Problems with 2000 Ford Focus ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

2000 ford focus se, key will not go into ignition. can not start car.*ak

Ignition assembly failed. the car was parked and left to sit for a couple of hours. upon return, the key could not be fully inserted into the ignition. my 3-year-old son and i were stranded. car had to be towed about 7 miles to the dealer. dealer replaced the ignition assembly at a cost of about $348. the old part is not available. *tr

The consumer placed the key inside of the ignition switch, but the switch failed to turn. the consumer had the vehicle towed to the dealer for inspection. the mechanic informed the consumer that the ignition switch needed replacement. please fill in additional information. *jb

Purchased new sept 2000 @ 13 miles feb 2003 ignition switch froze, @ 25,375 miles replaced under 36/36k warranty. sept 2004 ignition switch froze @ 45,150 miles replaced by ford and paid by owner for $354.00. in each case i was stranded and had to pay for towing and a rental car. ford keeps replacing the switch with a faulty switch. this should be a recall. *jb

Went to lock doors using power door locks, power door lock system failed. research on internet showed this is a common problem amung owners of ford focus. replacement of fuse and checking of locking system. 20 minutes of research on google with ford focus fuse 63 returned many results where owners have documented this problem and others have inquired about this problem.*ak

Ignition switch failure. key would not turn in the ignition switch. *jb

The ignition lock is hard to turn and hard to remove the key. you have to jiggle the key to get it to work. it has nearly left me stranded several times. i was quoted a price to fix it at $300. i have yet to fix it due to financal difficulties.*ak

Headlights/radio and electrical parts would come on and off on their own. consumer drove vehicle to dealer for inspection, but mechanic could not duplicated the problem

My ignition cylinder locks, i.e. i put the key in the ignition and it will not turn. i had the ignition cylinder replaced 9 months ago. now the same problem has occurred. cannot start my car.*ak

The ingition cylinder of my 2000 ford focus completely locked up. ford has done nothing to compensate for the cost incurred during repair. this is a highly documented defect and should be covered by a recall.

Consumer placed the key inside the ignition switch and key would not start the vehicle. it was towed to the dealer for inspection, and mechanic determined that ignition switch needed to be replaced, and replaced it. *ak

Faulty ignition cylinder, second replacement in 18 months. 1st time ignition would not turn & key stuck. 2nd time car would not turn over, service tech claims components inside were broken. *ak

Ignition system has failed for the 3rd time in 40,000 miles - i can insert the key into the ignition and turn it through the first three position, but cannont turn it into the start position. both previous failures where repaired at ford dealerships with the replacement of the ignition cylinder. *ak

Ignition lock broken. steering wheel is locked and key cannot go all the way into the ignition. cannot start car. *ak

Upon trying to start the vehicle. the key would not turn. it took the consumer numerous tries to get the vehicle started. please provide additional information. *jb

Went to work, parked car in company lot came out put key into ignition to start and key will not turn. steering wheel will not turn. had vehicle towed to dealership, no word from them yet. i have a baby what if this were to happen in the middle of winter while my baby was with me. it is very dangerous. *ak

While starting the vehicle key would not turn the ignition switch. vehicle was towed to a repair shop, and mechanic had to replace the ignition switch cylinder. dealer was not notified. *ak

I have a 2000 ford focus wagon and i can no longer get the key to turn in the ignition. i have giggled, i have tapped, i have tried to coax it to work, but now my car is stuck in my driveway with no way to start it. i have looked on-line and there are hundreds of complaints about this same problem - the key sticks [which it has done repeatedly to me] or stops turning in the ignition at all, thereby rendering the car unstartable and therefore undrivable. *jb

More than 1 problem with the fuel system as a whole, the latest one being a fuel pump replacement. now my ignition is broken and in the shop. i've had to have my brakes replaced early along with all of the other recalls on the focus. *ak

Key will not turn in ignition. well known trouble by dealer. wanted $500 to repair. *ak

Ignition key locking up, defective ignition switch. *ak

Upon purchasing my vehicle used 4 days later i had to have my ignition replaced because the key would not come out of the ignition, only 2 months later i am having the same problem and the dealer i bought my car from only carried a 45 day warranty. *ak

