Car

crowey62

Hi Everyone,
I need some urgent help to understand my options regarding the following.
 Just over a year ago i bought a car on finance from Trade Centre UK in Rotherham.
It was a Ford Fiesta 1.0 Zetec.
it worked perfectly for that time until it developed a major engine failure due to what is called a Wet belt. Making it undriveable
 I Have been told by a Ford dealership that it will cost me upwards of £2000 to fix this if it is fixable at all. Worst case scenario is a complete engine which will cost 4000-5000
i was unaware of this particular fault at the time of purchase and i was not informed by the dealership that this could be a problem in the future
i have since discovered that within the industry this is a well known design fault and that Ford have admitted as such and have enacted a recall to have this problem fixed at their expense.
i contact Ford UK in London to ask about this and they told me there is no recall option for my car. 
 i admit my knowledge of cars is minimal.
But i want to know what my options are moving forward.
i know people that have had their cars recalled by Ford
where do i stand on complaining to the Dealership that sold me the car?
Can i stop my finance payments if the car is deemed undriveable?
This situation is stressing me out so any help or advice you can give me will be appreciated either specific help about the problem or the best place to go for guidance on my rights (if any)

ButterCheese

What age was the car when you bought it?

sheramber

What mileage has it done?

When was it  last serviced ?

caprikid1

ButterCheese said:

What age was the car when you bought it?

Has it been serviced in line with the schedule ?

Ayr_Rage

How old is the vehicle?

Has the car been serviced according to Ford's schedule and who has done that servicing?

Suggest you have a search for information regarding wet belt failure on a Ford forum and see what options there may be available to get some redress from Ford.

SiliconChip

I'm not sure how much joy you'll have in trying to get any help to cover the cost of this, although it does appear that in the year since I traded in my Fiesta (owned for 8 years and driven 60,000 miles without any problem) that Ford UK may be taking a more lenient view than previously. 

I personally think the risk of failure is exaggerated, with far more people not having a problem than those who have, but that doesn't help you as you have had a problem. 

Had you done a search for "ecoboost failure uk" you'd have seen what the known issues are, as @Ayr_Rage suggests a Ford forum may be your best bet for up to date information, but I suspect the servicing will be crucial to your case.

I can't see that the seller has any responsibility, they certainly don't need to tell you all the things that might go wrong with any car, and as the car ran for a year after purchase it doesn't sound like there was an existing issue other than the fact that some Ecoboost engines may randomly fail, and the only way to be 100% certain of avoiding that is not to buy one.

crowey62

sheramber said:

What mileage has it done?

When was it  last serviced ?

Just before i bought it but it did not have a full service record when i bought it

Tucosalamanca

Almost 28,000 members on The Ford Ecoboost Nightmare group on Facebook.

Without a full service record, you have no chance of any assistance from Ford.

Lots seem to be having failures at around the ten year mark, when the belt is at the very limit of its useful life.
What age is the vehicle? 

sheramber

crowey62 said:

sheramber said:

What mileage has it done?

When was it  last serviced ?

Just before i bought it but it did not have a full service record when i bought it

So , over a year ago.

What is the service interval for the car?

It is normally X miles or once a year.

So , your car could be overdue a service which will affect any claim you may have had. 

SiliconChip

sheramber said:

crowey62 said:

sheramber said:

What mileage has it done?

When was it  last serviced ?

Just before i bought it but it did not have a full service record when i bought it

What is the service interval for the car?

It is normally X miles or once a year.

It's 12,500 or 1 year, but as the OP has declined to tell us either the age or the mileage (or the time/mileage since the last service) but has said it didn't have a complete service history I'd imagine Ford UK will wash their hands of it pretty quickly.

sheramber

SiliconChip said:

sheramber said:

crowey62 said:

sheramber said:

What mileage has it done?

When was it  last serviced ?

Just before i bought it but it did not have a full service record when i bought it

What is the service interval for the car?

It is normally X miles or once a year.

It's 12,500 or 1 year, but as the OP has declined to tell us either the age or the mileage (or the time/mileage since the last service) but has said it didn't have a complete service history I'd imagine Ford UK will wash their hands of it pretty quickly.

The OP has said it was serviced just before he bought but  he bought it over a year ago.