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Huge Repair Bill


wayhay2k7
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Not sure if anyone else has experienced this.

Just had my car in for a standard service and they've pointed out the following:

Lots of oil in coolant (head gasket?), brake/coolant change required, front discs and pads need replacing, drive shafts leaking, suspension broken at the front, major oil leak on underside, rear trailing arm bushes broken, urgent replacement of timing belt, tensioners, water pump. 

total bill so far is over £1,500 excluding head gasket problem. Car needs two new tyres, new exhaust through-out and possibly handbrake needs looking at, the alarm is also not working for some reason, so even more work to be done.

Car is 4 years old, around 80k miles and I've had it since new. Serviced at recommended intervals, no expense spared but this could top 2,500 on a car that's worth 5k? 

Car is on finance with another year to go, so I'm stuck. Can't sell it as it's knackered and is out of MOT, which it won't pass with the the above oil issues creating clouds of smoke. 

Only suggestion I've had so far is to buy another brand new car and add on the remaining finance but that's just another 5 years (or 4 years probably) of paying for another car that I don't really want. After 4 years, the same thing will happen again. Doing 20k miles a year is harsh on a car but not beyond the limits of what it should do. I was hoping for 100k of trouble free miles before a big bill (maybe a grand?)

How can a 4 year old car be so completely knackered despite being serviced and maintained by an approved dealer? I used to own cars that were 10 years old, never a problem, never more than a £500 repair bill for something massive going wrong. My last second hand car had 150k miles on it and only needed new tyres before I traded it in for something I thought would last a few years longer..how wrong was I..should of kept the banger!

 

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Cant you hand it back to the finance company and walk away? Enquire about a Voluntary Termination. I think the car might have to have nothing wrong with it for that though but i maybe wrong.

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1 hour ago, wayhay2k7 said:

Not sure if anyone else has experienced this.

Just had my car in for a standard service and they've pointed out the following:

Lots of oil in coolant (head gasket?), brake/coolant change required, front discs and pads need replacing, drive shafts leaking, suspension broken at the front, major oil leak on underside, rear trailing arm bushes broken, urgent replacement of timing belt, tensioners, water pump. 

Head gasket failure? You're the first 2012 Focus I've heard of to have this go, certainly at this low mileage.

Brake pads and discs, yep OK if they haven't been done in 4 years acceptable.

Drive shafts leaking? Suspension broken? Rear trailing arm bushes broken? What have you been driving over the entire 4 years? Gravel track with potholes?

Timing belt, tensioners and water pump? Unless you've had a bad belt, this shouldn't be due for at least another 20,000 miles.

total bill so far is over £1,500 excluding head gasket problem. Car needs two new tyres, new exhaust through-out and possibly handbrake needs looking at, the alarm is also not working for some reason, so even more work to be done.

New exhaust system though out on a 4 year old car? You can't be serious.

Handbrake, probably needs tightening up a bit after 4 years. Acceptable. 

Car is 4 years old, around 80k miles and I've had it since new. Serviced at recommended intervals, no expense spared but this could top 2,500 on a car that's worth 5k? 

Car is on finance with another year to go, so I'm stuck. Can't sell it as it's knackered and is out of MOT, which it won't pass with the the above oil issues creating clouds of smoke. 

Only suggestion I've had so far is to buy another brand new car and add on the remaining finance but that's just another 5 years (or 4 years probably) of paying for another car that I don't really want. After 4 years, the same thing will happen again. Doing 20k miles a year is harsh on a car but not beyond the limits of what it should do. I was hoping for 100k of trouble free miles before a big bill (maybe a grand?)

How can a 4 year old car be so completely knackered despite being serviced and maintained by an approved dealer? I used to own cars that were 10 years old, never a problem, never more than a £500 repair bill for something massive going wrong. My last second hand car had 150k miles on it and only needed new tyres before I traded it in for something I thought would last a few years longer..how wrong was I..should of kept the banger!

 

I would go to another garage for a second opinion. I really doubt a 4 year old car has this many problems unless you drive it like an absolute tool, which based on the fact you've serviced it well I doubt it. You'd have known about these problems as they appeared at each service, so I think someone is trying to pull a fast one on you or they've given you a report for an absolute shed that isn't yours!

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I  was wondering how  could answer this question without re-writing war and peace and stll convey my meaning. It turns out the answer was to wait for a while and let DJ_Andy_M do it. I  suspect the garage is taking the pith. A couple of new tyres? Well that could happen but it probably shouldn't be surprise.

Urgent replacement of timing belt? Rated life depends on engine so check when it is due on ETIS.

oil in coolant? Should be able to see that but I suspect it isn't there.

