Water pump OEM FORD or GRAF

I have 27K miles on a Graf with no complaints.

I installed the aluminum pump (Graf) on the wife's Tiguan and it has worked great since. Have put 40K miles on the metal pump and no issues.

GRAF makes this particular pump without the magnetic impeller, and it’s the best option.

I just had the alternator (bearing went bad) and water pump changed (coolant leaking through the weep hole). Still the original block.

Graf is good. They are an OEM (original equipment manufacturer)

In the 11000 or so km i have driven the vehicle i have already had 1) Water pump replacement, 2) Front engine cover slow leak ( awaiting parts on backorder) & 2 inspections covered under warranty.

Well, all of these seals are not created equal in my experience. I have had a bad experience with some seal kits that had combustion chamber seals that were really hard so they didn't stretch evenly over the injector or compress properly with the proper tools. Luckily I was able to source some of the correct ones from a tech friend the same day, so I was able to get my car going. You really need to make sure that you have the right ones, as you have to destroy the old ones to remove them, and if the new ones aren't right, you are screwed. I personally won't recommend anything other than factory parts, as too many times I have tried something else, like Graf aluminum water pumps (two failures-100%, within six months) and gotten burned.

Sadly, I've gone through two water pumps on my 2012 Ford Explorer.

This is why I’ve avoided the 3.5/3.7 Duratec engines in transverse (front wheel drive) platforms. It’s just fine in rear wheel drive applications as those use an external pump driven by the serpentine belt.

Yup, that's happens when they decided to put water pump INSIDE the engine. Ask me why i would never own a newer Ford. Oh, and a timing belt cooled by engine oil, what could possibly ever go wrong? Last 10 years Ford has managed to come up dumbest engine designs.