Yes indeed...I own a low milage Ford Smax - Bought brand new because my wife was expecting twins and we needed to get three car seats in the back...

Things didnt start well with this motor - The Clutch burned out in the first couple of months and was replaced under warranty (a design fault apparently Dual Mass Flywheel)

Then we got plagued with a knocking thro the steering column, and eventually a moaning when we turned corners - resulting in work on the power steering and a new steering rack (also under warrenty)

I did persist with this car thinking to myself that once the bugs had been ironed out - then surely this would be a good motor.....little did I know

Then we had the mysterious battery drain...resulting in a new battery...

Further battery draining problems that led to us needing jump starts at least a dozen times from the guys in the Ford Garage...not good....

The icing on the cake tho - last december - driving thro town and INSTANT power loss and Critical Engine Fault - Creep mode and just made it back to the garage.

The guy phoned the next day £150 for an electrical componant under the wheel arch? plus another £100 for investigations and fitting.

Get the motor back on Crimbo eve...Boxing day - driving to Tesco...INSTANT Power loss and Critical Engine Fault - Immobilizer Activated and Lots of Swearing on my part.

The Garage is closed till Jan 5th so the car is left outside the house till then,

Ford Customer Care (Laugh) couldnt get past the WARRANTY word as the motor is now 4yr old...and liased with the garage for us...

The branch manager phones to say that the car is OK and that they cannot recreate the fault and that their computer didnt show up anything...I tell them to FIX IT!

Two weeks later - Ford Call and say it is sorted - A Battery Fault...Hmmm Battery Starts the motor not drives it...but I am told THAT is the problem...We will see says I - Another £107 for a battery....

Less than a week later the SAME DAMN problem - Critical Engine Fault without warning - Power Loss - Creep mode...etc

The Camel now has one straw too many and I call the garage to pick it up...and VOSA to report a SERIOUS Safety Defect with my engine...

The long and the short of it is - there is a serious problem with the 1.8TDCi engine - VOSA have deemed it DANGEROUS and are investigating...I am at the end of my tether and have had advice from the the Trading Standards - I am going in to confront the branch manager who told me that the Battery was the problem and try not to kill him....I want a refund or Replacement under my Statutory Rights and The SALE OF GOODS ACT 1979....

Will post my results when VOSA And the Garage get back to me - they have now had the car for nearly 4 weeks and cannot find the fault - oh and it was in Critical Engine Fault mode when they plugged it in to their computer almost a month ago!

FORD ! ADMIT THE PROBLEM and RECALL THE DAMN MOTOR!