NHTSA Complaint #10241142 — 2001 FORD FOCUS

I OWN 2 SEPARATE FORD FOCUSES - BOTH 2001 MODELS. ONE IS A ZTS AND THE OTHER AN SX. ABOUT A YEAR AGO, THE SX IGNITION LOCKED UP AND THE CAR WOULD NOT START. WE HAD TO HAVE THE IGNITION CYLINDER REPLACED. NOW, BARELY A YEAR LATER, THE ZTS MODEL IS HAVING THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM. SEARCHING ONLINE FOR A CHEAPER SOLUTION (THE DEALER CHARGES UPWARDS OF $300 TO FIX THE ISSUE), I FOUND THAT THIS IS A VERY COMMON PROBLEM AND WIDELY KNOWN BUT NOT ACKNOWLEDGED. I'VE BEEN STRANDED TWICE ALONE WITH THIS CAR AND NOW THE IGNITION WON'T TURN AT ALL NO MATTER HOW MUCH I TRY TO JIGGLE THE KEY. THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE AND COULD LEAD TO VERY DANGEROUS SITUATIONS. THE PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BY FORD AND REPAIRED. *TR