Hi

Bought a second hand 2015 zetec s black edition. It came with a receipt for the wet belt and water pump that had been done in 2022. I had an engine service now warning light come on this week and the car went into limp mode. This made me panic and I decided to ring the dealer that had done the timing belt to make sure it had been done. I wish I had done this before buying the car, but I seen a receipt and presumed this was proof. After speaking to the dealer, they have no history of my car ever being at that dealer for any work, service etc. 

So now I feel slightly stupid! I have contacted my local ford dealership and they have booked me in for a VHC and the guy I spoke to said that they will be able to check the wetbelt and they will know if it has been done or if it needs to be done. This is free of charge. Is this correct, can they really tell during a VHC whether the wetbelt needs changing? 
 

Thanks 

I'm not aware of any quick way to tell whether the wetbelt has been done.  Very interested to know how they do it on the VHC.

4 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

I'm not aware of any quick way to tell whether the wetbelt has been done.  Very interested to know how they do it on the VHC.

I’m wondering if they are just doing it as they offer that as a free service anyway, then they will just say that it needs doing so I will get it done….

6 minutes ago, Cheemus said:

I’m wondering if they are just doing it as they offer that as a free service anyway, then they will just say that it needs doing so I will get it done….

It does sound like a waste of your time and a potential upsell for them tbh.  

But perhaps there is some way of checking that we're just not aware of yet.  I try not to get complacent on here...

You have a receipt from the dealer that they won't stand behind? Get that in writing. Then take it to the Small Claims Court unless they are prepared to change the belt for you FOC and provide photographic evidence of the work being done. Tell them it will be cheaper than a Fraud conviction 

9 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

It does sound like a waste of your time and a potential upsell for them tbh.  

But perhaps there is some way of checking that we're just not aware of yet.  I try not to get complacent on here...

I hope so. It’s booked in tomorrow so I will update this post with what they say 

4 minutes ago, anon said:

You have a receipt from the dealer that they won't stand behind? Get that in writing. Then take it to the Small Claims Court unless they are prepared to change the belt for you FOC and provide photographic evidence of the work being done. Tell them it will be cheaper than a Fraud conviction 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t my car when the work was done, it just had this receipt with the car when I bought it, stamped by a ford dealership. It’s my stupid fault for not ringing the dealership to check before I bought the car, I just seen the stamp and thought yeah that’s been done! And now I think about it, who provides receipts like this these days? I should have known it was not legitimate

If it has their stamp on it, then they will have to explain how it got there. They are responsible for its use and any fraud arising from its use is due to their lack of safe keeping - their responsibility. Denial of that responsibility won't stand up in court 

That "receipt" is from my local main Ford dealer. I've never heard of them doing a handwritten invoice/receipt, I'm pretty sure a Ford main dealer wouldn't do a wet belt for that price, and even Ford dealers could spell "supplied" correctly. The telephone number shown on the "receipt" does not tally with their current sales or service number as per their website.

Unfortunately fake dealer stamps are often found for sale on the internet, sometimes quite blatantly.

My old 1.0 Ecoboost had a Ford vehicle health check annually and I never saw mention of wet belt. Like Tom, I'm sceptical that they have a quick way of checking if a wet belt has been done. If they had, I think we might have heard of it on here by now.

I would say that while the dealers stamp looks genuine, that's about all that is.

How does £995 plus VAT = £1100 ?

 

2 minutes ago, Eric Bloodaxe said:

That "receipt" is from my local main Ford dealer. I've never heard of them doing a handwritten invoice/receipt, I'm pretty sure a Ford main dealer wouldn't do a wet belt for that price, and even Ford dealers could spell "supplied" correctly. The telephone number shown on the "receipt" does not tally with their current sales or service number.

Unfortunately fake dealer stamps are often found for sale on the internet, sometimes quite blatantly.

My old 1.0 Ecoboost had a Ford vehicle health check annually and I never saw mention of wet belt. Like Tom, I'm sceptical that they have a quick way of checking if a wet belt has been done. If they had, I think we might have heard of it on here by now.

