general problems of the 2018 Ford Fusion - part 1

Shift actuator wouldn’t go into gear I was stranded a few times had to be towed twice. I’ve found a plastic bushing that showed a $4. 00 part could be responsible. Deadly for us disabled vietnam veterans . I can’t walk. Maine has 200 vehicles with the same issues nationwide who knows supposedly the actuator will not be made by Ford motors until February 2026. I’m 76 years old this is a hazard I can’t afford to buy another car. Please help us. Or get stranded in the middle of nowhere freezing cold thank you.

Went to back up to park . The shifter would not properly work kept going back to park . I couldn't get it into neutral to push it. No warnings. Had to 1st pay for towing from where it happened to a parking space. Then called roadside service to take it to bay Lincoln in panama beach. I will send the results from dealership. It could of been real serious and caused a bad accident maybe even death. I know Ford had a recall on a earlier model Fusion for shifter cable. If it's the same issue I want reimbursement.

The car issued no warning, lights or messages prior to the damage. My [xxx] son was driving and the car started shaking which really scared him as he’s a new driver. I would say the safety of him and other drivers on the road were definitely put in danger. The vehicle has been inspected by a Ford dealership. They stated it had a broken flex plate and short block. Broken flexplate; diagnostic $210. 00 parts $1,345. 86 (flexplate, transmission fluid pump, filter, one time use parts) labor $2,600. 00 ($200. 00 x 13. 0hrs) sales tax $125. 84 total $4,281. 70 short block replacement; diagnostic $145. 00 parts $2,193. 64 (short block engine/kit, spark plugs, one time use parts) labor $4,480. 00 ($200. 00 x 22. 4hrs) alignment $159. 95 sales tax $205. 11 total $7,183. 70 tow bill $140. 00 information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u. S. C. 552(b)(6).

Unknown. Car will not start, dashboard says overheating, white smoke was coming out of muffler but stopped and etc.

Unknown. Car will not start.

Driver was driving at 55 miles per hour engine light illuminated. Car began to sputter and not drive. Ford dealership mechanic,” driveability concern, customer states vehicle will not go over 40 mph and has a misfire please check and advise. Verfied engine is misfiring, hooked up scan tool and ran dets and found p0302 and p0316, #2 cylinder misfire and misfire and the first 1000 rev, ran a relitive compression test and found cylinder #2 is 25% diference than the other cylinders. Pulled spark plug and put a boar scope in the cylinder and found a exhaust valve is missing a piece of the valve and the engine has ate the valve. Recommend a Ford long block” owner was quoted $8553. 37 for a used engine. Happened at 95,405 car is not drivable and unfixed. When owner asked what was the main cause the answers was “these cars just have bad engines”.

The engine is losing coolant on a daily basis; I keep gallons of it my car to keep it from running out. The safety risk is the vehicle hoses burst while driving in rush hour traffic and causing a worse delay and maybe injury to myself and passengers. I had the vehicle checked by an independent service station and they recommend a head gasket replacement or engine replacement, and the dealer just brushed me off with the head gasket may need replacing but it is not a recall item. It has not been inspected by any other agency. The check engine light is an on and off again problem -- and that's when the coolant is low the light comes on and when I refill it, it goes off. The vehicle coolant system is losing coolant every two days -- as of this date 4/28/2025, smoke comes from the oil filler cap area but none from the tailpipe. This is a frustrating situation and lawsuit waiting to happen situation that could easily be avoided -- they know it's a problem and want the consumer to reveal this frustrating and potential mega colossal problem to grow out of control.

Car will crank, but will not move into gear. Getting an service message "shift system fault". Some days it will move and other days (like today) it will not. I believe the 2018 Fusion (my car) was missed from the list of recalls for this service message. I contacted a Ford dealer near me. Either they don't have a transmission tech or it will take days before my car can be looked at.

