Sorry to hear that Carlisle - it interested me because I recently bought a 7 month old Mondeo, but via Motorpoint, Derby eventually - and top marks to them.

I'd previously tried some Ford dealers & the 'Ford direct' route like yourself but had had no joy - a mixture of cars/salespeople not available and/or cars advertised & then 'sold' & general indifference etc' - I got fed up quite frankly - didn't even get my 'foot in the door', metaphorically speaking.

It seems maybe I was lucky as it turned out, judging by your experience. Although no consolation to you now, my buying process was excellent. I bought remotely via phone & was given a good P/Ex value on an already competitively price 7-month old Mondeo diesel (ex short lease car). The handover & presentation of the car was faultless - had original looking Michelin Primacy tyres on & not a mark or piece of fluff ion or in the car. A few months down the line car is still faultless, fun & frugal.

Carlisle - did you consider rejecting the car and demanding your deposit back?

Something very strange going on - I would have thought that the car should have been on its original set of fronts and rears at this mileage. I would propose several unpleasant scenarios:

1. Mileage suspect as initially stated

2. The car has been thrashed to within an inch of its life

3. The quality OE tyres have been removed to make someone a quiet profit

None of these adequately explain why there were newly fitted front tyres that were significantly worn. I would propose that this might happen if the tyres have been swapped from another vehicle (see theory 3 above). The other reason is that the Ford Direct dealer has purchased part worn tyres to put on a customers car!

I think you would be well within your rights to ask for some proof of the worn tyres' provenance and reject the car if they can't properly explain the situation. Either that or invoice the dealer for the cost of for putting right with OE tyres.

Thats strange because I thought I had read on this website that under the Ford Direct scheme Tyres more that half worn were automatically replaced!

I believe that one reason Ford Dealers are not overkeen on the scheme, because their profit margins on Ford Direct cars are slimmer!

I had a similar scenario with a Ford Direct Focus.

The rest of the car was 100% perfect exept for some new but ultra-cheap Chinese tyres. I battled with Ford direct about this (as they couldn't get them to balance also, so this was an actual fault), and in the end I won getting a pair of Michelins fitted like the rears.

The basis of my argument was that Ford Direct clearly state on their documentation that they either fit genuine Ford or Ford approved parts, and there is no way some unknown brand of Chinese tyre comes under this category. This ius the third time on this forum I have seen a post like this now.

Strange I have had the same problem but not sorted yet. Have written to consumer protection. My case is as follows.......

I bought a second hand car from a dealer-told him I thought the tyres hadn't got much tread and when I collected it the following day,the tyres were much better but the car next to the one I purchased,I noticed was now wearing the ones I'd complained about!

n

Edited by Roly93 on 15/03/2012 at 20:14