AUIII XR8 Ute Clutch issue

Hi all.........I recently had my baby in for her 60,000k service at Ford. I informed them of occational problems with the shift not going all the way into 1st gear until I slowly raised the clutch pedal all the way out. Also the friction point was becoming very high. They informed me that the clutch would need to be replaced at a cost of $1900.00 with factory equipment or $1100.00 non factory. I pooed myself at the thought of having to outlay 2K$. Then I was told by a friend of a friend, that about 3 weeks ago there was an extract in the motoring section of the Courier Mail that said the AUIII clutch plates had been found to have a design fault. Did anyone else read this artical? 60K doesn't seem like a long life span to me. If there is an inherent fault in these clutch plates shouldn't this be a warranty issue (I've got one month left)? If Ford pull it out and tell me it's just from wear, I'm just going to have to trust what they tell me (like you can believe them).Expensive & Frustrating! Feedback appreciated.

[5 FTR 5]

It sounds more like the selectors in the box when getting gears mine does the same.Ive got a exedy clutch street strip which is much stronger than the ford one.Ive had my gearbox rebuilt at 110,000 its had a hard life in 4 years so 60,000 doesnt seem right have you had the oil changed since putting in some redline oil the prob in mine isnt as bad may cost more but it lasts a long time.Also dont believe Ford unless you no the mechanic there isnt many good ones these days

[XRQTR]

How about 30 thou for the first clutch and the second within 7500 of that, even though I found out that they were faulty from the factory they arent a warrantable item, I was told 'driver abuse' ring any bells.

This is pretty much what the COTY boys were told when they first brought up the clutch issues with Ford on the Phoons, Ford tried to put it down to driver misuse, however when this happened again and again it was pretty hard to deny a problem. Remember the only reason they even fixed the prob is because of all the bad press they were getting, and, i dont doubt they would have had a few cancellations or certainly at the least hesitiation from prospective purchasers.

As for your clutch use your mechanic and go a Mal Wood item they seem to be the go at the moment, my current clutch isnt doing too bad but if I continue Calder Friday nights then I might be needing another before long.

Thanks guys - when you say bad press they were getting, do you mean specificly with AU3 clutch plates or with clutch plates through out the AU/BA range?
I haven't heard of any bad press regarding these models (yes! I do try to keep my head buried in the sand most of the time, ignorance is usually bliss.) Hit me with it.....
I've got 1 month warranty left what else should I be looking for? But I really was hoping someone had read that article in the Courier, or even better still has a copy of it.