I am hoping for some advice please.

My husband owns a 4 year old Mondeo, which he bought from a ford dealer just over a year ago.  In that first year we didn't have any big issues with it.  We recently serviced it and MOT with the same dealer.  Two months later (last week), it had loss of power and had to be towed back to the dealer. The AA guy added 3 litres of oil.   They have now said that there is low compression in the cylinders.  They are suggesting that there are two scenarios - one is that they will have to replace something (not sure what), at a cost of £4,000 or the second is it will need a whole new engine at a cost of £6,500.  We have a warranty on the car, but now realise there is a £1,000 cap on claims (and also we went over the number of miles between services even though it was one year service - so they may not pay that anyway).

Our concern is that it had not lost any oil in the whole of the first year, but that it has 'lost 3 litres' in two months since it's service.  We don't know alot about cars, but can't see how it can do that?  There is no evidence of oil where it is parked or in the engine as you look at it.  There has been no warning light at all.  It may have been slightly more noisy, but not enough to make my husband concerned.  

We are waiting for them to take it apart (at a cost of £500) to see which of the options it will be.  But I'm not happy about paying out for either.  I would appreciate some advice on how to proceed as although we feel sure it was something related to the service I realise there isn't much I can do to prove that?  

Any advice appreciated please!

Thanks,

Angela

The cynic in me wonders if the oil was drained, but not filled up properly afterwards...

I know - that is what we suspect, but based on little knowledge though.  The problem is what we can do to prove that when it is back at the same dealership :( 

You can ask for a full breakdown of what was and wasn't done when it was serviced that's a starting point. In any legal argument against them, they will play the oil card. What I mean by that is they will say it is your fault for not keeping a check on the oil and assuming it was fine. I am not saying they are in the right, just brace yourself for their attack.

Also, in any legal argument you will need to prove the fault occurred as a result of some manufacturing defect as opposed to a fault of your own. This would mean appointing an expert mechanic so its useful if you know someone who knows someone etc. to save costs.

If you are wondering what I mean by legal argument, in simple terms its your statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 or if you purchased before October 2015, the Sale of Goods Act 1979. This is separate from the warranty and unaffected by any small print.

What you would be doing is using the law to force the dealer to repair the car at their expense rather than yours. Clearly, there is a lesser expectation of quality with used cars than with new cars but its still only a 4 year old car. This all sounds daunting but the reality is that the small claims court is very informal and far removed from what you probably envisage.

If you lose: You pay the costs you have racked up to get to court - The end

If you win: They foot the bill for the repair and they pay your costs

These things rarely get to court to be honest so its like a game of poker. If you want to read a real world example of this, please settle in with a nice drink and read this topic:

Thanks

Thank you for your reply.  We are still waiting for the verdict after taking the engine apart. It is helpful to know what the options are though. 

Update today - is that it is the short engine block that is faulty. I think that is what my husband said it was called...  So about 1,800 in parts to fix that and 2,200 in labour.  At the moment the dealer is trying to be helpful, and has said they are still trying to talk to the warranty people (who could choose not to pay the capped 1,000 as we went over the mileage), but that still leaves a big chunk anyway even if they do pay.  My husband asked about customer services for Ford, and he said they could raise a case for us and give us the reference number.  He did think they may be able to do something to help out, but pointed out that it was doubtful they would contribute if the warranty company did pay out. Couldn't have both options essentially.

So we need to decide what to do now, as still facing a massive bill.  I'm thinking to write to Ford outlining the situation, but I'm not sure about throwing weight around at this stage. I think it sounds like we may be able to argue manufacturing defect though, so I might include that phrase.  

I think I read on the post that you linked for me that the limit for the small claims court is £10K.  The car cost £14K, but I guess we are claiming the cost of repairs so it would still come under that?

At this stage we are still hoping that playing nice with the dealer will bring a good result, but I think I may being unrealistic. 

Yes its the cost of repairs that you would be claiming for so its under £10k. Keep us posted.

Hi - Latest news is that they tell us it is the piston rings that have failed which means needs new short engine block at £4,200 cost in total.  They have managed to get the warranty company to pay up the £1,000, which is good. The dealership have also agreed to know a further £600 off the bill, so £2,600 to pay.  It still seems alot of money to pay for a failure of this nature on a four year old car.  However, I don't think we will get any more out of the dealership.

We would like to write to Ford UK to ask for a contribution, but the dealership want to get moving on ordering the parts and repairing it now.  Do you think we are okay to say yes to making a start on repairs, whilst separately appealing to Ford, or should we not start repairs until they have responded?  We'd obviously like to do the first, but not sure if that will affect chances of getting anything out of them, if we have already agreed for the repairs to be commenced.

Such as shame that we have had this failure as we were really happy with the car prior to this, but now not feeling too confident in it :(

If you are happy enough with the contribution then I would say go ahead and just hope for some extra from Ford. I can't see Ford refusing just because repairs have started. Their dealer wants to get things moving anyway.