Hi Everyone,

New here and looking for some advice.

Just bought a 2013 Ford Focus Ecoboost, 58,000 miles for £4,300 and was given an extensive pack of paperwork which I read through before buying.

Purchase was private sale so really made sure I did all my checks and had a mechanic friend look over the car.  He advised it was a very good price so bought it.

When I got home and went through the car we found the service book which had not been provided up front in one of the rear pockets and it shows engine replacements at 39,445 miles 26/05/2020 and again at 57,800 miles 11/06/2021 (Last month) both times complete new engines.

I quickly messaged the seller and asked why this had happened and he mentioned loss of coolant and replaced free of charge.  Asked why he did not mention it in the advert or in person, I even asked if he new when the cambelt would be due and he said he did not know, and he claimed he forgot..

Looking for some advice.  Should I keep the car, sell it on, demand a refund?  Feeling pretty let down and searching the 1.0l ecoboost problems seems like these engines are unreliable but could be a small number making big noise.

With the car being on the 3rd engine now should I risk it?  Will it be covered if the same thing happens next week, next month etc?

Thanks!

4 minutes ago, Veelsie said:

demand a refund?

You bought it privately, the seller is under no obligation to refund you.

5 minutes ago, Veelsie said:

Will it be covered if the same thing happens next week, next month etc?

Not unless the garage that did the work has provided a receipt stating the warranty provided on the work they did. Do you know what's caused the coolant loss?

6 minutes ago, Veelsie said:

I even asked if he new when the cambelt would be due and he said he did not know

10 years or 150k miles. It's a pig of a job requiring around 8 hours labour for an experienced man with the right specialist tools. You said it's had a complete new engine, so you shouldn't need to worry about it for 10 years or 150k miles...

buyer beware

Aware buyer beware but at a cost of £4,300 assuming I could sell on for similar or even more, so I guess the question is, are these cars this bad, or this engine this bad or should I be ok on a 3rd engine...

I had a 2013 ecoboost which I purchased with 25k on the clock, recently traded it in for a Kuga at which point it had 80k on it.

During my ownership I had to replace a broken suspension spring, an engine mount and I cleaned the strainer on the oil pump. Other than that, I had no issues with mine.

My partner has one too which has had zero problems in 2 years of ownership.

The early ecoboost issues are down to the poorly designed degas hose. It was recalled but the new hose can still fail. The facelift model had a completely revised coolant hose system. It removes the weak point in the early design completely.

I have fitted the facelift hoses to my partner's car just for peace of mind and kept on top of the maintenance, correct oil being used etc and it has been reliable for her.

1 minute ago, jlawes20389 said:

I had a 2013 ecoboost which I purchased with 25k on the clock, recently traded it in for a Kuga at which point it had 80k on it.

During my ownership I had to replace a broken suspension spring, an engine mount and I cleaned the strainer on the oil pump. Other than that, I had no issues with mine.

My partner has one too which has had zero problems in 2 years of ownership.

The early ecoboost issues are down to the poorly designed degas hose. It was recalled but the new hose can still fail. The facelift model had a completely revised coolant hose system. It removes the weak point in the early design completely.

I have fitted the facelift hoses to my partner's car just for peace of mind and kept on top of the maintenance, correct oil being used etc and it has been reliable for her.

Was the 3.5 hoses a difficult job, assuming cost is the hoses and replacement coolant?  I love the car and the price for a titanium turbo seemed too good to be true.  Am thinking about popping down to vospers tomorrow to try and get some paperwork for the engine replacement as its claimed none was given to him.  I'd feel a bit more comfortable with some proof of the engine change and not just a squiggled note in the service book.

13 minutes ago, Veelsie said:

Aware buyer beware but at a cost of £4,300

The phrase "too good to be true" comes to mind lol.

21 hours ago, Veelsie said:

Was the 3.5 hoses a difficult job, assuming cost is the hoses and replacement coolant?  I love the car and the price for a titanium turbo seemed too good to be true.  Am thinking about popping down to vospers tomorrow to try and get some paperwork for the engine replacement as its claimed none was given to him.  I'd feel a bit more comfortable with some proof of the engine change and not just a squiggled note in the service book.

Check out JW1982s posts in this thread, it has the part numbers for the hoses and some diagrams. From memory cost was around £55-60 for the hoses and I had coolant already, took me around 45 minutes to an hour to do.