Best Wishes!

2 hours ago, Pburgess2208 said:

You are right @mjt 

Luckily for me though, there is an amazing company in Stourbridge which is just down the road from me called EcoPerformance. I've been in contact with them and they will be able to replace my engine. So it will be good to know that the engine is being installed by professionals who know these EcoBoost engines well. Also it would be nice to keep this car on the road as its a really nice car that drives and handles really well.

Good to hear you'll be able to replace the engine. 

Just for note, in the eyes of the law there's no difference between a private sale and trade sale in terms of getting a refund and giving the car back. All sales are contracts governed by the Consumer Rights Act. Just makes the seller personally liable for the money instead of some company. They still have to honour your legal rights and pay out if necessary. If anything it's better for you as they'll probably get a solicitor who will tell them exactly what I just said. If they lose, their own neck is on the line. They may wish to settle. Settling at an earlier stage and not getting everything you want is usually better than taking it to a full court hearing years down the line. It's how it usually works (have settled half a dozen cases myself where I've sued former employers or sued someone for not giving a refund).

20 minutes ago, Eli_P said:

Good to hear you'll be able to replace the engine. 

Just for note, in the eyes of the law there's no difference between a private sale and trade sale in terms of getting a refund and giving the car back. All sales are contracts governed by the Consumer Rights Act. Just makes the seller personally liable for the money instead of some company. They still have to honour your legal rights and pay out if necessary. If anything it's better for you as they'll probably get a solicitor who will tell them exactly what I just said. If they lose, their own neck is on the line. They may wish to settle. Settling at an earlier stage and not getting everything you want is usually better than taking it to a full court hearing years down the line. It's how it usually works (have settled half a dozen cases myself where I've sued former employers or sued someone for not giving a refund).

Alternatively, if you get the car fixed, you could forget about the seller and enjoy the car?

On 3/29/2025 at 2:22 AM, Eli_P said:

Alternatively, if you get the car fixed, you could forget about the seller and enjoy the car?

True, But I'll be left in about £5.5k of debt to pay back, £3.5k for the car and approx £2k for the engine swap. I don't have many regrets in life, but this one has been my biggest yet. I really wish I knew back then what I know now. I should have just kept my ***** old Rover 25 on the road 😩

Stay tuned for the court proceedings.

I've received a quote from Eco Performance, the guys who specialise in ecoboost engines and who know them very well. They've quoted £5k fitted, for a new engine. He said you could possible get a cheaper second hand engine from ebay for around £2k, but for the removal and refitting its £1,400, which is fair enough, its not a small job. Handler Protect, the warranty company, have flat out declined to pay out. So it looks like I'll be taking the seller to court, this could drag on for a long time, but I'm definitely not letting her get away with this, I'm gonna take her for every penny she has 😡

Pumaspeed up here in Wakefield will supply and fit you a brand new one for £3628 inc vat...

 

Brand New Ford Service 1.0 EcoBoost Engine - Fiesta Mk7.5 1.0 - Engines - 1.0 EcoBoost - Pumaspeed Milltek Ford Performance Tuning Milltek Sport Exhaust Ford Fiesta Focus ST RS Parts Specialist

49 minutes ago, Phil3747 said:

Pumaspeed up here in Wakefield will supply and fit you a brand new one for £3628 inc vat...

 

Brand New Ford Service 1.0 EcoBoost Engine - Fiesta Mk7.5 1.0 - Engines - 1.0 EcoBoost - Pumaspeed Milltek Ford Performance Tuning Milltek Sport Exhaust Ford Fiesta Focus ST RS Parts Specialist

The OPs engine is 1.6 EcoBoost.  Much more expensive than 1.0 unfortunately.

2 hours ago, Pburgess2208 said:

Stay tuned for the court proceedings.

