(1) no event lead up to the failure; it was unexpected (2) the ignition switch failed on the vehicle,which resulted in us not being able to start the car. (3) the car has been towed to the dealership. We are awaiting to here the results from the diagnostic testing.
2003 Ford Focus electrical complaints
Page 15 of 19: complaints 401 to 430 of 522, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle's ignition would not turn. The dealer determined the ignition needed to be replaced and the contact expressed this was a defect in the vehicle.
Dt*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the starter failed. There were no warning signals for the failure. The vehicle was taken to the dealership who determined the flywheel and the starter had to be replaced. After the first incident, the contact took the vehicle to the dealer thirty times for the following failures: brakes rotors were replaced four times; battery and alternator had to be replaced; the transmission had to be replaced after the second attempt to repair it. The electrical wiring under the dashboard had to be rewired. The air conditioning was repaired three times with the replacement of defective valves; the rear door latches were repaired according to recall # 05v300000. The dealership had not corrected the noises from the steering column. The manufacturer was contacted and refused to cooperated in finding a suitable resolution. The last problem found by the dealership was the required replacement of the engine heads. The engine heads were attached to the vehicle frame.
The vehicle is a 2003 ford focus with less than 45,000 miles, the ignition cylinder locked up without warning and the car refused to start. Additionally, the car would not shift out of neutral, making a tow difficult. This is a well known problem, ford refuses to acknowledge the risk of drivers being stranded in unsafe places where they could be raped, robbed or murdered. Fortunately, this happened to my wife and I in our apartment complex, however there are reports of other people not being so lucky. Hixson ford charged us $289.69 to repair the ignition lock cylinder plus we paid $65 to tow the vehicle. Below is a list of websites documenting similar complaints of the ford focus ignition locking up and rendering the car inoperable. Some even complain of it happening while driving: http://consumeraffairs.com/automotive/ford_focus_ignition.html http://www.fazmiclaw.com/focus.html http://www.wjla.com/news/stories/0706/347339.html http://cbs5.com/investigates/local_story_041015136.html http://www.petitiononline.com/focusic/petition.html http://townhall-talk.edmunds.com/direct/view/.eea50dc http://forums.treemedia.com/fb/archive/index.php/t-493.html http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/cars/msg062031202524.html?20 http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/december/12/7.htm http://www.complaints.com/directory/2005/july/5/17.htm http://forums.focaljet.com/problems-service-recalls/416401-please-post-if-your-ignition-has-locked-13.html thank you for any assistance you can provide.
My complaint is about the ignition cylinder locking up on my 2003 ford focus. The ignition locked up on me as I was leaving my mother's house august 12, 2006. When I inserted my key I found that it would not turn at all and the steering column had locked up as well. Leaving me stranded, I called a tow truck who towed my car to the local ford dealership in which I purchased my car. The tow truck driver told me I was the fourth focus he had towed that week with this same problem. This happened on a friday night, so I had to wait until monday morning to find out what was wrong and get my car back. This left me stranded all weekend, which meant I missed work all weekend. I am very upset that I had to pay for this to be fixed on my car, especially knowing that ford has known about these faulty ignition switches for years. My main concern for this problem and reason I am so upset is that ford has said this is not a safety issue and will not issue a recall on the problem. I say to them that this is a safety problem. What if your car stalls out on train tracks and you can't get it to start up again? I think that would be a safety issue. What about if you live near the coast and you have to evacuate due to a hurricane or some other natural disaster? What if this problem happened to someone in new orleans during katrina? Are you going to tell them it is not a safety issue? Are they supposed to wait for the ford dealership to come and drill out the ignition cylinder before they can evacuate? I think that ford should be ashamed of themselves and they should do the right thing and issue a recall on this problem. I know I will never be buying another ford again.
Dt*: the contact stated the vehicle's ignition locked and the key could not be turned to start the vehicle. The problem began as being rough in turning the key but gradually worsened to not being able to turn the key in the ignition at all. The vehicle has not been to a service dealer.
I own a 2003 ford focus, and like many other ford customers I have read about, I had my ignition lock jam up to the point where it cannot be started with the key. It will probably require a new cylinder, which, according to other complaints, will break just as easily. Clearly ford should step up and take some credit for such an inconvenience. It's just fortunate that no one can become injured from this particular case of bad engineering.
I have a 2003 ford focus station wagon. The ignition key will not turn. It freezes up. I have tried another key and attempted to turn the steering wheel as far as possible to the right or left with no success.
I have a 2003 ford focus and the ignition fails intermittently causing the car not to start. The key will not turn. This is not safe I have a two year old child and in an emergency I may not be able to drive or we may get stranded. Ford refuses to help. There is no recall to my knowledge at this time. This is a known problem and ford will not acknowledge the issue.
I own a 2003 ford focus and today I went out to my car to get some lunch when my ignition locked. I cannot start my car. I have had people look at it and there is nothing that can be done except bring it to the dealership.
Ignition switch that manufacturer knows is bad.
2003 ford focus (which is driven by teenager- female) ignition lock failure. Basically when it fails you are stuck (can not start vehicle)! At the moment vehicle sits in the driveway. $400.00 price tag to fix a problem - that ford is very much aware of. I am not sure I want my teenage daughter driving a vehicle that may get her stranded somewhere unsafe!
I was left stranded when my ignition key would not work in my 2003 ford focus. Called a locksmith and he said it take about $300.00 to repair it. My wife had to drive 1 hour to come and get me and I lost a day of work, which I could not afford to lose.
Ignition locked and is impossible to start. Sometimes the ignition locks for hours and sometimes days. It is absolutely ridiculous! This is a family car and it's unreliable!
