I purchased a 2016 Ford Kuga in March 2024, master cylinder went within the first week and the dealer paid for it to repaired and the car was fine up until November when the car began smoking excessively under acceleration. As the car was under warranty the dealer said they would potentially pay to repair it but I need to pay to diagnose the fault. My garage and another garage could not find an issue with the car and it was eventually taken to a ford main dealer who found the DPF has been stripped, welded back together and remapped. I contacted the dealer and they wasnt help basically accusing me of doing it so I contacted the finance company and they arranged for an independent inspection to be carried out on the car to determine fault.

The report identifies a fault, that the dpf has been stripped & welded back together and that it would have been remapped, what the report also does is lays blame at my feet since the car had an MOT in September 2024 and passed so therefore they say the issue would not have been present at purchase due to it passing an MOT, but if it has been remapped it could pass the MOT still if I am correct . I have not carried out any work on the DPF and need some advice on where I stand as the current situation is not acceptable. You can clearly see from the pictures that this welding on the DPF has not been carried out in the last 6 months since the MOT.

2 hours ago, jimmyfarrow said:

The report identifies a fault, that the dpf has been stripped & welded back together and that it would have been remapped, what the report also does is lays blame at my feet since the car had an MOT in September 2024 and passed so therefore they say the issue would not have been present at purchase due to it passing an MOT,

Yes it would pass an MOT with the DPF missing, don't ask how I know 😉

To me, that should have been spotted by the last tester and again IMHO should never have been a pass leaving you in a difficult situation since MOT was done "on your watch" by a station of your choosing.

A difficult/impossible situation to resolve as far as I can see?

I assume that welding is on top of the DPF, so not visible to the MOT tester.

54 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I assume that welding is on top of the DPF, so not visible to the MOT tester.

Hadn't thought of that deception but still unsure if a vehicle of that age should be able to pass a smoke test without DPF.

Ours always gets a "too low to measure" or words to that effect and if you wipe your finger on the inside of the exhaust pipe it shouldn't be more than slightly sooty?

Would the excessive smoke be caused by the stripped dpf or by an actual fault for example a very dirty or blocked air filter ..🤔

 

43 minutes ago, Shearers said:

Hadn't thought of that deception but still unsure if a vehicle of that age should be able to pass a smoke test without DPF.

Ours always gets a "too low to measure" or words to that effect and if you wipe your finger on the inside of the exhaust pipe it shouldn't be more than slightly sooty?

It shouldn't be able to pass, no.  But many testers don't test them correctly.  Many people do still get away with it. 

If the mapper has done their job well, they'll restrict the fuelling when stationary, to make sure there's no visible smoke.  That along with hidden cuts & welds can make a pass. 

And I've found many testers still aren't using the plate values, which makes it even easier to pass the smoke test on default values.

 

39 minutes ago, nicam49 said:

Would the excessive smoke be caused by the stripped dpf or by an actual fault for example a very dirty or blocked air filter ..🤔

This is the thing that seems strange to me too.  If there was no smoke for the first 9 months, either the DPF was deleted at that point, or there's a mechanical fault occuring separate to the DPF delete.  I'm not surprised the garage won't help if it wasn't smoking when it left them.

Yes the welded part is up against the chassis so it is not visible when you look underneath the car unless you take it off. I have looked back on the MOT history now and 5 months before I purchased the car it failed on EML light on the emissions control system, the same day, same mileage at a different MOT centre the car passed the MOT, why go to a different MOT center and by looking online the main component of the emissions control system is the DPF. Its frustrating as I have had BMW/Audis and sportier cars and never had them remapped/DPF delete so why would I do this to my wifes family car haha

48 minutes ago, jimmyfarrow said:

so why would I do this to my wifes family car haha

Midlife crisis?

Seriously though, you can see the test centre using the number from your V5...  You could always ask them if they'd provide any evidence from their own electronic records about the MOT failure?  They might have quoted for a repair for example.

If it was MOT'd before the trader had it then they'd have no way of knowing about it either.

Still, the fault can't actually be the DPF delete if it wasn't smoking for the first 9 months.  There must be another fault.

thats part of the issue though but as the car was sold to my like this and i spent a few quid with ford trying to diagnose an issue so it was potentially covered by warranty and the dealership was being awkward, and wanted me to pay 1000s to strip the engine so they could diagnose which nut and bolt is causing the issue, as the dpf delete could of potential issues with the engine upon finding out that the car is in this condition i was unwilling to plough any more money into the car 

and also it is illegal to drive a car without a DPF under UK law if it was originally fitted with one and can lead to issues with insurance as it is technically modified and renders the vehicle non compliant with emissions standards

So, to me, the whole thing appears to be you bought a car with inherent problems (initiated by DPF delete procedure) It passed an MOT before and after you owned it (ideally, it should have failed and the modification detected?).
The car is now becoming undriveable but it looks (based on the information) that you can't get any redress because of passing the most recent MOT and the accusation that you did the modification  which makes the car illegal?
It will be a matter of evidence, proof and a claim against the selling dealer if that is possible under Small Claim process (unless dealer will play ball?)
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

And/or:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-car-repair/

Is that right?