Hi all,

I need some advice on what you would do as I'm pulling my hair out here and getting no where.

Background -

• Purchased a 62 plate focus estate 1.6 automatic in May 2017. 
• June 2017 car went back to dealership to have some paintwork touched up (agreed as part of the sale) and also to investigate a knocking noise when wheel is turned and a high pitched squeal when put on full lock. Car came back paint work done, knocking noise still there, but they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. High pitched squeal was put down to that (and this was their exact words) "no car should ever be put on full lock".
• June 2018 - car went into the dealership due to a TCM failure (known issue on this car, and was also listed on ETIS but was not told about this when the car was purchased). Whole TCM replaced.
• July 2018 - called up dealership again as the car still wasn't behaving right, taking too long to change gears and rather juddery. Was told TCM needed time to settle in.
• June 2019 - Car failed its MOT due to a severely damaged/broken steering rack.  £600 later rack replaced.  Garage that done this (wasn't the dealership) also found an oil leak near the TCM.
• June 2019 - Car went back to dealership as TCM still under warranty and apparently had faulty seals - these were replaced. But at the same time was told the Clutch Pack needs to be replaced (costing £1k+). Cars current mileage at this time 48k
• 21st June 2019 - consulted with Consumer protection helpline, due to the amount of issues they said i could put a claim in under the consumer protection act as i have had nothing but issues with the car since purchase, and the majority of the symptoms were there when it was purchased.
• Friday last week, Dealership called after receiving my complaints, they arranged for an independent mechanic to come in today, to inspect the vehicle.
• Saturday - car broke down, and the radiator bottle had drained itself, but at the time we didn't see where (AA came out).
• Yesterday, found out the painful way that the radiator had emptied itself into the drivers foot well, while driving the car, the bottle emptied itself again and put scolding water onto my foot (i now have 1st degree burns on my foot). 
• Took the car in today for the inspection at 08:30 this morning, told them about the leak and that was now the 5th major failure on the car, and that i wanted that included in the inspection as well as part of the overall complaint that the car is basically crap and shouldn't have been sold in the first place.
• 17:45 today receive a call from the dealerships general manager (the person dealing with my complaint) who said he cancelled the inspection because of the new leak. And for me to have the inspection carried out for the complaint to continue I would need to pay to fix the heating matrix (around £1000) before they would re instruct the inspection.

So I have 2 options pay £1000 to fix the car for it to be inspected and then the complaint can go ahead further, or take my car away not get it fix and cancel the complaint.

I am at my wits end with all this and severely regret buying the damn car.

Can anyone give any advice?

 

1 hour ago, Linz197236 said:

Hi all,

I need some advice on what you would do as I'm pulling my hair out here and getting no where.

Background -

• Purchased a 62 plate focus estate 1.6 automatic in May 2017. 
• June 2017 car went back to dealership to have some paintwork touched up (agreed as part of the sale) and also to investigate a knocking noise when wheel is turned and a high pitched squeal when put on full lock. Car came back paint work done, knocking noise still there, but they said they couldn't find anything wrong with it. High pitched squeal was put down to that (and this was their exact words) "no car should ever be put on full lock".
• June 2018 - car went into the dealership due to a TCM failure (known issue on this car, and was also listed on ETIS but was not told about this when the car was purchased). Whole TCM replaced.
• July 2018 - called up dealership again as the car still wasn't behaving right, taking too long to change gears and rather juddery. Was told TCM needed time to settle in.
• June 2019 - Car failed its MOT due to a severely damaged/broken steering rack.  £600 later rack replaced.  Garage that done this (wasn't the dealership) also found an oil leak near the TCM.
• June 2019 - Car went back to dealership as TCM still under warranty and apparently had faulty seals - these were replaced. But at the same time was told the Clutch Pack needs to be replaced (costing £1k+). Cars current mileage at this time 48k
• 21st June 2019 - consulted with Consumer protection helpline, due to the amount of issues they said i could put a claim in under the consumer protection act as i have had nothing but issues with the car since purchase, and the majority of the symptoms were there when it was purchased.
• Friday last week, Dealership called after receiving my complaints, they arranged for an independent mechanic to come in today, to inspect the vehicle.
• Saturday - car broke down, and the radiator bottle had drained itself, but at the time we didn't see where (AA came out).
• Yesterday, found out the painful way that the radiator had emptied itself into the drivers foot well, while driving the car, the bottle emptied itself again and put scolding water onto my foot (i now have 1st degree burns on my foot). 
• Took the car in today for the inspection at 08:30 this morning, told them about the leak and that was now the 5th major failure on the car, and that i wanted that included in the inspection as well as part of the overall complaint that the car is basically crap and shouldn't have been sold in the first place.
• 17:45 today receive a call from the dealerships general manager (the person dealing with my complaint) who said he cancelled the inspection because of the new leak. And for me to have the inspection carried out for the complaint to continue I would need to pay to fix the heating matrix (around £1000) before they would re instruct the inspection.

So I have 2 options pay £1000 to fix the car for it to be inspected and then the complaint can go ahead further, or take my car away not get it fix and cancel the complaint.

I am at my wits end with all this and severely regret buying the damn car.

Can anyone give any advice?

