Consumer states rear door child locks will not disengage. Consumer referred to the owners manual which stated that a special key was needed to disengage child locks, however dealer did not provide consumer with a key for that purpose. Consumer was concerned that in event of an emergency passengers will be trapped.
2000 Ford Focus locks complaints
Page 5 of 8: complaints 101 to 130 of 201, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Rear window defroster opens up back hatch when on highway. Did not use rear defrost.
I own a 2000 ford focus. I noticed that sometimes the trunk wouldnt latch so I would have to go back and try it again. Through time it eventually wouldnt latch shut at all. I was then unable to lock my trunk completely. In the process of all of this somehow my trunk hood got bent. I assume that since the latch was broken,everytime I tried to shut the trunk it bent the hood slightly. To fix the problem I had to purchase a new trunk mechanism and install it myself. I quoted the cost to fix it at a repair shop, and it came up to over $100. Doing it myself saved me about $20.
Rear doors do not latch properly and power locks do not work.
While driving passenger 's side door opened unexpectedly. The door latch was stuck in the open position. The dealer replaced the latch. *ak
Rear door problem experienced with 2000 focus door latches. *bf while making a left turn into a driveway the right rear door flew open. A passenger was sitting in that seat and was luckily wearing the seat belt. The consumer has had problems with the doors prior to this incident. The consumer has had to slam the doors several times for them to close properly. The consumer also noticed while driving the door ajar light would illuminate on the dash.
2000 ford focus driver's side back door doesn't stay closed. Very difficult to get the door to stay shut. Door has opened while driving. This has been happening over the last several months. The vehicle has 44,000 miles on it. Our school has 3 2000 ford focus vehicles that are used with a family program and does transport children and families. Took vehicle to local dealer who replaced drivers rear door latch and cable.
Upon trying to shut the rear left door it will not shut, the latch does not catch. Consumer had to continuously slam the door to get it shut.
The ignition lock cylinder failed in my 2000 ford focus zx3, leading to inability to start the car. Apparently this is a widely known but unacknowledged issue with the focus line. *ak events leading up to the failure: normal use of the ignition to start and stop the car. Failure: the tumblers in the ignition switch broke or jammed such that I was unable to insert my ignition key more than 50% into the ignition switch, thereby making me unable to start the car or even unlock the steering wheel. I had to have the vehicle towed to my house in order to get it out of a shopping mall parking lot. Remediation of failure: I am either going to remove the tumblers in the ignition switch as detailed in http://www.automotiveforums.com/t158426.html or I will have to pay the ~$300 cost to get a new one from a dealer who won't acknowledge this as a problem.
We purchased the car in may 2000. In january 2002 the lock stuck several times. In september 2003, the lock began to stick again. We took it to the ford dealership where we purchased the car. We were told we had to pay for the repair ourselves because the car was out of warranty (over 3 years old but with only ~26,000 miles). We ended up paying ~$75. October 16, 2004 the same thing happened again. The car now has 32,937 miles on it. After a call to the same dealer we are informed that the repair was only warranted for 12 months. If only the part had broken a month sooner! We ended up calling a locksmith who drilled out the lock and replaced it for $116. The locksmith told my wife that this is a common problem with the ford focus and two other ford models. The locksmith repairs about four fords a month. I did some quick math on the problem. Using our county of lancaster pa, I took an estimated population of 250,000. I next assumed one car for every two people. Finally, I guessed that 5% of cars sold are these ford models with ignition lock problems. If you assume there are four ford dealerships in the county, four locksmiths in the county, and four independent garages&and assume each business repairs four cars per month, you get a failure rate of over 9%. I find it unacceptable that I paid for two repairs for a problem that clearly is specific to this car and likely a result of faulty design or manufacture.
While driving, the consumer noticed that the rear passenger door opened on its own. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle , and pulled over. The consumer closed the door and the door opened on its on again. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, the mechanic determined that the locking mechanism needed to be replaced. *ak the consumer stated both rear doors were inoperative.
The rear doors do not latch. As a result when making a right hand turn rear passenger side door opened without warning. *ak
Both rear door latches do not close, causing doors to swing open on turns. This is consistent with your investigation ea 04-023. As I understand,this investigation has been upgraded on 8/24/04. Will there be a recall?
Doors not latched properly and swinging open while driving. *bf right door sticking as well. Consumer unable to drive the vehicle because of the risk of door swinging open.
Rear driver's side door did not latch. As a result, the door did not shut properly, and consumer had to tie a rope around it.
On 09/26/04 opened the driver's side back door of my 2000 ford focus sedan to place something in the back seat. I closed the door and proceeded to start the car and drive away. It was then I noticed the door ajar light on and pulled to the side of the road. Found the driver's side back door would not latch. The latch would lock sometimes if pushed with my finger but not when closing the door normally. At that point I drove home with my son holding the door closed until we could use a bungee cord to hold it shut. The car is presently at elyria ford in elyria, ohio being repaired. I have called ford motor co and filed a complaint also after investigating on the internet and finding that a probe has been launched into failing door latches on 2000 ford focus the VIN no is [xxx], mfg date 02/00. The car has 32000 miles on it.*ak updated 07/24/2012 *js information redacted pursuant to the freedom of information act (foia), 5 u.s.c. 552(b)(6)
Rear door on the driver's side does not latch correctly. Once opening the door it does not shut.
