Ford took away my car for FIVE months – are you one of the million drivers also at risk?

WHEN Chris Wilkins was asked to take his car to the garage for a safety check, he never imagined he would be left without a vehicle for five months.

Chris Wilkins, from Waterlooville, received a letter from Hendy Ford in Portsmouth in December asking him to bring his car in for a safety recall over his driver’s airbag.

Chris received his “beloved” Ford Mondeo from his family as a wedding present in 2015 and it became his lifeline for commuting from his small village in Hampshire to his operations manager job in Basingstoke.

But in December last year, the garage said his particular 2015 Ford Mondeo model was fitted with an airbag that could degrade over time and that he needed to bring it in to have it replaced.

The letter said the repairs should take around half an hour.

But while his car was in the garage on December 15, an engineer found that his steering rack was also broken and said his car was too dangerous to drive home.

Chris, 41, was told he would need to leave it behind and pick it up seven days later, but Ford didn’t offer a courtesy car or taxi, leaving him stranded at 5.30pm with no way to get home.

“Why Ford didn’t warn me or have a spare rack they could have fitted there and then is beyond me,” Chris said.

“It was a dark Friday afternoon and I was stuck 15 miles from home, only to be told there was no courtesy car available and no offer of a taxi.”

But that was only the beginning of his nightmare.

The seven day deadline came and went and weeks turned into months with no update on when his car would be fixed.

After three months of waiting, he was finally told the part needed to fix his car would be delivered at the end of March. Then, on March 27, he was told Ford couldn’t get the part until April 22.

Chris had to fork out for a taxi to work every day he went into the office, which is 35 miles from his home, costing him hundreds of pounds.

Ford wouldn’t offer him a courtesy car as his vehicle was out of its warranty period.

And Chris decided not to hire a car as he had no idea the repairs would take so long, and Ford repeatedly missed deadlines to have it fixed.

“For the first few months, I just had a weekly text saying that there was no update on the part,” Chris said.

“Then when I complained to Ford, I just kept getting dates that were then missed and rescheduled, and then missed again.”

Five months after he first took his car into the garage and with no end in sight, Chris turned to The Sun for help.

THE SUN INTERVENES

When we got in touch, Ford swiftly said it would look into what had happened and has now miraculously found the parts it needs to repair Chris’s car.

The garage has now finally told him he can come in to collect his beloved vehicle this weekend.

Chris said: “All of a sudden in the last few weeks I have had lots of contact [with Ford] and they have now mysteriously found a part and fitted my car, which I can only assume I have The Sun to thank for.

“Thank you for all your help.”

A spokesperson for Ford said: “We have been in contact with the customer over the past week and advised them that we have internally escalated this with our internal parts team and we will discuss this with the dealership further to get him back on the road.”

We are now fighting to get compensation for Chris to cover his expenses.

What is a safety recall and could it happen to my car?

Roughly one million vehicles are recalled for safety reasons every year, according to garage chain Kwik Fit.

A safety recall is where a fault is found in a particular model of car that could be dangerous, so all affected cars need to be checked.

This can be a costly exercise to car manufactures as they foot the bill of any repair work done to make the vehicles safe.

However, the downside for customers is that they generally have to go along with the process, which means adhering to whatever time frame it takes the garage to repair your car.

Ignoring a car safety recall could hike your car insurance premiums in future, Kwik Fit said.

However, if you think your car firm has treated you unfairly or is taking unnecessarily long, you can complain to the Motor Ombudsman.

The Motor Ombudsman is a certified Alternative Dispute Resolution service (ADR) which means it can liaise with businesses on your behalf.

To make a complaint, visit themotorombudsman.org/consumers/make-a-complaint.

Answer all the questions and provide as much evidence as possible to back up your claim.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

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