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Is my colleague being conned by her local dealer in having her Focus' gearbox replaced?
Our editor's secretary seems to be getting shafted by her local Ford dealer. She paid £1400 for a new gearbox for her 1.6-litre, 2005 petrol Focus estate but they didn't replace it, and now say the ECU is causing the gearbox problem. She adds: "They have 'fixed' the automatic gearbox (not replaced it) but the ECU is mis-directing it." Does she give them more money?
Asked on 15 June 2013 by GF, via email
Answered by
Honest John
You wouldn't get a new autobox for £1,400. All you would get would be a repair, or a reconditioned autobox. This is quite a simple 4-speed torque converter auto, same as used by Mazda in the Mazda 3 and not generally troublesome.
It's probably better for her now to get it to a member of www.fedauto.co.uk. They generally know their automatics far better than any Ford dealer. They'll fix it and find out if the Ford dealer had missed something fundamental (such as servo valve box seals) and give her a written report that she can use as the basis of a small claims track action against the dealer. Warn them first and if they don't capitulate, start the action using www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
It's probably better for her now to get it to a member of www.fedauto.co.uk. They generally know their automatics far better than any Ford dealer. They'll fix it and find out if the Ford dealer had missed something fundamental (such as servo valve box seals) and give her a written report that she can use as the basis of a small claims track action against the dealer. Warn them first and if they don't capitulate, start the action using www.moneyclaim.gov.uk
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