Hello. I wonder if anybody else has had this problem. You know the little door which covers the petrol cap? Well, the hinge is made of plastic. My wife was closing it on our 57 plated Focus (less than a year old) after filling up, and it broke off.

I took it to my local Ford dealer to get it fixed, assuming it was a simple, cheap job and probably covered under waranty. But, surprise surprise, not only is it not covered under waranty, they want £1500 to fix it because they have to replace all the fuel hose and the central locking bits, too!

In my view, this is a design fault. It should not be made of plastic. I could shell out 1500 quid to fix it, and then a week later it could happen again!

Anybody got any ideas what my options might be? I think I'm going to have to take it up with Ford themselves, as it's a design fault, but it would help if there were other people with the same problem!

e.g. if somebody has the phone number of the best person to phone at Ford, that would also be handy! ta

cheers

Really sorry to hear about this mate it does sound like they have got the vaseline out and preparing for entry on your good self! :o

Have you tried an independant garage for their opinion. Only other option of all else fails is speak to the ford head office and see if you can state your case there!

Have you tried an independant garage for their opinion. Only other option of all else fails is speak to the ford head office and see if you can state your case there!

I shall try an independent garage, ta. The weird thing is, this guy:

http://www.howtomendit.com/answers.php?id=155770

has the same problem but has managed to buy just the door hinge as a part, although he can't seem to fit it. So if you can buy just this part, why do they tell me the whole thing needs replacing?! This is very odd

Dealers are strange sometimes.

I do find it hard to believe that they cant just replace the hinge though!

I do find it hard to believe that they cant just replace the hinge though!

Well, the dealer phoned me back. And apparently they can now do the job for £121?! Very odd.

I still think it's extortionate for what is just a 50p piece of plastic, which could break again at any time, so I will be taking it up with Ford directly as it is a design flaw. But at least I can actually afford to have it done in the mean time.

Thats a slight change. What works being done for the £121?? Does still seem high though

Thats a slight change. What works being done for the £121?? Does still seem high though

I'm not 100% sure exactly what they've replaced now. But apparently it's finished, so I'll go and pick it up and hopefully things will be clearer.

They've probably changed a wing mirror or something! :o

That is just a ridiculous amount. Cant believe dealers can charge for things like that.

Have to say on my Corsa there is 2 screwa on the inside that hold it on, job done. Why have Ford made it so difficult to get at these things.

Why have Ford made it so difficult to get at these things.

So they can charge more and make more money off silly little things like this!

That is just a ridiculous amount. Cant believe dealers can charge for things like that.

Have to say on my Corsa there is 2 screwa on the inside that hold it on, job done. Why have Ford made it so difficult to get at these things.

Quite simply, they do it to make a nice income for the servicing departments. Did you see Fifth Gear the other night? I think it was Renault Meganes that you can't actually change the front headlight bulbs yourself because of where they are - it's a dealer job! And they'll charge you an arm and a leg for the pleasure!

Nice little earner.

..and they charged me £121 for the pleasure in the end. I shall be taking this up with Ford directly now. I'm not paying that every time this flimsy piece of plastic breaks!

i cannot understand why the warrenty does not cover this on a 12 month old car?

i cannot understand why the warrenty does not cover this on a 12 month old car?

No, I don't understand it, either. This is one of the points I will be taking up with Ford.

I'm sure I'll just receive a standard reply back from them "this isn't covered under warranty blah blah.." but it's worth a try.

I'm sure there's some legislation about selling products with design flaws somewhere. Just gotta find it!

Let us know how you get on mate