Ford Focus (2018) Review

21-1-2018: 2nd report of Petrol Particulate Filter light of 2018 Ford Focus coming on at 1,001 miles. Warning states: “Exhaust filter at limit. Drive to clean now”. Suggested 50 miles at 2000 - 3000rpm using Super.

7-4-2018: Report of Active Park Assist failing on 2018/68 reg Ford Focus. Dealer told the owner he couldn't fix it because "it's a software problem".

18-12-2018: Mystery report of brake issue with new Focus. Reader was an hour away from collecting his new 1.5 Ecoboost 182 8-speed auto when dealer called to say it was being recalled because of "brake torque" problems. Ford told us, "Dealers are being advised of a ‘brake pedal hinge bolt torque check’. The pedal’s bolt needs to be checked for tension of 35 Newton metres. Advice now on dealer-wide distribution to be acted on, and hopefully enable re-scheduling of new Focus handovers."

20-12-2018: Report of dashboard of new Ford Focus 1.0 Ecoboost 125 with 2,000 miles on 5 occasions showing 'exhaust filter at limit. Drive to clean'. On each occasion, owners carried on driving the car and after a short period the display reverted back to normal. Country driven car and driven briskly. But owner reports. "The management display on the dash keeps telling us to change up, yet this condition implies that really you need to change down." This is the result of conflicting EC requirements. It is a Type Approval requirement that new manual cars have to have an indicator suggesting changes. But if this is applied during the first 5-10 mies after a cold start the PPF will not necessarily get hot enough to clear the cold start particulates. Suggested running at up to 2000rpm for the first 5-10 miles.

2-1-2019: Report of several minor faults with the electrics of a new Ford Focus forcing ower to park it on his driveway for 3 weeks waiting for parts. The latest fault affects the engine performance, and leaves owner reluctant to take the car out.

23-1-2019: Report of many electronic systems on a new September 2018 Ford Focus either malfunctioning or not working at all: "almost immediately there were problems with the touch screen and reversing camera. It displays warnings such as 'collision assist warning service needed' and several other messages randomly. The rear camera often remains on when driving forward again and then the whole system crashes. Despite numerous visits to the dealer no one can find the cause of the fault."

13-2-2019: Third report of Petrol Particulate Filter light coming on, this time in a 2019 Ford Focus ST Line 1.0 EcoBoost 125 at just 300 miles from new. Owner made a run of 15 miles dual carriage way and motorway and it came back on when he made the return journey. Booked into Ford for diagnostic next week. Ford dealer carried out a static forced regeneration of the filter. Mechanic said he had it up to 750 degrees to clean it. Manual says it should clean at 550 degrees.

16-4-2019: Report of clutch failure of new, 2019 Ford Focus in just 450 miles.

2-7-2019: According to a 2019 Ford Focus owning reader, the fuel flap / Easyfuel system of the Focus model from 2018 is not lockable.

23-8-2019: Report of "small browny red light to the right of the milometer at the top of the dash display that very occasionally comes on for three of four seconds every 300 to 400 miles" in new Ford Focus 1.5 3cyl Ecoboost 182 Vignale 8-speed auto. Explanation is that the light comes on to show the engine going lean. The PPF works differently from a DPF and works a little and relatively frequently by comparison to a DPF. It only comes on a typical motorway journey. Owner drove from Newcastle to Leamington Spa last week, the fuel consumption was 50.1mpg on way down and 48.2 on way back. This is about 5 to 6mpg better than his previous 1.5 4cyl 182hp manual.

15-9-2019: Report of delivery of Ford Focus Estate 2.0 TDCI x Ecolube Auto 19B with panoramic roof in dark grey metallic ordered on 21-5-2019 being held up, probably due to RDE1 emissions testing. Originally supposed to have been delivered in August (on a 19 reg), delivery then stretched to October 2019, then "no build date until December 2019".

26-10-2019: Report of replacement steering rack for April 2019 Ford Focus ST Line X on back order. Power steering rack failed and owner has been without car since 7th October, but provided with a courtesy car.

17-11-2019: Report of judder from stop/start system on 2018 Ford Focus 1.5ST automatic. Also judders when accelerating hard from T junctions.

25-11-2019: Report of long delay when changing from reverse to drive with the eight-speed automatic version of the Focus.

17-12-2019: Numerous electrical faults reported in new Ford Focus 1.5 Ecoboost 8-speed automatic since summer 2019: "Charging System Alert!! Service Now! warnings, displays changing randomly, the seatbelt warning alarms going on even when the engine was switched off, and so on. Fearing imminent breakdown owner called out the RAC. After connecting his diagnostic interrogator to the car it revealed dozens of different faults including low voltage to the brake servos and steering servos etc. etc. After a lot of head scratching he looked under the bonnet and found a faulty battery earth connection. The earth bolt was only partly inserted into the body, cross-threaded and the cable was making and breaking connection. (See 2-1-2019 and 23-1-2019 above.)