Well in the past I have not been one to purchase extended warranties but I am considering it today. Right at 36k on 2015 F350 dually cooling/heating element went out and covered by Ford for around $1300. Now this weekend as I went on vacation to a lake after travelling around 300 miles I stopped at grocery store to stock up for lake cabin, came out and the truck starts but will not come out of park and steering wheel not locked. Over 2 days time(Ford place closed) I came back to parking lot saying a lot of not so nice things to my truck and tried and tried and tried. The traction control system icon on left lower display area would come up as soon as I moved shifter and the P R N D L displays would go dark and I heard a click in the dash and no ability to budge out of Park. Finally tried turning key on but not starting and got it to neutral and started it and now it would shift so I thought I was pretty clever and had reset the computer somehow. Nope--put in park and stuck again and now even the neutral trick didn't work. Eventually another day later(Sunday) the neutral trick worked once more and drove it to a local dealer and parked it there. Went in this morning and guy not too pleasant frankly and they so far have not figured problem out. Had this happened on my trip to New York with my horses it could have been a real problem if as hot out as it is now. Damn, I buy new stuff to avoid these issues. Now with 39k I am off warranty and who knows. Not a real happy camper at this time. Any of you tech guys know anything say so and I will clue in the locals here. But I will get a warranty on my 2017 SD.

 

Replace your battery! I too am going to get the extended warranty when I get my truck! I usually keep my vehicle for 10 years so I get the 7/75K warranty so I am only out of warranty a few years before getting a new vehicle.

 

Refer to the manual - I believe there is a way to shift out of Park even with no battery power. It involves splitting open the steering column shroud (easy).

One other thing - make sure you don't have one of your brake lights out. Other brands of cars I owned sometimes would not shift out of park if one brake light was out (not 3rd brake lamp). Something to do with the cruise control circuit and brake light circuit.

 

My last three Ford's have had ESP from Flood Ford. They always beat my dealer's price by large amounts.;

https://www.floodfordesp.com/

 

Thanks guys for the tips. I will pass it on. Just got back from Ford dealer again and they didn't look at it yet today I kinda lit a fire when he said it could take awhile to fix it---me suggesting that is a cop out when you haven't even looked at it to make a diagnosis. That is like me telling one of my patients your surgery may be lengthy without even knowing what the heck procedure I am going to do!! That did not instill tremendous confidence in me but I was quite respectfully blunt in suggesting they are part of the Ford family and although not my regular dealer I expect nothing less than quality work and honest interactions. We will see what happens. It seems everyone keeps asking me about my warranty as if that is the determining factor as to getting it done which ticks me off given my cash is just as green as the warranty company. Oh well I am just frustrated that I buy new to hopefully avoid these issues but not so this time.

 

Not sure about the auto market but when I worked motorcycle dealer, warranty work paid X for Y procedure regardless of how long it takes and the diagnostic work to get there was iffy. If you didn't follow the troubleshooting guides exactly, any work done outside of that wasn't paid out by the warranty.

 

I will be getting the warranty as well. Can the ford warranty be purchased from any ford dealer? Is fd-warranty.com ford warranty or third party??

 

If you tell them you're paying out of pocket, they probably will like you more... Warranty work doesn't generally make a dealership money (at least, not in my industry).. it's more of a hopefully-break-even part of being a dealer.

 

Drove by the dealer an hour ago and finally truck is inside--no call yet on problem and warranty coverage but I am assuming out of pocket given 39k miles and I did not purchase extended warranty.

 

If you are slightly out of warranty, some times Ford will work with you, maybe split the cost or something. It's worth asking at least...

Best of luck!

 

One of the strongest points of the extended warranty is the "free" car rental, FOB dealer. It may be cheaper to call for a rental in the long run but it does take a lot of pressure out of the situation. I think it is $90 extra to have that coverage from day 1 of a repair instead of day 2 but it relieves hours of sitting in a waiting room wondering what disaster is lurking down the repair bay and whether Paul his home to come pick me up or how will I get to Bingo Game tonight.

 

Nice to know. The dealer did have a rental service which is unusual. $60 daily so not bad with unlimited miles. Initially they said no cars available but while I was having the soul searching bonding session with the repair chief within ear shot of the higher ups a car suddenly was beamed in by the Starship Enterprise for me to rent.

 

Lol… that right there should win some kind of award. Reps sent.

 

Well I retrieved my pickup today. No warranty but only $300 bill so tolerable. Some sort of brake valve/switch was bad. Safety issue I guess but dang no warning no brake issues just wam bang you are hosed in a hy- vee grocery store parking lot on a Saturday night out of town. I hope she is now a kinder happier ride until the new truck is here---or maybe that is why she is being such an obstinate ******* knowing she is moving out soon.

 

In my book, walking away from a dealer repair at $300 isn't anything I'd cry about that's for sure.

Glad you got it all fixed up.