Um, I think the engine on my 05 focus c-max might be a wrongun. We bought it from a dealer four months ago.
The oil light flashed on about three weeks ago and it’s had 6 litres of oil since then. The dipstick is showing no oil again now though. The fan belt snapped on the motorway last Saturday and was fixed by the AA. Then the engine management light came on so the garage replaced the coils and plugs today as it was misfiring. The car now really struggles to start but seems ok once going. I’m booking it in for a closer look with the garage, but google is giving me the fear that the engine is borked.

My first car purchase too…

Gutted.

1.8 petrol by any chance?

Consumer law may be on your side, check out the .gov and/or citizens advices website portals for advice on rejecting it (or at least getting it repaired FOC).

When the EML came on and you took it to the garage did you ask them where all your oil was going?

Get to a garage now, otherwise you oil MPG will be getting excruciating.

It is a 1.8 petrol. My wife took it to the garage but didn’t mention the oil when they were looking at the misfiring problem. I’ll make sure to mention it tomorrow.

I was hoping sales of goods act might help me, but after 4 months do I have much chance?

I think you have up to 6 months.

See Citizens Advice advice:
linky

flicker – Member
1.8 petrol by any chance?

Hi flicker, sounds like you know something. Pls tell as my 2nd car has this same engine and using loads of oil:(

6 litres of oil in 3 weeks ~? thats a complete oil change and some….

stop driving that thing now – take it to the garage you bought it from

the more you fart around trying to work around the problem changing this and that the more the garage has recourse to tell you to eff off as people have been meddling.

what milage is on it ?

Unless the oil is visibly falling out the bottom of the engine bay your catalyst may well be gummed up by now.

Take it to the garage until they sort everything out, don’t just keep pouring more oil in the top.

I took it back in to our local garage this morning. The mechanic revved the engine and showed me the huge plume of brown smoke coming out of the exhaust. Piston rings, head gasket, or valve lifters seem to be the most likely reason. I’ve not contacted the dealer we bought it from yet. I thought it would be better to have our garage at least see if the problem was the result of something we have done or if it was already in the car when we bought it.

It had 58,000 miles on it when we bought it and we’ve put about 3,000 on it in 4 months.

You really shouldn’t be taking the car to anyone other than the main dealer you bought it from until you have sorted the issue! What warranty came with it?

at a guess i reckon you have been using supermarket fuel ? specifically i reckon …. tescos ? (im not blaming you for this … im just enquiring … ive had quite alot of bad experiance with tescos fuel coking engines – which miraculously clears up when i go put in some premium……. might be incidental mind you) your engine unless its had a really hard life towing something it shouldnt have been or loaded to the gunnels has probably done loads of short journeys with shitey fuel and had the piston rings gum up

You need to take it back to the place you bought it. Not another garage.

the fan belt snapped on the motorway

do they still have mechanical fans?

you sure it wasn’t the water pump or something?

Did the car overheat before (if it was slipping)?

trail-rat – I doubt the wrong fuel would be causing that catalogue of errors! Unless he was putting in ethanol mixed with Vimto or something.

I know you probably will have but have you looked at all the old MOT’s online to see if the mileage/etc matches- no discrepancies? 58k and the belt snaps, sounds like way too many issues for such a low mileage car.

DONT tell the selling dealer that a garage has been touching your car IMO.

I’d agree with hora, just present them the car and play dumb.

fan belts just a throw back from when they had mechanical fans – they will be electric on that car these days – itll be the aux belt. waterpumps usually off the cam belt/chain these days.

youll be surprised what shite fuel that wont burn completely leaves behind.

im with hora.

We took out a 6 month warranty on it (FreePlan extra). Having looked into the warranty a bit deeper now (it’s with a company called Warranty Management Specialists), I’ve seen lots of negative reviews about people trying to claim. Piston rings and and cylinder heads are supposedly covered by the warranty.

I think it was the fan belt that snapped. There was no overheating before it snapped, but it did heat up after. We pulled onto the hard shoulder immediately when the high engine temp warning came on.

It gets mixture of BP, Shell or Asda fuel mostly.We don’t have a tesco filling station near us.

Piemann DONT BOTHER WITH THE WARRANTY. Forget it- deal ONLY with the seller.

The warranty company will have stipulations, only cover upto X amount etc etc on numerous issues. As soon as you engage them/they start doing the work the seller may say ‘nowt to do with me- your garage might have caused subsequent problems’- it’ll get muddy at best then.

