This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.
So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.
I have a 2000 Ford Focus. As most know, winters in the mid-West are very cold. I was out at my grandparents house in new richmond, Wisconsin; picking up some boxes in the garage. They travel to Arizona for the winter months so they were not home. I went to start my car and the key would not turn over in the ignition. It was completely stuck. I tried everything. I made sure it was in park, tried turning the steering wheel side to side, everything. It would not budge. I was all alone. It was freezing cold. Luckily I had my phone so I was able to call for help. I ended up having to pay 200$ to have a locksmith come out and fix it. This problem is clearly a safety hazard and Ford knows it. Ford knows all the complaints from people having this exact same problem. Why should we have to pay for a problem they know exists. What if I hadn't had my phone to call for help, I would of had no way of getting inside and there is no one that lives nearby for at least a mile. Ford needs to take responsibility for this and have a recall.
When it first started it was just the passenger rear door that wouldn't open from the outside, you could however still open it if you pushed on a certain part of the door and tried to open at the same time. Now that door will not open at all from the out side at all, and the other doors are doing the same thing. The front passenger door will not latch now, you have to lock and unlock about 10 times before it will latch. I have looked at the recalls on this car before and noticed that there is a recall but unfortunately for me I don't live in the states that are affected in the recall. If I was to get this replaced on my own it will cost me about $2000.
The contact owns a 2004 Ford Focus. The contact stated that the front and back doors would not latch and are being held together with a ratchet strap. While driving 20 mph around a bend, the back doors flew open. Currently, the front doors will not open from the outside. In the event of a crash, no one would be able to open the doors from the outside. The contact received a recall notice in March of 2005. The vehicle was repaired according to NHTSA campaign id number 05V030000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch); however, the failures persist. The dealer will not replace the latches again. The failure mileage was 176,631. Updated 10/03/08 the engine stalled. A new fuel pump was installed. Updated 10/06/08.
The ignition lock cylinder jammed up on me so that I could not start the car. This is the second time it has happened. The lock cylinder had to be replaced as in the past incident.
- New Brunswick, NJ, USA
Search CarComplaints.com for these popular complaint phrases...
First the back passenger door lock went out, and then the drivers door lock went out. You can not open with a key, nor the automatic locks. I took the handle off to try to manually unlock the door, and you can't. also the air and fan just went out. It was working great, and then all of a sudden it just stopped working!
The contact owns a 2000 Ford Focus. The contact is experiencing the same failure as noted in recall number 05V030000 (latches/locks/linkages:doors:latch). However, the dealer stated that her VIN is not included in the recall. She experiences difficulty opening and closing the passenger side rear door. The failure has caused the vehicle to fail inspection. The current mileage was 104,423 and failure mileage was 100,000.
2000 Ford Focus LX, at first the key would not go into ignition and once in now is stuck in ignition. The ignition cylinder had to be replaced and original key was damaged when the dealer was identifying the problem (although I've found out it is a well known problem to Ford) so everything had to be replaced.
In 2004 vehicle's ignition key lock fails to work properly. Vehicle is towed to Ford authorized repair and they correct the problem. In 2006 vehicle's ignition key lock fails again. Vehicle is taken to Ford authorized repair and corrected again. Both times I was left stranded since the vehicle's ignition key would not turn to start the vehicle and could not be removed from the ignition. Vehicle's dash lights suddenly failed while driving at night. Lights come on and off. Several times during nightime driving the lights fail. Vehicle's door power door locks and trunk locks fail and cannot be opened with keyless entry. A fuse continues to fail possibly due to a short in the wiring system.
: the contact stated all four power locks failed at the same time. The contact's husband changed #63 20 amp fuse located at the back of the fuse panel. After changing the fuse, all of the doors except the driver's side could lock. In order to drive the vehicle to the dealership, the vehicle will have to be driven with the driver's door open. The dealership was not notified, but the contact planned to notify them soon.
I have a 2000 Ford Focus SE. The vehicle has power locks. Over the course of a week, every time I would hit the button to unlock/lock the door it would react very lazy until finally the button stopped working. Once the power locks stopped working, I was unable to manually unlock the driver door and not only that but I was unable to open the door because it was frozen in the lock position. I had to climb out the passenger side. Even if I pulled the handle on the inside of the car on the driver's door, it wouldn't open. The fuse had blown and it wasn't until I replaced the fuse that the drivers door would open again. When the power locks are working the driver's door will open when I pull the handle, but the fuse blew again two days ago and the same thing happened, the door is stuck in the lock position and I have to crawl out the passenger side. This is potentially a dangerous condition because if I had to get out of the car quickly I couldn't because it won't let me out of the car. My mechanic said that somehow the driver door is the master mechanism and that is why it happens only to the driver door. He thinks this is a design flaw and if possible I would like it addressed.
