Do you really need an extended warranty?

[Armin]

People miss the point.

Of course most people will never need it. Of course you will lose money most of the time. And of course Ford is mostly reliable. If it wasn't they would not be offering these warranties.

This is like fire insurance on your house. Most people will live decades in a house and not ever need it in their entire life. But if you do get a fire, you are glad you took it.

With cars it is of course a smaller amount of money, but that is the decision. Do you want to insure a small possibility of let's say ~10K of bills later by paying let say ~3K upfront. That is the question. It isn't about gambling or whether it is worth it. It is a choice of what risk you are willing to reduce for what price.

If you are OK with having a small chance of a 10K bill don’t take the insurance and keep the money. If that would wreck your budget or you just don’t want the hassle of dealing with that, take the insurance. It is that simple of a choice.

I bought it on my current Expedition. For me it is the idea I could just drop the car off and drive off with a loner. No hassle with rentals and let the dealership deal with it. Almost certainly I'll lose money over the total ownership, but I like the mental insurance. Other people likely just keep the money in their pocket.

 

[The Chairman]

I’ve been driving Ford’s for over 50 years and never bought or needed an extended warranty.
My ‘14 Navigator has only been in the shop once, at 50K miles, for new tires.
That said, new vehicles are very complex and things get expensive real quick. So for my ‘16 GT350 and new GT500, I bought the extended warranties in case I break something really expensive. Not for mileage in my case, but for 84 months.
And the sooner you buy it, the cheaper it is.

 

[walshine]

I've been driving Fords for 40 years and my 2015 Ltd is the first vehicle I purchased an extended warranty for, and like many others, mainly because of the cost of repairs in the event of electronics failure. I could do a lot of the mechanical repairs myself, but diagnosing electronics,etc...not so much.
I strongly agree with the frustration of others when taking vehicle to dealer for repairs, "unable to replicate", etc, and comes back dirtier than when I dropped it off, dripping oil, and so on.
Anyway, if you decide to go with extended warr. definitely shop around. I purchased from Lombard Ford and saved over 30+% vs. dealer price. Emma at Lombard Ford was, and has been the best customer service person I've dealt with in a long time. She's very knowledgeable, polite, responsive and their pricing was very competitive.

 

[mcb345]

If you plan to keep the car 10-15 years buy the 10 year warranty bumper to bumper for sure!

100% chance you’re replacing something major with the reliability I’ve read about on here. Turbos, lane keep assist, rear back up cameras etc.

Can you replace your VCT when it fails? A turbo? Maybe, but enjoy forking over the $$$ for the parts!

anyone set on keeping these cars long term should spend $2500 or whatever it is for a 10 year warranty. If you don’t use it you get your money back if I’m not mistaken? Sell it in 5 years get half back. It’s a refundable insurance policy.

 

[keny01998]

I got extended warranty for 72 months 100k miles around $1600 from Floods Ford and my 2019 Exp has been good. I plan to keep it at least 10 years since it's my family hauler.

 

[Utah Driver]

I was offered a plan from "Car Shield" for my 16 Platinum. They offered me their diamond plan for about $70 a month. They say the price is lifetime. In other words, no mileage limits and$70 a month for as long as I own the vehicle. I can cancel at any time so there is no contract or large up front sum. I am going to check a little further to see what kind of turbo coverage that entails.

 

[Expedition Dave]

I was offered a plan from "Car Shield" for my 16 Platinum. They offered me their diamond plan for about $70 a month. They say the price is lifetime. In other words, no mileage limits and$70 a month for as long as I own the vehicle. I can cancel at any time so there is no contract or large up front sum. I am going to check a little further to see what kind of turbo coverage that entails.

In 66 months x $70 you will have nearly doubled the cost of a negotiated Ford Extended Warranty (limited to 125K though IIRC). FYSA, at some point if the vehicle becomes to expensive to repair, Ford will give you your trade/blue book value/check or some-such. May be only worth it if you drive a massive amount of miles a month from new and you would hit the 125K miles max super early in under the length of an extended warranty...

Also, there can be massive clauses with those types of warranties, such as not being valid for a fleet or as a work vehicle, you must get all service here/or prove you had all manufacture maintanance timely with records, etc. I think if you bring in a 10-15 year old Expy with 300K on the odo for a blown engine, they might say they will replace it now at the counter, but I don't know...

Not trying to drop a deuce on your deal, just want you to be aware of what you are paying for. I would consider the above, ask questions, and renegotiate based upon your needs.

YMMV

 

[Jamaican Cruiser]

My perspective was that given all the "new technology" introduced in this edition of the Expedition, that the extended warranty was a must. 360 Degree cameras, intelligent cruise, new rear suspension .... etc. are all relatively new to Ford and I am not yet trusting that they are as reliable as they should be, so I opted to the 5 year extended warranty.

You already know stuff is going to break, the question is how much do you want to pay out of pocket when it does.

 

[mcb345]

Or for some, do they even care to have it fixed? I care, so I bought it.

I can’t imagine forking over the $1k - 2k for a new lane keep camera that just went out on my car. It’s repairs like that that many people might decide not to fix 5, 7 or 9 years down the road for that price and then all that technology you invested in originally is gone.