Was driving and car started overheating. Looking at coolant levels, they were low. Refilled coolant and car started fine. Next day driving the vehicle, the engine shut down completely. Took the vehicle to parks Ford dealership in hendersonville nc to find the problem. I received a call from a service representative and he said there is a coolant intrusion into the cylinder or cylinders and the engine needs to be replaced. I asked to check for recalls and he stated none were found. I did my own research and found many vehicles with the 1. 5 liter ecoboost engine have had this issue and have had a recall in the past. I. Short, Ford has said they will not have my vehicle fixed due to the fact the 3 year warranty has expired and or 85,000 miles have been passed. I have financed this vehicle starting 03/22/2021. As of now my vehicle has almost 110,000 miles. Doing more research into this Ford has offered a fix for this. A new midi small block replacement and head gasket replacement. Doing more research into this, I have found the vehicle engine could possibly catch on fire if the coolant intrusion is not corrected. The Ford dealership quoted me $9,000 without tax to replace the engine. This just isn't doable. How can this not be a safety issue if the vehicle can and will shut off while driving and potentially catch on fire? Ford should replace the flawed engine design that they have been very well aware of. I am still making payments on this vehicle to own and I cannot risk driving it because it is used to transport my children and my wife, not with the safety factors involved. Help to have the manufacturer flawed design fixed to the updated design,that has no issues of the same, would help blue collard individuals a tremendous amount.

On 4 occasions, the car has shut off while moving and in traffic. A dashboard message appears, saying "full accessory mode". After coming to a stop, the car will immediately restart. My obd reader shows no error codes. The car has 18,000 miles on it and this problem occurs randomly. It happened first when the car was a few weeks old. I took it to dealer and they found no problem. Ot has happened 3 times since then. This problem has been reported at least 15 times on the Ford Fusion sport forum.

A frozen rear-view camera display image while in reverse.

Shift sys fault message appeared on screen. Car will not go out of park. Shifter bushings are no good. Was told if this had happened while driving my car could not be put in park and could result in a crash.

My vehicle has an engine defect from the manufacturer Ford. I was told it is a coolant intrusion from the original design of the head of the vehicle engine. I have had it inspected by bell Ford in az however, they will not take responsibility of the defect and saying I am liable for repair. I am confused if it’s a defect in a design from a manufacturer how I am responsible for such said repair the check engine light came on, and I took it in for a diagnosis, no prior issues to the vehicle whatsoever ability wise I’ve contacted customer service and they said there is nothing they can do to contact you guys.

Went to store and placed vehicle in park whe returned vehicle would not shift into gear shift fault warning on dash see owners manual had to have vehicle towed to dealer for repairs informed bushing had failed.

Evap system leak. Vapor leak causes car to not start after putting gas in the tank. It takes several tries before the car starts up. Engine light stays on which causes car fob not to auto start.

In November 2023, within 2 weeks of having all my oil/other fluids changed/checked/replenished for normal maintenance, the engine light to my 2018 Ford Fusion titanium with ecoboost engine came on suddenly. I let the car cool for several hours, then looked under the hood and could see I still had ample engine coolant. So I called my nearest official Ford dealership/service center, and their soonest appointment was a week or so away. The day of, I could not start the car. After dozens of attempts to start the car, it finally did start, but would not accelerate more than 5-10mph, and a warning message: "reducing power to lower engine temperature" - but this made no sense as the engine had not been running at all for 12+ hours overnight. When I finally got the car towed to the Ford dealership, they took multiple days to diagnose, even though I had scheduled this appointment more than a week prior. Finally the director of service at this Ford dealership texted "verified concern. Scanned for codes and found p021d p0303 p0316 p06e9 p1026 p1285 p1299 p164d. Live data power balance showed dead misfire on cyl 3 and multiple misfire on all other cylinders. Found coolant reservoir empty. Removed cyl 3 ignition coil and spark plug and found coolant intrusion in cyl 3. Will need to remove and replace long block engine assembly with new. " the quote for this was over $12,000 and non-negotiable. Other texts from Ford's director of service: "the 1. 5 and 2. 0 have a bad design. . . Ecoboost are known to have issues" . . . "even if you took care of the head gasket odds are the engine would still have failed down the road. " Ford admitted to me by text to foreknowledge of major engine design flaws, extreme safety concerns, likelihood of engine fires. As has been documented by thousands of other Ford owners, this inaction by Ford could have cost me, my rideshare passengers, anyone in the car, our lives. I now have no car, no job, and no way to pay off my auto loan. Help!.