Ignition cylinder froze on 2000 Ford Focus SE requiring car to be towed to dealer to have lock cylinder replaced as the key could not be inserted into the lock. This was covered by warranty at the time. In December 2005, ignition would periodically freeze with key inserted requiring several attempts to turn the key to start the car. Car was taken to dealer on January 17, 2006 and cylinder has to be replaced again at a cost of $453 since the car is now out of warranty. I've noted numerous complaints on the internet about other Ford Focus owners with the same problem. I called Ford customer service and they would not do anything other than note the complaint. This is a safety issue if the lock fails when the car is needed in an emergency situation. Since this is a recurring problem, why has Ford not been required to fix the problem?
The ignition cylinder seized for no apparant reason. I was over an hours drive from home. Had to call a tow truck there was no way to start the car, the key would just not turn. After a costly repair, almost $500cdn I researched this problem on the internet. It turns out I'm not alone. www.autowhiz.com/messageboards/message.php?id=1784 this is just one site with many complaints on this problem. Even the service advisor at the Ford dealer said she thinks there could eventually be a recall on this because they have to fix so many of them.
The key would not turn in my 2000 Ford Focus, despite all efforts. My husband was stranded for hours. A locksmith had to be called to come fix it, costing us money.
I went to insurt my key into the started and my car would not turnover after the wrong key was partly insurted, I thought that that pats system tripped, but after researching the issue further, I realised that numerious people ahve been having this issue with Ford focuses, that their is a know problem with this part of the car, I am going to have to pay 300 dollars or more to fix a known issue from Ford.
Three of the windows from my vehicle fell. The windows fell in three seperate incidents. First the rear passenger widow fell and almost broke and could have caused the glass to break in my two-year-old son's face. Approximately two months later the front driver side window fell, hitting me in my left middle finger. Lastly about two weeks ago the rear passenger side window fell with no incident. I only have one working window and I am affraid that if I have a passenger, the window might break and cause severe damage. At this moment I have not repaired the windows, but I was looking for a recall from Ford. I have also noticed several other vehicles with the same problems. Vehicle: 200 Ford Focus.
The consumer stated 3 of the doors on the car won't open from the inside or the outside. The vehicle has developed or contained a defect in the electric door locking system which does not allow the owner to unlock 3 of the doors. This situation represents danger to the health and safety of the automobile's occupants.
My 2000 Ford Focus's ignition key cylinder became frozen (steering wheel also locked) and the entire kignition key cylinder had to be replaced at 9,902 miles (6/06/03). Today, the same problem has occurred (less than two years and 12,000 miles later.) on 6/13/05 I will take the car to the dealer and again have to replace the entire ignition key cylinder (both times I've had to pay for everything). I got news of your website through a website which is entirely filled with entries from other Ford Focus owners with the same defect. Many have had to replace this cylinder 3 and 4 times. It seems the "replacement part" Ford uses is exactly the same defective part as the cars are built with. You may not think this issue is so insignificant but remember, there is a fuel injection recall on this car they have yet to figure out how to correct and if this car were to stall while driving, the owner might not be able to restart or steer the car if the wheel locks and the key is frozen due to this defective cylinder.
While driving doors will intermittently unlock by themselves. Consumer took vehicle into the dealer several times, and dealer told the consumer they could not duplicate the problem, and that there was nothing they could do.
While leaving work a little over a year ago, my 2000 Ford Focus' key became stuck in the ignition. Upon inserting the key in the ignition, I could neither get it to turn in the cylinder nor remove it. The car was towed to airport marina Ford in los angeles and repaired free of charge, as it was still covered under it's standard 3 year/30,000 mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. (unfortunately, I have lost my service paperwork during a recent move. I will attempt to retrieve the information from either airport marina Ford or Ford Motor Company to confirm the date, work performed and the mileage of my car at the time.) my car had not given any indication of possible failure prior to this event. On January 6, 2005, while on an errand for work, the ignition cylinder became stuck. This time, I was able to remove the key and reinsert freely but could not turn the key. The car was towed to sopp Ford in los angeles and repaired at my expense. The old ignition cylinder was removed and a new cylinder was installed. I also received a new key and was advised not to use the old one. Parts and labor resulted in a bill for $400.39. I called Ford Motor Company's customer service hotline to find out if there had been a recall for this defect and to find out if I was eligible for any remuneration. The operator took my information, told me that there was no recall for this defect (which they officially do not recognize) and informed me that I might be eligible for remuneration if a recall was issued at a later date. I was also informed that repairs provided by Ford are warrantied for either 12 months or 12,000 miles. I did not ask for nor was given the old ignition cylinder due to the fact that the process of removing it required drilling it out; there was not much left of the old cylinder except for some metal filings. I lost a day's wage as a result of not having transportation.
A D V E R T I S E M E N T S
- St. Paul, MN, USA