Should this be covered by warranty ?

Hodders · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:12

My wife and I own a 3 year 1 month old Mondeo 2.2 TDCi.

1t 2 years 10 months it started to have an intermittent problem. The glow plug light would come on and flash. This would often be accompanied with a 'limp home' mode, turbo turnd off etc. Stopping and restarting the car would resolve the problem for often several days.

We took the car twice to a Ford garage but they were unable to extract a fault code. I did ask that the issue was noted on the cars service record.

Last Sunday, the car did the same thing but this time the engine cut out. We were able to turn the ignition of and restart the car with no issues, but 300 yards further on it did the same thing again. One more restart and the car was fine for the rest of the day.

Now I have just phoned our local Ford dealership who have stated that any work would not be covered by the warranty as no fault was found whilst the waranty was active.

My feeling is that the fault was reported under warranty and that the fact Ford could not solve it is irrelevant. The fact that the fault was only diagnosed (assuming that there is a fault code) after the warranty has expired does not affect the fact that the fault first occurred (and was reported) under warranty.

Any feelings as to if I am likely to get anywhere with this ?

Mr Jack · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:40

No idea. Contact the ombudsman?

Fr0dders · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:41

i agree

the fault was reported during warranty, so obviously it failed during warranty. Their inability to find it is irrelevant

If you're getting no joy from the dealer, talk to ford UK or whoever the dealers report to, and see what they have to say.

monkey_boy · 23 Mar 2009 at 10:46

Read up about the Sale Of Goods Act and then talk to them about inherent faults being repaired or replaced regardless of warranty status. But do make sure you stand your ground with the warranty status as a backup.

http://www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/consumers/fact-sheets/page38311.html#Q1Whatisaninherentfault

latercomer2 · 23 Mar 2009 at 12:26

as MrLOL says, the issue was reported under warranty and its not your fault they cant diagnose a problem on their own cars.

Rotty · 23 Mar 2009 at 12:33

I would expect them to sort it under warranty

Bigsy · 23 Mar 2009 at 12:41

As said I would take it up with ford UK. I had a similar issue with my local honda over a rotten condenser that I eventually had to escalate myself, it was then sorted to my satisfaction quite quickly afterward.

Hodders · 23 Mar 2009 at 15:08

To be fair the local ford garage have simply said that the rules and regs are as they have reported to me.

I asked how I would escalate the issue and they said that the first thing Ford UK would say is find out what is wrong with it by trying to get a fault code.

For example contaminated fuel would never be a warranty issue. A faulty cam position sensor would.

Once we know what is wrong we can see what sort of money is involved.

It is into the garage on Friday to see if a fault code can be found.

What ombudsman would be the one to talk to in any case ?

Fr0dders · 23 Mar 2009 at 16:10

Hodders said:
To be fair the local ford garage have simply said that the rules and regs are as they have reported to me.

I asked how I would escalate the issue and they said that the first thing Ford UK would say is find out what is wrong with it by trying to get a fault code.

would it ?

ring them and ask. Explain that your not happy with the service. Explain your concerns that the dealership didnt want to deal with it, deliberately putting it off. Now that the 3 years is up, they dont want to know.

See what ford uk say.

MrMoonX · 23 Mar 2009 at 18:17

get on the phone to Ford customer relations and get it logged asap, they can put pressure on the dealers if they side with you

Hodders · 27 Mar 2009 at 00:19

Spoke to Ford Customer Relations - FCR.

They agreed that if the fauolt had been reported under warranty then it should still be covered especially given that the car is now just 4 weeks outside.

The car is booked in to the Ford dealer tomorrow for a fault code read and assuming that the fault code is there we will have a better picture of what is going on then.

Interestingly, FCR have said that they only have responsibility for 'outside warranty' claims. It is between Ford Warranties and the dealer to decide if a claim is valid.

I'll keep you all posted - thanks for your help and suggestions.

Hodders · 31 Mar 2009 at 11:40

The ford garage had a look still no fault code. Quite how the ECU can make a decision to stop the engine but not actually log the sensor reading(s) that made it do it is mad.

They did find a small diesel leak by one of the injectors, tightened the joint up and fixed it. They also told me that a car with the same symptoms had the same fuel leak and fixing that fixed the problem.

So we'll see. The garage charged us 30mins for the investigation (which took 75mins) so not too bad.

Berger · 31 Mar 2009 at 11:52

Hodders said:
They did find a small diesel leak by one of the injectors, tightened the joint up and fixed it. They also told me that a car with the same symptoms had the same fuel leak and fixing that fixed the problem.

Not knowing a lot about diesel engines, but that sounds like crap to me.

Hodders · 17 Apr 2009 at 12:37

Update:

Car failed to start last weekend. After about 5 attempts it started and ran fine allowing me to drive it to the garage.

They have now found a fault code pointing to a fault manifold absolute pressure sensor. They are going to replace this and see if it resolves the problem.

So we'll wait and see....

Their argument is that there is little chance of getting this covered under the now expired warranty (see OP) as there is nothing to link the original flashing glowplug fault with this one as there was no fault code for the original fault.

Berger · 17 Apr 2009 at 13:45

So they dont know what is actually wrong with it and are replacing parts on an ad lib basis until the problem goes away?

I would speak to whoever you spoke to before as its a bit of a joke if your car falls to bits after 3 years and starts costing a fortune.

Especially since they "fixed" a problem before but gave what sounds to me like a fault which couldnt occur or give that kind of problem.

Hodders · 17 Apr 2009 at 22:29

To be fair they said that they would swap the part for a new one and see if the fault code came back. They are only going to charge for the part if it fixes the issue.