My cars coolant is leak and I don't know where it goes. It overheats and the coolant continually needs to be added. The coolant cap has cracked twice and its is hard to find a replacement cap and we can't drive the car. I have taken it to two auto repair shops, and they said the issue can not be fixed. I am in fear of it overheating all the time. This is causing me fear and I believe it is dangerous and I am stuck paying for a car I can't drive.

Went to have car serviced and was told lug nuts were swollen and it was a Ford defect, but had to pay over $120 to replace lug nuts in order to get my tires rotated.

Trunk pops open randomly often. It’s popped open while driving and will cause accidents if items fall out, it’s happened multiple times without any possibility of button being hit.

While driving, the low oil pressure warning light illuminated on the dashboard. Within 5-10 minutes, the vehicle began to lose power and struggled to maintain speed. Over the next 15 minutes, the vehicle's performance continued to deteriorate, eventually shutting down completely. Despite multiple attempts, the vehicle was unable to be restarted, the vehicle has not been inspected and the vehicle never gave any prior warning of potential failure this was the frist and only issue I had with this vehicle I had to have the vehicle towed home due to not starting.

The entire computer system does not function. The screen, radio, everything has turned completely off in the middle of driving on the highway. It’s concerning what this will cause at some point. It used to do this intermittently, now it’s completely off and I’ve had it to multiple mechanics who have checked everything thoroughly and cannot find anything wrong. Two mechanics told me in 20-30 years as a mechanic theyve only seen this once or twice but couldn’t be fixed. I owe a ton of money on my car, it my only transportation for myself kids and elderly mother, my daughter is a new driver and having everything electrical shut down while driving is going to cause an accident and panic.

Car knob shifts into reverse or drive without being touched when sitting in park at random times, have nearly hit basketball pole due to being unprepared to hit break. The knob makes a robotic type sound, an automated turning type sound & switches without being touched, has happened several times but not every time.

Leaking coolant.

On may 26, 2023, after I started moving from stop at a traffic light, I rear ended the vehicle in front of me when it came to a sudden stop. My speed was between 25 - 35 mph at most. My front and side curtain airbags deployed, the hood was crumpled and fascia was damaged as expected. However after 10 minutes or so, flames started coming from underneath the hood and within a few minutes the engine compartment was on fire. The fire department arrived and put out the fire but had to break the windshield and rip off the fender to aim the fire hoses.

The transmission jumps, doesn’t want to shift gears, revs up on its own. The recall for the Fusions year models 3013-16 is the same thing my car is doing.

While driving down the road the car suddenly flashed engine coolant is over-temperature warning and shut off and lost power. Inside of my vehicle the car was not showing it was running hot on the temperature hand. I was on a blind curve and barely made it to a pull off before the car completelyshut off. There have been no signs of over heating before this. There is a coolant intrusion in the cylinder and the engine block needs to be replaced. 120000 miles and out of warranty.

