Ford Warranty Question

[swanning_it]

Quick question to gauge the AFF members perception of a Ford new car warranty clause.

The clause according to my warranty and service guide states:

ITEMS NOT COVERED BY THE FORD VEHICLE WARRANTY

• replacement of items such as oil/fuel/air filters, emission control valves, spark plugs, wiper blades, engine and other belts, hoses and brakes and clutch linings

All pretty self explanatory, however my question pertains to the "hoses" item. I have a worn (holed) alloy coolant pipe which I'm told is not a warranty item as "hoses" are not covered by the new car warranty (except up until 3 years where they do cover them as a goodwill gesture....so I'm told).

My issue is, I believe an alloy pipe is not a hose and should in fact be covered under the warranty (as pipes are not excluded).

To explain the warranty, my vehicle has 98750 km on the clock and was purchased new by me in mid 2005 under a Ford Australia "Factory Bonus Time Extended New Vehicles Warranty" promotion which extended the new vehicle warranty to 5 years/100 000 km.

No one except Ford dealer workshops have touched the vehicle and all servicing has been done in accordance with the Ford service guide.

My Ford dealer claims they'd love to carry out the repair under warranty but Ford Australia has rejected it, but I don't necessarily believe that as the dealer has quoted me just under $500 to carry out the repair : . No way would Ford pay them that amount for a warranty claim! I've priced the pipe from the dealers spare parts dept. and it comes to a grand total of $71 (although their service dept quoted $93 for it.....30% mark-up over retail : ), so add some coolant and it looks like a disproportional amount for labour (estimated 1 hour job).

Given all my local Ford dealers at one point or another have attempted to bill me during various services for a pollen filter (about $100) which my vehicle doesn't even have, I've become fairly distrusting of Ford dealers in general (perhaps undeservingly) so I thought I might just throw this out to you guys for comment and see if you think I've got "WOOD-DUCK" stamped into my forehead or if Ford are correct in their assertion an alloy pipe is in fact a hose.

What do you think???????

Ian