[GT1533]

The way it used to work at Ford Australia - although this is 20 years ago now - is that dealers were authorised to do warranty work up to a specified level, but anything that was very high cost had to be referred to Ford for prior approval. The dealer was reimbursed labour rates at a rate set by Ford, but which was pretty close to a retail rate. Parts were provided at cost plus a small handling fee rather than retail markups. The dealer was reimbursed by Ford by an offset to the dealer’s parts account with Ford which is settled monthly.