Rights on recalled Ford Kuga PHEV

talltom79

We bought a brand new Ford Kuga PHEV (hybrid petrol) at the end of August. These cars are a brand new model and are subject to a recall on the battery due to an issue that causes them potentially to catch fire. They can still be driven but only in full petrol mode. Ford have obviously had a complete nightmare with these cars as it is taking ages for them to solve the problem but we have been given free servicing for three years and a £500 petrol voucher in compensation. We had been told to expect the recall work to be done by March i.e. six months after buying the car. 

So far so good, but then more recently a further problem with our car has arisen where the 12V battery kept going completely flat so that the car won't start. Investigation by the ford dealer has established that this is linked to the recall fault and both the main battery recall work and a software update are required to stop this from happening. Meanwhile, the car is now undrivable, and we have now been told we will have to wait till the week beginning 8th March for it to be fixed, which is the week that our car has been allocated by Ford for the recall to be done. (It is apparently not possible to do it sooner due to the part needing to be made specifically for the car).

So since last week, we are now driving a hire car provided for free by Ford, and will be doing so until our own car is fixed in March. Does anyone have any advice on whether we can or should expect further compensation given that we are now without the car we bought for over a month? Both Ford and the Ford dealer are tending to say that ultimately it is the other party's issue; we bought the car from the dealer but it is Ford themselves that are causing such a long delay in fixing the issue.

daveyjp

You have compensation, you have a hire car, your car is doing less mileage.

What more would you like?

facade

If you have quantifiable financial losses caused by not being able to drive your car, then you can pursue the dealer for them.

As you have access to a car from Ford, these can only be any increased fuel costs if the hire car is a monster gas guzzler, or maybe a delivery charge for the washing machine that you were going to collect in your car, but wont fit in theirs.

Anything else would be a "good will" gesture from Ford, and they have actually bunged you £500 worth of fuel, so it would be a bit churlish to bill them for more fuel

Unfortunately, losses for the feeling of humiliation or contempt at being forced to drive a different car from your own are difficult to quantify.

EssexExile

Unfortunately things like this happen with new technology. You seem to have been offered about £1000 worth of compensation, that sounds quite good to me although you may be able to get more if you're good at that sort of thing.

talltom79

These are helpful comments and it is absolutely right that Ford are trying to be helpful. I guess there is just an underlying frustration AND there is the fact that we are now in a different situation from everyone else with this recall problem, because we have to drive a hire car with e.g. a whacking great excess if we damage it by accident. I'm not a complainer by temperament, but helpful to get a sense check from others before just rolling over and taking whatever they say.

Car_54

talltom79 said:

These are helpful comments and it is absolutely right that Ford are trying to be helpful. I guess there is just an underlying frustration AND there is the fact that we are now in a different situation from everyone else with this recall problem, because we have to drive a hire car with e.g. a whacking great excess if we damage it by accident. I'm not a complainer by temperament, but helpful to get a sense check from others before just rolling over and taking whatever they say.

You can insure the excess, and try to claim the cost from Ford.

williamgriffin

Car_54 said:

talltom79 said:

These are helpful comments and it is absolutely right that Ford are trying to be helpful. I guess there is just an underlying frustration AND there is the fact that we are now in a different situation from everyone else with this recall problem, because we have to drive a hire car with e.g. a whacking great excess if we damage it by accident. I'm not a complainer by temperament, but helpful to get a sense check from others before just rolling over and taking whatever they say.

You can insure the excess, and try to claim the cost from Ford.

Or don't damage it. 😉

Grumpy_chap

It seems to me that Ford have been overly generous already in terms of compensation and mitigating against the OP's losses and inconvenience.  I assume this is part of Ford's strategy to do the best to protect their brand in what are very unfortunate circumstances

talltom79 said:

Does anyone have any advice on whether we can or should expect further compensation given that we are now without the car we bought for over a month?

You can certainly ask.  What would you like?  A diamond studded 24-carat Ford keyring?

feolojad

As we're in a national lockdown you shouldn't be going anywhere in it anyway. You're not supposed to be leaving home except for very short handful of reasons and you're supposed to work at home if possible if you're in one of the few sectors that's not been shut down then it shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience to wait especially if you've been given another car to use in the meantime.

The only thing you should be doing is travelling directly to and from work and to go do essential shopping which would be once, maybe twice a week tops. Having to use a freely provided hire car where they've also effectively paid for all the fuel is a mild irritant but certainly not one that's worth seeking compensation for.

mattyprice4004

feolojad said:

As we're in a national lockdown you shouldn't be going anywhere in it anyway. You're not supposed to be leaving home except for very short handful of reasons and you're supposed to work at home if possible if you're in one of the few sectors that's not been shut down then it shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience to wait especially if you've been given another car to use in the meantime.

The only thing you should be doing is travelling directly to and from work and to go do essential shopping which would be once, maybe twice a week tops. Having to use a freely provided hire car where they've also effectively paid for all the fuel is a mild irritant but certainly not one that's worth seeking compensation for.

You say they shouldn't be going anywhere anyway, and then apart from work and shopping in the next sentence. 
This may come as a huge shock, but these journeys combined are pretty much all the driving some people do - so it might not be any different to 'life as usual'. 

talltom79

feolojad said:

As we're in a national lockdown you shouldn't be going anywhere in it anyway. You're not supposed to be leaving home except for very short handful of reasons and you're supposed to work at home if possible if you're in one of the few sectors that's not been shut down then it shouldn't be that much of an inconvenience to wait especially if you've been given another car to use in the meantime.

The only thing you should be doing is travelling directly to and from work and to go do essential shopping which would be once, maybe twice a week tops. Having to use a freely provided hire car where they've also effectively paid for all the fuel is a mild irritant but certainly not one that's worth seeking compensation for.

Agreed. My wife uses it for work as a teacher. Not being used much otherwise at the moment.