FORD FACES £1BN LEGAL FIGHT OVER ENGINE FAILURES

Ford is facing the prospect of a huge legal fight over claims drivers are being left out of pocket by “life-threatening” engine failures.

Law firm, Roscoe Reid, is investigating whether there is a case for a group legal action against the car maker over its Ecoboost engines failing prematurely and estimates a successful claim could cost Ford as much as £1 billion.

The case hinges on petrol engines in Fiesta, Focus, Kuga, S-max and C-max models failing and in some cases completely seizing or catching fire due to coolant loss.

The law firm claims that despite repeated reports of failures with the engines Ford has frequently tried to minimise its contribution towards repair costs, which can be as much as £8,000.

The Fiesta has been Britain’s best-selling car almost every month for the last three years and the Focus also regularly sits in the top-five for new registrations.

Work on the claim was sparked after a Facebook group attracted more than 1,500 members complaining about the reliability of their Ford models.

The group was set up by recruitment consultant Louise O’riordan, whose 32,000mile Fiesta Ecoboost suffered an engine seizure while in the outside lane of a motorway.

She said: “My experience dealing with Ford was an absolute nightmare. I don’t want anybody to ever have to go through the stress that I did to recover what was owed to me. I set up the Facebook group out of frustration. I didn’t expect to get such a response.

“There are people all over the countrywhohaveexperienced life threatening engine failure and subsequently been treated terribly by Ford.”

The affected engines are three-cylinder 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol units, of which an estimated one million were built between 2011 and 2017.

Ford told The Sun that in March 2015 it notified Focus owners of a coolant hose potentially failing at high temperatures and that 86 per cent of cars had been fixed. It added: “We seek to hear from the balance of owners.”