Drive Shaft Issues? Keep Or Sell?

[Jazman23]

I've had my Fiesta for around 2 months now, and although I like the car quite a bit i've had a couple of unfortunate things with it. So far nothing Major... yet but it's... coming. I originally sent my car in for a wheel re balancing and that was fixed so I had nice smooth steering but it was masking another issue. I wasn't happy as the car was still wobbly under load so the Mechanic took it for another spin and said that it was the start of the drive shaft breaking but was too early to diagnose and find the fault.

Over the past week it's got slightly worse going from happening at higher speeds to lower speeds as well.

At the moment I have to wait for the issue to get worse before anything can be done about it and I'm currently considering if it's worth keeping my current Fiesta. It's a used fiesta and has only 2 previous owners and is actually in quite good condition, low mileage as well. I don't know if I should get rid of it before any more big problems come up or wait for the drive shaft issue to get worse, get it fixed and carry on with it :/

I actually quite like the car itself it's just been a bit disappointing mechanically.

Does anyone know how much it usually costs to repair issues with the Drive shaft and how long it takes to fix?

Does anyone have any opinions on this? should I stick with it or sell up? I'd probably end up getting another fiesta though.

[FOCA]

Find out exactly what is liable to fail and get quotes on how much it will cost to repair

[Marks12]

Find out exactly what is liable to fail and get quotes on how much it will cost to repair

Exactly it would be a shame to sell the car if the repair cost is low on it. but i do feel your pain i have a focus for a month now and the injectors are giving me bother :( .

look drive shafts aren't bad and should be much to repair them i don't see why he cant just repair the driveshaft now if the mechanic knows some thing is about to break why can't he just fix it now. If I was you I'd go to another mechanic to see if he says something similar or if he will just fix it. I'm not sure if its left to get worse would that not just damage another part maybe a more expensive part??

[Jazman23]

Exactly it would be a shame to sell the car if the repair cost is low on it. but i do feel your pain i have a focus for a month now and the injectors are giving me bother :( .

look drive shafts aren't bad and should be much to repair them i don't see why he cant just repair the driveshaft now if the mechanic knows some thing is about to break why can't he just fix it now. If I was you I'd go to another mechanic to see if he says something similar or if he will just fix it. I'm not sure if its left to get worse would that not just damage another part maybe a more expensive part??

It would be a shame, i hear drive shafts are quite an expensive fix. I'm not sure why it cant be fixed yet, he took it for a spin and said it felt like the start of a drive shaft issue but may be too early to tell. SO I left it with him to inspect and he had it up on the ramp and said that its not at a point yet where they can see what part may be on its way out. I probably will go get second opinions, i do quite like the car and if I sold it would be for another fiesta but as a very last resort. I'm just worried because of the problems Ive had in the past two months

[Marks12]

It would be a shame, i hear drive shafts are quite an expensive fix. I'm not sure why it cant be fixed yet, he took it for a spin and said it felt like the start of a drive shaft issue but may be too early to tell. SO I left it with him to inspect and he had it up on the ramp and said that its not at a point yet where they can see what part may be on its way out. I probably will go get second opinions, i do quite like the car and if I sold it would be for another fiesta but as a very last resort. I'm just worried because of the problems Ive had in the past two months

Alright wasn't aware it was expensive anyway I'd say you couldn't go wrong with a few second opinions and try to price the job while your there

[DieselPig]

If you have bought this vehicle from a garage they are responsible for any repairs, take it back and complain or get a refund.

[mixmasterlooney]

Drive shafts aren't an expensive job, normally it's the bearings that go and that can be replaced with a drive shaft kit but tbh the cost of drive shafts now a days are so cheap you can usually get a brand new drive shaft with bearings and boot already pre fitted just a matter of swapping the old for new. And most parts sellers will give you a discount for returning your old drive shaft unless bought from ford of course.

If your steering is wobbly I would look at other things, wish bone damage, track rods, control arms etc for damage you could have hit a pot hole that bent your track rod, this makes it difficult to align correctly.

It could even be the tech alignment machine that's out. I say take the car somewhere else for a second opinion because I doubt it's the drive shaft.

A drive shaft has 3 things that can go wrong really an inner or outer ball joint fault this normally create noise or you can see it leaking out oil or damage to the actual shaft, that's something visual..

[mixmasterlooney]

Btw I don't know how the tech felt a drive shaft problem from driving it...

[kevzs960]

Drive shaft are around 250+ from ford. I had issues with a knocking noise when i left off the gas to change gear an found out it was the driveshaft making the noise. But changed the outer cv joint (non genuine)

Like previous post said id look at steerin, suspension components.

What make are the tyres? (if there wing wong tilly tally specials then they can create a horrid wear pattern) an create a judder)

Are they wearing correctly? Are the wheels straight? (no buckles) i know youve had them re-balanced but they could of put 70gram of weight on one side?

Could possibally be a driveshaft/gearbox issue. Or a bearing issue.

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Ford OC mobile app

[Jazman23]

Thanks for the responses guys.

What make are the tyres? (if there wing wong tilly tally specials then they can create a horrid wear pattern) an create a judder)

Are they wearing correctly? Are the wheels straight? (no buckles) i know youve had them re-balanced but they could of put 70gram of weight on one side?

The Tyres are Michelin tyres, the garage had a look at the tyres to make sure the unbalanced wheels hadn't cause any damage to them and said the tyres are fine. Cars aren't my strong point so i dont really know what to look out for in tyre wears apart from obvious things.

I've had a look at my alloys and they don't look like they're buckled but I havent actually had a chance to take them off and have a proper look.

Going to get some second opinions when I get a chance

Btw I don't know how the tech felt a drive shaft problem from driving it...

Mechanic suspects drive shaft because when driving at higher speeds, from about 50mph+ the car has a wobble/shake but only when accelerating or pulling up hill and it doesn't feed back through the steering wheel anymore.

Also I've decided not to sell because i like the car too much, and Id need to save up a few extra grand to get another one anyway so I may as well just pay to get it fixed instead.

[Jazman23]

SO no one can work out what the problem is. Car's been in for a service this weekend and they noticed the wheels were out of balance again so they rebalanced all the wheels. The wobble wasnt really noticable when i got it back, had to travel to manchester after the service and on the way back up the motorway the wobble came back. I guess I'll just have to live with it

[MattDRX]

Where did you buy the car from? A dealer less than 2 months ago? You sure a wheel isn't buckled? Drive shaft failure isn't at all common on these.