Flywheel and clutch problem at 14,500 miles!!

[sob1971]

Ford S-Max 2.2 Zetec Tdci 06 Plate (14,500 miles)

After spending £16,995 in Nov 07 on my wife’s car I didn't anticipate I would be replacing the flywheel, clutch and starter motor after only 4,000 miles later!!

The car I bought was a Ford S-Max 2.2 Zetec Tdci 06 plate from my local dealer in Kidderminster (UK), the car had only done 10,500 miles as a ex demonstrator model and was in perfect condition.

I have a family of 4 daughter so the 7 seats was ideal for school trips, the only other use we had for the car was the odd local shopping trip, this is why the mileage is still very low – we have only done 4,000 miles in the past 2 years. The car has a full service history with the last service passing with flying colours back in July 09 (Cost was £188.66).

Only a couple of weeks after this service there was a rattling noise happening when you pushed the clutch down to change gears, after reporting it to my local Ford dealership in Kidderminster they suggested that the flywheel might have gone and to get in touch with Ford HQ as the car had only 14,500 miles on the clock and was only 2 months out of warranty.

I phoned Ford HQ to get their feedback on what help they could offer, Louise in after care said they have what’s called a goodwill system and given my circumstances I would have a good chance they would help out. Given that I had to use an authorized Ford garage if I wanted to get any support I pushed the question “what circumstances would you not support”. The response was “if wear and tear is diagnosed then they would not support any claim, if it was a malfunction on the engine then they would look to offer support”, the percentage was not confirmed but I left the conversation confident they would support me if my car was found to have a malfunction!

My car was booked in for the diagnoses and the garage confirmed the flywheel, clutch, starter motor and release bearings had been contaminated due to a loss of fluid – In the words of the local Ford garage this was not coursed by wear and tear but down to a malfunction within the engine. The total cost for parts and work carried out to fix problem £1,489.00

I would like to confirm that Ford head office goodwill was to offer no support and they would not give any reason why, when I challenged a team leader (Sandy) he could only come up with the fact that this was my first Ford car I had bought – “when offering support we like our customers to have several Ford cars in the past, this would have helped my case”. After spending nearly £17K I felt I had already proved my loyalty to Ford!

I fully understand that Ford are in their right to refuse support based on my car was 2 months out of warranty, I would argue that if my wife did more miles per year that our car would have broken down well within the warranty period and therefore would have been repaired at Fords cost’s.

I would be interested to hear if anyone else has had simular problems or could offer advice.

One not very happy ford customer!

Sean O’Brien

E-mail sobrien@gmx.com

[TripleH]

Hi Sean, a friend of mine who works at a Ford dealership was telling me that he was told in a training course that Ford clutches are guaranteed for the life of the vehicle, as long as there is no damage caused by the driver ie riding the clutch etc. I personally would phone them again and ask them if this was true. Hpe this helps and let us know. Although looking at the date you posted I may be a little late with this info.

Just reread your thread and my post is probably irrelevant to your problem.

[mintalkin]

this is typical ford, anything to get out of paying. i would try trading standards. i had a problem with flaking alloys on a 18 month old car, they offered a payment of £100 against an £800 bill because they classed the alloys as trim. my next car will not be a ford there customer relations are s***.

[sob1971]

Thanks you both for your feedback... I ended up paying the £1,500 to put my car back on the road in working order!

After several more phone calls to Ford HQ and my local dealer they both washed their hands to any support, this is after they confirmed it was not my fault that the car needed repairing... I will never buy another Ford in my lifetime!!!

Trading Standards are now dealing with Ford... I will keep you posted.

[TDISport.com]

That is shockingly bad!

A remapped car being driven hard would probably not even need a new clutch and flywheel in that time, keep pushing as hard as you can!

I have heard of people on my site having similar problems but i am sure they all got resolved without themselves having to pay out.

I took my car to SEAT with the remap enabled and they were willing to replace the fly wheel for me FOC.