Several parts failures, including alternator, brakes, muffler,transmission, and ignition lock cylinder
The ignition key would not turn in any direction once inserted in the keylock, this leaving me on the parking lot for hours to wait for a tow-truck. The car has only 40k miles on it. The dealership wants to charge me $200 to replace the lock cylinder. That happened a few times in the past, but this time it was for real I guess.
Owner of a ford focus/2003. Ignition switch locked up and had to get my car towed ($45.00) as well as pay for repairs ($183.00). Called ford headquarters and talked with a representative about being reimbursed. I also mentioned the problem I was having with my gauges. Upon starting car, gauges are all out of wack, swinging back and forth and landing on zero. After being on the road for about 15 or 20 minutes they will positioned at the right place. The representative seem to only care to hear about one of the problem (ignition switch) and not the other one. I was put on hold for a while and when rep return she told me to call company that was repairing my focus and they will help me in this matter. I called the company and the guy that eagerly took my money stated that he will do a claim for me and he stated that I will get some of my money but not all of it back. In checking the recalls I see ignition switch lockup is one of them. I only have had my car for a little over a year. My windshield is cracked and insurance says I must pay $250 before they fix it, when turning on air conditioner, driving seem difficult (hard to pull), liftgate water leaks, and upon purchasing my car, brakes were squeaking; I mentioned this to the dealer and he told me not to worry about it that the brakes were new and had to be broken in. Well they are still squeaking after a year in a half. I need all of these things fixed on my car, right now I am a month behind in car payments (good record on making my payments), had to use the money to get the ignition switch repaired.
Ford focus 2003 key cylinder freezes. Cost to customer ~ $300 repair. This happens frequently according to several ford dealer service department managers I spoke with.
Drove the car to the grocery store. After shopping, I entered the car & placed the key into the ignition. The key would not turn, the key cylinder was frozen. It will have to be towed to the repair shop. The mechanic said this is a very common problem with the ford focus, apparently caused by weak and rapidly deteriorating key cylinder components. Last week alone, the mechanic replaced 3 of them. I went home and researched on internet. Judging from the literally thousands of posts on the internet from focus owners who have had the same problem, it appears to back up what the mechanic said.
I have a 2003 ford focus, which has had several problems with components. As a manual transmission, the car has had several instances where the gears would not enter properly, even while fully engaging the clutch. Then on 6/27/06, the ignition refused to move--wouldn't turn or anything. I had to hitch a ride to work from a co-worker, who went out of their way for me, then call winner ford (dover, de) to find out if the chip in my key had gone bad, or what. They informed me during the conversation that this was a very common problem, and that I was unfortunately 1 month outside of my warranty. I asked why it was not recalled or covered, as there were so many problems with this piece, and she had no answer. I had to get towed, which caused damage to my car, then was informed that this work would cost over 200$ to fix the problem, with only a 1 year warranty on the part. When asked, the tech who worked on my car informed me that the same piece would probably go out again, and again, over the course of my ownership. I am now seriously considering trading in this car. This is a very serious concern, for both safety, and the honesty of the dealers. A dealer on site explained to me that these cars had been having this problem for quite some time. I am not one to sue over spilt milk, but some notification would have been nice. I'm a graduate student, with a very large bill for these classes, I cannot afford to dump 300$ (after towing) into a car that holds no resale value, and will probably show many more issues throughout the rest of my time with ford. I have no intention of ever buying a ford again.
The lock cylinder broke leaving me without a vehicle. The key would not turn, and neither would the wheels. There were no signs of failure previous to the incident. I paid $450 for a new lock cylinder on a car that has 60,000 miles on it.
In both my 2003 ford focus and my daughters 2000 ford focus the ignition switch had froze up and had to be replaced including new keys made with the computer chip at about 430.00 each. Two different tow truck drivers said they have seen a lot of this. Also the ford dealership said they were surprised that there hasn't been a recall due to the large number that they have had to repair.
Ignition tumblers lock up and key will not turn. Vehicle must be towed. The part is dealer only and expensive to fix. This is second time this has happened to me in 6 months. After research I have found this is widespread problem, and ford denies that there is any problem.
Dad*: the contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle the key would not turn in the ignition. An independent mechanic maneuvered the key until the vehicle started; it was then driven to the dealer for inspection. The ignition lock cylinder was replaced. The manufacturer has not been alerted. Updated 06/23/06.
Ignition barrel will not rotate. Cannot start car or turn steering wheel.
Dt*: the contact stated while stopped at a red light both frontal airbags deployed without warning causing the vehicle to rear end the vehicle in front. A police report was filed at the scene and seat belts were in use; no injuries were sustained. The vehicle was towed to an independent repair shop. The mechanic was unable to duplicate the problem. The dealership was alerted. On a separate occasion, the hatch back failed to close, vehicle failed to start, the interior lighting failed and the motor made a knocking sound. This occurred intermittently. The manufacturer was alerted.
Engine compartment fire started behind battery and burned down the car.
Ignition switch lock ups, can't turn the key.
Ignition switch failure in a 2003 ford focus. I inserted my special secure lock key and the ignition would not turn. When the tow truck operator came she informed me she tows focus' all the time with the identical problem. I went online to several forums and found that this is a consistent problem. There should be a recall on this part as it costs $525 dollars to repair!!!
On more than one occasion my ignition has locked up. I have been unable to start my car had to have it towed. The lights do not come on but the radio works. I took key out of ignition then came back could not start car, had several people try. Have been advised by person who works at dealership of this problem with ford focus car and also same info provided by tow truck driver. I am now without vehicle because not sure of cost to repair. Has this happened to other people.
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