To each their own though. As others said, it’s a gamble buying the extended warranty bs not, but you can also look at the warranty as hedging your losses. Instead of losing $10-15k in repose in x number of years, lose $2k.

 

[Janky]

So where do folks recommend 'shopping around', other Ford Dealerships? I was offered I believe a 10 year bumper to bumper for $3400 (I think?) from Titus Will in Tacoma, WA and declined, merely because I've always heard they are a waste of money. However, after the water leak issues I'm dealing with, I'm getting concerned. Plus, I agree with others - the complexity of this vehicle is daunting, and I would be surprised if any visit to the dealer was less than $500 out of pocket.
I do plan to ask my dealer if they will discount the warranty since I've had these issues, but I doubt they'll budge. Where to go? My 2018 with 32.5k miles was purchased in July of 2018, so I've got around 7 months/2500 miles to go on the factory warranty.

 

[Going_Going_Gone]

"So where do folks recommend 'shopping around', other Ford Dealerships?"
Flood Ford, Lombard Ford are two that members here have used. I used Flood Ford myself.

 

[Highlightreel]

When I bought my Expy in June 2019 I was nervous about not buying from my local dealer (having it be a legit warranty from another source) AND nervous about really trusting people on the forum since I was newer to this site, and the internet is full of d-bags and no-it-alls nowadays.

...BUT I have to say, in hindsight, I now trust the people on here and would 100%, if not buy from, use as a negotiating tool Flood Ford or Lombard prices.

In fact, I had filled out info on Lombard Ford site and after not buying it, they sent follow up emails offering better deals and a promo code for even cheaper warranty. I probably spent around $1000 more on my warranty with my dealer than Lombard.

I'd say another "Win" for this forum and the users. Thanks!

 

[iamretired]

Bought a used 2015 with about 80k in 2019, read postings here and other places. I have some mechanical experience and now 71 years old, have investigated automotive complaints in the 80's and found good and bad dealerships. I was not thrilled with 3.5 motor but no longer V8's, and price of vehicle were a deal for me. Posts about drip can and other concerns, I researched extended warranty's and got one from Lombardo ford in CT, for around 15 hundred and got coverage for 3 more years and think to 130k something. My traveling to other states was the main concern and have it covered. Now covid crap has delayed travel plans but over all, I think it is a better use of a warranty then paying for a engine or trans. The only issue with vehicle presently is back up camera works one day and not the next, saying not available. I remain surprised with the engine and this vehicle can move when I want it too.

 

[Janky]

It just occurred to me the max ESP is 8 years since purchase. I don't drive that many miles so I only need a 75k mile plan, and that is a stretch. Brings the price down quite a bit. Thanks for the suggestions - likely going with Flood Ford for about $1670 with key coverage. Gonna sleep on it.

 

[Janky]

Follow up question - Do dealers give you a bad time if you do your own regular maintenance, like oil/filter changes? I would hate to drop $1700 bucks then tell me I voided the warranty by putting in a non-Motorcraft oil filter.

 

[MxRacer965]

FWIW I bought a lifetime service agreement for my 2011 Grand Cherokee Summit. It cost around $2K. That GC has 95K on it now and had to have the air suspension system rebuilt. It was WELL worth the cost of the lifetime warranty! The dealer had it for 3 weeks, replaced the compressor, etc. And that was before they realized it had a lifetime warranty. They also replaced a faulty switch on the back hatch.

get the warranty if you plan to keep the vehicle 6+ years. Otherwise roll the dice I think.

i’ll be buying a warranty once Christmas and ammo buying stops denting my wallet!

 

[tim5055]

Well, I seldom if ever purchase an extended warranty. But, as others have said with the electronics on this vehicle I wanted one.

I purchased it from Lombard and hoped I never needed it.

I now have 55,000 miles on my 18 Max Platinum.

So far I have had all of the cam phasers replaces as well as the cellular communications module replaced twice. They just did the TSB for the tailgate opening n it's own, as they call it "uncommanded".

I'm figuring I'm at the point of breaking even so any future repairs will be my bonus for purchasing the warranty.

 

[CaptainKrunch]

Extended warranties are for people that are bad at math and also bad at being financially responsible. If you did the math you would see that about 12 percent of the money you spend on the warranty is actually used to fix your vehicle. And financially responsible people have a fully funded emergency fund and money saved for anticipated car repairs; they pay for repairs out of pocket.

 

[Joshua Folckemer]

I purchased mine from a dealer and it came with a lifetime powertrain warranty at no additional cost. It is paying for itself in dividends right now. Transmission started slipping over Thanksgiving. Its currently having a new transmission installed at 83k miles. $6-7k cost, $100 deductible out of my pocket. So long as I maintain the vehicle per owners manual, its covered as long as I own it, unlimited time and mileage.

 

[Commander Opus]

I bought the extended warranty for several reasons, most of which are noted already in this thread (10 speed tranny, 3.5L turbos, etc). But I also keep my cars a looooong time (350K on a 2000 Explorer), so having the extended warranty to cover things that I cannot fix seems like a good investment. Only $2K for 150K mile coverage. And this is through Ford, so hopefully hassle-free.