Please post if your ignition has locked!

[ashubert]

I have had this problem twice, 25 months exactly after I bought it, 25 months after it was replaced.

Complain to Ford:
800-392-3673

Complain to the NHTSA:
http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov

[tulsafocus]

we need to get a lwasuit going against these ford executive bastards, especially since we're never getting the C-1 platform!!

[evilfocus]

damn, the ignition on my zx3 locked up when i had it, but now i got an svt. i wish i known so many others had the same problem. they tried to tell me it was my fault, and i had probably "jammed the key in too hard". looks like those bastards owe a few of us 300 each

[BLUE_02_ZX3]

Add me as well same thing happened to me (in a wendys parking lot) filed a nthsb complaint and am gonna try to get it to work and leave the key in it for now.

THere shoudl be a way to get intouch with the "bigwigs" at ford. This is a total load of crap.

I have to get a new key made too Cause my key is all rounded off and its got stratches all over it from the cylinder, I dont have the other key thats supposed to come with the car that ford refused to give me. also refused to change my code beacause there is another key out there for my car that I DONT have. bastards all of them.

[abossana]

mine locked aswell, 150.00 for the lock smith to fix it in my driveway. i say we need a recall here!

anthony

[stealthturbofocus]

Mine broke, freaked me out, I called the dealer, he said "it's a Focus thing".
Bought the parts for 40 bucks, got the pins set for $15 at a locksmith, installed it myself. ONE MONTH later, same thing on the new lock!
errr...

[contour2focus]

Add me to the list, My POS Found On The Road locked up on me at a freakin gas station. I just started a new job and dont have any other ride to work come tuesday. Is there a recall on this crap yet? I just got my car out of the shop for the damn fuel pump, thats it no more damn fords for me.

[biker16]

offical ignition lock repair guide

http://home.att.net/~biker16/lock.pdf

[Bogart2892]

Is there any news if they are gonna recall this problem. Mine broke last year and my brothers broke last week.

[FadedSole]

This is STUPID! Aw my gosh when I think my car is fine something else happens to it. This just started happening to me today. I can get it in with tapping it in. This is STUPID!

[jimb]

Add me to the ignition list along with the brake list, the hinge list, the shock list...
As many people have said, there are many good things about the car but they are hard to appreciate when all the problems require expensive solutions.
I have had the $500 brake job, replacing rotors while the pads were at 20%, then having them wled up the brakes and warp the rotors the day after I replaced the rotors/pads.
It's not our problem seems to be Ford's swan song. This is my second Ford, and I should have learned with the first when they voided my first warranty leaving me with a destroyed engine that died due to a faulty pressure relief valve. The good part there was when they "fixed the engine". They returned it to me with full warranty and I got about 5 miles before I had no oil pressure again. Great to see one of these XXX-XXXXX get what he was due.
Oh well.
I owe, I owe, it's off to work I go to fix my focus again.

[focus48]

Add another one to the list. Nothing worse than waking up at 4AM to go to work and have ur car crap out on you.

[the_enemy_within]

mine locked up on me today, over 4 yrs no probs, now im gonna have to pay total around 400, anyone know of a recall being done yet?

[lm1d]

Just replaced my fourth switch. At least I'm getting pretty good at it!!

Oddly enough, Ford parts guy told me they change the part number every year....guess they're trying to fix it, although the parts looked the same to me.

Last year, I posted step by step instructions on replacement of the switch. If you do a search, you'll find it. I can do it in about 1/2 an hour now. The hardest part is keying the key.

I've never had to replace an ignition switch. I am really perplexed why this car eats them so much! I am also wondering why it costs so much to have Ford replace it when it really only takes 1/2 hour to an hour.

[hvygunr]

I think that my wife and I may be some of the more unfortunate ones with this problem. On 10/21/03, the ignition locked on my wife's Focus LX3. We noticed that it was 400 miles past the 36k mile warranty but were not too worried since we bought an extended warranty. We had it towed to a dealership where we were told that the extended warranty didn't cover the ignition. $280 for the repair and $80 for the tow and we were not too happy but were on the road again, until Friday, 10/22/04. One year and one day later. that was the day when we bought our first home together and also the day that the ignition switch broke again while we were trying to move in to that home. We could not get in touch with anyone in the Ford service department because it was after hours and on the weekend. Has anyone had any luck getting Ford to replace the ignition at no cost?

[Th3spyd3r]

my ignition locked with the key still in it.... that was 3 days after i bought the car.... 2 months later it is doing the same thing... anyone know how to fix it or if i can buy some non ford replacement parts that arent crap?

