2008 Mondeo - Steering rack issue

Hi everyone. I have a 2008 Mondeo which I bought new from a Ford dealer. There are currently 50km on the clock.

A few weeks ago, I noticed a sort of "humming" noise coming from the engine. Over the next couple of weeks it got a bit worse and I could hear that it was relating to turning the steering wheel. While my knowledge of cars is comprised of how to drive them and where to put petrol (!), my husband brought it back to the dealer where we bought it. It is out of warranty. The dealer told us that there is a problem with the steering rack which needs to be replaced and quoted us €1100 to do so.

Having picked himself up from the floor, hubby did some research and found that the problem lies with the manufacture of the steering rack in that it wasn't sand blasted before being dispatched to Ford. This (apparently) causes particles to damage the part.

Now maybe I'm being very naive but surely this amounts to me being sold faulty goods?? Ford are aware of the problem but saying nothing (obviously). Am really upset about this as I feel that a car of this age with such low mileage shouldn't need to have a major part replaced.

Just wondering if anyone has heard of this problem and/or can give me any advice??

Gather evidence of this being a common issue and visit the dealer again. HonestJohn can be a good resource for such information. Ford may offer some goodwill towards the repair.

Contact the NCA for advice/support.

Thanks for that Leo. Got onto the NCA - they recommended one of their template letters for me to complete the details and then send it on to Ford. So we'll see what happens with that. Just having a look around Honest John - never heard of it before but it looks like a haven of information so maybe I'll find something there. We have also been to an independent (non Ford) mechanic who said that it might be possible to get a re-conditioned part so we might look into that as well. I'm just really fed up about it.

No problem SillyMilly, best of luck with it.