Seven years or five: which applies to your Ford?
Ford's standard warranty became seven years with unlimited kilometres from 1 September 2026, on every new Ford, for private and commercial buyers. It's conditional on servicing at a Ford dealer. Choose otherwise and it defaults to five years with unlimited kilometres.
That change isn't backdated. If you bought before September 2026, nothing has changed for you: Fords sold from 1 May 2018 have five years with unlimited kilometres, and earlier ones had three years or 100,000 km.
High-voltage batteries in Ford's electric and extended-range vehicles have separate cover of eight years or 160,000 km, whichever comes first.
So two identical Rangers can carry different warranty choices, depending on the purchase date. For an older Ford, the servicing question is simple: a qualified independent mechanic working to Ford's schedule and specifications doesn't by itself void the warranty. On a new one, the five-year cover is still there, but you'd give up the two extra years.
How often does a Ford need a service?
| Distance | Time | |
|---|---|---|
| Ranger, Everest, Focus, Fiesta, Mustang, Puma, Escape | 15,000 km | 12 months |
| Transit and Transit Custom 2.0-litre | 30,000 km | 12 months |
That's CarsGuide's 2022 table. Newer models and engines aren't all on it, so the service book decides for your car. A Transit working every day can reach 30,000 km quickly, while a weekend Mustang will hit the 12 months first.
Ranger and Everest: know your engine
Ford Australia designed and engineered the Ranger, and the current model shares its underpinnings with the Everest. It launched here with a 2.0-litre single-turbo diesel, a 2.0-litre bi-turbo and a 3.0-litre V6 turbo-diesel. The bi-turbo was dropped in November 2025, and a plug-in hybrid went on sale in March 2025.
Older Rangers and Everests ran 2.2-litre and 3.2-litre engines, so the parts and the know-how vary a lot under the same badge. Tell the mechanic the engine as well as the year.
A ute that tows or carries a tray full of tools works harder than its odometer suggests. Mention that, plus any lift kit or snorkel. Our diesel service page covers what's different.
Older Fords: Focus automatics and Falcons
Third-generation Focus cars were sold here with a six-speed PowerShift automatic, standard on the Titanium and optional elsewhere. It's a dual-clutch gearbox, and it drew plenty of criticism overseas for shuddering, put down to the dry clutches used with petrol engines. If yours shudders when pulling away, tell the mechanic, and ask for someone who works on gearboxes.
The last Falcon rolled off the line on 7 October 2016, so these cars are long past their new car warranty. A good one still deserves a mechanic who knows them. A local mechanic who specialises in your car.
What you can sort out at home
You can
- Find your purchase date, because it tells you which warranty applies.
- Note the engine from the service book, not the model name.
- Check the oil, coolant level in the bottle and tyre pressures on a cold car.
Leave to the mechanic
- Scheduled servicing to Ford's items for that interval.
- Diesel fuel, turbo and emissions work.
- Anything on a plug-in hybrid's high-voltage system.
What we'd do with a Ford
We'd start with the purchase date. Bought new from September 2026, we'd weigh up whether the extra two years suit how long we'd keep the car, then stick to that decision. Bought before then, we'd choose a mechanic who works on our kind of Ford, ask for a written estimate naming the service items and oil, and tell them about the towing and the load.