Brought my Escape to the mechanic this morning because of a burning smell and was told that I have an oil leak and a trans fluid leak. (No check engine lights came on at all.) They topped off the fluids and cleaned the engine and told me to drive (which they say I can do safely) over the weekend -- though not too far -- and bring it in for service on Monday. I'm terrified that a huge amount of work is going to have to be done on the car having read some really awful horror stories online about this very thing happening with other Escapes.

Here's my question: if this turns out to be a massive repair/expense, do I take it back to the dealer (yes, I did buy an extended warranty which is about to expire) to see if the work would be covered or do I go w/ the mechanic who I do trust. I might be jumping the gun here because I don't yet know the extent of the work, but I'm a newbie and am trying to gather what info/knowledge I can.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

If it is covered under warranty I would let Ford fix it. Be honest with your mechanic that you have the warranty but that you will deal with him again in the future.

My 2004 is doing the same thing but it does have 287k miles on it so it is to be expected. I would climb under it tomorrow or Sunday and look for the leaks. This will give you an idea where it is coming from and maybe how much effort is going to be put I to fixing it.