2018 Ford F-150 Body & structure Problems

Tried to open door to put my 2 year old in her car seat and it wouldn't open, assume this was due to the extreme cold. So I took our other vehicle, few days later when it warmed up I again went to leave with my daughter and this time the door opened but will no longer latch shut. Tried toggling child lock messing with lock mechanism on top of the door Tried both interior and exterior handles but it will not latch no matter what I do. Now all my lights are staying on and door ajar light and icon are on and won't go off. I currently have the door ratchet strapped inside the vehicle to hold it close and I cannot drive it due to the safety concerns if the strap let's loose and the door flings open... There is a recall for frozen door mechanism my vehicle falls in this range and I was notified previously I qualified for the recall. Now that it actually happened it shows my vehicle isn't listed and the dealership wants to charge me for a safety recall that should be covered.

NHTSA ID

11719599

Incident

Jan 17, 2026

Tailgate opened

NHTSA ID

11719514

Incident

Feb 20, 2026

In cold weather all four vehicle doors would open randomly when driving, forcing occupants to manually hold them shut. Owner found recall 18N03 was active for vehicle and took the vehicle to Ford dealership for service of recall. The issue continued after service and the owner inspected vehicle following the recall procedure distribution from NHTSA to discover the dealership partially and incorrectly completed the work listed. Additionally, recall 18N03 refers to recall 17S33 for the rear doors in super cab models. This vehicle has water shields from 17S33 installed but the rear door latches are still unreliable in cold weather.

NHTSA ID

11716038

Incident

Jan 15, 2026

Door latches freeze, and door won’t stay closed. Operator must drive while holding the door shut. Super-unsafe.

NHTSA ID

11710922

Incident

Jan 12, 2026

Tailgate latch fails and the gate opens while driving. This happened to me and I lost part of my load on the road causing a dangerous situation to other vehicles I can also lose valuable items or they could get damaged. I notified the dealership about this on two occasions and was told that there was no recall on the 2018 but other years were covered .

NHTSA ID

11704180

Incident

Jun 1, 2021

Door Latch Freezing during cold winter months(every year) where temperatures drop below 32°F even after Ford Recall done on both front door latches. Inability to open door, then after door opened there is an Inability for door to latch until it warmed up.

NHTSA ID

11674698

Incident

Dec 17, 2024

Pant is flaking off roof and tail gate in 1/8 to 1/4 inch pieces. Offord white paint. Clearly a manufacturing defect . 2018 F150 has approx. 27,000 miles on it, Filed a claim with ford dealer Gosch in Murrieta Ca 92563.

NHTSA ID

11661636

Incident

May 2, 2025

The doors do not close when cold i have to use the seatbelt to rap around doors to keep them shut. I have brought to ford multiple times no fix. The transmission erratically shifts through multiple gears and downshifts into low gears when at high rate of speed. Which i have been told is due to a faulty cdf drum in transmission that ford wont take responsibility for. It is a very dangerous vehicle

NHTSA ID

11650858

Incident

Feb 19, 2025

Door latching system is often inoperable when temperatures are below freezing. The door will not latch and must be held close while driving. Vehicle has been repaired once by dealer per bulletin 18N03 but the problem persists.

NHTSA ID

11643105

Incident

Feb 14, 2025

The doors do not properly latch in cold weather. Yes available for inspection. The door came open while we driving down the road. The dash light came on indicating door was ajar. Door was not able to be closed after repeated attempts of closing. Passenger has to hold the door closed. Same occurrence happened to the driver side door and it would not latch so the vehicle couldn’t be used that day otherwise driver would have to hold door closed.

NHTSA ID

11640043

Incident

Feb 1, 2025

Doors will not latch in temps below 30degrees F.

NHTSA ID

11634820

Incident

Jan 8, 2025

Rear doors get frozen and will not latch to stay shut. My daughter almost flew out of the vehicle when we went around a corner. I literally had to turn the heat on high hood the door closed for 30 minutes to get it warm enough to latch and stay shut. This is usually following a car wash within a 7 day span. I am not sure how there cannot be a recall for this. Everyone that I know with an F150 has had the same issues.

