What 55 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Ford Transit Van Bev

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Transit. The contact stated that while slowly driving into a parking space, the vehicle suddenly experienced unintended acceleration and crashed into another parked vehicle. During the incident, the brake pedal was pressed, but the vehicle did not stop. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the failure. No injuries were reported and a police report was taken at the scene. Also, the vehicle later experienced the same failure. While attempting to park the vehicle again experienced unintended acceleration and drove forward, crashing into a second vehicle. During the crash, the two front occupants of the second vehicle had sustained undisclosed injuries that later required medical treatment. No further information was available. A police report was taken at the scene. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer, who was unable to determine the cause of the second failure. The contact indicated that the failure had recently reoccurred for the third time. The cause of the failures was not determined. The manufacturer was not contacted regarding the failures. The failure mileage was unknown.

NHTSA ODI 11666727

The contact owns a 2018 Ford Transit. The contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle made an abnormal whistling sound. The check engine warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where an unknown sensor was replaced, and the check engine warning light was no longer illuminated. Additionally, the contact stated while driving 60 MPH with her husband and 5 children in the vehicle, they all started having severe headaches, were dizzy and her daughter 's ears were ringing. The contact stated that she pulled to the side of the road for a moment. Then she rolled down the windows and drove to the residence. The contact stated that her 5 years old and 8 years old vomited upon arriving at the residence. The contact and her family did not seek medical assistance. The contact stated that they were able to recover after 24 hours. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic, where it was diagnosed that the exhaust manifold bolts were fractured, causing carbon monoxide to leak inside the cabin of the vehicle. The vehicle was not repaired. The dealer was not notified of the failure. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and informed the contact that they aware of the failure and that an improved part had been made. The manufacturer referred the contact to the NHTSA hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 110,000.

NHTSA ODI 11577564

On March 7, 2023, at approximately 1:45 PM, Bus 437 had caught fire in the engine compartment of the vehicle while sitting in the parking lot. The bus had just came off of a route minutes before & the driver had reported the dash tell tale (warning) lights had come on. The Operator switched the engine off and then noticed smoke coming from the engine compartment area prior to the thermal event. The fire caused significant damage & the vehicle is a total loss; the engine compartment, bus body, interior as well as exterior and top cap of the bus were affected. An independent firm was hire to conduct the fire investigation ( EFI Global, Inc.) & determined the source of the fire to be a power supply from the vehicles jump box; however our history with alternator failures & consumption of these components combined with my mechanical experience leads me to believe that the root cause of this has been overlooked and the alternator failures need to be further investigated for public safety reasons. I have engage the dealer principal (Creative Bus Sales, Inc.) who we purchased the vehicle from whom is working with Ford on this matter. The Alternator is the component that I want investigated & the one in question has not been removed from the vehicle however we did break down 3 alternators from our inventory of failed cores & the findings support my theory as the alternator (diodes) being the culprit of the failures. The cause of the fire is believed to be a situation created when the single alternator overheated causing the diode bridge to fail & alternator to ignite. We have experienced alternator failures on this group of buses since the vehicles inception into the fleet going back to 2018. 38 of these model buses were purchased & placed into service in 2018 & we have replaced 283 alternators since they were placed into service (very high consumption/failure rates).

