Ford owners forced to pay price of faulty cars
HUNDREDS of Ford owners have been left thousands of pounds out of pocket after their vehicles suffered catastrophic failures, according to an investigation.
The probe by BBC’s Inside Out will highlight serious faults with both the 1.0 and 1.6 Ecoboost engines for which Ford has previously demanded customers pay the full or part cost for their repair or replacement.
An overheating issue with Ford’s 1.0 litre engine has been causing havoc with many owners for years, but Inside Out found the company has been turning a blind eye.
“The cylinder head of an engine, basically that’s the top half of your engine, what we’re finding is they seem to be cracking,” said Chris Walker, an engine expert from Rochdale.
“What we are finding is when it’s cracking, it’s allowing the coolant to go into the exhaust system. If it loses all its coolant, the engine will overheat and will eventually fail.”
In response to the findings of the BBC probe, Ford has now pledged to cover future repair costs, and revealed the policy will also apply to older cases where drivers were forced to cover costs themselves.
A spokesman said: “With any future cases, subject to being assessed and linked to potential 1.0-litre engine overheating, we will contribute 100 per cent of the cost of repair at a Ford dealer. Furthermore, we will re-examine previous cases to ensure this policy of a 100 per cent contribution to the repair cost is applied consistently.”
Owners of vehicles with the 1.6 litre Ecoboost engine have experienced far more terrifying problems, with one driver saying her engine “burst into flames” in the middle of the motorway.
Clare Robson, from Lowestoft, Suffolk, received a recall notice earlier this year from Ford for a fault with the cooling system. She booked her car in at a Ford garage for repair, but it was too little too late.
“I noticed that smoke is actually coming from under my bonnet,” she said. “I was terrified, it was a busy bank holiday weekend and there were billows of smoke coming from under the bonnet. I saw the first flame lick up from underneath the bonnet and I thought, I need to get out of the car now.”
Shockingly, Ford has been aware of the fire risks to the Ecoboost engine for six years. Problems were first identified in 2012 following several vehicle fires, yet a recall notice was not issued until January 2018.
A Ford spokesman said: “The recall of the 1.6 litre Ecoboost affects more than 15,000 vehicles and work to fit a new sensor, combined with proper maintenance of the car’s coolant system makes the vehicles safe to drive.”