Last Monday we went on a short, three day break to Cheshire. On Tuesday morning, we were going to visit Chester and have lunch, I pressed the 'Power' button and .... nothing.
This was not the first time this happened. On the previous Thursday I had the AA (via Ford Assist as it's all under warranty) out to the same problem at home. The patrol got it working but warned that it could happen again. When I took it to the local dealer on Friday they could do nothing as a, it was working fine, and b, the patrol had cleared the fault codes.
So, there we are, all ready to go to Chester and no car. I phoned Ford assist who dispatched another AA patrol. Shaun arrived half an hour later and spent a good hour and a half trying, and failing, to get it going. He even phoned Ford Technical for advice, but still no go. He said that, since there was power getting to the starter motor, the fault must be there. He was disappointed that he failed.
After some discussion of our options; we were not due to go home until Thursday, we decided to let the AA relay our car to our home dealer and to deliver a hire car to us at the hotel. Tuesday was a write-off by then, so, after a few phone calls by Shaun (press 1 for this and 5 for anything else), it was all arranged for Wednesday morning and we spent the afternoon in the hotel spa instead. The relay arrived at 9am on the dot, after a phone call to give us 15 minutes warning, and he had just left, when the hire car, a 15 plate Mondeo, arrived.
I have decided that I do not like driving manual, diesel Mondeos. Hard to get the seat right; no power when you need it and, with a six speed box, constant gear changing. However, it took us to Chester and then home with no further problems. I have just heard from the dealer that our car is being valeted and will be ready at 5pm.
The point of this tale is to praise Ford Assist and the AA. People turned up at the times they said they would; Shaun did his level best, but he couldn't change a starter motor in a hotel car park, even if he had one, and hopefully, our car will be good (better?) as new when we get it back.
I do wonder, though, how different it would have been if we had made it to Chester, parked in the multi-story with very tight access ramps, and broken down there? I also wonder how much I would be out of pocket if it was not all covered under Ford's two year warranty.
This was not the first time this happened. On the previous Thursday I had the AA (via Ford Assist as it's all under warranty) out to the same problem at home. The patrol got it working but warned that it could happen again. When I took it to the local dealer on Friday they could do nothing as a, it was working fine, and b, the patrol had cleared the fault codes.
So, there we are, all ready to go to Chester and no car. I phoned Ford assist who dispatched another AA patrol. Shaun arrived half an hour later and spent a good hour and a half trying, and failing, to get it going. He even phoned Ford Technical for advice, but still no go. He said that, since there was power getting to the starter motor, the fault must be there. He was disappointed that he failed.
After some discussion of our options; we were not due to go home until Thursday, we decided to let the AA relay our car to our home dealer and to deliver a hire car to us at the hotel. Tuesday was a write-off by then, so, after a few phone calls by Shaun (press 1 for this and 5 for anything else), it was all arranged for Wednesday morning and we spent the afternoon in the hotel spa instead. The relay arrived at 9am on the dot, after a phone call to give us 15 minutes warning, and he had just left, when the hire car, a 15 plate Mondeo, arrived.
I have decided that I do not like driving manual, diesel Mondeos. Hard to get the seat right; no power when you need it and, with a six speed box, constant gear changing. However, it took us to Chester and then home with no further problems. I have just heard from the dealer that our car is being valeted and will be ready at 5pm.
The point of this tale is to praise Ford Assist and the AA. People turned up at the times they said they would; Shaun did his level best, but he couldn't change a starter motor in a hotel car park, even if he had one, and hopefully, our car will be good (better?) as new when we get it back.
I do wonder, though, how different it would have been if we had made it to Chester, parked in the multi-story with very tight access ramps, and broken down there? I also wonder how much I would be out of pocket if it was not all covered under Ford's two year warranty.