Keep it clear cut. Look up a template on google and write a letter rejecting a secondhand purchase on (bullet point) grounds.

If you go down the warranty route you’ll end up potentially with a ongoing niggling project-car.

Dealer- reject – get that car out of your life.

I’ve rejected a car before. Recently whilst looking for cars I came across dealers who said ‘we dont offer any warranty but I can sell you an excellent aftermarket one or why dont you buy an aftermarket one they are cheap and great’ – I’ve walked away. Anyone who defers their responsibility is either hiding a pup or isn’t someone I’d do business with.

listen to hora.

just because you took that warrenty doesnt absolve them of your sales of goods rights

This may help

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/consumer_e/consumer_cars_and_other_vehicles_e/consumer_problems_with_the_car_you_bought_e/the_car_you_bought_is_faulty.htm

Thanks for all the advice.

Should I contact the seller to look at the car before sending him a letter rejecting it?

The Which website quotes:
“But you only have a reasonable time to reject a second hand car. While there’s no clear definition of what a reasonable time is – it probably needs to be within three to four weeks – less if it’s an obvious problem.”

After 16 weeks, do I really have this option?

Ok, the link Hora posted suggests I have 6 months. I will certainly give it a try.

4 months?

You are hitting buying-back/reduced refund territory as you have had the car for a period of time however I’d aim for him taking the car back/full refund as a strong stance.

If I had a car that had issues and was relatively low mileage I’d recheck all the old MOT’s -verify against the service history too. I know its off on a tangent hypothetically but it takes minutes to do.

If it turns out the car has mileage discrepancies this also strengthens your case for a full refund/reject significantly.

What you dont want is a car that has to be nursed/may continue to give you grief because what happens next? You get sick of the car (i.e dont trust it) and sell it for a big loss..

What are the mileages recorded for 08-09-10-11-12?

huge plume of brown smoke coming out of the exhaust

Brown smoke = too rich. So that’s showing an overfuelling problem – at least that’s the visible symptom.

If the coolant is ok, that probably eliminates the head gasket, generally with a bust head gasket you’d see problems with coolant.

The horrific oil consumption would suggest the lifters aren’t to blame for the fuelling problem, broke lifters wouldn’t affect the oil.

I’d agree with TR on piston rings.

Whatever it is, its most likely a stripdown & rebuild job – not a cheap repair.

Plus by now, cat converter and possibly O2 sensor will be shagged. (edit – *maybe* – you might have been getting away with it if the fuel mix isn’t too rich for the cat/sensor)

Best of luck.

Hora – you do realise that if you keep offering sound and well reasoned advice, instead of talking bollox, your reputation is going to be shot to pieces? 😉

Pieman – that does sound like awfully low mileage to be giving those kind of problems. Its not an ex fleet or hire car, or owt is it? or as Clarkson stated – the fastest cars in the world

Piston rings. Righto.

Are these the sort of things that could have failed in the short time I’ve owned it or would it have been a problem that was already there when I bought it.

I think that’s my key concern about going back and asking for a refund or for it to be fixed for free.

MOT mileage check. LONGshot but maybe it’ll throw something up that’ll help.

https://www.gov.uk/check-mot-history-vehicle

i honestly dont think they have failed at that milage – i reckon they just be gummed up – but thats not to say that the damaged caused by this isnt expensive.

just had a google of your engine assuming 1.8 duratec – seems that either the PCV or the engine coking up seems popular faults with it

piemann – I don’t see why you’re being so hesitant to contact the dealer you purchased from. Phone him up, explain that you’re having a few problems and ask if you can bring it in for him to look at. Go in friendly at first and see what he says; give him the opportunity to fulfil his obligations.

If he starts trying to shirk them or charge you then start down the SOGA and rejection route.

In all likelyhood the dealer may not have been aware of the issues, but that doesn’t mean he can shirk his responsibilities.

Don’t go in all guns blazing threatening to reject the car; it’s a long difficult process.

do you have full service history for it?

i think I’m missing a service stamp for one year, but all the others are present and correct.

I’ll call the dealer, explain the problem (omitting any mention of the other garage) and see what they say.

Its averaged 7,000 miles a year?

I’ll call the dealer, explain the problem (omitting any mention of the other garage) and see what they say.

Good start, then report back for further advice.

I’m astounded that you are on here asking about it, I’d be down at the dealers getting them to sort it first.