Stephen123 Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Advice wanted Please share Bought a car from Arnold Clark, Ford Focus 2ltr Diesel 2019 in August 2020. Since then with various faults it has been in the garage approx. 21 days. Each time they have had to recharge the battery. My husband spoke to the service Manager Colin Weir who informed him that it was a crap engine and not suitable for our requirements I.e. Town driving, even though we do 80 miles every second or third day, this wasn't enough for the battery to regenerate and if we put the car in again we would be charged 120 pounds to charge the battery. I have spoken to the Sales Manager Chris Butcher who had never heard of this problem!! We have now had to purchase a trickle charger!! and still have several faults with the car.Does anyone else have this problem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luke4efc Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Sounds like a load of crap tbh. Even if you're not using the car for a week or two, you definitely shouldn't need a trickle charger. Perhaps one of the faults with the car is causing the battery to drain overnight. Have you done a parasitic draw test? Or had the battery load tested? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen123 Posted April 6, 2021 Author Share Posted April 6, 2021 To Luke4efc Not sure what checks the Garage have done as supposed to get a video of each visit and a report at the end and we have had only a couple of reports Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Are the faults related to the battery ? You do more mileage than I do per week (35 miles minimum per week) As Luke said above something must be draining the battery ( if it's just a battery issue) some of the modules are known not to switch off and put the car into sleep mode when not in use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 2 hours ago, Stephen123 said: Does anyone else have this problem? I'm afraid you are being fobbed off with the traditional dealer excuse of, "they all do that...". Well, no they don't. As already said the mileage you do is substantial, and more than enough to keep the battery topped up. My mum's 20 year old Toyota Yaris wasn't used for over 6 weeks during lockdown '1', and it fired up on 1st twist of key. My own elderly Focus started after 3 weeks non use! As stated, there is something that is draining your battery that is causing it to go flat. They sound like they don't have the skill to diagnose what, and you may need a visit to an auto electrician who have the training & experience to find out what. The elephant in the room is that with an inexperienced car owner, garages often try to weasel out of their obligations. You need to be persistent (not aggressive), and stay polite. Let them know it's not acceptable, it is not a 'crap' engine (and even if it was, Ford have sold 1000s of them) and if no fault exists, they all manage to start in the morning when their owner wants them to without being on permanent life support! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unofix Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 2 hours ago, Stephen123 said: Advice wanted Please share Bought a car from Arnold Clark, Ford Focus 2ltr Diesel 2019 in August 2020. Since then with various faults it has been in the garage approx. 21 days. Each time they have had to recharge the battery. My husband spoke to the Service Manager Colin Weir who informed him that it was a crap engine and not suitable for our requirements I.e. Town driving, even though we do 80 miles every second or third day, this wasn't enough for the battery to regenerate and if we put the car in again we would be charged 120 pounds to charge the battery. I have spoken to the Sales Manager Chris Butcher who had never heard of this problem!! We have now had to purchase a trickle charger!! and still have several faults with the car.Does anyone else have this problem? Hi Stephen123, so the service manager of a large Ford Main Dealer says Fords product is "Crap" !!!! Maybe you should drop Ford UK customer relations an e-mail and let them know you have been told that they are selling crap engines by Arnold Clark? I also have a 2019 Ford Focus 2ltr Diesel (Auto) and it stands for days not moving and then a trip to the local shops and back, round trip about 12 miles. I've had the car since last July and have done just over 4000miles. The car has been fine, reliable and starts first time every time. The battery has never needed charging despite the fact my car has a tracker fitted and a constant stanby dashcam both placing extra drain on the battery. In a degree of irony I bought my car from Arnold Clark Glasgow. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tolly Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 An astonishing thing for a service manager to say. During lockdown my 2.0 diesel (manual) stayed parked on the driveway sometimes for periods of 14 to 20 days, occasionally moving it a few yards so the car's weight was hopefully resting on a different bit of the tyres' treads! It always started fine and I've not experienced any strange behaviour in the car, apart from the usual temporary loss of auto start-stop. I took it for a 40 minute run now and again on as much dual carriageway as I could find to keep the battery topped up. My experience of this engine so far is that it's far from crap. I'm delighted with it and it tows a caravan beautifully. So don't let them get away with their own ineptitude by blaming the car. Get in contact with Ford UK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Mines a 69 plate , end of 2019 into 2020 there was loads of posts on here about electrical and battery issues with new mk4s. If I remember correctly it was software updates that sometimes fixed issues. If someone who knows their way around old threads on this forum is reading this. there may be a solution. Unfortunately a lot of owners get their cars fixed then don’t update the forum with the solution. