Hi everyone, I was wondering could anyone could give their opinion regarding an issue I recently had? I have a 2018 Galaxy with 48k on the clock. My car was brought to my local ford garage after some warning lights appeared (ESC & park pilot) It was diagnosed with an abs sensor fault on the left front and that it would need replacing and the the wheel bearing may need replacing .

It passed the MOT that evening and I brought it in the next day again to get the job done. I'm wondering now have a been too rash in getting the bearing done as maybe it was only the sensor?  The price too shocked me . £305 for the bearing , £36 for the sensor and £140 for the labour ex vat which was £96. Total £580. This garage gets good reviews and has a good reputation generally however I can't help feel the cost was excessive and I know I should have queried the " may need replacing". Thanks in advance for any replies given

 

Like most modern vehicles your car does not have wheel bearings that can be replaced. The wheel bearings are an integral part of the wheel hub. Next of the bearings the wheel hub also contains the magnetic ABS sensor ring. In case of a bearing or sensor ring failure the entire wheel hub needs to be replaced.

The OEM wheel hubs from Ford are quite expensive. On the other hand a lot less labor is involved since the wheel hub itself does not have to be disassembled/assembled to replace the bearings/sensor ring.


If there were no signs of bearing or sensor ring failure there should not have been any reason to replace the wheel hub. Just replacing the defective ABS sensor would have solved the problem. 

It is however very difficult to determine afterwards (from a computer screen) if replacing the wheel hub was actually required or not.

Thank you so much for your reply .. I emailed the garage wondering about a few things but they haven't replied unfortunately which I don't think is great either. I may call them soon. I would have queried this before the job was started but I was going away on holidays soon after and I didn't want any problems when I was travelling so I just authorised the work. I would have thought the fact the car passed the MOT would be a likely sign the bearing was good in the car but that's assuming they actually checked it. I would hate to have  paid for a new hub etc when it was only a sensor that needed replacing. I would have presumed a mechanic would feel play in the wheel before they would make a decision on replacing the  whole thing !

Dealer prices are stupid but as you say, it would have been nice to test the sensor first.
This would include monitoring the trace to see if the ring had actually gone or if it were just the sensor, before changing the bearing.
How would that happen -  I accept it can but there would need to be some mechanism for the senor ring it to fail without some sort of physical damage occurring?

Does the entire hub really need replacing  - I know that bearing is fixed to hub complete with studs - do you have to go any further on 2018 models?
If it is a Gen 2 bearing it requires a special tool (£50 on e-Bay - worth it even if you only use it once and bearings are £30 - granted "cheap" ones, £130 for ***** from Euro Car Parts - you choose):
https://www.eurocarparts.com/p/*****-wheel-bearing-kit-628590770

Our cheap one has lasted 7 years but may be starting to fail (10% of rolling element bearings fail within their design life, L₁₀ 
I am getting a slight moaning but no observable play or noise when jacked up so I'll leave until a definite diagnosis can be made. Again, that's me.

Trust: so fragile, so easily broken, so hard to restore!

Thanks for so much your reply. Very informative also. The point where they sent me out the health check and said the "bearing MAY need replacing" is the point I should have rang them and queried but my automotive knowledge is limited in many areas so I did not think of possibilities and also if the garage tells me it may need changing I stupidly just accepted it . It's only in hindsight I know that maybe it's only sensor that needed replacing. If they did not test sensor first and go straight for hub removal that is disappointing. I would have expected them to try sensor replacement as first option unless the bearing did need changing but why put MAY need removal in there is my question. I will try contact them again for clarification.

From previous posts, it appears Ford (all?) dealers have specific "rules" meaning they seem to change parts rather than make any attempt to repair (at owners cost of course) until the fault goes away (or doesn't) - I may be being too brutal here but your case is common?
Obviously for anything they notice that could fail they would want to replace, to prevent it letting customer down BUT this is likely a very expensive way to proceed, especially if it doesn't produce a fix.
If they use words like "may", "we think", "try changing" etc etc then they need to be challenged until the strength of their decision matches  your needs.
My questions would be like "will you refund my money if it doesn't fix it?" OR "would you do this if you were paying?"
As you seem to be well out of warranty, suggest you find a local independent, let them do a service, see the "cut of their jib" and build up some confidence/trust - still difficult and better on personal recommendation?
I hope someone comes along with more positive scenarios soon!
 

We had a great indi in my town which I used to go to for both our cars for jobs except services as I likes to continue the dealership service history but he retired unfortunately. I will have to source another. Yes I take onboard all you said and you are correct in what you have said. Thanks very much for your input