Ford s max 62 plate

karyn254_2

Hi please can anyone offer advice we bought the S max on 27/3/12 on HP over 48 months on Dec 10 th 2014 we were driving and the acceleration began to slow down on looking at the Dash we noticed engine getting hot so pulled over and lifted the bonnet it was steaming a little so my hubby rang recovery who came and took it to our local Ford Dealer, After around a week we were told it needed a new engine costing over £5000. It was serviced by ford on 19/09/2013 costing £755.38 and serviced again on 09/09/14 costing £333.76 they are saying we have missed a year of service history and because of this and the Warranty ending we have to pay the whole new engine bill. I have rang the finance company and they cannot help although they did say as we have paid over half we can return the vehicle but would be liable for the repairs, we don't have the 5000 pounds to repair the vehicle we are paying for finance and I cannot see a way out as we cannot trade it in as it is unless we buy a mega expensive Volvo who were willing to take it in as it is. We have searched breaker yards and the cost of a new engine with them is around £3000. I spoke to Ford UK who have offered as Good will 20 percent discount off the reconditioned engine. And dinnagers offered us 10 percent of labour costs which is around £4000. I cannot believe that we bought a £25,000 car to last just over 2 years. Can any one help us please or offer us advice on what to do ?
Oh and we have a balloon payment of £5,548.00 final payment just to kick us whilst we are down :-(

gilbert_and_sullivan

Has the engine fully seized, be honest here just how hot did it get?

It might well be repairable if it hasn't fully seized, depending on what went wrong to cause it to overheat.
You need a proper mechanic of the old school to look at this for you (won't find many of those in a main dealer), presumably it's a Diesel engine, in which case i might be inclined to have a word with a proper Diesel workshops.

ToriP

where is the service history missed? You bought it 2012, was it serviced then?

karyn254_2

Hi

Ford are telling us that the car should of been serviced every 12,000 miles and are saying one of the services are missing.

Apparently the bleed valve screw sheared off and spilt coolant over the engine, the head is warped and Ford said that it may be able to be skimmed but they would not be prepared to do this as too much of a risk, we took a local mechanic who said more or less the same if we were to keep the vehicle replace the engine, if we were to trade it in then go for the cheaper repair, although it was a risk. I cannot believe a top of the range car cannot tell us that there was a problem with the engine yet it tells us the air in the tyres are low.

Either way we are looking at spending £2000 on a car if we hand it back it will cost us a lot more, we cannot trade it in for a new car because there is 9.000 left on the finance and for the past three months paying for a vehicle that's sat on Dinnanges forecourt.

karyn254_2

The S max is petrol automatic.

bigjl

The Head Gasket has blown.

You would have had to get it seriously hot to damage the block.

Does the vehicle still start?

If it does then get a mobile mechanic to do a sniff test of the expansion tank.

There is every chance a decent Garage can remive the head, have it skimmed and put it back on without touching the rest of the engine. Happens everyday.

Ford are being a bit shirty as they never told you the Warranty was void when you went back for the two services.

A 2yr old car should not reallu be having parts of the cooling system randomly sheering off.

Why was the 1st Service so expensive?

At that age should have been no more than an oil and filter change really with the usual "checklist" ticking.

From the details you have given the first service was 6months overdue.

Ask them to state in writing how this overdue oil and filter change affected the part that failed.

forgotmyname

Get a new head gasket fitted and the broken part replaced and see how it goes.

With the head off make sure they check the head and block to see if they have warped.

karyn254_2

The first service had the gear box serviced ? We were told this is normal for this car one in three services would cost this.
The car was started and reversed off the tow truck, we stopped as soon as we noticed temp on engine, it did not make any strange sounds as we thought it was leak on radiator. Hubby lifted bonnet and steam was coming out other than loss of acceleration no other warnings off the trip computer.
The guy that serviced the car told us they had another car in exactly the same problem bleed valve broken Ford assure us that there is no problem with this happening on Ford Cars and that we were just unlucky.

gilbert_and_sullivan

Far as i can see it, the maker is doing what you'd expect from one that only warrants their new product for 3 years, and that's deny everything and not stand by their product, i would expect no more from them.
Unfortunately if you've missed a service you've given them a get out, this is not Toyota you are dealing with.

You are going to have to pay the Ford dealer for their diagnostic labour costs here to get your car back, can't see any way round that.

New engine is typical main dealer ''we can only fit new bits and repair nothing'' attitude, a proper workshops will check it out, have the head skimmed if necessary, and you'll be back on the road in no time.

The alternative as its stands is that you're car is ageing and deteriorating sitting in a compound, the maker isn't interested nor is the dealer, it isn't going to fix itself anytime soon and nor are the dealer/maker going to morph into Toyota and take reasonable responsibility for their product.

BeenThroughItAll

karyn254 wrote: »

I cannot believe a top of the range car cannot tell us that there was a problem with the engine yet it tells us the air in the tyres are low.

It did tell you though didn't it? The temperature gauge made you stop. The fact it was already boiled out by that point isn't the car's fault.

bigjl

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

Far as i can see it, the maker is doing what you'd expect from one that only warrants their new product for 3 years, and that's deny everything and not stand by their product, i would expect no more from them.
Unfortunately if you've missed a service you've given them a get out, this is not Toyota you are dealing with.

You are going to have to pay the Ford dealer for their diagnostic labour costs here to get your car back, can't see any way round that.

New engine is typical main dealer ''we can only fit new bits and repair nothing'' attitude, a proper workshops will check it out, have the head skimmed if necessary, and you'll be back on the road in no time.

The alternative as its stands is that you're car is ageing and deteriorating sitting in a compound, the maker isn't interested nor is the dealer, it isn't going to fix itself anytime soon and nor are the dealer/maker going to morph into Toyota and take reasonable responsibility for their product.

Do you really think Toyota would be any different?

Good luck with that.