Have I made an expensive mistake? S Max powershift...
Discussion
Good morning folks
With baby number 2 due any day I made a somewhat rushed purchase of an S max this week. A 2014 Titanium with 52k on the clock for 7k. It's the 2 litre TDI powershift model.
The car has been clearly been used as a family car as the interior trim has suffered and it needs a bit of a tidy up.
Whilst I did some research and saw everyone raving about the S Max, what I didn't think to do was research the powershift- oh dear!!
The car drives very well but I am really worried I have bought a ticking timebomb with potential for a 3k meltdown! I see lots of high mileage powershift cars out there but apparently it can go at low miles....
The service history is patchy too (yep my bad). Whilst I saw at least 5 stamps in the book I missed the 30k gap. The paperwork that came with it did however show the owner at the time had the gearbox serviced at ford in this time as well as other bits so I imagine it had another service but wasn't stamped.
What should I do? Gearbox service now and hope it behaves for a couple of years before moving on? So stressful and worried I have made a terrible mistake.
Many thanks
With baby number 2 due any day I made a somewhat rushed purchase of an S max this week. A 2014 Titanium with 52k on the clock for 7k. It's the 2 litre TDI powershift model.
The car has been clearly been used as a family car as the interior trim has suffered and it needs a bit of a tidy up.
Whilst I did some research and saw everyone raving about the S Max, what I didn't think to do was research the powershift- oh dear!!
The car drives very well but I am really worried I have bought a ticking timebomb with potential for a 3k meltdown! I see lots of high mileage powershift cars out there but apparently it can go at low miles....
The service history is patchy too (yep my bad). Whilst I saw at least 5 stamps in the book I missed the 30k gap. The paperwork that came with it did however show the owner at the time had the gearbox serviced at ford in this time as well as other bits so I imagine it had another service but wasn't stamped.
What should I do? Gearbox service now and hope it behaves for a couple of years before moving on? So stressful and worried I have made a terrible mistake.
Many thanks
Get rid. I had one from a car supermarket and the FSH turned out to be just oil and filter changes at some third party naff garage. The gearbox sent the car into limp mode randomly and an expensive gearbox service didn't help at all.
It's not a very good DSG unlike say the VW one which seems to do mega mileages with few issues.
Great car - with a manual.
It's not a very good DSG unlike say the VW one which seems to do mega mileages with few issues.
Great car - with a manual.
Whenever I've bought a car, regardless of the amount of paperwork that comes with it, I always exercise caution. No or partial paperwork isn't the end of the world IMO. A lemon on it's way out is going to be obvious regardless!
I tend to budget and spend on making sure the car is all 'up to date' with the brakes, oil etc.
You simply can't be certain or have the peace of mind otherwise.
I'd definitely factor in a gearbox service, so get that done if it is a worry, and avoid the fear factor. For every person documenting their woes on the internet on a car or aspect of a car, there'll be loads more who haven't.
I tend to budget and spend on making sure the car is all 'up to date' with the brakes, oil etc.
You simply can't be certain or have the peace of mind otherwise.
I'd definitely factor in a gearbox service, so get that done if it is a worry, and avoid the fear factor. For every person documenting their woes on the internet on a car or aspect of a car, there'll be loads more who haven't.
This is a handy page, not sure if you've seen it. It mentions that there was a recall... perhaps worth looking into as if it's effective on your car you could get the gearbox health verified at the dealer: https://www.gearboxspecialistsbournemouth.co.uk/th...
I would say however that it's as per comments above in the sense that NOT EVERY CAR has the well known internet problem.
Maybe something to do would be to make a plan for the car. Say you will own it for 12 months, sell it after that having covered x-number of miles and think about what you might be able to recover when you do including what maintenance is likely to be required over that period considering the current state of things and your likely mileage.
At the end of the day situations like this are mostly about the economics as it sucks to lose a load of money on a car. There is an inconvenience aspect as well... but it's probably the lesser of the two evils. So if you do a bit of financial planning with the ownership of it you could exit at a specified point having spent x-number of £££ on routine maintenance and leave any potential future problems for the next owner. (potential future problems being those nobody knows about, not that there's anything good about selling on an unreliable car to some poor unsuspecting soul).
I would say however that it's as per comments above in the sense that NOT EVERY CAR has the well known internet problem.
Maybe something to do would be to make a plan for the car. Say you will own it for 12 months, sell it after that having covered x-number of miles and think about what you might be able to recover when you do including what maintenance is likely to be required over that period considering the current state of things and your likely mileage.
At the end of the day situations like this are mostly about the economics as it sucks to lose a load of money on a car. There is an inconvenience aspect as well... but it's probably the lesser of the two evils. So if you do a bit of financial planning with the ownership of it you could exit at a specified point having spent x-number of £££ on routine maintenance and leave any potential future problems for the next owner. (potential future problems being those nobody knows about, not that there's anything good about selling on an unreliable car to some poor unsuspecting soul).
Car ownership, particularly something you're just using to ferry your family around, shouldn't be stressful.