NHTSA ID

11634076

Incident

Jan 2, 2025

Driver door cable sticking open when low temps occur. Driver door does not latch until vehicle is locked or key is inserted into door and manually positioned or key fob is used to lock the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11633720

Incident

Jan 2, 2025

At cold temperatures driver side door will not latch.

NHTSA ID

11633577

Incident

Jan 2, 2025

tailgate latch does not work all the time . sometimes just drops open when driving.

NHTSA ID

11631861

Incident

Dec 4, 2024

THE PASSENGER BACK DOOR LATCH, SOMETIMES WHEN THE DOOR CLOSES IT SAYS REAR RIGHT DOOR AJAR. IT TAKES A FEW TIMES TO OPEN AND CLOSE IT FOR THE LIGHT TO GO OFF.. NOONE'S SAFETY HAS BEEN PUT AT RISK YET DOOR STILL LOCKS BUT COULD BECOME UNSAFE OVER TIME. THE VEHICLES HAS NOT BEEN INSPECTED BY MANUFACTURER OR INSURANCE OR OTHERS YET. THE DOOR LIGHT COMES ON IF DOOR IS NOT CLOSED PROPERLY AND WILL STAY ON SOMETIMES.

NHTSA ID

11628056

Incident

Jan 17, 2024

The door latches was not latching in cold weather until they are warmed up and then they latch. It is a safety thing for me and my kids and wife.

NHTSA ID

11627969

Incident

Nov 29, 2024

Took my vehicle to ford dealership to have leaking sunroof checked, had it repaired for broken track, but the amazing things was the price that ford charge me for the repair of the sunroof track which was $5507.49, wasn’t really told why it cost me so much being that it’s a 2018. I do have the receipt, and has been trying to find a lawyer to try and recover some of my losses. Please let me know what I should do about this repair

NHTSA ID

11625401

Incident

Nov 15, 2024

Tailgate keeps falling down while traveling down the road. This has happened several times. This time after it hit the trailer after backing it up at the end of the trip.

NHTSA ID

11594341

Incident

May 30, 2024

The tailgate on my truck has opened while driving down the road. This has happened several times since I have owned the truck. There are several recalls for 2018 F 150 tailgate issues. I have taken it to the Ford dealer, but was told there is no recall on trucks in my VIN range.

NHTSA ID

11583379

Incident

Sep 15, 2022

Door lock freezing recall, still freezes. After performing this recall for my door latches freezing, they still freeze. Once I get them open, the door will not latch shut and I would have to drive while holding the door shut until it unfreezes. Forums verify that I am not the only one with doors still freezing after recall. I am confident the recall was performed correctly, but fords fix is not a proper fix and I am still left with frozen door latches in an unsafe vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11571809

Incident

Feb 13, 2024

The hood latch has failed on my ford F-150. My security system alarms when it happens. It has happened while I have driven and during times when there are changes in temperature. When searching for this, I came across a number of others that have had similar issues with their ford F150/ F250s and Expeditions. I am surprised ford has not recalled it due safety hazard of a failing hood latch. Additionally the main horn has failed. Again searching has found that other people with similar models and years from ford have the same issue with the horn. Both are safety concerns.

NHTSA ID

11570439

Incident

Feb 6, 2024

Tailgate actuator sometimes does not open completely. Pressin the button engages the operation, I can hear it trying to unlatch, but the tailgate does not completely release. If the tailgate is not in use for awhile, opens as intended for few times.

NHTSA ID

11566383

Incident

Jan 17, 2024

Passenger door actuator would not reingange the door after opening. Temperature was around 15 Farenheit for awhile. Door opened with some effort, but would not latch back. If vehicle was in motion door would need to be held to prevent opening. The vehicle could be locked for the door to stay in place, but it would not sit flush with the body of the vehicle.

NHTSA ID

11566382

Incident

Jan 16, 2024

The contact owns a 2018 Ford F-150. The contact stated that upon entering the vehicle, the contact became aware that the driver's and passenger's doors had failed to latch securely. The door ajar warning light was illuminated. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who diagnosed a failure with the door check arm attachment point. The vehicle was repaired, but the failure reoccurred. The manufacturer was notified of the failure but referred the contact to the NHTSA Hotline for assistance. The failure mileage was 42,000. The VIN was unavailable.

NHTSA ID

11566276

Incident

Jan 18, 2024

Mileage

42,000 mi