[stealthturbofocus]

I just bang the crap out of it with whatever hard item i have in the car... I bought parts and didnt wanna mess with 'setting the pins', so went to a lock smith... 50 bucks for the lock and 15 bucks at the locksmith and i had a new set. It lasted a few months, then broke again... Now Im back to banging the crap out of it again. err...

[stealthturbofocus]

btw-- is there a better compatible lock set? i heard something about an explorer...? if not, can someone please make an aftermarket one? hello focussport!

[KonaZXIII]

victim number eleventybillion here.

2000 with 70k and it's my first one.

[vad]

btw-- is there a better compatible lock set? i heard something about an explorer...? if not, can someone please make an aftermarket one? hello focussport!

This is what my locksmith told me.
He's replaced my failed lock with the one from the Explorer.
So far so good.

[bigomonkeys]

My ingnition locked last night when I was leaving work, now its at the dealer being fixed. I'm glad I got the warranty.

[05MustangWanter]

This is my last Ford to. The Focus is the Pinto reborn! Ford tells me they haven't heard about this as well, liars.

Well, you can add me to the list of people this happened to. Just happened to me at work and couldn't get the key in. luckily i had a locksmith do it for $140 rather than the $400 the Ford dealer wanted. But one thing that really kinda ticks me off is when people say that because of one reoccuring problem of a part of a car, people say they will never buy a Ford again. to stereotype a whole line of cars/trucks just b/c an ignition locks up is stupid in my opinion. besides its not like this only happens to ford. all the GM's i've had always had fuel pump problems, and Honda's automatic transmissions sucked (even worse than the Taurus' might i add). but its not like i'm going to assume that every single one of them afterwards even if its not the same model of car will have the same problem. Just remember that every car you probably ever own is gonna have a part that will most likely go on almost all of the cars, its just what happens because after all, cars are built with every individual part coming from the same source. Service may or may not suck, it all depends on your individual dealership, not the Ford company. if your dealer sucks, look for a new one. but don't say you're never gonna buy another ford. saying you're never going to buy another focus would make more sense. besides, lets say Ford does offer some kind of recall on this, despite the fact that it is not safety related. do you really think they'd offer that recall if they already know that everyones saying they're not going to buy another one of their vehicles? hell no.

[LemonGT]

Well, you can add me to the list of people this happened to. Just happened to me at work and couldn't get the key in. luckily i had a locksmith do it for $140 rather than the $400 the Ford dealer wanted. But one thing that really kinda ticks me off is when people say that because of one reoccuring problem of a part of a car, people say they will never buy a Ford again. to stereotype a whole line of cars/trucks just b/c an ignition locks up is stupid in my opinion. besides its not like this only happens to ford. all the GM's i've had always had fuel pump problems, and Honda's automatic transmissions sucked (even worse than the Taurus' might i add). but its not like i'm going to assume that every single one of them afterwards even if its not the same model of car will have the same problem. Just remember that every car you probably ever own is gonna have a part that will most likely go on almost all of the cars, its just what happens because after all, cars are built with every individual part coming from the same source. Service may or may not suck, it all depends on your individual dealership, not the Ford company. if your dealer sucks, look for a new one. but don't say you're never gonna buy another ford. saying you're never going to buy another focus would make more sense. besides, lets say Ford does offer some kind of recall on this, despite the fact that it is not safety related. do you really think they'd offer that recall if they already know that everyones saying they're not going to buy another one of their vehicles? hell no.

For a lot of people this is the straw that broke the camels back.
For me:
DPFE sensor has gone out 3 times.
Throttle stuck at full acceleration (life threatening)
Ignition lock (stranded 200 miles from home)
Bad fuel filter (stalls entering freeway = life threatening)
Bad brakes
Radio only works when it wants to.
PS pump broke twice.
Bad gas mileage
Ford won’t fix their problems, sold me faulty parts.
Plus all the recalls and small stuff I have to take my car in for.

A car is a major expense for most of us and I'm not going to risk buying another car from them since I've had such a bad experience.

[focuspop]

34,00 miles, and a little less than 2 years. My son just had his second ignition switch replaced, along with his second audiophile 6 disk cd radio. The dealer told me that some people are on their 6th or 7th ignition, and that this one would "probably break again"

[BowDown]

I cought mine before it totally locked on my red car. Was $65 in parts all set for me. Took 45min to swap.

Ha, now I have 2 focus. Talk about a glutten for punishment.

But really... where the [censored] is the recall for this?