I have a 2010 Ford Focus (mark 3 ). Yesterday my car went in for a service and the garage were unable to open the bonnet. After a couple of hours of trying with a screwdriver after reading a guide on here we gave up and took the car to our local Ford dealer.

They quoted me the following:

New Grey grill (as you would have to break the old one) £35

New lock £41

New Latch £60

New Clip £3

Build Lock £29

Labour at £96 per hour (!!)

VAT

We're talking over £300.

Is there another way around this. Could a non-Ford dealer repair this at a cheaper price or would they not be able to get the parts. Also would there be a problem with the lock as I don't want to pay for new keys.

Any help greatly received.

When trying to open with a screwdriver we pushed at the white plastic piece under the bonnet but this did not budge at all.

have you tried to turn the white plastic piece before you strike at it, they lock together so may just need wiggling into a better position before driving it home,

also could you not remove the front bumper to get access under the front grill?

You can buy original Ford bonnet lock repair kits off eBay for about £40.

You may have to bresk the grille to get decent access to open the bonnet but yet again they are readily available on eBay for about £40.

Most of the price quoted by Ford is guaranteed to be labour and VAT.

Btw your car is actually a MK2.5.

Thanks for your reply guys I have contacted someone on ebay to see if their kit is for my model.

I'll see if I can turn the white plastic piece and no one at my ford dealership said anything about removing the bumper they just said breaking the grill was the only option

Does the lock git for sale on ebay contain all the parts I need as Ford are quoting me for the lock and the latch. I've just spoken to another Ford garage who tell me they would try and get the bonnet open before breaking the grill. They said in their experience in all the cases they've dealt with the lock would need replacing

I believe its normally just the lock and not the latch, as the latch should be fine...

Thanks, both dealerships I have spoken to have quoted me for the latch as well and told me any parts ordered are non-returnable. I'm quite confused as to what to do. Leave everyting to the dealership or buy a lock and grill aand see if a smaller garage can do the job?

its up to you as to which one you fancy paying, but if something goes wrong at Ford due to their error, they would pay the bill, would an indie do that?

Its really your call to be honest...