Warranty start date

[bb37]

Anyone here an expert in Ford warranty policies?

I bought a 2024 Expedition on January 29, 2025. It was sold to me as a new vehicle. The invoice and the loan contract say that it was a new vehicle. No mention was made of a different warranty start date.

I am now being told by Ford customer service that my warranty start date is December 3, 2024.

I have talked to the selling dealer. They say that because the vehicle had been on their lot for 12 months (it was built in December 2023), that it is Ford's policy to start the warranty at that time even though the vehicle had not been sold. Again, no mention was made of this when I bought the vehicle.

Does this sound legitimate? Does Ford automatically start warranties after 12 months?

 

[Fastcar]

Sounds like BS to me. How many miles were on it when you bought it? Wondering if it was used an a loaner.

 

[Grrumpy]

Not an expert, and might depend on your particular state laws, but........If the vehicle was new and had never been titled and you are the very first owner/first to be titled...... than the warranty should start on the first date of purchase to the first owner.....meaning you.
Any third rate bus-bench lawyer could win that for you......
If however it was used as a dealer demo, rental, loaner, than the warranty started when it was first used as a demo, loaner, ect.
"New" being a relative term....new maybe meaning never titled, and dealer can probably get away with "new" cause it had never been titled to an owner.
How many miles did odometer show when you purchased it.....that should give you an indication of it's use or non-use prior to your ownership.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

Anyone here an expert in Ford warranty policies?

I bought a 2024 Expedition on January 29, 2025. It was sold to me as a new vehicle. The invoice and the loan contract say that it was a new vehicle. No mention was made of a different warranty start date.

I am now being told by Ford customer service that my warranty start date is December 3, 2024.

I have talked to the selling dealer. They say that because the vehicle had been on their lot for 12 months (it was built in December 2023), that it is Ford's policy to start the warranty at that time even though the vehicle had not been sold. Again, no mention was made of this when I bought the vehicle.

Does this sound legitimate? Does Ford automatically start warranties after 12 months?

Ford and GM starts their new-vehicle warranties based upon the “in-service date”.

The in-service date is when a customer (individual or business) buys the vehicle (cash or credit) and takes delivery of the vehicle. Note that you could buy a new vehicle, then leave it at the dealer for some time for service or alterations, but the warranty would start when you bought it - not when you left the dealership with the vehicle.

From afar - I’d bet the dealership “bought” the vehicle from Ford in December, with some type of financial benefit. Manufacturers at times will offer the dealers a special financial incentive to buy the vehicle (and not hold it in stock). Dealers can then use the vehicle as a rental or dealer-loaner vehicle.

If that occurred, then, when you bought the vehicle - you were buying from the dealer as an owner, not as a dealer holding the vehicle for sale on a manufacturer’s statement of origin (MSO).

If you look at your car title (or copy) it should state the origin of the purchase transfer. If it was “new” and never titled to anyone - it should state it was from the MSO. If your title shows a prior title number, that means the car had been titled before your (even if it had little or no additional miles).

If it had been titled before you, that is when the various warranties start dates began.

 

[bb37]

The vehicle had 3,477 miles on it when I bought it. The story was that the vice president of the dealership corporation (6 dealerships in central Indiana) used it as his personal vehicle. It may have also been used as a demo or loaner.

To recap, vehicle was built December 2023, warranty started 12/3/2024, my purchase 1/29/2025.

At the time of purchase, I received $8,000 in incentives from Ford plus $2,000 customer cash from Ford plus a $5900 discount from the dealer. I mention this because when I talked to the dealer today, they kept bringing up the incentives as if they were some sort of payment for taking a vehicle that had been "used". My records indicate that a $5,000 Retail Customer Cash incentive and a $3,000 Trade-in Assistance Bonus Cash incentive were in effect at the time. IOW, anyone could have gotten those incentives.

The Application for Title (attached) says nothing about new vs. used. The Former Title Number field is blank which would seem to indicate that it had never been titled before. The online title at the Indiana BMV website has the same information.

I've talked to Ford Customer Service. They referred me to the dealer. The dealer is sticking by the story that Ford forced them to put the vehicle "in service" which set the warranty start date.

So, I went back to Ford Customer Service. The first agent transferred me to another agent who did some research and then put me on hold to contact the dealer. Ford is now going to escalate this and I have a case number. Hopefully, I'll hear something in a week or so. I plan to breathe normally and get 8 hours of sleep each night until this is resolved.