NHTSA ODI 11519262

1. RAIN SENSING WIPERS WORK INTERMITTENTLY BARELY WHEN DRIVING. TOLD BY SALES MANAGER THAT "THEY WORK BUT IT ISN'T A PERFECT SYSTEM" 2. A.M. LIMITED RECEPTION IN WIDE OPEN AREAS IN MULTIPLE LARGE POPULATION AREAS. SITTING OR DRIVING BOTH. TRIED TO USE FOR 530 A.M. ROAD INFORMATION & WOULDN'T WORK. 3. BODY ROOF SEAL CAME LOOSE FROM ROOF DRIVING HOME IN COLD WEATHER. 4. TIRE PRESSURE SENSOR FAULT GOES OFF AND ON WHILE DRIVING. 5. SEAT BELT HEIGHT ADJUSTMENT TAB ON FRONT PASSENGER SIDE FELL OFF. NOT COVERED BY FORD BECAUSE IT IS PLASTIC. 6. CUSTOMER CONNECTION POWER POINT ON DRIVERS SEAT PEDESTAL MISSING A MOUNTING NUT FROM FACTORY. WE HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT THE POWER POINT IS NOT FACTORY BECAUSE WE CONNECTED INTO THE PORT AS IT WAS DESIGNED FOR. STUD THREADS ARE STILL UNMARKED (NEW). THIS ALLOWS THE LOWER SECTION OF CCP TO BE SLIGHTLY LOOSE. 7. AC VENTS ON MAX BLOWING OUT 65-70 DEGREE AIR AT IDLE IN 80 DEGREE OUTSIDE AMBIENT TEMP. (KNOWN ISSUE) 8. OVERHEAD A/C LOUVERED VENTS ARE BREAKING INTERNALLY WHEN ADJUSTED. ONE ENTIRE VENT FELL OUT WHILE DRIVING DOWN THE ROAD ONTO MY CHILD'S HEAD WHO COULDN'T TOUCH IT. NOT COVERED BECAUSE THEY BROKE BUT THEY AREN'T A MECHANICAL FAILURE. DAUGHTER HAD SCRATCH ON HER FOREHEAD WHERE IT HIT HER. 10. OPENED UP HEADLAMP LENS TO UPGRADE THE LIGHTS AND THE LOW BEAM PIG TAIL ON BOTH LIGHTS ARE ALREADY DETERIORATING FROM THE LENS HEAT. LIGHTLY TOUCHED EACH OF THE LOCKING CLIPS AND WITHOUT LIFTING EITHER ONE AND THEY FELL OFF. HIGH BEAM WHICH ARE USED MUCH LESS HAVE PERFECT LOCKING TABS STILL. REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN CONTINUITY TO THESE LIGHTS. 11. LAST WEEK A PLUG IN THE DRIVERS DOOR THRESHOLD OVER FRAME BOLT TRIPPED ME WHEN IT CAME UP AS I WAS STEPPING OUT. SECOND TO FALL OUT. ALL THIS TOLD TO US UNDER THE 36K BUMPER TO BUMPER YET DEALER IS WILLING TO CHARGE ME FOR THE DEFECTIVE PARTS.

NHTSA ODI 11208107

WHEN THE VAN IS STATIONARY AND RUNNING FOR 10-15 MINUTES, HALF OF THE CARGO FLOOR (BEHIND THE PASSENGER AND DRIVER SEATS) REACHES A TEMPERATURE OF 125-130 DEGREES. A TEMP GUN WAS USED TO DEMONSTRATE THIS SAFETY HAZARD. I MADE MENTION OF THIS TO AN AUTOBODY SHOP WHO SUGGESTED HAVING THE DEALERSHIP TAKE A LOOK SINCE THAT DOESN'T SOUND RIGHT. WHEN THE DEALERSHIP IN WEST PALM BEACH (AL PACKER, 561-689-6550) LOOKED OVER THIS, THEY STATED THIS IS AS DESIGNED AND IT MATCHES A FEW OTHER FORD TRANSITS THEY CHECKED. THEY SAID NOTHING CAN BE DONE TO ASSIST ME EVEN THOUGH THIS IS A CLEAR SAFETY HAZARD AS A TEMPERATURE OF 130 DEGREES CAN CAUSE FIRST DEGREE BURN IF IN CONTACT FOR ABOUT 30 SECONDS (SEE ATTACHED IMAGE REFERENCES). WHEN I SPOKE TO FORD MOTORS (800-392-3673), THEY SAID IT'S UP TO THE DEALERSHIPS TO SPEAK WITH THE ENGINEERING DEPT IN ORDER TO INVESTIGATE INTO ANYTHING AND THAT THEY ALSO CANT DO ANYTHING BESIDES ADD COMMENTS TO MY CASE NUMBER (15138348) WHICH WOULD BE SUPPLIED TO THE SERVICE DELIVERY MANAGER I ALREADY WORKED WITH (STEVEN THOMAS). THIS IS A BRAND NEW VEHICLE (2500 MILES SO FAR) AND I'VE NEVER SEEN OR HEARD OF ANY WHERE IT'S EXPECTED TO WORK WITH A FLOOR SPACE THAT GETS 130 DEGREES HOT. I'M LOOKING TO GET FORD TO AGREE TO A SAFETY RECALL TO ADDRESS THE INSUFFICIENT HEAT SHIELDING WITH THE CATALYTIC CONVERTER.

NHTSA ODI 11104751