Ignition problem. tried to start car with key but will not start. at first, the key would not go in but finally got key in but car didn't start. my key was damaged alittle from the ignition. since mechanics are on strike in st. louis, maybe hard to get fixed. called suntrup ford and they said not covered and not recalled so i would have to pay the cost to fix.*ak

Consumer went out to start the vehicle and the key would not turn the ignition and locked in place. no matter how much consumer tried the key would not move. vehicle was towed to the dealership, and the technician replaced the cylinder at consumer's expense. *ak

I have a 2000 ford focus and i have been having terrible problems with my ignition. several dozen times i have not been able to start my car or it has taken me a significant amount of time to be able to start the car. i told my local ford dealer about the problem and said it would cost about $300 to fix the ignition. however, he told me that i was the fourth person that had called him that very specific day reporting the same problem with other focus'. i have searched the internet and have found hundreds of other people posting complaints online and i think it is about time for a recall. *jb

I went shopping at wal-mart and when i came out, my ignition was locked up. i was unable to do anything and called the ford dealership to tow it in and fix it. i was charged for all parts, labor, and tow bill. when i reasearched this online, i found several others had the same problem and based on their experiences this happens over and over. ford would accept no responsibility and would not look into a recall. my car is a 2000 ford focus. incidinte date is a guess.

Car stalls at low and highway speeds with no warning. fuel pump has already been replaced under recall program. this happened repeatedly in the past few weeks and prior to the fuel pump replacement. following pump replacement it stopped for a while, but now is occuring again with increasing frequency.*ak

Ignition locks on focus are faulty. i have had mine replaced every 25 months since i have owned my vehicle. ford refuses to cover the ignition lock even though the service managers all know about this being faulty. ford claims ignorance, that they are unaware of this being a common problem, i have performed the most rudimentary research that shows otherwise and if i really spend time, i only imagine what i will find. <http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.ford.focus/messages/29566.html> <http://www.focaljet.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?cat=&number=635761&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1> <http://www.talkaboutautos.com/group/alt.autos.ford.focus/messages/27215.html> thanks!*ak

Events, just normal driving. sway bar link disconnected causing sharp rightward pull at highway speed. continued smelling of electrical burning from dash panel with intermittent instrument failure, and airbag lights flashing. smoke came from the vent systems a couple times, but no fire noticed as of yet. nothing has been done to correct failure, costs too much for me to have ford diagnose the problem, $500+ for dash labour costs to pull it and inspect.

When getting into my car to go to work one day the key wouldn't go into the ignition all the way. my vehicle needed to be towed to the dealership in order to replace the entire ignition assembly. *ak

Consumer complained about ignition switch failure to start the vehicle. dealer was notified. *ak

Approximately 10 times now, i have tried to start my 2000 ford focus, and the key either will not insert completely or it will not turn in the switch.*ak

Very hard to put key into or remove from ignition, have not removed key in 8 years. *tr

Ignition cylinder on my 2000 ford focus has been replaced two times by a local ford dealer. in the first instance (approximately august, 2004, key could not be removed from the lock. this required towing the vehicle to the dealership for repair. the most recent incident (february, 2007) the key would not turn the ignition switch unless the tilt steering was bounced forward and back for approximately 10 minutes. *jb

While driving vehicle stalled. consumer restarted the vehicle, and drove it to the dealer for inspection. mechanic determined that the spark plugs needed to be replaced. consumer informed the mechanic that the problem recurred, and had not been resolved.*ak

I have 46,000 miles on my focus and the ignition switch will let me insert the key but will not let turn the ignition on, i have personally read hundreds of forums posts with this problem occuring..... i should not have to pay $300+ to have this repaired. the extremly bad part is that my wife was trying to start the car up at the time.... she had noticed someone following her to the car and when she got in the car and locked the door behind her, he started trying to break in, and lone and behold she tried to start the car but the igntion would not turn. thankfully i was only a few blocks away and she called me in a panic, when i arrived to where she was i seen the man trying to get in the car, he seen me coming up to the only car in the parking lot (my focus) and started running he jumped over a fence and i could not catch him...... whats to stop this from happening again? i have seen numerous posts on forums about people who have taken their car in had the ignition "fixed" only for them to come across this problem again. i cannot keep my family safe all the time. i guess i just need to trade my focus in for a reliable vehicle! *ak

