A collapsed/broken motor mount and a cracked coolant bottle would both be visible to you if you looked at your engine. Check for yourself and see if these parts are indeed needing replacement. You can replace both yourself. Buy the parts from a car parts store and Google “Ford Focus 2014 replace coolant bottle” and then “Ford Focus 2014 replace motor mount”. Multiple how-to videos come up with those searches, and neither job seems difficult nor does it take very long. Personally, I would never take my car to the dealership unless I was getting under-warranty work done. Their shop rates are among the highest in the auto repair business, and you don’t need the expertise of a Ford mechanic to do small replacement jobs. Any corner repair shop could do these for you if you don’t have time or don’t want to do the work yourself.
On the 2010 Focus, the OEM sway bar end links are disposable items; nylon sockets that are “permanently lubricated”, meaning they can’t be greased as a maintenance procedure. Unfortunately they don’t last very long, typically they seem to go 60k miles. They cover the warranty period, but when I got aftermarket ones by Moog, they had grease fittings, made the old school way. I don’t expect to need to replace them for the remaining life of the car.
They’re much heavier than the aluminum OEM ones, so there’s a weight tradeoff, but in this case I’d prefer the heavier construction of the aftermarket.
While OEM is usually a safe bet, in some cases the aftermarket is better, even without pricing considerations.
Well never say never. I had put on two new Moog tie rod ends on my Olds. A year later one of them snapped on the freeway. No problem, I was already over the bridge. Yeah, it snapped off, not worn, but the casting broke. So just because, doesn’t mean it can’t be defective.
I have no problem with quality after-market or OEM. The problem with after-market though is that unless you are a mechanic and have experience with the various suppliers, it is really hard to judge the quality. Yes I know, insist on “meets or exceeds” but pretty much they all say that. So the quality can range from pure junk to better than original. So sometimes I just go OEM to be sure depending on the price difference. But I don’t buy many parts anymore.
Did you look at the broken link to see if there was a void in the casting? That’d be interesting to do a post mortem analysis on it.
Defects can happen, but the failure of the OEM part in this particular case over time is more like an expectation rather than a surprise.
+1
When I was a young kid, I recall going to the fishmonger each week with my mother, and she would always ask, “Is it fresh?”. Of course, the fish guy always assured us that it had come off the boat only hours before… even when it hadn’t. After a few episodes of getting fish that was ready for retirement benefits, I built-up my 6 year old courage sufficiently to ask my mother, “Do you REALLY expect Mr. Logan to answer honestly?”.
The claims of vendors have to be taken with the proverbial grain of salt, in all too many cases.
Naw I just saw it on the car when it was hoisted up and before the mechanic pulled it off. I actually had a meeting and just changed the site to the hotel a few blocks away so was in a hurry and happy to get it fixed right away. Ah, now it’s coming back. I also had a closing that afternoon at home 50 miles away so no time to waste. Just get me back on the road. I replaced the other one that weekend anyway too just in case I got a bad lot.