What 55 owners told NHTSA about the 2018 Ford Transit Van - Gas

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2018 Ford Transit. It was discovered that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of the purchase the mileage was 64,000 and at the time when the fraud was discovered the mileage was 364,00.

NHTSA ODI 11736268

In hot or humid conditions, the 8 inch center display flashes on and off intermittently. This failure makes the backup camera unusable, which is a safety problem. It also makes controlling the navigation or radio very difficult. The dealer has looked at this vehicle problem a few times in the last five years and has been unable to duplicate the problem. I cannot force this to occur at the dealership service department. Because the weather condition needed to duplicate this problem rarely occur near my home getting service for this is very difficult. Once the heat or humidity has subsided via using the air conditioning, the problem goes away after an hour or so.

NHTSA ODI 11692745

Odometer Fraud. The contact purchased a 2018 Ford Transit. The contact stated that upon taking the vehicle to the Ford dealer for service, the contact was informed that the vehicle was a Lemon vehicle, and that there was a mileage discrepancy. The vehicle was a dealer sale. At the time of purchase, the vehicle mileage was 33,135; however, upon retrieving the Carfax history report of the vehicle, the Ford dealer informed the contact that the vehicle mileage was 240,000.

NHTSA ODI 11684566

The vehicle goes into "limp" mode at random and without warning. The driver loses the ability to accelerate even though the engine remains on. This poses a serious safety risk to the driver, passenger and all other drivers on the highway when the driver has lost mechanical control and has to coast to the side of the road out of traffic. This began happening only after 37,000 miles. The throttle body was replaced, however, this is a reoccurring issue on other vehicles of the same type in my fleet posing a major safety threat to my employees and bystanders.

NHTSA ODI 11555253

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

While I am driving, the battery warning light come up first, then the break system warning light come up, then transmission warning coming up. if I keep vehicle moving after while will get back normal. only when I stop the vehicle then vehicle will shut off can not start. Only when I jump start and will running for while.

NHTSA ODI 11471795

BATTERY KEPT DRAINING-FOUND OUT 2 BATTERIES UNDER THE DRIVER'S SEAT AND THE FUEL IS PUT IN AT THE DRIVER'S SEAT DOOR. THE DOOR MUST STAY OPENED DURING FUELING. ALSO, THE BATTERY DRAINING AND NUMEROUS REPLACEMENTS FOUND DUE TO INCORRECT WIRING AGAIN. THIS IS A CONVERSION VAN BY EXPLORER, AND WE'VE ALREADY HAD ANTIFREEZE LEAKAGE WHICH IS STILL A PROBLEM WITH THE SMELL. THE VEHICLE IS STILL AT REPAIR SHOP IN MILLERSVILLE FOR ANOTHER MONTH. MVA INVESTIGATOR KEVIN CHUBB DIRECTED US TO INVESTIGATE THIS FUEL SYSTEM AND BATTERY SYSTEM PLACEMENT FOR INSPECTION. HE FELT AS WE DID THAT IT IS A HEALTH AND SAFETY HAZARD.

NHTSA ODI 11181999

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 FORD TRANSIT. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE VEHICLE WIRING WAS WORN AND BEING EATEN BY RATS. AS A RESULT, THE ENGINE HAD TROUBLE STARTING, BUT THE VEHICLE COULD STILL BE DRIVEN. THERE WERE NO WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO FAIRLANE FORD (14585 MICHIGAN AVE, DEARBORN, MI 48126, (313) 846-5000) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED THAT THE WIRING NEEDED TO BE REPLACED. THE WIRES WERE MADE OUT OF SOY AND ORGANIC BIO PLASTIC. THE VEHICLE WAS IN THE PROCESS OF BEING REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND DID NOT ASSIST. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 67,700.

NHTSA ODI 11171383