George_A_ Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Hi everyone, It is nice being a member of the community. I bought a second hand Ford Fiesta 1.4 CDTI Style (diesel model), registration 07 from a dealer less than two weeks ago with 109K miles on the clock. On the second day I got the car in my hands, I booked a full service from Halfords Autocentre for £235, with the added option of the cleaning liquid for the oil, which got the price to something like £250. That service was done on Friday, Sept 23. Today, Wednesday, Sept 28, when I switched on the engine in the morning to commute to my place of work, the yellow engine light came up and stayed on for the whole route to work, about 2 miles. I feel suspicious about the fact that this happened less than a week after I had the full service from Halfords. Do you think that my suspicions are founded? On a different fact, I paid £1250 buying the car from the dealer (using a VISA credit card, but without finance or anything). Since then, I have also realised that the heated windscreen is not working (the light comes on when I press it with the engine running, but nothing happens). The heated windscreen was mentioned in the car description on AutoTrader and was one of the major reasons I went for this car. There are I think some regulations that say that any car sold by a dealer should be driveable, I don't know if the engine light coming up less than two weeks after a purchase counts as against this condition... However, even though the Autotrader ad for the car described it as "looks and drives great" (I have kept a screenshot of the ad, attached), the dealer wrote on my receipt "no warranties given or implied". Does this mean that my rights as a buyer are limited? The lighter socket and the cabin light were not working as well when I bought it, I had Halfords repairing these two for an added £20, now I have the heated windscreen not working and the engine light on less than 2 weeks after buying the car.... I am truly scared that I have bought an empty barrel in terms of spending money to fix it and everything... Thank you all in advance for your time and your advice, Kind Regards, George Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1tch Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 Firstly, welcome in :D, I have the same 1.4 TDCi mk6, here are my comments: Check what exactly was done at the service and what grade oil was used - wouldn't really go near Halfords, make sure the air, oil AND fuel filter was changed. Get yourself a cheap code reader (about £3 on ebay) and read the codes, I have used mine countless times. Heated windscreen - this is a Ford design fault, only half the heated screen works on mine - its due to the wiper assembly rubbing against the thin ribbon contacts on the window, to check you actually have a heated screen fitted you should be able to see tiny wires in the glass. If you don't then the car originally had heated screens but a non heated screen has been put in instead. My 12v socket wasn't working on mine, was just a fuse - its behind the glovebox, you need to open the glovebox and squeeze the sides for the glovebox to then tip forward, its just behind there, uses the micro fuses. Make sure you check when the cambelt was done - technically its every 125k miles but I wouldn't go past around 80k, I changed mine as soon as I got my car at 105k miles, make sure that the water pump and tensioners are also changed. The car is more reliable than the 1.6TDCi, just need to get the car fully serviced and sorted. I would also suggest running some diesel purge injector cleaner through the system Also listen out for any 'chuffing' noises coming from under the airbox - this is the copper injector seals, they are a common issue where they can fail and then mean the injectors aren't perfectly sealed anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_k Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 These Halfords Autocentre places are springing up everywhere for a reason they realy on shafting the public. I wouldn't let them service my lawnmower. Find yourself a local independent garage you can trust and build a relationship with him over the years. That way you'll generally get fair treatment and assessment and service, and you know the jobs done. £250 for a service on that car is economically crazy, its around 20% of what you paid for car (which incidentally a car at that price, age and mileage is going to have flaws unfortunately so not much to stand on there really in respect of asking the dealer to repair things). I'd be checking the air filter etc too. As above is the belts etc have not been done then by the time you inc parts and labour costs and your service costs your going to have spent approximately half the value of that particular car within a number of weeks of acquiring it. If buying used I'm afraid you really are taking a chance service history wise and really need to have someone who knows what there doing in regard to checking the physical car and the paper and online trail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1tch Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 I would suggest running the number plate through the MOT history online - you can see what sort of things its failed on in the past and the sort of mileage each year its done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted September 28, 2016 Share Posted September 28, 2016 12 hours ago, George_A_ said: the dealer wrote on my receipt "no warranties given or implied". I do not think that would stand up, as he did it after you had paid, and the contract of sale had already been made. It would have to have been clearly stated before sale to have any meaning, I think. So your normal consumer rights (fit for purpose & other bits) should still stand. Though enforcing them against an un-cooperative dealer may be stressful! Engine warning light on is definitely not in the "drives great" definition. There will be a reason for it, and one or more codes (DTCs) behind it to indicate possible faults. The code(s) may help to indicate if it was something Halfords may have done, or if is likely to be pre-existing, so are very important. The heated windscreen fault could just possibly come under the "as seen" conditions that probably apply to a purchase of this type, though as it was clearly stated in the pre-sale advert, it is a bit muddy, I think. There should be a fuse for it, in one of the fuse boxes (near glovebox, and in the engine bay), it is worth checking that first though. And looking for the wires as David (m1tch) says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George_A_ Posted September 29, 2016 Author Share Posted September 29, 2016 Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply to my questions. The service I had in Halfords Autocentre was not the Full one, it was the Major one, as per the list in here: http://www.halfordsautocentres.com/advice/servicing-advice/car-servicing-whats-included But I got no report at all about what was carried out... and I paid an extra £20 almost for them to add something to the oil tank to clean it before replacing the oil. Anyway, I used an OBD2 reader and I have got the error message P1412 logged. For a Ford this has to do with the EGR valve being frozen. As this happened a few days after the Major service from Halfords, could they have caused that? (maybe intentionally, so that I go back to the garage? ) Or is this something that can happen randomly on a car with 109K miles on the clock? Thanks again m1tch, dave_k and Tdci-Peter for your replies and your advice... Kind Regards, George PS: The car has passed the last MOT without any advisories, as in the attached image, it had failed only once in the past, as in the second attachment... PS2: The heated windscreen is there, I can see the lines. However, even thought the dashboard switch lights up when I press it, nothing happens on either the left or the right side of the windscreen. I will check the case of the fuse, just in case it may be that easy... PS3: The car did not have a service book, I think in retrospect I might have been stupid to buy a car at this price without a service book, but I completely forgot to ask for one... PS4: I thought I could trust Halfords because they are like a national company, it seems that this is not the case from your experiences, so, I will try to stay away from them. I was afraid to go to a local dealer, just in case I encountered a bogus one, who would ask me to pay for jobs that were not needed, such as the ones presented on BBC Watchdog.... This seems to be unavoidable I suppose, if Halfords follow similar practices or are inadequate... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_k Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 "I paid an extra £20 almost for them to add something to the oil tank to clean it before replacing the oil." Pretty much sums up Halfords for me, as I said I wouldn't trust them to service my lawnmower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m1tch Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 6 minutes ago, dave_k said: "I paid an extra £20 almost for them to add something to the oil tank to clean it before replacing the oil." Pretty much sums up Halfords for me, as I said I wouldn't trust them to service my lawnmower. It probably would have been an oil flush treatment, they aren't really needed, just decent oil will remove the muck from inside the engine. With regards to the EGR - its not too much of an issue, its a bit fiddly to get to but I have blanked mine off (£3), it will still throw a code but its not too much of an issue. With regards to the heated window, turn on the heated window and put your hand on each side - there is a ribbon for each side, its typically usually the driver side that goes - due to where the wiper motor etc is, check if both sides are warm. You would need to remove the scuttle panel to get to the ribbons so checking the fuses etc would be a good first step. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomson Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 As above, EGR valves are a pain in the backside and in my opinion shouldn't be there. Blanking them off is a great way to remove problems caused from them but they all clog up over time regardless of servicing the car. My Vauxhall Signum needed it removing and cleaning every 10-15k but was easy to get to. As the advice above, find somewhere local that's recommended online/word of mouth and start sending it in there - you can also check if they are part of the "good garage scheme" - that's always a bonus and provides better peace of mind. But yeah, I wouldn't trust Halfrauds with my car - most don't even know how to change light bulbs, let alone service the thing! Two of the lads at my local Halfords (Llandudno) who were "car specialists" looked at me like id taken a steamer on the floor when I asked for MAF/Contact Cleaner. They told me they've never stocked and didn't know what it was despite standing 2-feet away from it. made me chuckle. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pullock Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 1 hour ago, Tomson said: As above, EGR valves are a pain in the backside and in my opinion shouldn't be there. Blanking them off is a great way to remove problems caused from them but they all clog up over time regardless of servicing the car. My Vauxhall Signum needed it removing and cleaning every 10-15k but was easy to get to. As the advice above, find somewhere local that's recommended online/word of mouth and start sending it in there - you can also check if they are part of the "good garage scheme" - that's always a bonus and provides better peace of mind. But yeah, I wouldn't trust Halfrauds with my car - most don't even know how to change light bulbs, let alone service the thing! Two of the lads at my local Halfords (Llandudno) who were "car specialists" looked at me like id taken a steamer on the floor when I asked for MAF/Contact Cleaner. They told me they've never stocked and didn't know what it was despite standing 2-feet away from it. made me chuckle. I have mentioned this before but I once watched them spend 20 mins on changing a rear wiper blade and after all that time they still didn't manage it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tdci-Peter Posted September 29, 2016 Share Posted September 29, 2016 2 hours ago, George_A_ said: As this happened a few days after the Major Service from Halfords, could they have caused that? OBD Code P1412: EGR valve frozen I think it is much more likely to be a longer term problem, related to dirt or corrosion, either in the valve mechanism, or in the connector, or in the internal electrical connections in the EGR valve. I have had 3 problems with my EGR valve, all in the internal electrical connections between the external connector and the motor & sensor pot inside it. Much as almost everyone on this forum detests Halfords (!), I doubt if it was them. With a 2007 Fiesta 1.4TDCI, you might get away with blanking the EGR, but: a) That will not stop the light coming on if there is an electrical problem in the valve. On my car, the valve must work ok, or it gives error codes. But it can be blanked off, and does not then give an error code (provided it still works mechanically). b) On some engines, blanked off EGR will always give error codes, as the air flow rates will not be correct. It would have to be mapped out by modifying the pcm, a specialist job. --- Servicing & repairs: A complex problem. Not one solution fits all. For routine, basic stuff, like tyres & exhausts, I use a national chain, for the aggressive & competitive pricing. For servicing & most repairs (where I can't do it myself), I use local, small to medium sized garages which do not advertise, and rely entirely on repeat custom & word of mouth recommendation, with a well established reputation. They are not in a position to muck about with their customers. As a guide, it usually takes several days to a week of advance notice to get a booking in a good garage. For complex stuff like electronics and high pressure diesel bits, I would probably go to a specialist, possibly even a Fraud Stealer if necessary. For a nine year old car, & £1250, I think you would be lucky to get full service history. Even with that, there is still a big element of pot luck. Most of the cars I have bought have been mid life or later. But even with some largish bills, it is still cheaper than the depreciation on a new car. I can not be sure of the wiring on this car, but usually the switch & the indicator light for the heated screen go to the BCM (body control module), so the light comes on regardless of the screen condition or fuses. There should a relay to drive the screen, and on the Focus the two sides have separate fuses. The relay & fuses may well be in the engine bay fusebox. A Haynes manual might be a good investment. Halfords sell them , but so do others. Haynes is far from perfect these days, with many errors & omissions, but I still find it very useful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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