I had to call out the RAC to look at my Mondeo (2008 Titanium X 2.0 Diesel) as when I started it headlights & windscreen wipers came on without me touching anything & no lights on dashboard?? The RAC mechanic said it was the BCU (? - like laptop for the car) and it had to be rest which he managed to do. However, he did say this could be a "car breaker" and could cost £2K to replace - is this correct? The car is in really good condition and has done less than 50K so I do not really want to change it unless I have to.

Can someone please advise if the £2k quoted is realistic?

The car has been fine since being reset, however, can this happen again?

Any help/advice would be most welcome.

I had to call out the RAC to look at my Mondeo (2008 Titanium X 2.0 Diesel) as when I started it headlights & windscreen wipers came on without me touching anything & no lights on dashboard?? The RAC mechanic said it was the BCU (? - like laptop for the car) and it had to be reset which he managed to do. However, he did say this could be a "car breaker" and could cost £2K to replace - is this correct? The car is in really good condition and has done less than 50K so I do not really want to change it unless I have to.

Can someone please advise if the £2k quoted is realistic?

The car has been fine since being reset, however, can this happen again?

Any help/advice would be most welcome.

BCU - body control unit

A modern car uses microproccesors and canbus systems so is akin to a personal computer

it could fail tommorow or work perfectly for years, you could sell your car and by a brand new one (of any make) and have nothing but trouble with it - we expect our cars to be reliable but they just follow the laws of phisics and can fail at any time, unfortunately

I have seen members trusting their cars to work perfectly 24-7 and then when they eventually encounter a problem, then not "trust" the car and expect it to fail all the time (both are illogical)

I would not worry unduly - see how you get on and remember you have the RAC to fall back on, as an extra precaution + you could always get "premium" get you home insurance as well

I have no doubt that a BCU costs £2000+ but its unlikely you would need a new one, there is a software element (as well as a hardware one- just like a computer) and the reset may have fixed it, things like sensors or sven a low or high battery voltage (caused by a faulty alternator or battery) can affec it so it may not be the BCU at fault

you can get a new Mondeo titanium x from £21995 (thats only 11 BCUs!)

http://www.ford.co.uk/Hidden/Compare/Mondeo/dei1=1205032436166

It's a bcm body control module I check co

Connections an clean with electirical contact cleaner first

Can someone please advise if the £2k quoted is realistic?

Well, Ford can tell you for certain. I'd have expected more like £500 for the module, but then I've never bought one. And a breaker would be cheaper.

Any help/advice would be most welcome.

Check connections; remove plug (having disconnected battery first and having ensured that you have the radio code before that), squirt with WD40 or similar, and insert and remove the plug a few times. this is probably more likely if you have a 'damp' car (one that leaks water and mists up when it rains), so if your car doesn't mist up, it is probably less likely, but maybe still worth doing.

Check module ground. I did hear recently of someone having a problem where the whole dash went crazy because a ground connection used by several modules in that area disintegrated. Looked and sounded massively expensive, but only needed a connection (driver's side footwell???) re-making, at essentially zero cost (apart from finding the problem (!!!!) and the relatively small amount of time to re-do).

...however, can this happen again?

Anything can happen, this is a thing, and so, yes it can, but if you have repaired the root cause, there is no reason that it should.