Cars are great servants, but terrible masters.
If you feel you can't trust this car, and it's going to cause you even the tiniest bit of stress, sell it and buy something more dependable.
Life is far too short to be spent worrying about whether your white goods transport will work when you need it.
Cars are great servants, but terrible masters.
If you feel you can't trust this car, and it's going to cause you even the tiniest bit of stress, sell it and buy something more dependable.
Life is far too short to be spent worrying about whether your white goods transport will work when you need it.
Thank you all I really appreciate you taking the time to reply to me.
I've had a look online and doesn't appear my car is subject to a recall sadly.
I think I'll get a service done on the box and perhaps seek to move it on next summer once my wife is back from maternity leave. Then we will have had it a year which of course looks better to a potential buyer.
As you say, no one goes online to say how good their powershift gearboxes are! At least it's driving fine for now with no obvious issues apparent.
Interestingly a manual in similar spec is at least 2k more- I didn't even search manuals when I was looking but if I had this would have been a warning sign!
I've had a look online and doesn't appear my car is subject to a recall sadly.
I think I'll get a service done on the box and perhaps seek to move it on next summer once my wife is back from maternity leave. Then we will have had it a year which of course looks better to a potential buyer.
As you say, no one goes online to say how good their powershift gearboxes are! At least it's driving fine for now with no obvious issues apparent.
Interestingly a manual in similar spec is at least 2k more- I didn't even search manuals when I was looking but if I had this would have been a warning sign!
C70R said:
Car ownership, particularly something you're just using to ferry your family around, shouldn't be stressful.
Cars are great servants, but terrible masters.
If you feel you can't trust this car, and it's going to cause you even the tiniest bit of stress, sell it and buy something more dependable.
Life is far too short to be spent worrying about whether your white goods transport will work when you need it.
Agree there, C70R.Cars are great servants, but terrible masters.
If you feel you can't trust this car, and it's going to cause you even the tiniest bit of stress, sell it and buy something more dependable.
Life is far too short to be spent worrying about whether your white goods transport will work when you need it.
It shouldn't be stressful.
Sometimes it's easy to hit the panic button on a new used car.
IMO the OP should give it a chance.
Selling could mean a loss.
Buying another car could mean tending to someone else's aggro and putting things right / putting your name on it as I mention above, which means even more expenditure anyway. Certain things just have to be done.
It's usually neglect or erratic/agressive driving (incl lack of mechanical sympathy) that sees things fail expensively.
Driven normally and looked after sensibly most cars go on to give reliable service for many years, even keeping an eye on oil and coolant levels seems beyond many these days let alone applying some common sense to adequate servicing.
I think you are right to see a year out of the car, following a reassuring gearbox service, and depending on how its going make the choice again next year.
The most reliable cars can throw a curved ball at you, cue a spark plug which snapped off in the cyl head of our Forester, the car had been completely reliable up to that point and arguably it was and still is, sometimes crap just happens that no one could do anything to prevent, one could say it was partly because of design because spark plug changes on some cars get left for as long as possible due to how difficult the plugs are to access.
What you do is take advantage of the situation when things go wrong, ie much easier to change autobox oil with the engine out, similarly the front diff oil, there's a grey if not silver lining around every cloud if you look for it.
Similarly if your S max proves otherwise good, up to a point so what if the gearbox does fail 2 or 3 years down the line, the cost to fix it and make the vehicle good for several more years will only be the equivalent of the dealer's profits should you replace the car completely.
Driven normally and looked after sensibly most cars go on to give reliable service for many years, even keeping an eye on oil and coolant levels seems beyond many these days let alone applying some common sense to adequate servicing.
I think you are right to see a year out of the car, following a reassuring gearbox service, and depending on how its going make the choice again next year.
The most reliable cars can throw a curved ball at you, cue a spark plug which snapped off in the cyl head of our Forester, the car had been completely reliable up to that point and arguably it was and still is, sometimes crap just happens that no one could do anything to prevent, one could say it was partly because of design because spark plug changes on some cars get left for as long as possible due to how difficult the plugs are to access.
What you do is take advantage of the situation when things go wrong, ie much easier to change autobox oil with the engine out, similarly the front diff oil, there's a grey if not silver lining around every cloud if you look for it.
Similarly if your S max proves otherwise good, up to a point so what if the gearbox does fail 2 or 3 years down the line, the cost to fix it and make the vehicle good for several more years will only be the equivalent of the dealer's profits should you replace the car completely.
Jaybee1981 said:
i had a brand new 2013 with powershift.
Kept it 10 years and 110k without any issue.
Obviously an experience rather than fact but just to tell you they dont all implode after 3k
I've got a friend with a 2012 Mondeo with powershift. It's on about 70k, and has never had a problem. He gets it serviced at a main dealer, for peanuts, and I know they did a gearbox service earlier this year.Kept it 10 years and 110k without any issue.
Obviously an experience rather than fact but just to tell you they dont all implode after 3k
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