Warranty dispute - TP repair

SparkleNshine55

In a dispute with a car warranty company over engine failure. Presented the car to the dealership in February but due to availability the car wasn’t examined until April. Despite being told this would all be covered, the warranty company are denying the claim as the engine failure light didn’t appear until after the warranty had expired in May. The complaint could obviously take time to investigate and I am currently unable to work since 1st May. Does anyone know if we take the case to the ombudsman, will the case be jeopardised if I take the car to a third party to get the car repaired? I need to get back on the road to work. Thanks

LightFlare

so:

Feb - you presented the car to the dealership

April - they examined it

May - warranty expired

May - engine light appeared

question is - why did you present the car to the dealership in Feb ? Presumably the engine light wasn’t on before May

Regardless - IF the fault was present in Feb and the car was presented for inspection and/or repair at that time - then the warranty was in place at the time of fault (unless the fault isnt covered by the warranty)

You say you have been able to work since May - did you carry on using the car after initial dealership contact in Feb ? (Which could invalidate the warranty if you continued to use a vehicle you knew had a fault)

(edited to add)

What type of dealership is this ? Manufacturer dealership of just a car sales place ?

What type of warranty do you have ? Manufacturer or other ?

As someone will ask - price,type,age and mileage of vehicle

SparkleNshine55

yes there were several issues with the car from Feb although the engine light wasn’t on.

I continued to use the car until the garage could fit it in for inspection (end of April which got pushed to 1st May) so it’s been with them now since 1st May and that’s when I was informed the engine light was on and not covered.

caprikid1

" I am currently unable to work since 1st May. "

I would prioritise mitigating your losses, short term lease banger etc, be happy if you get the engine fixed loss of earnings will be a major fight I suspect.

SparkleNshine55

it’s a Ford dealership and warranty. It’s a Focus 2021 and 45,000 miles £14k

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045795#Comment_82045795

Ford warranty or 3rd party warranty

Did you buy the car new in 2021 or 2nd had @ some point? (date)

Mildly_Miffed

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045799#Comment_82045799

If the car was approved-used, it would have come with a two-year warranty, which would suggest that it was bought in May 2024 as a 3yo car.

So, nearly two years after purchase, can the buyer prove a fault was inherent at the time of purchase?

What actually WAS the failure?
What servicing was undertaken during ownership?
What symptoms caused the car to be taken in in Feb, and was it being used between Feb and April?

As far as losses arising from not working due to choosing to take no steps to arrange alternative transport, between the start of May and now in late June… I would suggest there is not a hope!

born_again

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82045852#Comment_82045852

 I would suggest there is not a hope!

Wonder why EML was not on when Op took car to dealer, only came up after they started looking at car🤷‍♀️ as clearly they thought something was wrong?

Herzlos

When did the engine fail? What did that look like?

What issues were reported in Feb? Did anyone confirm it was safe to drive?


The warranty company are likely to either say that the fault reported in Feb is unrelated and the failure only happened after May when the light came on, or they'll say that driving it for 3 months after reporting the issues contributed to the damage. Both would give them a strong argument to deny the claim.

SparkleNshine55

thank you for all your comments.

The car was purchased April 2025 with a 1 year warranty and our thoughts are there was an issue when it was purchased given failings started in Feb 2026 - misfiring / shunting / surging, poor temp control, slow warm up. but we cannot prove that. We only found out the engine had failed when returning to supposedly pick up the car having had the thermostat / sparks replaced. We saw no “signs” that the car was behaving any differently or indication of any other failing between 27th to 1st May. It was only then we found out from the garage the car wouldn’t start. We weren’t told we couldn’t continue to drive the car between Feb and Apr. We could not leave it with them to wait 6 weeks for an inspection.

I know nothing about cars but apparently none of this indicated a failing engine so it wasn’t investigated. Boroscope was done but it’s apparently of such poor quality. Again surely that’s not our fault. They now wish us to approve an independent engineer to strip back the engine and identify if this was a sudden mechanical failure or a failure that could have taken months to occur. Obviously if it’s found in their favour we’ll owe £2k for the inspection plus £8k for a new engine.

Hence my initial question about taking the car to an independent garage who I trust.

Hope that makes sense.

Edited to add - there was also eventual low compression noted by the garage

Mildly_Miffed

So it was 4yo when bought, and drove just fine for nine months after purchase…

Which engine? How many miles did you cover?

Piecing together from what you've said, there's a problem with bore score inside the cylinders, leading to low compression?
I don't think any of the engines in Focuses are renowned for it, but I think I remember hearing something about pistons fracturing and damaging the bores in Ecoboosts - and one of the causes of that is letting it lug at low revs, high load in the wrong gear, rather than using the rev range sympathetically.

So the question is who you expect recompense from?
The manufacturer, via extending the original warranty? VERY unlikely. There's an outside chance, if it's got a full to-the-dot main dealer service history (has it?).
The supplier, under your consumer rights, by claiming the fault was pre-existing at the time of purchase? But it was just fine for nine months of your ownership, before a problem that may or may not have been related, and if it was related may or may not have been exacerbated by continuing to drive until failure.

There are, of course, cheaper options than a brand new engine fitted by a main dealer. But you're already on that road.