Front discs and pads need replacing Most people get a little more than this but it certainly could happen depending on driving style and various other things.

Brake/coolant change required. No connection between those items. Coolant change could be necessary if the oil has been leaking but I have my doubts.

Find yourself a trustworthy garage.
 

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head gasket - around £500 inc parts and labour, plus additional £40 for head skim ( the timing belt and tension er will be included in the £500 head gasket quote as the belt should be replaced at the same time )

brake & coolant drained and filled, around £15 and very easy to do yourself.

front discs & pads - parts cost £42, not too difficult to replace yourself, around £70 to pay a garage so call it £110 

driveshafts leaking - around £150 - £200 supplied & fitted for the pair.  Make sure before replacing the driveshaft that it is not simply the driveshaft gaiter that is leaking. to replace 2 front driveshaft gaiters you should expect a bill of around £100.

 

front suspension broken -  around £50

oil leak - anywhere from £5- £500

 

retaining bushes - £100

tires- every car needs tires, simply wear and tear and as such tires should not be on the list of disrepair. 

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doesn't have to be the head gasket if the oil cooler goes it shows the same symptoms ..rear bushes are common but a pain to replace

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What engine and spec of car do you have other than a 2012 model ? Diesel, petrol , titanium? 

Also approved dealer ? Is that an independent garage or a main Ford dealer ? 

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take it out the garage and never return.

I have a 2009 1.6 Zetec 50K on the clock, every year it goes to the main dealer for MOT and alternative minor and major services. The only thing they ever found except a jammed wheel nut was drake disks.

Last year I ASKED for brake fluid, timing belt and water pump. On 1.6 it's 8 years or 100k.

Exhaust and suspension I really would get a second opinion and I don't believe the head gasket, if you do short journeys and don't use Dunlop oil you can get some cram around the filler neck.

Get second opinion,

 

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OMG! I know it's Christmas and everyone wants a little extra to spend, but these guys clear see your car as the goose that laid the golden egg. Like advised above, Take your car and seek a second opinion.

Don't show the list of so called problems to the new garage. Ask them to give the car a good over all inspection and see what they come up with.

Best of luck to you wayhey.

Keep us updated

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I'm going to assume that's not a Ford dealer service?  Sounds more like a Halfords Autocentre list where they use the red/yellow/green system? 

Snapped suspension spring at 4 years old/80k isn't uncommon tbh.

Pads and discs are probably due at that mileage, I haven't seen front pads and discs last much past 50k on modern cars. 

Brake fluid 'should' be changed every 2 years but isn't necessarily included in normal service.  Cambelt kit could be changed around 80k although Ford recommend 100k, that's really up to you to decide how far you dare push it. 

Coolant obviously needs changing if it's full of oil, more likely oil cooler fail or mixed coolant types than headgasket though, unless you've been ragging it about on the limiter from cold every day.

What is the problem with the driveshafts?  Are they leaking grease?  If so just need new gaiters.  If they're leaking through the gearbox seal that's a bit more effort.

Major oil leak on underside?  If you've got oil and the floor and oil in the coolant you can't have much left in the engine by now lol?  I doubt it is major, probably just a minor leaky seal that's been leaking a while and covered the underside.

Rear trailing arm bushes are probably knackered as they suggest, quite a common issue.

Tyres are acceptable. 

Alarms are better off not working, no-one takes any notice when they do go off lol.

Complete exhaust system?  Why?  Only thing I can think is that it's a diesel so the DPF is now due for replacement and the backbox has failed as well?

From that, it looks like there are only 2 MOT faults, snapped spring and leaking CV gaiter(s).  They other stuff may not need doing asap so could be split over a few months.

 

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Thanks for the replies guys.

This is a 2012 Focus Diesel with one of those 1.0 ecoBoost engine thingies. 

It's done 80k miles with no problems, never struggled to start, never had any faults. It does a 50/60 mile journey every day and isn't used on weekends that much, it's purely the driving to work car. 

The garage is a main dealer who I bought the car from and have serviced it since new, to Ford manufacturer standard with all the receipts and stamps. I was intending on selling the car at the end of the finance deal and hoped that this would improve the price a little. I've always dropped the car off in the morning, left it with them all day, then paid for any work at the end of the day no matter the cost...until now! 

No over heating issues, no signs of any major faults with it. I expect to change tyres, disc/pads etc and have had them done every time they've been 50% worn just for piece of mind. Same with tyres, the two fronts were changed last month and the two backs are 70% worn so needed them doing.

