Bought a 2000 1.4 Focus Zetec for the wife. Someone pulled out in front of her and when she applied brakes she slid down the road but fortunately did not have an accident. The dealer advertised the car as having ABS. I have had a mechanic check the car and ABS is not fitted to the vehicle. What should I do now ?
if you have it in writing then you can get some recompence. if not then forget it, get your wife on a driving course that includes skid pan training. or get rid of it (the car) and get one with abs. ones without air con usually don't have abs, as they were in an extras package. it might be harder to sell one without air con than without abs!!
I can guarantee that Trading Standards will be no help to you and will not even deal with the case. They will tell you to speak to the dealer. Trading Standards are reluctant to take on anyone they think has a bit of money or backing behind them. That includes 3 of my local main dealerships I know people have had problems with. One passed a car with a broken wheel bearing, another with defective brakes. The vauxhall one was regularly overfilling cars with oil and charging for work they had not done in routine services. On one occasion they were found to just be resetting the service indicators. Trading Standards put a few cars through to see what was going on and because there were not enough complaints they decided to turn a blind eye. The Police were involved over the defective brakes!
"ncs" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:
How long ago?
Did the absence of ABS light and self-test not raise a question?
You could try the small claims court. Or the local press :-)
You posted this same "information" last week. I'll repeat my reply below because you obviously didn't see it. Just because a dealer is crap, it doesn't necessarily mean they're committing criminal offences!
"Being a cynic, a quick Google reveals that in 2007, for failures when servicing or repairing cars; Allen Ford Group were prosecuted by Warwickshire TS, and Nationwide Autocentres by Bournemouth TS, and Charles Hurst Group by Belfast TS..................."
All are big groups and this information was found within 2 minutes on Google.
In the case of the OP, TS would have to prove intent to mislead or negligence to win a court case. Their previous experience of the trader may influence their decision. Hanging up on the OP gives an idea of what sort of trader you're dealing with! The reason for referring the OP back to the dealer or the small claims court is because it would be an easier way to get the OP what he needs; a refund or compensation depending on how long he has had the car, and what the OP said to the dealer about having ABS on the car. Was it a fundamental part of the contract, conveyed to the trader?
It is possible to skid with ABS, it's just harder. Have you verified that the car does not have ABS - the warning light when you start up, or failing that and in the absence of finding a quiet road to do a brake test, talking to a Ford dealership?
Update
The dealer rang me this morning full of apologies. He had probably taken advice somewhere. Anyway the upshot is he has offered the next 2 full services free of charge. The car has a full Ford service history and drives and looks like new so we are keeping it.
The only mk1 Focus Zetec to have ABS as standard is the 2.0 or the ESP. It will come with traction control also, and have discs on the rear.
The dealer is guilty for telling you porkies..
Tim..
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