I've received a quote from Eco Performance, the guys who specialise in ecoboost engines and who know them very well. They've quoted £5k fitted, for a new engine. He said you could possible get a cheaper second hand engine from ebay for around £2k, but for the removal and refitting its £1,400, which is fair enough, its not a small job. Handler Protect, the warranty company, have flat out declined to pay out. So it looks like I'll be taking the seller to court, this could drag on for a long time, but I'm definitely not letting her get away with this, I'm gonna take her for every penny she has 😡

5k is ridiculous - buy two cars much the same for that
a usable looked over engine with new bearings, pistons, rings, gaskets and belts ought to be out there for £2.5k plus £500 to throw it in the car

I guess if its not got real liners or the crank needs regrinding it could be 4.5 fitted

have those experts criminals actually told you what’s playing up yet - if they are doing you a semi race engine with a cam and new injectors for the 5K they must be clever enough to know what that noise is ?

if you go along to a trade day of BCA, I bet these cars go for 1k each all day long - don’t bother bidding - the scum club together prepared to risk getting stung, pushing up the price when they spot a non trade sucker intruding on their theft

24 minutes ago, Botus said:

5k is ridiculous - buy two cars much the same for that
a usable looked over engine with new bearings, pistons, rings, gaskets and belts ought to be out there for £2.5k plus £500 to throw it in the car

I guess if its not got real liners or the crank needs regrinding it could be 4.5 fitted

have those experts criminals actually told you what’s playing up yet - if they are doing you a semi race engine with a cam and new injectors for the 5K they must be clever enough to know what that noise is ?

if you go along to a trade day of BCA, I bet these cars go for 1k each all day long - don’t bother bidding - the scum club together prepared to risk getting stung, pushing up the price when they spot a non trade sucker intruding on their theft

I'm inclined to agree. Think I'd scrap the car at this point. 5k is steep when there's no guarantees that other expensive repairs won't crop up in next couple years. Ford's with modifications are not worth that much (im not counting RS or ST). You'll only be able to sell it to a petrol head and the average joe won't buy it with a replacement engine.

Can buy a 2012 1.6l for about £3k. Plenty of them online.

It's the alternator buggering out internally. Mine just spat it's shaft out the center of it lol

certainly worth checking

drop the drive belt run it for 30 seconds... of course all the expert garages that have looked at the problem all did this (NOT !!!)

10 hours ago, Orangeman1987 said:

It's the alternator buggering out internally. Mine just spat it's shaft out the center of it lol

Its definitely worth a check, but I've had 3 different mechanics look at the car now and they all said the same thing. Without stripping it down, it sounds like rod bearings, which will lead to piston and cyclinder damage. I'm going to have to borrow more money to buy another car to get me by whilst I take the seller to court which will take months as currently she has not responded to any of my communications. She did sign for my letter though which basically says she has 14 days to provide a full refund and return of the vehicle. If she doesn't respond to that then I have another letter waiting to send threatening court action if she still fails to comply. I've been speaking to CAB and this is the process that I must go through before I take it to a small claims court.

Meanwhile, I have a very nice Zetec S taking up space on the driveway that still runs, I just don't want to use in fear of the engine $h!tting itself into oblivion.

Thats another strange thing about this situation. There are zero codes or warnings on the dash. I would have thought that there would be oil pressure warnings or something to indicate a fault.

17 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

The OPs engine is 1.6 EcoBoost.  Much more expensive than 1.0 unfortunately.

Certainly is. I've posted this elsewhere, but:

https://pumaspeed.co.uk/product-Brand-New-Ford-Service-16-EcoBoost-Engine_16611.jsp

This is a horrible situation tbh.  If the person you bought it from is a part time trader, they probably had no idea the car was faulty either.  It's likely that both of you will lose money from this, despite neither actually being at fault.  The only 'winner' is the person who traded the car in, either directly to the seller, or through an auction.  They get away without losing any money from this fault...  Personally I couldn't live with myself if I'd done that, but it seems many, or possibly most, people don't feel guilty about impacting on someone else's life.

 

In this case, I think I'd be inclined to put it on Ebay/Gumtree/Marketplace, clearly listing the fault (engine noise - currently undiagnosed) and  see if there are any takers as it will be much cheaper for someone to fix who can do it themselves, either with a rebuild, or with a used engine.  It simply isn't worth the cost of a brand new engine.  If you could 'only' lose £500 or so doing that, then move on with your life, I think that would be far less hassle and stress than having to go through court.  The seller will also be struggling with it, knowing they're likely to lose a huge amount of money, which is most likely not their fault either, so they will want to stretch it out for as long as possible and do everything in their power not to accept liability.

24 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

This is a horrible situation tbh.  

