6:31 pm, May 1, 2026
Car dealers have revealed the cars they avoid buying at all costs – not because they don’t sell, but because they cost so much to FIX.
Car Dealer spoke to a number of dealers on our podcast to find out which models they avoided like the plague – and the same models kept cropping up.
We’ve also had our fingers burnt with a number of the vehicles on the list at our used car dealership – and are still scarred by the painful bills.
Car Dealer spoke to Warrantywise to hear what they had to say about the models car dealers avoid to see whether they really were as bad as dealers think.
You can hear what a variety of dealers had to say about the models in our video at the top of this post.
Ford EcoBoost
First up, it’s the Ford EcoBoost engine. Found in Fiesta, Focus, B-Max models and many others.
There are loads of these on the road and on paper, it’s brilliant. A small engine with big power and great economy.
But the big issue is with something called the wet belt. Instead of running dry like a normal timing belt, this one runs inside the engine oil. Over time, it can start to break down causing engine failure.
Warrantywise said the average repair cost for an EcoBoost engine was £3,141 but said the failure rates were ‘thereabouts on a par with the average engine failure rate’ but added that ‘perhaps this is heightened by the sheer volume of Fords in the market’.
Lee Grant of the car dealer YouTube channel @CarUK said: ‘The wet belts are notorious for going wrong, causing problems where the engine clogs up. It’s just a really poor engine.’
Mazda 2.2d
Next up, is the Mazda 2.2 diesel. You’ll find it in cars like the CX-5, Mazda 6 and even the Mazda 3.
But it has loads of problems that are all very expensive to fix. Timing chains stretch, injectors leak, the DPFs fail, and the exhaust gas recirculation system is prone to failure.
I had one and spent nearly £1,500 in warranty claims before buying it back and scraping it… at a huge loss.
WarrantyWise data says the engine is more than twice as likely to fail as other cars with average repair costs of £3,480. It’s most expensive claim on this engine totalled £7.058!
James Harding, of @ChopsGarage, said: ‘I love Mazda stuff. I find it, as a general rule, bulletproof reliable – but those Mazda 2.2s, my God, do they have issues.
‘I’ve never seen engines that manage to coke themselves up as much as those Mazda 2.2s and that will throw an array of different warnings.’
PureTech engines
PureTech engines are found in Peugeots, Citroëns and Vauxhalls… so again, loads of these on the road too.
These also have a dreaded wet belt and, just like the EcoBoost, that timing belt runs inside the engine oil. Over time it can start to break down, clogging it up, and then you’re into major engine damage.
Warrantywise said the failure rate on these engines is 31% more likely than the average car and repair costs usually cost an average of £2,152.
Shifting Metal presenter and car dealer Joe Betty said: ‘They’ve got a plethora of problems. From the wet belt system, which either breaks or clogs the oil pickup and starves your engine of oil, completely ruining it, to the fact that this thing uses an absolute ton of oil.
‘They’re a nightmare, and they’re probably going to come back and bite you.’
Ford PowerShift gearboxes
But it’s not just engines dealers worry about. Next up, it’s the Ford Powershift gearbox.
When these are working, they’re fine. But when they start to go wrong, they go very wrong.
Jerky changes, hesitation, slipping and then, soon after, total failure. These gearboxes are complex and repairing them costs thousands.
And they’re not just found in Fords. Volvo used them too.
Warrantywise said its most expensive claim on a Powershift gearbox was £5,434 on a Focus with repairs costing on average £2,351. However, the firm said failure rates were ‘on par with other automatics’.
Theo Cook, of Bowen’s Garage and the YouTube channel @TedTorques, said: ‘The Ford PowerShift automatic gearbox has to be one of the worst gearboxes ever invented in all of human history.
‘A terrible gearbox that has no longevity, is extremely expensive to repair and causes a huge amount of problems.’
CVT gearboxes
And it’s not just Powershifts to fear. Next up are CVT gearboxes found in a variety of car brands.
On paper, these make a lot of sense. No traditional gears, just a smooth, continuous drive. But in reality they can be extremely fragile and very expensive to fix.
Warrantywise said the average cost of repairs for CVTs is £2,924, but the failure rates are ‘on par with the average’. But said that with lots of CVTs on the road, dealers might have more chance of experiencing a failure due to higher numbers.
Jamie Caple, owner of car dealer Car Quay and the YouTube channel @Carlateral, said: ‘We avoid these like the plague because the boxes are just problematic. They fault, they’re very difficult to fix and are extremely expensive to replace.
‘So when I’m out buying, if I see those three letters CVT next to a vehicle description, I don’t bid, I don’t buy them. We avoid them.’
JLR Ingenium engines
Last on our list, are Ingenium engines from Jaguar Land Rover.
Found in Range Rovers, Discoverys and Jaguars, these are premium cars with premium repair bills.
The big issue here is the timing chains can stretch over time. If you hear a rattle on startup… step away. The chain can jump and destroy the engine.
WarrantyWise told me these engines are 162% more likely to fail when they compare them to claims on other cars with the average repair bill costing a whopping £5,233.
The biggest repair bill on an Ingenium engine seen by the firm was a staggering £32,030 on a Range Rover Sport.
Umesh Samani, chairman of the IMDA and a used car dealer, said: ‘The one on my list, the number one that I won’t buy, has got to be, sadly, the Land Rover Ingenium engine: the 2.0-litre diesel Ingenium. They just fall to bits for no apparent reason.’
Watch our video of the cars car dealers avoid buying at the top of this page.
