Posted on 08/18/2021 4:59:43 PM PDT by pfflier
“I wouldn’t buy any policy other than a genuine Ford Factory warranty. And don’t buy it from the dealer. Buy it directly from Ford.”
this advice is a complete no-brainer ...
“All I hear about Subie’s is failed head gaskets which requires pulling the motor because it’s a flat 4.”
100% correct ...
I bought the extended warranty for my used 2014 Ford Expedition. I think it cost $1,900 (the last one I bought a decade earlier was $900). It was a third-party warranty, but I bought it from Ford when we closed the deal.
Shortly before the manufacturer’s warranty expired, the sunroof stopped working. I called up the local Ford dealership and asked to bring it in. They said we are booked for three weeks; I said fine and we booked the appointment.
Between that time I booked the service call with the dealership and the time I got the truck in, the warranty expired. Ford would NOT honor the warranty. I tried calls to the Service Manager, the dealership owner, the Ford service ombudsman, the Ford District Manager, and Ford Corporate. I got nowhere with any of them.
Then the Extended Warranty company shut me down as well!
So I called the dealer where I bought the used vehicle. They sell LOTS of extended warranties and must make great margins on them. They made a quick call to the extended warranty company and in less than ten minutes they agreed to pay the full cost of the repair (which was about $3,500!).
A couple years later the aluminum Air Conditioner lines under the car to the rear cabin AC unit corroded out. Turns out that is a well-known problem with Fords (they probably save an ounce of metal compared to using steel lines). I think the extended warranty company refused to pay that one, too (I may be wrong on that).
On a previous car, the warranty paid off.
It’s always a crap shoot as is any type of insurance. You’d rather your house not burn down and you don’t have to use the insurance you paid for, but it’s good when you need it. For us with Ford products, the warranties have always paid off. They may pay off on a Honda or Toyota, though.
Based on my experience, if you do make a claim, be prepared to FIGHT them to get them to pay you. And it really helps to have a cooperative dealer that sells lots of warranties put pressure on the extended warranty company to pay you. They have far more clout than you will ever have.
I will agree with Gen.Blather that extended warranties are a major profit center. In fact, the extended warranty sales kept a tech company I worked for profitable and allowed them to stay open, several years ago.
Having said that, the general dealer price in the DFW market for the extended warranties for my Chrysler Pacifica were about 15% of the cost of the minivan. I found a dealer in another state that sold me a Crysler Mopar 5 year bumper to bumper warranty, unlimited mileage, for about 5% of the new cost - about $1700 as I recall. I have seldom used it but the idea that I have it provides much peace. We have protection in case of a serious problem (the 2017 9-speed Mercedes transmission has issues), helps in case of a dealer runaround and is good anywhere in the country that I travel to.
There are a few dealers that sell thousands of extended warranties and sell them for about half of other dealers. Find one of those and buy one.
There are some engine issues on Escapes that cause it to begin to leak coolant into the cylinders. It shows up as a cylinder misfire code. Our 2019 failed at about 30K miles and had to have a long block installed under warranty.
Each of our three kids has had a Ford Escape.
#1 (2012) wouldn’t shift into gear. The dealer said my daughter spilled coke in the console shifter. She doesn’t drink the stuff. The transmission went wonky. The dealer said the hydraulic valve body was varnished because she towed a trailer in the Rocky Mountains. She has never towed a trailer. They tried to cheat her out of $1,500 to fix it. I quickly got them down to $700.
#2 (2013) was erratic and would stall as you pulled out after the red light turned green. They had all sorts of trouble figuring out what was causing the stalling; I think it was a faulty throttle body. Then the fan motor on the electric fan failed and that was about $1,500 to replace.
#3 (2017) was fine until one day the transmission went “kablooey” on the freeway. The car was in the shop for over six weeks while they got a warranty replacement engine. They stopped paying for the rental car at two weeks, so I think we were on the hook for the rental for a full month.
Ford Escapes are terrible.
The head gasket problem was fixed in the re-design of 2005, I think. Any recip engine, of course, can have that happen but it is no longer common among Subarus. Sometimes it seems every third car here is a WRX or WRX STI, many hopped up and driven hard by young drivers and still, they don’t characteristically blow head gaskets.
Yes, and their resell value is higher too.
Suzy called me about my car warranty today.
Nice girl.
My Mom’s Escape had the same problem.
“When Toyota exists why would anyone buy a Ford.“
Isn’t it true that when Joe Biden was still able to drive, he drove a Toyota?
Because Toyotas break down as much as any vehicle??
That said, I like the Corolla as one of the best but cheapest, yet high MPG, car on the market. Can’t beat its value.
We’ve purchased two extended warranties and in terms of repairs they paid for vs what they cost we lost big time. The purpose of an extended warranty is like insurance, to make the company money. It’s like going to a casino, sure you’ll win some, but over all it’s a loss.
One of our warranties was for a 2018 F150, we bought the most expensive one, which basically mimicked the factory warranty it came with. Our AC unit quit working, the bill was over $700 and the warranty refused to pay for it because a certain part was not replaced. I raised holly hell, threw a tantrum and the warranty company paid up. The dealership paid the deductable for me and gave me two months of Sirius XM free.
I really regret buy the F150. The electronics are annoyingly over done to the point of stupidity.
How long will you keep the vehicle?
8 years 100K miles or longer.
how many miles on it?
46.5K
I would not buy the extended warranty, just look up the scheduled maintenances and have them done...when scheduled.
That is the roll of the dice I would make.
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