Yeah I thought as much 😭 I rang the number from the stamp today which was out of service, so had to google the dealership to get the actual number, which is when I was told that they had no records of this vehicle. And that’s when the obvious red flags with the receipt that I ignored when buying became glaringly obvious. Guess I’ll chalk this up to a life lesson and I’ll have to find the money and get it done ASAP lol thanks for the info, appreciate it 👍🏻

5 minutes ago, unofix said:

I would say that while the dealers stamp looks genuine, that's about all that is.

How does £995 plus VAT = £1100 ?

 

Yeah it’s all biting hard now, feel like a tit! Hopefully the engine is still ok and I can get it done and move on, as everything else with the car is very good 

Anyone can buy those stamps online.  Stamps don't prove anything nowadays.

Sorry but that receipt made me laugh.  Looks like it's been written by a 5 year old.  VAT wrong.  Nothing itemised.  And ripped out of a generic invoice book from 1999...

Was it a private sale?  If sold by any sort of trader I would definitely be contacting them before paying for a belt change.

55 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

Anyone can buy those stamps online.  Stamps don't prove anything nowadays.

Sorry but that receipt made me laugh.  Looks like it's been written by a 5 year old.  VAT wrong.  Nothing itemised.  And ripped out of a generic invoice book from 1999...

Was it a private sale?  If sold by any sort of trader I would definitely be contacting them before paying for a belt change.

Yeah it was a private sale. Just going to have to bite the bullet and get it done straight away. Thanks for the reply’s 

5 hours ago, Cheemus said:

Yeah it was a private sale.

Not clear how recently you bought the vehicle? You've only been on here about a month so assume it was about then? A fraud has clearly taken place here. Either the seller knowingly misrepresented to you that the belt had been renewed, and provided fake "evidence" or they were themselves duped by whoever sold it to them previously.

I'd certainly raise it with the seller, though your options are limited with a private sale. Some good info here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

 

On 7/30/2025 at 2:43 PM, Eric Bloodaxe said:

Not clear how recently you bought the vehicle? You've only been on here about a month so assume it was about then? A fraud has clearly taken place here. Either the seller knowingly misrepresented to you that the belt had been renewed, and provided fake "evidence" or they were themselves duped by whoever sold it to them previously.

I'd certainly raise it with the seller, though your options are limited with a private sale. Some good info here: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/buying-or-repairing-a-car/problems-with-a-used-car/

 

Thanks I will take a look at this. The car is booked in with a ford independent garage to have the work done. Ford quoted me £1900 ish for the wet belt service, and a further £1200 for an exhaust flexi repair, along with other stuff that I can fix myself for a lot cheaper. The guy I’m going to is charging £1500 for both the wet belt service and the exhaust flexi repair, so I’ve saved quite a bit. He seems to be very reasonable and knowledgeable about the work, has multiple cars in for this exact job at the moment which is why I’m having to wait until next week to get it in. 
 

This is what he has quoted and is going to do: 

We charge £1550 to do the wet belt service

 

We change

Timing belt kit

Water pump

Front crankshaft oil seal

Water outlet housing

Rocker cover gasket

Friction washer

Alternator belt

Exhaust front flexy (they are nearly always leaking)

Remove the sump and clean out pick up pipe

Oil pump belt

Remove hidden gauze and clean out

Full service

Fresh anti freeze

We will need the vehicle 2 days to allow the Ford silicone sealer to cure

So hopefully I can get it done and not worry for the next 6 year! My car is currently sat on the drive because I’m scared to drive it incase it’s causing any damage lol

On 7/30/2025 at 9:16 AM, Cheemus said:

Yeah it was a private sale. Just going to have to bite the bullet and get it done straight away. Thanks for the reply’s 

You could check to see if the "Private" sale was really private ie not a trader masquerading as such.? Also, when did you buy it, and have you/could you confronmt the seller?

If you found it through FB or Ebay, in particular, see theier history - have they regularly sold cars i.e. an unlicensed trader.