Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand

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Thu 17 Apr 2014 12:51
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - jamesdevil

Hi first post on here and my first on any forum so take it easy on me if i make a mistake, i purchased a car (Focus 2010 petrol 1.6 Zetec) from a dealer November 2013 had an engine managment light come on while driving called the AA they advised miss fire 4 cylinder poss coil pack got me home. Went to the garage for repair turns out the ceramic part of the spark plug that surrounds the electrode had come away and fallen into the cylinder causing damage to the exhaust valve cylinder has no compression. When i purchased the car i took out a warrenty ( platnum cover with the Warrenty Group ) the garage put the repair cost at £1337 this includes all parts and labour, you guessed it the warrenty company dont want to know stating that the failure was caused by a servicble part ie spark plugs that they dont cover as part of the warrenty , any advise on where i go from her ? is it back to the garage that sold the car please any help appreciated.

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Thu 17 Apr 2014 13:34
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - FP

"...is it back to the garage that sold the car ..."

Yes.

And a lot of (all?) warranties like the one you took out are of dubious value.

It's now nearly six months since you bought the car. But SOGA indicates there is a six-month period in which you can expect the dealer to pick up the problems.

You have not told us the dates of key events (like when the breakdown occurred), nor whether the car has now actually been repaired and the repair paid for.

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Thu 17 Apr 2014 13:47
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - gordonbennet

I expect the car has been at least dismantled by now, in order to have such a detailed diagnosis.

In an ideal world you would have taken the car back to the dealer who sold it as it was at that point, up to them to fix it and get the *spare bog roll* to pay up for the repair.

Course you have a warranty, so no need to transport the car up to 200 miles or more (at your expense) to the selling dealer, so you get a local garage to look at it, then you find the warranty is only fit for bog roll, and on it goes.

**round here and on most forums the general agreement is that these aftermarket warranties are only any use as spare bog roll.

You can try the selling dealer, whether they'll play ball is anyones guess, probably not.

Welcome to the forum ayway.

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Thu 17 Apr 2014 14:27
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - jamesdevil

The car was purchased on 26/11/13 and broke down on 13/04/14. If the warranty are saying they don't cover it, and I don't expect the dealer will want to pay anything if they can get away with that.

So i've had the car less that 6 months and it now needs major work through no fault of my own that nobody seems to cover. The car wasn't due a service, and the spark plugs looked new and are genuine ford parts.

*Edit* The car is currently at the garage and has had the engine opened up to inspect for damage. The repairs have not been done yet.

Edited by jamesdevil on 17/04/2014 at 14:29

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Thu 17 Apr 2014 15:55
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - Armitage Shanks {p}

A spark plug that has a bit fall off it is not serviceable! It is faulty.

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Fri 18 Apr 2014 11:14
Ford focus petrol 2010 zetec1.6 - Where do i stand - pd

I think you'll struggle to get much recompense from the seller now. Basically, on a used car the seller's responsibility tends to reduce as time and mileage since purchase increases. The "6 month" rule is only about burden of proof - as the car worked fine for 5 months the dealer can easily prove there was no fault with it at time of sale.

Even if you did persue it, it would take 8 months minimum (that is the current average small claims court backlog) and, at best, you'd probably get a partial settlement.

Firstly, I'd have another go at the warranty company. The policy of most of these companies is to refuse every claim at first.

Secondly, the £1400 cost isn't exactly cheap. The cylinder head needs removing (and it sounds like this has already been done) and either repairing or replacing. You can buy 1.6 Ford cylinder heads for £200-£300 and it isn't that many hours to fit it.

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