My key would no longer fit in the ignition leaving the car undrivable with the wheels locked which made towing near impossible. in the first instance the ford service department replaced the ignition and advised me i was starting my car incorrectly. they said i needed to fully depress the key in the ignition before turning it. it is not possible to do otherwise. 17 months later it has failed again. they have just replaced my second ignition in 2 years and i was now told that this is not a faulty part but due to the weather in northeast ohio. *nm

The consumer had ignition switch replaced and it went out again. dealer replaced the ignition a second time without informing the consumer that the warranty had expired. the ignition switch was defective again.*ak

The ignition was locked in place and it would not move at all. also, steering wheel was locked. dealerships replaced twice the ignition switch at consumer's expense. *ak

I own a 2000 ford focus coupe with 119000 miles. although this is high mileage, my normal drive is 30-60 miles. on 7-27-04 i attempted to start the car and was unable to get the key to turn in the ignition. the tow driver from aaa was also initially unsuccessful, but after consulting with a locksmith he said that the lock tumblers were stuck; he got it to turn by hitting the butt of the key. this was obviously not something to continue doing, so i took the car the next morning to ford of upland, where the service writer told me they had seen many focuses with the same problem. i asked if there had been a service memo from ford and he said no. not wanting to risk the car having a disabled ignition while an hour from home, i had the dealer install a new ignition for $318. however, i told him that this was the first time i'd ever seen a problem with an ignition switch on any car i've owned, including the last three cars i've owned, which all lasted over 160000 miles, and that even though my car had a lot of miles, because of my long average trip, the number of starts was equivalent to a car with 40000 miles driven locally. i then did an internet search and found literally dozens of similar complaints, some by people who had had multiple ignition replacements. also, in a previous problem with this car, ford had denied that there was any problem with the fuel pump when i inquired about a problem with the car dying on hard right turns, only to see a recall two months later, so my suspicion is that they are also well aware of this ignition problem (the dealer said as much).*ak

After having a difficult time of turning the ignition switch on consumer could not shift the vehicle into park. every attempt would cause a grinding nose. consumer drove the vehicle to the dealer, who replaced the entire ignition cylinder. *ak

Ignition cylinder failed. had to have replaced. have two such vehicles and experienced failure on both. quite costly.

Ford focus ignition will not accept key. known manufacturer issue. manufacturer will not cover expense of repair.*ak

The ignition switch was defective. the consumer inserted the key in the ignition and the ignition key failed to turn. provide further details. *jb

My focus 2000 is in the shop due to a broken ignition cylinder. this is obviously a huge common problem and should be recalled.i could have been left stranded in the middle of the night in a dark parking lot. car had to be towed.

I own a 2000 ford focus. several times in the past year, the key would not turn to start the car. in the past i have been able to jiggle the key and sterring wheel to get it started. on 7/14/2004, the same thing occurred, but i never had any success with turning it at all. the steering wheel was also locked up. i investigated the problem on the internet and found this was very common on ford focus, especially 2000. i had the car towed and had repairs done at ed kelnley ford in layton, utah costng $461.01.*ak

At first could not get key into ignition, then after wiggling it in, ignition will not turn with key in it. this is on a 2000 ford focus. had to have vehicle towed. i understand now that this is a common problem with focus now by hearing from the tow truck driver and others with focus'. this should definitely be a recall issue as so many others have had this happen. *jb

The ignition malfunctioned. as a result, the key got stuck which enabled the consumer to start the vehicle. *ak

At 6 months, the ignition switch (and all door locks, tailgate lock) was replaced due to the inability to remove the key from the ignition. 10/29/03 - igntion switch replaced due to broken tumbler assy - cost almost $300 07/16/04 - unable to turn key in ignition - again - same as problem on 10/29/03. *jb

Ignition cylinder jammed and car cannot be started. cylinder must be replaced and tumblers removed to prevent repeat of situation in the future. *la