Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated that in an attempt to turn the key in order to start the vehicle, it refused to turn. A local mechanic replaced the ignition and reprogrammed the key and door locks. The vehicle was repaired. The dealer was notified, but denied any assistance with repairing the failure. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 25,000 and the approximate current mileage was 25,200. Updated 02/09/12*lj the consumer stated the key would not turn in the ignition. The old ignition had to be drilled out and replaced. Updated 02/13/12
2003 Ford Focus electrical complaints
Page 4 of 19: complaints 71 to 100 of 522, newest first, as owners wrote them.
Failure to be able to turn ignition. Had to take it to a dealer and spent $400! Inconvenience? Yes!
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus se. The contact stated that the key could not be turned while in the ignition and the vehicle could not be started. The vehicle was taken to a private mechanic and the manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure mileage was 102,000 and the current mileage was 102,542.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated that the key could be inserted into the ignition would could not be turned to start the vehicle. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure, nor was the vehicle diagnosed or repaired. The current and the failure mileages were 134,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated that the vehicle refused to start. The vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where the ignition cylinder was replaced. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure, but offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 107,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated that the ignition was locked and the key would not turn to start the engine. The dealer was not contacted. The manufacturer was notified of the failure and offered no assistance. The failure mileage was 120,000.
My key will not turn over and my wheel is locked up. The problems started and I would just turn the wheel and sooner or later it would turn over. Now im stranded in my driveway with the wheel locked up and no turning the key over. Missed work and money. I searched the internet on this and the was over 300 diff people with this problem. I bought this car (ford) to save gas and money. I think this should be recalled if this many people are having this problem. I don't know why it hasn't yet.
Late night 35 miles from home. Key would not turn in the ignition. Had to get a ride home. Returned the next day and had a locksmith replace the ignition lock with a strattec ignition lock.
Key won't turn in ignition. Luckily, my car was parked at home when this happened but could leave you stranded if away from home. I now have to leave my key in the ignition until I get the problem fixed.
Key wont turn in ignition windows down in a bad neighborhood.
Ignition key cannot be extracted from vehicle and we couldn't turn the engine off for a period then, couldn't restart it afterwards.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated while attempting to start the vehicle, the ignition failed and locked abnormally. The manufacturer was contacted they advised there were no recalls for the failure and would provide no further assistance. The vehicle was towed to the dealer to be diagnosed. The vehicle was not repaired. The failure and the current mileage was 100,000.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 ford focus. The contact stated that the ignition was locked and would not allow her to turn the key inside the ignition for several minutes. After various attempts, the contact was able to turn the key in the ignition. The contact stated the failure recurred various times intermittently. The vehicle was not taken to the dealer for repairs or diagnostics. The approximate failure mileage was 97,000.
I purchased a used 2003 ford focus se/4 door/automatic. The ignition key cylinder has been acting up for sometime. On three different occasions the cylinder with the key when turned to the off position will completely come out of the steering column when removing the key. Again, this has happen on at least three occasions and could happen at any time. I have not been to a dealer to repair the problem yet. But that is my next stop. I am wanting ford to issue a recall and repair this problem. Thousands of other focus owners have had similar or same problems. This has happened to so many people who have become stranded because of this malfunction. Not to mention, this is an obvious safety issue due to the possibility of injuries in a moving vehicle.
Key would not turn the ignition, stalled the car and then could not turn the car back on in the middle of rush hour traffic, on christmas eve none the less.
2003 ford focus key not able to turn ignition issue that has been reported previously. Vehicle stranded until ignition lock assembly removed and replaced.
For the past few months my car ignition has been getting stuck, making it very difficult to start my car. This past weekend my key would not turn at all stranding my family away from home while trying to visit my grandmother in the hospital. Luckily we were not her means to get to the hospital as it seems that I have purchased an unreliable car. As I have done my research on this problem, I have discovered that it seems almost all ford focus owners are encountering this problem. I have even read that this is not a safety concern hence the lack of recall! I like billions of americans rely on my car in good times and bad. I hope to god that I do not have a ford focus if anything desperate should become of me and I need safety because apparently they don't like to even start!
