Studio 1.4: owned for two months and back to the garage twice already...

[PatW]

Hi - this is my first post as I've just joined, so any advice provided is gratefully received.

I've never had a Focus or a Ford before but I bought a second-hand 1.4 2009 16V80 Focus for just under £2000 the third week in November. Just over 108,000 miles done. Before buying, I checked the gov.uk MOT registry (it passed the day before I test-drove it and then put down a deposit) and I looked at common Focus faults on-line. After two weeks of driving, the instrument cluster started playing up (sensors coming on, loss of power when changing gears, all panel lights going off) and then worsened. The dealer took it back under the three-month warranty. The dry joint was fixed for me, I was told, and I got it back fairly promptly.

Just before the end of the year, after being sat there for two/three days, car wouldn't start at home. The dealer again was quick to pick it up and provide a replacement. They said just now that it wasn't the dry joint again but the battery that was causing the CANBUS to go haywire, effectively immobilise the car. battery has been replaced and I should get it back tomorrow, I hope.

I have another month left on the warranty, but am now wondering if it might not be sensible to ask for a refund (whether full or a partial one) as I can envisage further electrical issues down the line when the warranty has run out - or am I being paranoid? Other than the dealer saying just now on the phone that either I or the Green Flag mechanic mixed up the negative with the positive on the battery terminals (which didn't happen) I've received pretty good service re. each fault. 

Any suggestions would really help, thanks.  FOCUS 16V 80 

[dezwez]

49 minutes ago, PatW said:

mechanic mixed up the negative with the positive on the battery terminals

sounds like he looking for something or someone to blame ask for a return 🙂

[PatW]

Cheers Dez. That guy has often been a bit shirty but the others are all sound to be honest. If I had done what he said, fair enough - I'd be to blame. If it was the first fault I'd had, it wouldn't be a big deal either but...