shifting to reverse(R). The contact stated that the vehicle was significantly sluggish while shifting into gear. The first dealer was notified of the failure and informed the cont
Complaint Details
| NHTSA Complaint ID | 2081276 |
| ODI Number | 11653449 |
| Date Filed | April 8, 2025 |
| Failure Date | October 8, 2023 |
| VIN | 1FADP3E21JL |
Similar POWER TRAIN:AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION:CONTROL MODULE (TCM/PCM/TECM) Complaints for 2018 FORD FOCUS
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that while driving at undisclosed speeds and then attempting to park the vehicle, the check engine warning light illuminated. The vehicle was tak
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle stalled with the fuel system and transmission warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was rest
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated while driving at 50 MPH, the vehicle stalled while shifting gears. The contact stated that the vehicle lost motive power with the check engine wa
The contact owns a 2018 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the vehicle failed to shift into reverse. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the local dealer where it
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 vehi
Source: NHTSA Vehicle Complaints Database. Component taxonomy and severity codes are standardized by NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation.
Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.