I just bought a 2006 diesel F250 Super Duty 4x4 automatic. It's essentially my first American made vehicle and is my first truck. I will use it to tow a 5th wheel, and for various other tasks.

I just migrated from the VW world where I spent 40 years and did most of my basic tune-ups and maintenance. I have not decided yet whether to purchase Ford's Scheduled Maintenance Plan on the new F250, and would appreciate any insights from those with experience. Admittedly I have generally avoided having dealers work on my vehicles and I have avoided maintenance plans in the past.

 

Welcome...Congrats on your new truck. I believe you will find this site very informative and user friendly...What exactly is Ford "saying" they will do for you after you hand over your hard earned dollars for this maint. plan? And how much cash are we talking about...and what is the plan duration?

Bigfront

 

That's a lot of variables and numbers. I just bought an Excursion yesterday, so the sales pitch is fresh in my memory.
In short the context of the "value" is to say it's a diesel, so every maintenance item is considerably larger, heftier and consequently more expensive. Plus, unless you know diesels, it's not shade-tree stuff to tinker with on the weekends. And at 15qts, plus various filters, the scheduled maintenance alone adds up.
So the sales pitch is, for every three years or so, assuming pretty nominal miles, 12K per year, the scheduled maintenance is about $4K.
If you buy all that maintenance up front, they'll service a 6.0 Excursion to 75K miles for $2K -- so you save at least $2K in the first 75K miles (not just the warrantied 36K miles.)
I did a quick napkin-math look at air/fuel/oil filters, oil and the knuckle-skin value of having someone else do the basic maintenance. It seems worth it, but I have until the first service (7500miles) to decide.
I will trust them to do the monkey work, but I always go back over the whole vehicle, nut and bolt. And I don't trust other people to do servicing on brakes for example. I'll have someone else get the rotors on there (save my back and let them eat brake dust) but I'll always get the wheels off and go back over it on my own time to make sure it's properly bled out and everything is torqued.
I trust the dealership to do the work to preserve the warranty. And I might even by an extended warranty -- just the cost of a few pieces (distributor f'rinstance) could eat my wallet for breakfast -- especially if there's no diesel SUV replacement available in three years, I could have this X for a long, long time.

I guess you could put together a spreadsheet, look at the cost of $2K up front versus keeping it in your pocket. You could look at the real cost (not the worst case cost) of maintenance. You could have a trusted Ford truck or at least diesel mechancic/technician with access to alldata or whatever for updates, recalls, fixes etc. There's plenty of reasons why someone could save the money and manage their own truck. I know a lot about Porsches, but I know very little about diesels. I know a lot about trucks, but not much about Ford components (most of this truck is built around stuff that never sold where I grew up) so I have to admit I don't have the time, the inclination let alone the knowledge or skills to service it entirely myself.
I'll still check it for safety myself. : )
One more point. These "contracts" are fully pro-rated and refundible if it's not working out. And the price has at least $200 flexibility for negotiation. I negotiated from $2500+ to $2000 at the first conversation and I wasn'ting doing anything magic, they just offered better pricing when I went through the numbers in some detail.

 

It’s called the Premium Maintenance Plan

1. Coverage of common wear items: Spark plugs, engine belts and hoses, brake pads and linings, clutch disc, shock absorbers.
2. Lube, oil, oil filter, tire rotation, lube hinges/latches/door weatherstrips, drain fuel/water separator, various inspections and checks - every 5K.
3. Various inspections and checks, replace filters (cabin air, fuel) - every 15K.
4. Replace filters (engine air, fuel), service transmission/transaxle, various inspections and checks - at 30K.
All for $1185, and covers up to 3years/36,000 miles.

 

ok well it looks a little high for what you get.

you can do all of it yourself and fuel filters tend to go a little sooner than 15k so plan on that. new air filter is 69.00

so 6 oil changes @42.00=252.00
2 fuel filter services @ 15.00 =30.00
1 air filter @ 69.00 = 69.00
differential service 50.00
transmission service 150.00

so it is only 601.00 if you do it yourself. for a total savings of 584.00 or 195 gallons of fuel.

 

How much is a quart of diesel engine oil and how many quarts per change?
The quote I got was for 75K miles at $2K -- 36K miles is barely above my annual average of about 25K just towing assuming it doesn't get used around town.
And you have to factor in tools, equipment and materials, time, clean-up, disposal.
It's barely possible to replace the trans fluid, filter and gasket in a gas-engined SUV (Tahoe in my case) for $100 (California) so I wonder if it's realistic to do the trans for that number ... and wouldn't the trans interval be more like 100K?
This whole US diesel truck game is all new to me.

Even if there's still a price premium, the decision is whether you DIY or you let someone breath the fumes and soak up the chemicals.
After all, these are $40-60K trucks, so nobody here is exactly hurting for money -- I DIY my car for fun, but I get my truck serviced because it's just not interesting. Upgrades, yes, flipping filters, not so much.


Cheers,

 

I had water getting into the box from the rear tires. I complained to dealer & Ford .The service manager talked to the Ford rep. on my behalf.The result was I paid dealer cost for the rear wheel splash gaurds free install,I got a 36 month 4500mile premium service contract free,Ford was not over joyed with the reps. desision but they said ok.Not bad for $83.00.I was going to do my own service I had even purchsed filters from filter one,oil, a large drain pan & a Fumoto draian valve (installed by the dealer on the free oil change).So for the next 3 years I don`t have to crawl under my 2005 F250 diesel for any thing,I think I have a very good dealer, this is not the only vehicle that I have purchased from them,I have always got a very good price from them & they have always serviced my wifes car.Always a ride home or a loaner car.My son gets the same service on his ranger & he did not buy it from them,We need more dealers like this who want your repeat business.
Ken