I noticed what I thought was a rock chip on the front edge of my hood of my 2011 Explorer. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the paint bubbling off of the hood and what I thought was a rock chip was actually a large fleck that had already come off.
Looking at the rest of the hood, I found six more spots along the front edge that had paint bubbling and lifting off the hood, although none of the other spots had paint completely off yet.
I took it to my dealer and they told me this is a known problem. It comes from the corrosion of the aluminum hood, usually from iron contamination during assembly.
I asked them if it would be covered under warranty since it is a problem stemming from manufacturing. The manager of the body repair dept. told me that there is a 36,000 mile warranty and since mine has 46,000 miles it would not be covered.
He said this is a common problem with Ford vehicles since they use aluminum hoods. I researched it and found this has been a problem for years and there is a TSB covering vehicles from 2000-07. I also found info on a class action suit for vehicles up to 2007.
My feeling is that since the vehicle is two years old the paint should still be in good condition regardless of miles. In fact, mileage should really have no effect on paint other than rock chips and such. It is evident that the problem is coming from under the paint which indicates that it is a manufacturing issue. I understand the vehicle is past 36,000 miles, but this has been going on for a while and has just now gotten bad enough to manifest itself. This is a known problem and I feel Ford should warranty it.
Has anyone had any luck getting this problem repaired under warrant after 36,000 miles? If so, how did you go about it? Can Zone Managers authorize the repair?
Thanks.