The rotary dial gear shifter has intermitantly malfunctioned for 6 months in two ways. 1) when the rotary dial gear shifter is put into park, very often it won't move out of park. Won't go to d, r, or n. In the beginning I was using the key to the car to stick in a slot in the center counsel and that would pop it out of park. This worked for a few months. Since then I need to hit it firmly with a fist to get it to pop out of park. Sometimes I need to turn the car off and wait 10, 20, 30 minutes before hitting it with a fist will get it out. 2) the second way it malfunctions is that when it is in park sometimes it moves to drive all on its own. I will exit the car after putting it in park. When I come back it won't start because it is in drive. I always make certain it is in park when I exit. These things put me at risk because I live in minnesota. I have been alone parking lots at negative 20 degrees in the dark and could not drive home. I would spend a long time (hour) turning it off and on, pushing on it etc. Before it would move out of park. A few times someone has had to come get me. Then the the next day take me back and it spontaneously works. This happens in moderate and hot weather too. Also myself and bystanders and other cars are at risk when it keeps moving on it's own from park to drive -any bump or push to the car on a hill would send it rolling. I took it to autonation in white bear lake where it was purchased from in 2018. The problem would not occur for them. They quoted $1500 to replace the rotary dial shifter. I have looked into this problem and discovered Ford recalled a variety of models(VIN numbers) for this same problem in 2013 -2016. They have not yet issued a recall for any 2017-2018 models. (VIN numbers)I have discovered I am not alone. Other people on forums or videos on the internet with 2017 and 2018 have the same problem. I talked to Ford today and they wouldn't tell me how many complaints they have gotten.

Doors lock besides driver door if it does lock ot locks you inside the vehicle only way to get out is to roll down the window and open from outside or climb over to get out of a different door! I have had to climb out of the window to get out my car before.

Dial on gear shift kept saying "shift fault, see manual " after investigating, bushing from shifter cable bushing was missing. Many other Fusions have had this complaint and recall was issued for certain years. Possibilities are car going out of gear while parked and rolling away. This is a safety for the Ford Fusion.

I have had this issue twice now. The vehicle says shift sensor fault or shift sys fault or something. The bushing on the transmission has failed for the 2nd time. Both times stopping me from being able to drive my vehicle to be able to get to my place of employment.

When I stop to get fuel/gas for my car, I am unable to turn the ignition off because if I do, the car will not restart immediately or at all. There is also a jerking motion immediately after fueling and while driving. There is a "wailing" noise immediately proceeding the car shutting down. The check engine light is on.

Unknown. My wrench light has came on 3 times since owning this car. The first 2 times it has came on I was not able to switch out of park after starting my car, but shortly after the light went off on its own and I was able to drive my car. This Friday (8/26/22), when on my way to work the wrench light came on again and this time stayed on, I was not able to switch out of park from starting it as well. I had my car towed and I’m currently waiting for the mechanic to see what’s wrong with my car( 8/27/22).

Calling this a safety issue may be a stretch, but I can see where a potential exists. In my 2018 Ford Fusion the trunk frequently pops open of its own accord while the vehicle is parked and ignition is off. It happens often enough that I am afraid to leave anything of value in it. My wife is afraid that it could happen someday while we're driving the vehicle. A trip to my local Ford dealer yielded nothing, and they told me that they had never heard of such a thing happening. They did offer to "troubleshoot" it for me at their full labor rate! nothing found on the Ford website. A google search, however, revealed that this has occurred frequently in the Fusion and in other Ford vehicles, as well as in vehicles from other manufacturers. I love the car and would hate to get rid of it because of this vexing problem, but I'm afraid to leave my golf clubs in the car while I run into a store. Also, the fear that it could pop open while vehicle is in operation leaves me with fear that something could fly out of the trunk and cause an accident or injury. Same google search has shown a number of reports of this happening.

The trunk door opens unexpectedly. It has opened numerous times. It opened while driving. It opened while the car on and in park. It opened while in a car wash.

My car shuts down for some reason while I’m driving and has been running rough for the last couple of days. Also my horn does not work at all. This is a hazard for not only me but everybody. My vehicle have not been inspected, or not that I know of. When I first brought the car 2 years ago I noticed the horn was weak but was told that’s how they sound. I forgot when my check engine light came on but it had to be 2 or 3 months ago. Just recently my car started to stop on me while I’m in traffic, the first time it happened was in June. I also went to autozone to see why the check engine light, but it only says small evap leak.