So i purchased my 14 plate 1.0 Ecoboost in December, its been great but I have a couple of times thought that i've detected a little flat spot when i first pull away, it kind of judders. Its so subtle that i'm not sure if its just my paranoia or if there is genuinely an issue.

 

The warranty only has a few weeks left on it and since i've never owned a car with warranty before I had a few questions.

 

1. If i take it to a dealer and they find no issue will I be charged?

2. Would I get a courtesy car?

 

Is there anything else I should be wary of? I'd hate to leave it and for the problem (if there is one) to get worse once the warranty has ended.

Flat spot in power and juddering just sounds like you've not given it enough revs.

The 3 pot 1.0 is great when it gets going but you have to give it a bit more when pulling away.

There could well be a PCM update which helps, but it will only be programmed to compensate a bit.

Maybe, I notice it when driving out of work so i'm usually driving quite slowly. Whats a PCM update?

Basically an updated engine map.

ah ok, i presume that would be a chargeable update? is there an easy way to tell which version I have currently?

It would be free in warranty if it is to fix a problem.

No harm in complaining saying it doesn't feel as responsive as it should be when pulling away, first port of call is normally a software update.

Cool, I might throw it at them then, So if they tell me its up to date and no problem can be found would I have to pay a charge?

 

Thanks for your help!

No if they agree to look at it under warranty but find no problem or update, then you still don't have to pay.

Excellent, well its worth taking it in then in that case! Thanks for the info

all booked in, getting them to check the brakes as well Shouldn't be grinding when cold!

OK, so the car went to the dealer today, regarding the flat spot, they couldn't replicate it. I had told them it was cold when it happened and clearly it wasn't when they had my car. That said I had a courtesy car with less than 200 miles on the clock, that seemed to do the same, i wonder if I'm just meant to put my foot down a bit more when moving away in a low gear.

 

I also got them to check the horrible grinding on my brakes, been like it since we got it in December and i'd originally assumed it was down to the wet weather but the issue had persisted. They told me the pads were down to 20% and that was probably the cause. Now I assumed that when I bought the car the service would have been 'full' but I've no way of telling if it was a full or partial service.