My car developed a fault just out of the warranty period - should I have to pay for work to be done on it?

My 2015 Ford Fiesta has done 36,000 miles, I've had it from new. It's five weeks out of warranty and the the engine management light came on. It was a suspected coil pack, but the garage changed the coil pack and the leads still same fault. They tried different injectors and spark plugs and still the same. There is zero compression in cylinder two. The guy reckons that it's a stuck or burnt out valve and has said Ford should cover this as the fault shouldn't happen on a car of this age. Ford want me to pay them to strip the engine down before they will tell me if they will help as the company line is that it's out of warranty. Do I have any redress at all?

Asked on 18 April 2018 by Tiffany Pickett

Answered by Honest John
Write to the dealer principal of the supplying dealer telling him that the engine of your car had failed just three years and five weeks since you bought it, despite always having been maintained by Ford dealers on time. State that under case law on the various Sale of Goods Acts you have a "reasonable expectation" of six years life from an expensive consumer durable such as a car and for it to have failed after just three years and five weeks it must have been sub-standard. State that if the dealer requires payment to strip down and repair the engine you will pay for this, but you will then avail yourself of the Small Claims Track of the County Court to seek a full refund of these costs. Send this letter by Post Office Special Delivery, keep a copy and staple the certificate of posting to the copy so it becomes a matter of record for the court. Details of how to make a Small Claim here: www.gov.uk/make-court-claim-for-money

Details of the law that applies here: www.honestjohn.co.uk/faq/consumer-rights/
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