There are a silly number of wires going to it... it's an EPIC controlled
electronic one.

meanwhile, the previous bus went to a new owner... Said owner, unsatisfied
with just the one main ignition key and the worn ignition lock, took it to
the Ford dealer (the master key is long-since disappeared) to have a new
lock fitted and new keys programmed.

It's still there.  This is a week or more ago.  Apparently, they can't get
it to work again.  They even replaced the PATS (passive immobiliser) ECU,
and they still can't get it to accept any keys.  Personally, I reckon they
screwed up somewhere along the line and now can't recover it, although it
beggars belief that their computer gear has no option to wipe everything and
start from scratch.  Basically PATS has to recognise the EPIC engine ECU and
the key in use and agree to allow the engine to operate.  

The essence of this though, is that it was working with the old, worn-out
lock/key combo quite happily when taken in there.  According to me, it's now
their problem to make it work again.

Anyone know the legal implications of this?  If I take a vehicle to have a
new ignition lock fitted, I don't expect them to kill it... and if they do,
I expect them to make it go again (at their expense) and or compensate me
for the loss of the vehicle if it's really dead...

I've now got to phone the dealer, and suggest the ways *I* can think of to
revive it without the immobiliser (and on a 12-year-old vehicle, the
immobiliser is less relevant).