Rear doors were very difficult to close. It would take a half hour to get the door closed and latched.
The consumer stated the automatic locks and the doors failed to latch . The consumer had to tie the doors up with rope, because on one occasion the door flew open. *jb the rear passenger door would open on left turns. *sc
Opened rear (drivers side) door and placed groceries on back seat. Closed doors and left grocery store lot. Upon making a turn, en route, the rear door swung opened and some items tumbled out! Pulled off the road and tried to close rear door. Was unable to. Got home and used a screwdriver to work the latch to the open position. Was difficult to get the door to stay closed. I try not to use this door even now.
The door latch on the rear driver's side seized up and the door would not open. Due to this the latch, the door handle and reinforcement had to be replaced. The handle still would not open the door due to ford providing them the wrong part number to be ordered for the latch. Once the car dealership was able to find the correct part number to order the latch the door was fixed, but the handle still comes lose on the inside of the door. The only way to fix this is to hit the handle.
Three different instances where the passenger back door flew open when making a turn. The door was properly closed and the doors were locked but the door flew open. No one was hurt thank goodness because they had their seat belt on. They could have been thrown from the car. If you had a pet in the car they would have fallen out. Another time my daughter was driving the car and the door flew open. She is an inexperienced driver being only 16years old. She could of had a accident. I no longer let her drive this car. It is a 2000 ford focus. I called the dealership and they said they would have to look into the problem. I said will I be charged they said possibley....
I have several defects in my 2000 ford focus 4 door. First one is my left passinger door does not latch closed, 2nd is my cylinder lock in the ignition failed and I had to have it replaced , 3rd when it rains the front passinger floor fills to top with water, 4th the cd player turns off and blinks buy itself, 5th my check engine light stays on after repetedly taking it to machinic to see why and having it reset even though there is no reason it should be on and last the only way I have heat or AC is on level 4 -1, 2 and 3 do not work .
Rear driver's side door came open on it's own (with a child in the back), safety locks were engaged and there was no indication from the sensor light that the door was not latched properly. Soon afterwards I began having more frequent difficulty getting same door to stay latched. Door is now inoperable as it will not latch once opened. The other three doors do not latch smoothly and I often have problems getting the trunk to latch properly. On one of my numerous recall trips to the service center, I asked if there were any recalls on the doors and was told no. Since the car is no longer under warranty, I cannot afford to get it fixed but neither can I safely transport anyone in the rear seat. This is absolutely ridiculous. The entire car should be recalled and replaced!
My 2000 ford focus has a defective left rear door latch. The vehicle has not been involved in an accident. My dealer, lighthouse ford in falmouth, ma, examined the latch and advised that it was "rusted" beyond repair and that a replacement latch, costing over $200, would not be covered by my extended warranty. Since the door somehow seems to secure itself (without the function of the latch), I opted not to install a new latch at my expense. Is the door a hazard? Please advise.
While driving consumer noticed that the rear passenger side door opened on its own. Consumer was able to maintain control of the vehicle, and pulled over. Consumer closed the door, and the door reopened on its own. Vehicle was taken to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic was not able to duplicate the problem.
Both rear door latches failed. As a result, while driving at highway speed, the rear passenger door flew open. *ak children were in the back seat when the doors flew open. The door would not re-latch. *sc
1. No indication that failure would occur at any time. 2. Failing door-actuator. 3. Consequences: door cannot be open at all, key, inside/outside door handle can be operated but will not unlock the door. The remote opener is rendered useless. There is no prior warning it happens all at once. This is the second time that this has happened to this vehicle in less than one year. My daughter who is eight month pregnant had to crawl over to the passenger side to be able to exit the vehicle (in 96 degrees weather). Quite a chore in a small car like this. The dealership refused to fix this under warranty and expects me to pay $574.00 for the repair. In order to get to the mechanism I was told they most likely will have to break out the door panel, which would also be my responsibility. In my 30+ years of driving I have never had anything like this happening to any of the cars I have been driving. First of all - in my opinion, this is a safety hazard and it is the manufacturer's responsibility. Even if the remote access fails, one should still be able to open the door manually. The key will turn counter-clockwise to the 10 o'clock position and clockwise to the 1 o'clock position. I called the ford customer service number and was brushed off (out of warranty). Also,the ford representative acknowledged that ford does not consider this a safety hazard. I asked for the name of the manufacturer of the door activator and was denied this information. Then I asked to talk to the next person in the supervisory chain and was told that I could not talk to anybody else about this problem. I checked the complaint section on this problem and this is the 53rd complaint on this model car regarding door locking/unlocking problems. When is somebody going to do something about this? I was under the impression that this agency is here to protect the consumer, or is it just a sounding board?
Vehicle's back doors open while the consumer is driving. They are automatic locks, and they still fly open. Someone has to sit in the rear to keep the doors from opening.
Consumer stated that the power accessories were defective. The power door locks were ineffective, the key won't work in the door. The doors did not open manually from the inside, the hatch button from the inside will not work either. Once the actuator froze, it blew a fuse, preventing the doors from opening. Consumer contacted the manufacturer, who was not willing to do anything about the problem.
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