Warranty Coverage on a Used 03 GT

[Islander03GT]

Long story short I bought an 03 GT in January with 6300 miles on it and the remainder of the factory warranty. When I bought it there was a "touch up" paint spot on the hood that I noticed, but didn't bother me at the time.

Fast forward to 2 months later, and the paint around the touch up spot has started to crack. there's an inch long hairline crack in the paint right above it. The car is Dark Shadow Gray. This is a paint problem right? It should be covered under the warranty right?

Today I went to a different Ford dealer right next to my office. They told me that because its used, despite still having the factory warranty I need to take it back to the dealer I bought it from. I have a feeling he's blowing smoke.

Whats the deal here? Should it be covered by any dealer since its still under the manufacturer's warranty, or since its used would I have to go back to the dealer I bought it from? They're a bit out of the way and inconvenient for me.

All input is appreciated, this is my first time dealing with a vehicle that has any warranty.

 

[lxsteed]

It shouldn't matter. If its under warranty, it's under warranty, even if you were not the original owner. If they give you the run around again, just go higher up to a manager.

 

[2002BLGT]

Long story short I bought an 03 GT in January with 6300 miles on it and the remainder of the factory warranty. When I bought it there was a "touch up" paint spot on the hood that I noticed, but didn't bother me at the time.

Fast forward to 2 months later, and the paint around the touch up spot has started to crack. there's an inch long hairline crack in the paint right above it. The car is Dark Shadow Gray. This is a paint problem right? It should be covered under the warranty right?

Today I went to a different Ford dealer right next to my office. They told me that because its used, despite still having the factory warranty I need to take it back to the dealer I bought it from. I have a feeling he's blowing smoke.

Whats the deal here? Should it be covered by any dealer since its still under the manufacturer's warranty, or since its used would I have to go back to the dealer I bought it from? They're a bit out of the way and inconvenient for me.

All input is appreciated, this is my first time dealing with a vehicle that has any warranty.

take it back and bitch , and tell them if they dont fix it , you will call ford customer service , they dont like bad reports .

 

[Islander03GT]

take it back to the dealer here, or to the original dealer?

 

[MissBlondie]

I bought an '03 GT a couple weeks ago, and for some reason teh 10k mileage mark for paint comes to mind... the only is, that if it was a chip imposed by the owner versus jsut a defect in the paint. I would still definitely get a 2nd dealerships opinion on it. If you still don't like what they say, go to Ford directly. If you're unhappy I wouldn't just settle.

 

[Islander03GT]

what 10k mileage mark for paint? The car has 10,500 on it now.

 

[Skud]

I know FOR A FACT that you don't have to take it back to the original dealer. I bought an '02 GT with 9000km on the clock and I've yet to be back to the original dealer for warranty work (1-2 Grind, sway bar bushings).

Riley

 

[Isaac-1]

Dealers can refuse to do warranty work if they are within a certain number of miles of the dealer that originally sold the car, I think it is 50 miles. This is to adress the problem of "discount dealers" that only want to sell cars and not service them.

Ike

 

[Islander03GT]

Its not a discount dealer I bought it from, lol, it was Beverly Hills Ford. I feel like a rich loser saying that, hahaha.

There are 6 days a week where I have either work or school and both are pretty far from my home, I don't have time to get to the other dealer even though its within 50 miles. I'm assuming I won't get a rental either huh?

 

[kennym01]

A ford dealer is a ford dealer. If it really is a factory defect it will be covered under the ford warranty at any dealer. First they have to determine it is a factory defect. I had a similar problem in the past with a ford vehicle with a paint defect and the dealer tried to tell me cause I was the 2nd owner they would only pay a portion of the cost for a new paint job. I took them to small claims court and won the case and a new paint job on ford. Keep playing hardball if you think this is a factory paint defect...

 

[LuvNLife]

Islander,

The first thing you may want to do is get an OASIS and CarFax report on the car. If you surf around the site, you should be able to find someone do get them for you. OASIS will give you the date your car was put in service, and the warranty clock started ticking, and if any repairs were done at a Ford dealer. CarFax will tell you if anything was done by someone else.

I bought my '03 GT used, so I'm in a similar situation. You have a used car, and for anything non-mechanical, you need to work with the selling dealer. That's probably why the dealer you went to told you what they did. From the description you gave, it sounds like a poorly done paint repair was done, and it's beginning to show. If that repair was done by the selling dealer, or shows in OASIS, you'll have no problem getting the selling dealer to fix it properly. If not, and the previous owner just hit it with with a can of DupliColor, I wouldn't count on them doing anything.

Just my .02...

Jerry

 

[Islander03GT]

Thanks for the info Jerry. I had a carfax ran before I bought the car and nothing showed... I have it at home, I think it was last March that the car was originally purchased. Where do I get an Oasis report?

I have some free time tomorrow after school and the dealer is on my way home (kinda, still a bit out of the way) so I'm gonna go talk to them. I have a picture of the spot as well, I'll post it here when I get home from work so you all can see it and give me your opinions. I've never seen paint do this before from a rock chip.

 

[LuvNLife]

If you do swing by the dealer, ask them for the OASIS. It only takes 'em a minute to print it out for you. If they balk at it (can't imagine they will), I've had good luck getting them over on blueovalnews.com.

Jerry

 

[Islander03GT]

well i took it back to the original dealer yetserday, and got a better response than i expected.

they took a look at it, took some pictures, and had to send it back to the Ford HQ for warranty approval. They marked it as "paint defect, cause unknown" and told me to give them a call later this week. I'm happy with that service.

And I got the grille delete on too, looks awesome. The brother went to Big Bear and stole the camera for the weekend so pics when he gets back.

I forgot to ask for the oasis though.

Later that day however, when I was washing the car it flaked right there now I have a little primer spot on the hood thats driving me crazy... I'll wait it out till Wednesday and see what they say. If its a no, I'll touch it up. They told me $300 bucks to repaint the hood if the warranty claim is denied, which isnt bad at all, so I'll probaby touch it up and repaint in a few months.