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT70 Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Agreed, as mentioned, first port of call would be to call Ford customer relations and report the service manager for what he told you. Second, book the car into a proper Ford main dealer (Not Arnold Shark) to diagnose either the battery drain or a faulty battery, the car is less than 3 yrs old and still under Ford warranty. It probably needs software updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve67 Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Our 2019 Focus stands on the drive a lott these days...the only issue is start stop fails to work due to the battery being below 80%. At the moment we only do 70miles a week ...we bought a battery ctek charger and now the start stop is working..the service manager at my local dealership recommend this to solve slot of Mk4 issues....I took a look at the battery manufacturers website, if you do a search via your registration we found the battery in the car is a lower spec than the one recommended by the website...and it not an AGM battery, which is recommended for start stop/ heavy drain cars...But it sounds like you have other issues.. as others say, get a second opinion from another Ford dealership.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Bloodaxe Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 You can see why AC are referred to as "Arnold Shark" - disgraceful attitude. Unfortunately I know it's difficult to find a dealership that's not AC up there. There are, though, lots of threads on here regarding battery charging issues on Mk 4 Focuses and Mk 8 Fiestas. Until educated by other members on here, I hadn't appreciated that the latest "intelligent"charging systems seem to be anything but, and will only achieve a charge over 80% under a certain mix of usage which you may not attain, even if apparently doing reasonable mileage. I was getting low battery warnings even before lockdown, though my car does lots more miles than my Mrs's 7 year old car, which is not "intelligent" and has never had a problem. I also invested in a Ctek on members advice and give the battery a top up every couple of months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomsFocus Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 19 hours ago, Stephen123 said: Advice wanted Please share Bought a car from Arnold Clark, Ford Focus 2ltr Diesel 2019 in August 2020. Since then with various faults it has been in the garage approx. 21 days. Each time they have had to recharge the battery. My husband spoke to the Service Manager Colin Weir who informed him that it was a crap engine and not suitable for our requirements I.e. Town driving, even though we do 80 miles every second or third day, this wasn't enough for the battery to regenerate and if we put the car in again we would be charged 120 pounds to charge the battery. I have spoken to the Sales Manager Chris Butcher who had never heard of this problem!! We have now had to purchase a trickle charger!! and still have several faults with the car.Does anyone else have this problem? Are you having DPF issues as well as battery issues? Just the mention of distances, the engine itself and regeneration all relate to a DPF more than a battery. If it's stuck trying to regen with the fans running on after switch-off, that may be partly to blame for draining the battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unofix Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 It is very difficult these days to find a Good Ford Main Dealer. I have tried several different branches of Arnold Clark and also Bristol Street Motors. All have been at best poor but mostly abysmal. There are no small family run dealerships these days and as a result the big boys just do what they like. If anyone can recommend a good Ford garage within 20 miles of Durham please let me know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 8 minutes ago, unofix said: It is very difficult these days to find a Good Ford Main Dealer. It's also worth noting that if your car is out of warranty (or even if it isn't!) you are not obliged to use a 'main dealer' to get it serviced/repaired. There are plenty of decent independent garages out there that employ decent mechanics, the kind that can actually fix stuff rather than just replacing (at your expense) anonymous components on your car till the fault goes away, if ever! As with all garages, word of mouth recommendation is the way to go rather than a fancy website! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT70 Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 41 minutes ago, unofix said: If anyone can recommend a good Ford garage within 20 miles of Durham please let me know. Unfortunately Bradford Trust Ford would be my nearest recommendation but it's 64 miles from Durham centre Trust Ford are part of Ford Retail Group so everyone actually works for Ford Bristol Street Motors are just as poor, I had a 2006 Fiesta ST (New) and they could not diagnose performance issues and then, just before I rejected the vehicle, Ford asked me to take it to Trust Ford B'Ham and they solved the issue 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 16 hours ago, Alex.S said: Mines a 69 plate , end of 2019 into 2020 there was loads of posts on here about electrical and battery issues with new mk4s. If I remember correctly it was software updates that sometimes fixed issues. If someone who knows their way around old threads on this forum is reading this. there may be a solution. Unfortunately a lot of owners get their cars fixed then don’t update the forum with the solution. Good luck Good point. When our battery went flat lockdown 1 it got replaced and since then it hasnt let me down. The thinking behind the reason why it went flat was that the car wasn't shutting everything down and going into sleep mode. Something was draining it. Since then it's been reset once the battery change was completed and had no issues since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 5 minutes ago, Wino said: Good point. When our battery went flat lockdown 1 it got replaced and since then it hasnt let me down. The thinking behind the reason why it went flat was that the car wasn't shutting everything down and going into sleep mode. Something was draining it. Since then it's been reset once the battery change was completed and had no issues since. mmm... so with that logic, all you needed to do was 'reset' the system, charge the old battery up, and save the price of a new battery? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unofix Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Bradford here I come !!! thanks for the information on Trust Ford. It would be worth the run out if I could get decent service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve67 Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 2 hours ago, DaveT70 said: Unfortunately Bradford Trust Ford would be my nearest recommendation but it's 64 miles from Durham centre Trust Ford are part of Ford Retail Group so everyone actually works for Ford Bristol Street Motors are just as poor, I had a 2006 Fiesta ST (New) and they could not diagnose performance issues and then, just before I rejected the vehicle, Ford asked me to take it to Trust Ford B'Ham and they solved the issue we purchased our focus active x from Trust Ford Tamworth, must admit they were spot on with preparing the car and sorting out all the paperwork so we could drive it away the same day.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 Anything to do with computers .....unplug then plug back in. Other than that ..software updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 (edited) 5 hours ago, StephenFord said: mmm... so with that logic, all you needed to do was 'reset' the system, charge the old battery up, and save the price of a new battery? Errr yes if you can get the battery to charge and no if the battery is beyond being recharged as was in my case ( Both the AA and the Brother in law) said it needed replacing so it got replaced. IIRC the battery has to be removed or disconnected for 10 or was it 20 mins 🤔 for the reset to take place. Edited April 7, 2021 by Wino Additional information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StephenFord Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, Wino said: Errr yes if you can get the battery to charge and no if the battery is beyond being recharged as was in my case ( Both the AA and the Brother in law) said it needed replacing so it got replaced. So again, using that logic, the fault was cured by a new battery LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wino Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 2 minutes ago, StephenFord said: So again, using that logic, the fault was cured by a new battery LOL Yes. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex.S Posted April 7, 2021 Share Posted April 7, 2021 8 hours ago, StephenFord said: It's also worth noting that if your car is out of warranty (or even if it isn't!) you are not obliged to use a 'main dealer' to get it serviced/repaired. There are plenty of decent independent garages out there that employ decent mechanics, the kind that can actually fix stuff rather than just replacing (at your expense) anonymous components on your car till the fault goes away, if ever! As with all garages, word of mouth recommendation is the way to go rather than a fancy website! I know an independent master tech near by , Labour costs half the dealership, double the brains. Word of mouth is everything to businesses like that. The little guy has all to lose , reputation is everything. Unless your a dealership. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve67 Posted April 8, 2021 Share Posted April 8, 2021 16 hours ago, Wino said: Good point. When our battery went flat lockdown 1 it got replaced and since then it hasnt let me down. The thinking behind the reason why it went flat was that the car wasn't shutting everything down and going into sleep mode. Something was draining it. Since then it's been reset once the battery change was completed and had no issues since. .. as the service manager told me.. the car these day have that many electronics, alarms, modem,keyless sensors etc running there is a constant drain in the battery, hence the need to charge the battery if not doing regular driving..also these batteries are not AGM but EFB..https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/technology/start-stop-system. As lve stated above. I believe our batteries should be AGM due to the electronics.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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