Since getting his brand new patrol car, Port Townsend Police Sergeant Troy Surber has driven 700 miles.

Last week, the driver’s side door lock failed.

Now the department is looking at its other brand new 2020 Ford Interceptors and wondering if it’s a fluke or a flaw.

In March 2019, the Port Townsend City Council approved the purchase of three brand new 2020 Ford Interceptors, the police version of the civilian Ford Explorer, for the Port Townsend Police Department.

One was to replace a 2013 Ford Explorer totalled after a collision earlier in 2019, the other two replaced two 2003 Ford Crown Victoria police cruisers.

Each car, equipped with video surveillance, a mobile data terminal, radios, radar, lights and police graphics cost $75,000 outright, for a total of $225,000.

Surber said he first noticed the lock was stiff when it arrived in the fall.

It was always a little rigid but last week it failed completely and could no longer be locked or unlocked manually.

Instead of engaging, the lock spins freely in the mechanism.

The department is worried the other cars, which also have stiff locks, may have the same issue, he said.

Part of the problem is that the new cars are not outfitted with remote unlocks. In order to unlock the car, a key has to be manually inserted every time, causing wear, but that doesn’t mean they should fail this quickly, Surber said.

The fix, to replace the entire driver’s side lock mechanism, is covered under warranty but the parts are on backorder, so it could take a while to get it fixed, Surber said.

While it would not present any additional cost for the City of Port Townsend, that doesn’t account for the loss in productivity and efficiency, having to repair the cars and take time off patrol to drop the cars off or the potential safety risk of not being able to unlock a patrol car.

The 2020 Interceptor/Explorer has been the subject of much turmoil for Ford since it was reported in October that the company had not delivered a large number of ordered cars.

Production at the Chicago plant didn’t meet quota and many buyers were left holding their receipts.

In October and December several thousand vehicles were recalled for issues which increased the risk of an internal fire in 13,000 cars total.

According to the Ford website, there were close to 15,000 Interceptors ordered by police agencies in 2019.

Fourth quarter sales figures reveal Ford Explorer sales were down 14.62 percent from 2018.

Overall 2019 sales figures for the popular SUV model were down 26 percent from 2018.