New cooling bottle lasted a week – Kuga owner

A FORD Kuga owner says a bottle that formed part of his SUV’s cooling system did not last a week after it had been replaced by a dealership last month.

The ancillary bottle is a vital part in the Kuga’s cooling system and failure drains fluid and compromises the system, which causes the Kuga to overheat.

Other claims made for the reason behind 51 Ford Kugas going up in flames, is that there is a wiring problem with the vehicle.

In 2014, Kuga owner Reshall Jimmy, 22, burned to death in his vehicle in Wilderness.

Constable Thembikile Matwa writing in an affidavit before the Cape Town High court, alleged that Ford’s fire inspector, Anthony Young, pointed to wires “arcing” under the dashboard on the passenger side of Jimmy’s car.

Kugas are in a state of recall and many of the affected 4 556 vehicles are languishing in storage facilities – or garages – with owners either waiting for Ford to source the parts and do the repair, or people are too afraid to drive them.

Dihlabeng Municipality’s chief financial officer in the Free State, Barry Swart, wrote to the Daily Dispatch to say one of his family’s two 2014 EcoBoost 1.6-litre Kugas had its water bottle and other parts in the cooling system replaced, but barely a week later and the new water bottle in the R285 000 SUV was cracking.

An information indicator advising the driver when to change gears, was also not functioning, he said.

The vehicle, owned by his son, also Barry, had been with Ford from December 23 to January 12.

Swart said his second Kuga was taken to a dealership in Bethlehem on December 23 “and they said it passed the test. I took it back a week ago and its water bottle is showing the same cracks”. Both Kugas were now stationary. He claimed Ford’s attempts to repair the Kugas was running out of steam. “Now we are being kept in the dark,” he said.

Swart said, however, that the Kugas were under guarantee meaning they had to repair them until the customer was satisfied, or they had to replace them.

Simple maths showed that 4 556 affected Kugas, worth an average of R250 000 meant consumers and banks were seeking to recover around R1.4-billion of value.

Swart said he had asked a Ford dealership to trade in his petrol Kuga for a diesel model “but they are not talking back to me”.

He said Kuga owners were looking at trade-in losses of R60 000 to R80 000 per vehicle.

Ford’s product spokesman Minesh Bhagaloo did not respond to e-mails yesterday and the office number rang unanswered.

In a previous e-mail to the Dispatch, Bhagaloo said their ongoing investigation was showing that the Kuga fires were a result of overheating.

Bhagaloo reaffirmed their commitment to customers and their safety and “when the data indicates action is needed, we move quickly on behalf of our customers”. —