Liability advice

badaz52

Hi,

I own a car that was purchased in January 2016 used from a main dealership, the vehicle was sold new by that dealership in 2013 so has always been maintained by them and has full-service history. We have recently taken it back to have a diagnostic and they have informed us that the timing belt has deteriorated causing it to block the oil pump and consequently causing engine damage requiring a new engine. The belt has not snapped. I have informed them that at no point when it has been brought in for servicing have they recommended a timing belt change and in accordance with the service book it should not need changing yet. The book states 10 years and 112,000 miles. My car has 54,000 miles and is 8 years, 8 months old. I have researched on google and found that timing belts on these cars are inherently defective so I have told them that the issue must have been present from when they sold the car to me, they don't agree and won't pay for the repair. What can I do?

Sandtree

Go to court but you only have until Jan to do so at which point it becomes statute barred, before doing so you need to send them a letter before action stating your intent to issue if they dont resolve it within X days. X is up to you but it must be a reasonable timeframe but you run the risk of the clock being run down.

Not much time to gather the evidence and appraise your prospects of success. How much is the quote for repairs?

badaz52

Sandtree said:

Go to court but you only have until Jan to do so at which point it becomes statute barred, before doing so you need to send them a letter before action stating your intent to issue if they dont resolve it within X days. X is up to you but it must be a reasonable timeframe but you run the risk of the clock being run down.

Not much time to gather the evidence and appraise your prospects of success. How much is the quote for repairs?

Why do I only have till Jan? The cost for repairs is around £5k

Sandtree

badaz52 said:

Sandtree said:

Go to court but you only have until Jan to do so at which point it becomes statute barred, before doing so you need to send them a letter before action stating your intent to issue if they dont resolve it within X days. X is up to you but it must be a reasonable timeframe but you run the risk of the clock being run down.

Not much time to gather the evidence and appraise your prospects of success. How much is the quote for repairs?

Why do I only have till Jan? The cost for repairs is around £5k

Because the law of limitations gives you 6 years to take a breach of contract to court. You allege the item was defective at point of purchase in Jan 2016 and so you have until Jan 2022 (I am assuming you are in England or Wales, in Scotland the limit is 5 years)

Ectophile

Type your comment

You're not likely to win a case based only on what a few people on internet forums say. You really need an independent report from a reliable mechanic. You need to demonstrate that the vehicle had an inherent fault.

It may also be worth getting a second opinion on whether or not the engine is repairable.

daveyjp

Sounds like a Ford Ecoboost to me.

sevenhills

badaz52 said:

The book states 10 years and 112,000 miles. My car has 54,000 miles and is 8 years, 8 months old. I have researched on google and found that timing belts on these cars are inherently defective so I have told them that the issue must have been present from when they sold the car to me, they don't agree and won't pay for the repair. What can I do?

Manufacturers will usually recommend replacing your timing belt after a set number of years or miles. This could be anywhere from 40,000 to 100,000 miles or 4+ years.

So 112,000 miles is optimistic. You would need a reason why your manufacturers' belt will last 20,000 more.

If you are very good, you might get a discount on your repair, but they will still make a profit.

force_ten

badaz52 said:

Hi,

the timing belt has deteriorated causing it to block the oil pump and consequently causing engine damage requiring a new engine. The belt has not snapped.

A timing belt is an external belt so how has the timing belt deteriorating caused the oil pump to become blocked?

tedted

ford wet belt

Goudy

daveyjp said:

Sounds like a Ford Ecoboost to me.

Me too.
I posted something similar a while ago on another thread.

Ford originally stated the Ecoboost's "belt in oil" would last the life of the car but it soon turned out that was far from the truth.
So they revised it and started stating it needs changing every 10 years.

I presume this 10 years was a bit of a wild stab in the dark and to try and not scare off owners as the belt swap on these is a mammoth task that requires between 10 and 12 hours labour and a few expensive tools, so your usual indie's don't usually take this work on meaning it's a dealer job.
Ford obviously didn't want to quote this engine needed this sort of work every 5 years!

Trouble with the belt starts when it breaks down and it clogs the oil pump.
Why? Not really sure, poor servicing, wrong oil, though a bad batch of belts could be the answer.

First owners are aware is when they start getting low oil pressure warnings, by then it's often too late and damage has been done..

I've heard of quite a few owners suffer and I've never heard of Ford giving any help outside of warranty as it tends to affect cars way outside of the warranty.

In your search you may have seen this
https://www.fordownersclub.com/forums/topic/98500-ecoboost-low-oil-pressure/
The image of the oil pump clearly shows the debris from the belt.

marlot

force_ten said:

badaz52 said:

Hi,

the timing belt has deteriorated causing it to block the oil pump and consequently causing engine damage requiring a new engine. The belt has not snapped.

A timing belt is an external belt so how has the timing belt deteriorating caused the oil pump to become blocked?

Not always.

https://blog.motoringassist.com/car-maintenance/timing-belt-oil-bio-overview/