Ford focus 2003 - key won't turn to turn on car - ignition cylinder/tumbler was broken and need to be replaced. I was stranded in a store parking lot. Had to have a tow truck tow my car to dealership.
Key won't turn in ignition. For a couple of weeks, I was able to tap on the end of the key while it was in the ignition lock, and the key would turn. Now, I am unable to get it to turn at all -- even after tapping on it with a hammer.
I have a 2003 ford focus zx3 at 37000 miles the alternator and battery went bad and had to be replaced at a cost of $700.00. Now at 67000 miles they have both gone bad again and must be replaced at a new cost of $800.00. Additionally I had a 2000 ford focus and at 55000 miles both the alternator and battery had to be replaced. Also we have a 2006 ford focus and at 16000 miles it needed both an alternator and battery. It is worth noting that the car was three years old and out of warranty when the failure occurred, it is a very low mileage car, and is only drive 10 miles a day. We really like the focus as it is a great value and a fun car to drive but after having to replace 4 alternators in 18 months we are rethinking our love of this little car. I will be filing complaints for my other two foci as well.
The key would not turn in the ignition of my 2003 ford focus zts, thus, the vehicle would not start. After a call to the local locksmith, I was surprised to hear "this is a common problem for a ford focus". When arriving, the locksmith proceeded to explain to me why the stock ignition switch of my car is a defective design, comparing to a new switch they were about to install. Upon further research online, I could not find any information about a recall for the defective item. I did find, however, plenty of complains of ford owners having the exact same problem. I am surprised such a critical component has not been recalled since it jeopardizes the reliability of the vehicle.
The ignition was locked solid. The key could be inserted and removed but the ignition would not turn. Replacement seems the only viable solution. It seems to be a design defect as so many cases of the lock-up have been reported.
I was parked outside my girlfriend's dr's office waiting to pick her up. It was a cold day and she didn't want to take the bus. When I tried to start the car the key would not turn. I attempted repeatedly to turn the key, but it would not budge. This had happened twice before (I had only owned the car a couple months), but the key had turned with some fiddling. This time it wouldn't turn, no matter what I did. I eventually had to have it towed. The mechanic called me today and said the ignition cylinder needs to be replaced and the key has to be reprogrammed. I read several sources online that said this is not necessary that anyone who tells you this is padding their own pocket, but what can I do? I'm not a mechanic and I'm not about to call this guy a liar. I have to bite the bullet and pay for the repairs as he describes them.
The key in my 2003 ford focus will not turn the ignition. We were stranded in the middle of nowhere. The key is fine..the actual ignition mechanism is locked and will not turn.
Failure to turn ignition switch with key...takes several attempts (at times for 1/2 an hour) and happens several times a day and getting worse. After a quick search on-line, I noticed that their was a class action lawsuit in california and that many other focus owners have had similar problems. I will first contact ford customer service, but based on other focus owners, I do not expect much and hopefully soon will be contacting a locksmith to replace the switch.
2003 ford focus ignition will not turn engine over nor unlock steering.
2003 ford focus ignition lock-up. Every time the key is removed from ignition and then reinserted, it is very hard to get it to unlock to turn and start. We have been stranded in parking lots during 110 degree weather while trying to get the key to turn. We will have to either replace the ignition or call a locksmith. This is an everyday problem now.
The ignition has been sticking for a couple months, making it difficult to start the car, more recently it has been a daily occurrence that the ignition would not turn without great difficulty. What this ultimately lead to was getting stranded due to the car being unable to start ( ignition wouldn't even turn). I am now going to have to get the car towed and either re-keyed, or a new ignition put in which will cost a good amount of money.
My ignition is locked up/steering wheel.
My 2003 ford focus has ignition problems. My key could not turn in the ignition. And as I search online, a lot of ppl have the same problems. This is a recurrent problem with ford focus and specifically 2003 ford focus. This is very severe. Image you're in a hurry to start the car, the key could not turn and you are stuck. So why is there is nothing done about it by ford? I just asked the dealership and they told me it is around $450 to replace the ignition. I don't think I should pay this money due to ford's fault.
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