Too good to be true: Issues with new (used) car

I recently posted about buying a new (used) car from a dealer some distsnce away from me.

I bought the car and have had it just over a week now and Im already having issues. Not sure if my expectations are too high or not……

The car is a 2017 67 Mondeo 2.0tdci 180bhp with 84k and full (supposedly)history

First issue is that its gone into limp mode a couple of times whilst trying to overtake on the motorway or a dual carriageway. I’ve done some research and one of the causes of this is a dirty fuel filter. I had a look and the one fitted to the car is filthy and black and obviously hasn’t been changed in a while. Ive changed it and touch wood the car hasn’t gone into limp mode again.

The second issue is that there is a single bang or knock when pressing the clutch in to change from 1st to 2nd. The whole car shakes with a thump. Not happening all the time but more present if I press the clutch harder.

When chaining gear from 1st to 2nd it feels like the car is going to cut out and then accelerates with a jolt, almost like a gearbox or engine mount is proper worn.

And to top it off whilst stuck in crawling traffic on the motorway this afternoon the clutch has started juddering whilst pulling away at low speeds in 1st gear.

To say I’m pissed off is an understatement, I thought buying from a dealer would be buying a half decent car.

None of the above was present on the short test drive I had. Im too wound up to speak with the dealer at the moment so thought I would vent here.

I need a car for work and so cant afford to be off the road.

What can I do here? Can I legally reject the car or can the dealer say a clutch is a wear and tear item and tough??

Please help!

Can I legally reject the car 

Yes, if there’s verifiably something definitely wrong with it.

can the dealer say a clutch is a wear and tear item

If it’s 12 months into a warranty then yes, but not after a week. It didn’t suddenly wear in a week, so it was clearly wrong when they sold it to you.

All that sounds like the dual mass flywheel to me. Although clunks and knocks can be a PITA to trace. I was convinced an engine mount was loose, turned out it was the exhaust back box was a bit rusty and knocking around whenever the engine moved a bit under acceleration/braking.

First issue is that its gone into limp mode a couple of times whilst trying to overtake on the motorway or a dual carriageway. I’ve done some research and one of the causes of this is a dirty fuel filter.

Did you plug in a code reader? Fuel filter issues would usually give you a low pressure code, IM(not ford)E the fault light goes out as soon as the problem goes away (i.e. you slow down a bit) but there will be a code stored in the memory.

But yea, take it back and get it fixed or your money back ASAP.

Make the phone call worthwhile and line all of your ducks up…

Stick it through an MoT, see what transpires

Beg, borrow, buy an OBD code reader and see what that throws up

By that time you’ll have cooled off, digested this thread and can tackle the dealer 🙂

Didnt plug it in unfortunately but from what I can gather is that if you turn off the car and then turn it back on it will clear any stored “soft codes”. On the dash it just comes up “see Manual”

The clunk can be felt through the clutch pedal as it hits the floor and then you feel it in the seat and steering wheel if that makes sense.

Make sure that you’re clear of the accelerator pedal before depressing the clutch pedal [/egg-sucking]

With a car that recently purchased that’s straight back to the dealer. I wouldn’t mention you changed the fuel filter – they might try to claim you’ve fiddled around with the car – even though it’s very unlikely to be linked.

Clutch should have disengaged before the pedal hits the floor; lack of travel/hydraulics/wear?

Yep, straight back to dealer with no messing.

Get a hire car / lifts / bike lined up.

Don’t let him fob you off onto one of those awful AutoProtect or similar warranties they supply them with these days!

Back to dealer.

Also it won’t wipe the codes, neither my 2008 Mondeo nor my 2016 Focus do that. That would be pretty silly from a diagnostics POV.

Clutch issue sounds like it could be the bottom mount in the first instance but could also be a transmission issue. Would make sense if someone got rid because they knew a £1k+ (FMF, clutch and labour, I had mine done) bill was incoming. Either way, that’s not your problem to fix.