It really is. I often think when we give advice  on here to "get rid and sell it to WBAC" , where do those cars end up?  Quite possibly to dodgy traders via auctions.

Many years ago a mate of mine got into an almost identical situation with a trader posing as a private seller. After the reasonable approach failed to achieve results a few of us went round to the guys home and gave him the "take it back or else" treatment, which was more successful!

Probably get arrested these days!

The article below references social media adverts but traders posing as private sellers should certainly be brought to the attention of Trading Standards and may result in prosecution:

https://cardealermagazine.co.uk/publish/trading-standards-warns-of-dangers-of-buying-from-used-car-dealers-posing-as-private-sellers-on-facebook/296242

6 hours ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

It really is. I often think when we give advice  on here to "get rid and sell it to WBAC" , where do those cars end up?  Quite possibly to dodgy traders via auctions.

 

would it be wrong to suggest people that steal cars love vehicle's like this ?

lots of free spare parts and plenty of illegal migrants stuck in the slave trade to do the hard work.... and of course the real experts, when they play their cards right can try and scam you with identity fraud at the same time

got to love government's that make all this free trade so easily possible - "almost as if they planned it alongside the car manufactures creating junk in the first place"

 

7 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

This is a horrible situation tbh.  If the person you bought it from is a part time trader, they probably had no idea the car was faulty either.  It's likely that both of you will lose money from this, despite neither actually being at fault.  The only 'winner' is the person who traded the car in, either directly to the seller, or through an auction.  They get away without losing any money from this fault...  Personally I couldn't live with myself if I'd done that, but it seems many, or possibly most, people don't feel guilty about impacting on someone else's life.

 

In this case, I think I'd be inclined to put it on Ebay/Gumtree/Marketplace, clearly listing the fault (engine noise - currently undiagnosed) and  see if there are any takers as it will be much cheaper for someone to fix who can do it themselves, either with a rebuild, or with a used engine.  It simply isn't worth the cost of a brand new engine.  If you could 'only' lose £500 or so doing that, then move on with your life, I think that would be far less hassle and stress than having to go through court.  The seller will also be struggling with it, knowing they're likely to lose a huge amount of money, which is most likely not their fault either, so they will want to stretch it out for as long as possible and do everything in their power not to accept liability.

I’m inclined to agree with you, but because the lady originally said that she was a trader, posted the advert as a trader and was selling the car with a warranty as traders often do. The very fact that she would not take the car back and issue a refund within the 30 day period as traders are obligated to do by law, that tells me that she definitely knew that something was wrong with the car and she knew very well that the warranty company would decline that sort of payout. This seller is definitely not innocent, hence why I shall take great pleasure in taking her to court and bleeding her dry. 

I must change my photo now.

The trader has taken the car back. I now need to wait up to 14 days for my refund, then I shall be back on the search for another Focus. I drove the car on an a final 80 mile journey (against the advice of my mechanic 😬) back to the seller and in all honesty, apart from the clattering at higher revs, it drove amazingly well. I took the back routes, through open roads, country lanes and pretty villages to keep the revs as low as possible and I had such a pleasant, (but stressful) drive. I almost felt a bit sad to give the car back, but that one journey proved to me that that spec of focus is the one that I truly want. I just need to find another one from a reputable seller and one without a dodgy engine.

Thanks again to this amazing community for all your help and advice. Hopefully this post may be of use to someone who has the unfortunate luck of going through the same sort of thing themselves.

1 hour ago, Pburgess2208 said:

I must change my photo now.

The trader has taken the car back. I now need to wait up to 14 days for my refund, then I shall be back on the search for another Focus. I drove the car on an a final 80 mile journey (against the advice of my mechanic 😬) back to the seller and in all honesty, apart from the clattering at higher revs, it drove amazingly well. I took the back routes, through open roads, country lanes and pretty villages to keep the revs as low as possible and I had such a pleasant, (but stressful) drive. I almost felt a bit sad to give the car back, but that one journey proved to me that that spec of focus is the one that I truly want. I just need to find another one from a reputable seller and one without a dodgy engine.

Thanks again to this amazing community for all your help and advice. Hopefully this post may be of use to someone who has the unfortunate luck of going through the same sort of thing themselves.

Good result in the end! Nice one