 

Really sorry to hear that.  Which dealer?  My advice would be to go to watchdog!  I just do not understand why dealerships behave like this when they've sold a lemon.  Disgraceful.

FYI, my power steering (and works vans) all "squeal" to a degree when held on full lock. All vehicles i've driven do to a certain degree, believe this is just a characteristic of the high pressure pump.

Quote

• May 2017 - Purchased
• June 2017 - Power Steering Issue/Paint Touchup/Knocking
• June 2018 - TCM Failure (known issue, replaced)
• July 2018 - TCM issues? Gear change issues, Garage told was settling in.
• June 2019 - Failed MOT due to damaged/broken steering rack, replaced by third party garage, also found oil leak near TCM
• June 2019 - TCM Faulty seals, also told clutch pack needed replacement. Cars current mileage at this time 48k
• 21st June 2019 - consulted with Consumer protection helpline
• Friday last week - Dealership called after receiving my complaints, they arranged for an independent mechanic to come in today, to inspect the vehicle.
• Saturday - car broke down, and the radiator bottle had drained itself, but at the time we didn't see where (AA came out).
• Yesterday - burned by leaking coolant into drivers footwell (i now have 1st degree burns on my foot). 
• Today - Took car in for inspection
• 17:45 today - have to pay to fix heater matrix before inspection

Summarised it to make it more readable.

I take it you have read the applicable consumer rights act 2015 (also, https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-second-hand-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights#get-a-repair-replacement-or-refund)

The goods you buy should be fit for purpose, of satisfactory quality, and as described. This includes second hand goods.

The difficulty you may have now is the length of time that has elapsed since you bought the car. Within the first 30 days you can reject and get your money back. Up to 6 months, it's up to the dealer to prove the goods aren't faulty. After 6 months the onus switches to you.

If the garage won't inspect it, I would look for a third party to undertake a report for you, but unfortunately would be at your cost.

How much use have you had out of this vehicle? (Mileage at purchase, and mileage now)

How much did you pay for the vehicle (if you dont mind answering)?

Damage to steering rack, did the garage enlighten you as to what was "damaged" / "broken"?

The leaking coolant, not familiar with the 62 plate variant but I know that broken clips are the cause of a leaking pipe on earlier years of Focus, and that those pipes may be easily kicked/damaged. That is an easy fix - have a search on the forums.

 

Ultimately, although you've had continual issues, it has been 2 years since you purchased the car. If you have no joy with the dealer (Have you contacted Ford customer services? - Good luck there!) you may have to take it down the small claims route. How did you pay? Did you pay any portion of £100 or over of the total amount with a credit card?

Yes lots of questions but may help with your next course of action!

Hi Micro, 

• Think Ford Wokingham was the dealership
• Paid £8149,
• Mileage was 20k now 50k so 30k put on over 2 years.

I contacted the consumer rights helpline, who told me about my final right to refuse and that is what i have put in my letter of complaint.

The garage that replaced the rack done a report for me and said "The power steering was found to be faulty at the time of the test and dangerously light when being operated. Not only was there a fluid leak coming from the steering rack, there was also an excessive knocking noise coming from the rack & pinion area of the steering rack. We suspect that there was internal damage to the steering rack. We also think that is some internal damage to the pump as when the pressure pipes were removed the fluid was very grey in colour and once we had replaced the steering rack the pump was still noisy when on full lock."

If you have come to this page with the intention of purchasing a Ford vehicle, I would strongly urge you to reconsider. Having owned five different cars over the years, I can confidently say that my experience with Ford has been both the most expensive and the most disappointing by far.

We purchased our Ford tourneo connect  specifically to accommodate our growing family and our passion for camping. However, it is currently completely unusable due to a split DPF after a mere 40,000 miles. This is utterly unacceptable for a component that should have a life expectancy of at least 80,000–100,000 miles.

To make matters worse, the DPF had already undergone two separate cleans at just 20,000 miles (costing £1000) clearly indicating a recurring fault. Yet, in order to even raise a concern with Ford, I was required to pay £180, not for a repair, but simply to have them reiterate what was already documented in the MOT paperwork. 

What is especially concerninh, the customer complaints about DPF failures are not isolated incidents, as you’ll see from numerous reports on this page. Despite this, Ford continues to charge nearly £2,000 for a repair, showing no accountability for what is evidently a widespread problem. Some cars have been recalled for this issue. 

The customer service experience has been abysmal. My only point of contact, the case handler, was available only before 4 PM, making it impossible to reach them due to my work schedule.

I fully understand the concept of wear and tear, and I have willingly paid to replace standard parts such as brake pads this is not about avoiding the cost of maintenance. This is about being forced to pay extortionate amounts for what is clearly a design or manufacturing flaw.

Sorry for the rant but Ford can not get away with selling product which are not fit for purpose.

Sorry for you bad experience, but repeated posting of you complaint in multiple forums is pointless and will potentially result in your account being considered spam. 

8 minutes ago, unofix said:

Sorry for you bad experience, but repeated posting of you complaint in multiple forums is pointless and will potentially result in your account being considered spam. 

Made me do a double take on the posts.

1 hour ago, Ian Lanc said:

Made me do a double take on the posts.

Only just spotted this one - I was busy reading the other one!😀