Back to dealer, but have a quick check underneath at the lower engine mount (sometimes called gearbox mount). These can suffer wear and you’ll get a clunk on gear change. If you can rock the engine front/back then it’s worn. Fortunately, it’s a cheap quick fix.

Is that the one we all told you not to buy? 😁

Buying used from a dealer affords you the same rights as new.

If it’s bought unseen then you have 14 days to reject it and you don’t need a reason.

If you went to look at it and then subsequently bought it, goods have to be as described and of satisfactory quality (taking into account age, wear etc). If it isn’t, you have 30 days to return it for a refund. After 30 days, you have to give them an opportunity to fix it.

I wouldn’t mention you changed the fuel filter – they might try to claim you’ve fiddled around with the car

Also, this.

Weird with the clutch, the car looked like it had quite a sedate last 3 years in it’s MoT history, but as stated in the other thread, buying a 7/8 year old ford diesel is the gamble, you’re starting to get into the DPF/EGR issues then, and on Ford’s that’s expensive.

It’s my biggest hatred of the car market of late, diesels that had their emissions tests faked, yet the buyers still end up with crap systems on their cars that have no bearing on it working, just emissions, they’re all designed to fail, and be expensive when they do.

Sounds like DMF. What’s it like turning the engine off without shoving the clutch in (like you’re supposed to do). Does it death rattle as the engine stops?

Either way – throw it back at the dealer. And buy a big capacity non turbo petrol instead. The hit in economy is worth the lack of turbo’s, fragile injectors, EGR, DPF, DMF, Swirl flaps, adblue, and what ever else fudges to get inherently dirty engines running clean.

Alan Howatt’s YouTube channel put me off getting a Mondeo diesel. DMF/clutch issue should’ve come up on a test drive but oh well.

Have you done an enhanced check, eg https://www.vcheck.uk/ ? I’d do one even if I was buying a car from a reputable main dealer.

Yeah defo return it. For a decent sized estate on that budget Avensis Tourer is a potential – they get criticised for driver appeal but its just a workhorse so who cares. 2016 on 64k miles man diesel, £8490 – that’s the 2.0 BMW lump – not sure if the swirl flap issues are relevant in this application.

Petrol: 2018, 70,585 miles, 1.8 V-Matic Business Edition Plus Touring Sports 5dr Petrol Manual Euro 6 (147 ps) £9,749

again defo pay for enhanced check on an Avensis Estate or similar, there will be clocked ex-taxis on intergalactic mileages out there

RNP has it – back to dealer for full no questions asked refund; then buy whatever volvo he recommends.

I had similar issues, was a dual mass flywheel on its way out. £2k to fix on our car, so worth getting sorted.

I’d still disagree with

Either way – throw it back at the dealer. And buy a big capacity non turbo petrol instead. The hit in economy is worth the lack of turbo’s, fragile injectors, EGR, DPF, DMF, Swirl flaps, adblue, and what ever else fudges to get inherently dirty engines running clean.

our car gets roughly double the economy (70mpg on a run, 50mpg overall) of what a large capacity NA petrol of similar power/torque in a similar body (7 seat mpv) would give, not that an engine meeting that description is available. The saving in fuel makes up for an expensive failure within 18 months.

the car looked like it had quite a sedate last 3 years in it’s MoT history

Problem is that says nothing about the previous owner(s)’ clutch control.

Sounds to me like it’s back to the dealer asap.

Yes the clutch is a wear and tear item but iirc  any fault in a certain short period post sale is assumed to be present at point of sale unless proved otherwise.

You never know the dealer might be decent about it.  We had a mare with a Renault we bought (I know!) for about £4000 and the dealer was amazing.

I assume you’ve not got it on used car finance?

Hopefully they wont just plug it in to try and find a fault code. It really bugs me when car dealers do that without actually driving and listening to the car. Dont let them fob you off.