My concern is the oil in the coolant. I've owned several cars and only once have I ever seen that, at 150k miles on a Vectra that I ended up scrapping. For me, this isn't a wear and tear issue at all, it's potentially a serious problem somewhere within an engine that should easily do 100k miles upward. It wasn't noticed on the last service, so in 12,500 miles something has gone horribly wrong within the engine.

They've shown me the oil in the coolant (I check all the water/oil levels every few months and hadn't noticed anything myself) and they've shown me under the car where there's oil seeping out of lots of different places. So it's definitely knackered but I'm not sure why, in less than a year, it's gone so badly wrong. I still have finance outstanding, so with the car in this condition it cannot be returned to the finance company, it's un-driveable unless you want to risk blowing it up.

Waiting on the garage to call me back to check on the oil in coolant issue, from there, I'm going to call around and see what can be done. I'll pay for the rest of the stuff but not if the engine is going to go pop as soon as I drive it away. 

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Well if you've been putting diesel in a 1.0 EcoBoost that'll be your problem lol...   Is it a 1.6 TDCi or a 1.0 petrol EcoBoost? :laugh: 

 

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Problem solved! :D

If your pumping out clouds of smoke that'll be an MOT fail as well. Get a second opinion, you would be daft not to, there Is no such thing as loyalty, at the end of the day, they want to make as much money out of you as they can, everything else is secondary so getting someone else to look it over would be the best advice.

Then find out what NEEDS to be done and not what SHOULD be done.  My priority in the case of having a shoddy car is to sell it, get it past an MOT then get shot of it forget the should and fix the needs..

I had a Vauxhall which would only work for 30min at a time then you had to leave it for 15 min before setting off again, after waiting outside of Arnold Clarke for the car to fix itself I drove up to the garage and traded the POS in, knowing it would work for a short time before breaking down again :)

 

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As above, need to confirm is it petrol or diesel? Don't do a 1.0 diesel , it's either a 1.6 tdci or 1.0 petrol ? 

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I find it unlikely its a head gasket if the engine had that kind of fault two cylinders turn into air pumps a lack of power would be obvious but seriously and im not being rude when someone says a 1.0 ecoboost diesel it does say you know little about cars and are an easy target for unscrupulous garages

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just as an update to this.

Well it's obviously not an ecoboost I meant econetic with the little blue badge on the back, not that it actually means anything.

It's a 1.6 TDCi Zetec according to the sales stuff I've been looking through.

Anyway, the car is still with the garage and they're insisting nothings wrong with the oil in coolant, it just needs the aforementioned few grands worth of work doing. This won't be completed until next week now but I'm not convinced that actually solves the problem. I've talked to 3 different garage staff now and they all come back with the same thing, if the timing belt is changed the oil won't be in the coolant....that doesn't fill me with confidence.

Looking through the paperwork, I was also sold a lifetime guarantee for £1,000 which they wrapped up in the price of the vehicle. It's only written down on one bit of small print, which I don't remember anyone mentioning. I'm not sure what the guarantee actually covers because it doesn't seem to cover anything and I wasn't given any paperwork with it, it's just included in the total amount payable by the finance company. So for example, the forecourt price was £14,995 and that's what the finance company paid but within that is £1,000 of guarantee that I don't remember agreeing to when I signed for it and isn't included anywhere else apart from the bottom of a piece of writing.

 

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hi, i have a 2012 1.6 TDCi 115bhp econetic as well, done 50k miles and fully serviced every year by a independent Ford accredited garage, Ford parts used,,, well 1 ford part (the filters in the aircon) as there has never been anything wrong with it.
This econetic thing btw on the 1.6 TDCi  means its the most frugal engine Ford have, well that's what i read anyway but my mileage seems to back that up.

Anyway, get your car to an independent Ford Garage and get them to give it a full looking at and get a quote,, well get 2 quotes as mentioned 1 for what needs to be done and 1 for what Should be done, then go for the needs and flog it if its all that you listed above as its a dud.

good luck.

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I thought 'econetic' used the same engine and map but made the car a bit lighter and more aerodynamic to get better economy?  So skinny steel wheels with those aerodynamic hub caps for one example? 

 

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The way i read it Tom the Econetic engines are geared to getting better mileage and emissions out of the range of engine, reading between the lines they made it more frugal and a little bit slower,, but with the 115 BHP 1.6 that means nothing really as there just as quick, i have also read its the most frugal of Fords engines including the range of 1ltr ecoboost jobbies.
As for the wheels mine has 215's with alloys.

" For customers wanting the best fuel economy and the lowest CO2 emissions Ford continues to offer its dedicated ECOnetic range including the best in class Ford Fiesta at 87g/km. "

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