FORD'S six-year rust warranty rings hollow for Martin and Beth Whittaker whose Ka is corroding after just four years.
After complaining to the car giant, all they have been offered is £412 – half the cost of repairs.
Now they want the Blue Oval to stand by the anti-perforation guarantee.
The couple from Farmhill in Stroud bought the 08-registered hatchback new and expect a six-year warranty to be just that.
"When you buy a new car, you don't expect it to start rusting within four years," said public relations consultant Martin.
"When you claim under warranty, you expect it to be honoured."
When they noticed rust spots on the boot lid, around the windscreen wiper and petrol cap rim they took it up with the Bristol Street Motors Ford in Stroud, where they bought the car.
They were referred to its Gloucester bodyshop, where they were told the car was unlikely to be covered because they had not had the body and paint record checks stamped in the service history.
Buy the couple says it has been serviced regularly by another garage, which gave it a visual check.
Although the service record book says the body panels should be examined regularly by a Ford-authorised dealer, Martin and Beth said it was never made clear that they had to have this done and there was no information in the owners' warranty handbook.
The Gloucester bodyshop said the Whittakers were not eligible to have the work done under warranty but would not explain why and refused to give the decision in writing, giving them a telephone number for Ford customer services.
The couple have asked Ford to reconsider its offer. But the company will not be moved.
A Ford spokesman said: "The warranty claim was rejected because body/paint checks had not been carried out and recorded (in line with the requirements of the perforation warranty) and the owner/repairer had, therefore, neglected to bring the perforation damage to Ford's attention from the outset.
"Had the damage been identified earlier, the extent of the deterioration could have been avoided."
She added: "The customer has been offered a goodwill gesture of 50% which we believe is fair, given the circumstances outlined above."