Either way – throw it back at the dealer. And buy a big capacity non turbo petrol instead. The hit in economy is worth the lack of turbo’s, fragile injectors, EGR, DPF, DMF, Swirl flaps, adblue, and what ever else fudges to get inherently dirty engines running clean.

Diesels appear to be reliable as long as you don’t expect them to perform as well as petrols, don’t use them for short journeys or labour them. 70bhp per litre appears to be about the sensible limit.

Definitely back to the dealer. Although the clutch problem may have something to do with the bottom mount, you are not responsible for fixing it. Have them check it out.

Should have rung the dealer as soon as it went in to limp mode

Get them rung straight away saying the car is dangerous (it is if went in to limp mode on motorway)

Why the hell did you start messing with it though, don’t tell them you’ve touched anything

Pretty mental trying to fix it yourself when it’s barely been out of the dealers for five minutes.

Don’t mention you changed the fuel filter. Also mondeos are so common you could likely find one locally. I bought my previous ones privately from respectable businessmen types. Full history etc and I actually felt happier than I’ve ever felt if using a dealer.

My old 2005 mondeo used to clunk due to a lower gearbox mount. Think I changed that 3 times in life of car.

Also have a look at the starter motor if you can get to it/see it. If the DMF is wearing out the swarf and metal filings are attracted to the magnetic elements of the starter motor which kills it. My Transit had 3 starters during the few years I swore at it.

Have you sent it back yet?

Tick tock.

How can this be? It had a full MOT and everything.

MOT only covers safety critical components and doesn’t include a road test drive. Probably won’t pick up this kind of issue as it affects reliability and not likely to be dangerous.

I know. I was referring to the ‘not buying unless it has FULL MOT’ – ‘Yes, I agree, throw the CRA / distance selling regs book at them because they advertised it as FULL MOT’

Maybe they got one of ampthill’s special MOTs?

I think you missed that whole thread (you had to be there, man)

Used car advertised with 12 months MOT but only has 5. What to do?

Have you sent it back yet?

Tick tock.

Isn’t it more clunk clonk?

Isn’t it more clunk clonk?

DMF’s more of a CRUNK DUGG dugga dugga dugga

Depends on the DMF design I reckon. The Passat one was just a light clickety clack at idle. Even I didn’t notice for about 40k miles and I’m me.

Currently stood on the side of the M5 waiting for recovery as the clutch has completely failed.

To their credit the supplying dealer is collecting the car tomorrow and dropping off another car for me to use whilst they repair this one.

part of me want to tell them to just give my money back. The other half likes the car if the issues get sorted.

How can this be? It had a full MOT and everything

Because like much of the population you have no idea how lax and mot test is

At least there’s no arguing that something is wrong with it!

I think you missed that whole thread (you had to be there, man)

Ah, right. I didn’t make the connection.

Currently stood on the side of the M5 waiting for recovery as the clutch has completely failed

Hard luck Renton. I know it’s dispiriting,  but they’re basically a decent car. Once it’s fixed and you’ve got past the initial nervousness it’ll be a great motor.

Bugger.

Fingers crossed dealer sorts it all out. Do make sure they know everything wrong so they have the opportunity to fix it ALL not just clutch.

Because like much of the population you have no idea how lax and mot test is

I’m perfectly aware, I was taking the Mick. As per my next post

part of me want to tell them to just give my money back. The other half likes the car if the issues get sorted.

New clutch and DMF sounds like stick with it to me as much as you’ll be on edge for a bit thinking “what next”. Just get any other known  gremlins sorted at the same time.

You could buy something else and get stung with that bill 12 months on. Only that time you’ll be paying.

Had a couple of confidence shakers on cars in the past that have turned out to be good cars overall.  Airbag light 3 weeks into ownership of the current bought at 87,000 now done 120,000 mile ford diesel and the tail light electrics failing.  Once we’d got over that stuff it’s been a good motor.  Will be keeping an eye on my clutch though.  🫣