What should I make of this?

[Tomson]

Hi everyone,

I recently picked up my Focus Estate - 1.6 Ecoboost 182 - 2012 with 38k on the clock.

When I first went to view the car from a Ford Dealer in Crewe I noticed that the coolant level was considerably below the LOW marker on the reservoir and enquired immediately with the salesmen as to why this was. He informed me that the car was fine and would be sorted out before I collected it should I decide to purchase the vehicle. He continued to inform me that the car was bought from that garage and any work, servicing and MoT's were all conducted there and was a very looked after example. Fair enough.

Fast forward to today, car has done near to 200 miles since last Friday and hasnt skipped a beat. Coolant level seems to be staying steady although will keep an eye on this regularly. However, as I was checking around I noticed that there appears to have been some sort of burst as the sound proofing above the tank is white and has run marks and the piping around the reservoir area is quite corroded and rough. Ive taken a couple of pictures below to show what I mean. I also out of interest took the cap off the bottle and found odd crud around the lip of the bottle and around the cap (bottle appears clean and fresh) - but from experience in the past this has not gone very well for me. These are prime things to check when buying a car and usually I would have done them, but with it being a main dealer and being a one owner and service there etc I became like a first time buyer again. Luckily I managed to wrangle in the 1 year full warranty on the vehicle so should there be anything wrong I can start ringing up a bill.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

[StevesFocusX]

Not sure on the crud, but I know these bottles are prone to being brittle and leaking. I had to replace mine shortly after buying it as it had gone brittle and started to leak slowly where it was cracking. Also on the history it had previously had a bottle or pipe to the bottle replaced. 

When I Googled it and also when purchasing the replacement, it's been confirmed they are known for it, by the guy in parts at Ford's and other forums. But as for your individual case, worth waiting for someone who actually knows to give an opinion or diagnose. Just stating my experience on what I had and was also told. 

Hope it's nothing too serious for you though.