When you have your car serviced, as we all know, the dealer/garage who services it puts their stamp on the Service Record page. On the next page is the Body and Paint Record, which should also be stamped at each service to verify that a body and paint inspection has been carried out.

If the Body and Paint Record is not stamped at each service, the rust warranty is null and void........

The trouble is I phoned FMCRC (Customer Relationship Centre) and the guy I spoke to said from an official Ford point of view you must get this stamp done along with the service to keep the warranty. From a personal point of view he said it isnt perhaps always needed as long as the dealership is reasonable and the problem is reported quickly. I was also told that Ford only give you seven days to report a defect. If you dont report it within this time they dont have to do a thing. They can turn around and say you let the problem drag on and get significantly worse.

The next problem with this stamp is that it is an extra cost on top of the service as it isnt included! The FMCRC guy said they try and encourage their dealerships to sell this service to the customer (of course they would) but not all of them do and it should cost around £10-15. The bodywork person walks round your car, inspects it, does a check sheet, you see the check sheet, agree/disagree and thats it, book is stamped.

I suggest if you think this is going to affect you (for us long term owners) or if it bothers you anyway, to speak to your dealership.