Consumer Complaint Detail

FORD / FOCUS / 2003

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 006078882 Incident Date: Aug, 11 2006
Consumer's City: ASHEVILLE Consumer's State: NC
Vehicle Transmission Type: AUTO Manufacturers Name: Ford Motor Company
Model Name: FOCUS Model Year: 2003
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Electrical system:ignition:switch
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: 1FAFP33P93W Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Sep, 13 2006 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Aug, 08 2003
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: Yes
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: 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. *jb