My Fiesta blew up - piston through the engine case after 7 days of owning it. The car sales garage tells me the RAC warranty is void because this can only happen if I was 'driving recklesly'!!

You'll need to get the car independently inspected.  If there is evidence of any existing issue(s), then the onus falls on the supplying dealer to prove you did something wrong.  This is the law, The Consumer Rights Act 2015, nothing to do with any warranties.  If there was an existing problem, the supplying dealer would have to refund your money in full, technically less a price agreed for the use you had from it.

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/regulation/consumer-rights-act-aKJYx8n5KiSl

 

https://www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/the-car-i-bought-has-a-problem-what-are-my-rights-aAnMC5b0ZzJb

Might be worth asking a motoring organisation to undertake an independent inspection. See what it finds and use that to fight your case if necessary.

That is simply nonsense. If a bearing had picked up or an oil pump failed, the engine could have put a rod through the side and they ***** well know that better than you do. Call them tomorrow, tell them that they are talking cobblers and that if they do not honour the warranty (Which after seven days, they are going to have to- that's the law,) then you will be happy to see them in court at the earliest opportunity and that of your lawyer.

Not so. The goods have to be fit for purpose and after seven days, any fault is deemed to be preexisting as it has failed within such a short time. They haven't any option other than to refund you. Check it with your local Citizens advice if you have to.

31 minutes ago, anon said:

...Call them tomorrow, tell them that they are talking cobblers and that if they do not honour the warranty (Which after seven days, they are going to have to- that's the law,) then you will be happy to see them in court at the earliest opportunity and that of your lawyer.

I would suggest a more considered approach. I spent 40 years in retail management. A customer who treats you with respect always got a more sympathetic response than one who came in screaming, all guns blazing. You can be assertive without being a thug...

You could be right...but I thought even within the first 30 days you had to have some kind of inspection, otherwise you could just buy a car and redline it until it explodes.....

But the best thing to do is follow the Which guide I linked to above 😉

I don’t know the answer to this. Can you over rev a modern car like this?  Wouldn’t the ecu stop it over revving. When it detects a fault it limits the revs to something like 3000 rpm so wouldn’t it also be programmed with an upper limit in general?  Could you make a piston do that even if you wanted to?  I don’t know, but it sounds logical that it would limit the revs. 

16 minutes ago, isetta said:

Can you over rev a modern car like this?  Wouldn’t the ecu stop it over revving. When it detects a fault it limits the revs to something like 3000 rpm so wouldn’t it also be programmed with an upper limit in general?

Correct, it is almost impossible to over rev as the ECU will protect it.

Point to note is the last 30 minutes of driving is recorded in the Electric Power Assisted Steering module. This includes information like speed, engine revs, braking, steering angle, and no doubt other information. It is in effect like the blackbox on an airplane. As far as I know only the Ford motor company and official organisations (eg. police) can access the data. This information is normally only used in the event of a serious crash.

It doesn't really matter how fast you were going, it's how fast the engine was going.

And your engine has a designed in rev limiter to prevent over revving.

He's talking out of his exit, reject the car and give him it back, it's part of your rights, and calmly explain that he should not knowingly sell defective vehicles then try to blame the driver.

Ford tried that with the powershift issues and they ended up loosing millions

 

Don't forget that the warranty you were sold is in addition to, not instead of, your consumer rights. Several brief guides online, eg:

https://www.rac.co.uk/drive/advice/buying-and-selling-guides/buying-a-used-car/#what-are-your-buyers-rights-for-a-used-car

Could be worth contacting your local Trading Standards team if the dealer persists in his attitude. The dealer may already have form and be known to them.

Also, the Small Claims court procedure is available for claims up to £10,000 without involving a lawyer. I think max fee is about £450 which you get back if you win the case, which, by the sound of it, you should.

Hopefully a further reasoned, but informed and assertive, approach to the dealer will yield a result.

Don't know what the terms of the warranty you were sold are, btw. Might be worth contacting them.

Thought I was seeing double - we seem to have two threads on basically the same question!

The OP was probably understandably extremely upset!

Beside himself?