When I purchased my 2011 F250 Lariat, I also purchased Premium Care. When that expired in 2016, I purchased a new one. All told, I've spent $7,760 on these extended warranties ($3,350 & $4,410) but over the past 9 years (89,000 miles), I've felt that I've gotten my moneys worth out of them (list below). If I end up purchasing a new F350, I'm wondering if it's still worth buying Premium Care of if I should go after third-party insurance?

These are all the major things I've needed replaced.

• Drive Shaft
• Moon roof assembly (except the glass)
• Driver side seat
• Low pressure fuel pump
• Intercooler Tube
• Waste gate actuator (solenoid)
• Windshield washer reservoir
• Cab mounts (all of them)
• TPMS (all of them)
• Rack & Pinion
• Shock Adjusters
• Transmission solenoids (5 times!)

 

You've only gotten your money's worth if those listed repairs cost more than $7760 plus any applicable deductibles. If those repairs cost less than that, then you paid for peace of mind and high-priced repairs.
I just ordered a 2020 350 XLT 6.7 SC and did go for the 8 year 100k plan.
I almost never do this because I would have to have a repair(s) costing more than $3600 (and $100 deductibles each time) in order for it to be cost effective. (we did it with a brand new camper and that policy cost us $10/month)
I bought it on this vehicle because this is the first brand new vehicle I have ever purchased and I can only imagine the cost if the unimaginable happened to that $9500 diesel engine.

But say I have a string of "minor repairs" as listed:
Repair # 1 $1300 + $100 deductible = $1400
Repair # 2 $600 + $100 deductible = $700
Repair # 3 $950 + $100 deductible = $1050

$3150 in repairs actually cost me $3600.

So, warranties are insurance against the "grandaddy" or "mother of all repairs" that practically 'total' your truck because you have to take a loan out to pay for it.
They are not particularly useful for the smaller things that happen.

When I bought my '97 7.3 used from a dealer, they tried to sell a $2500 warranty. The truck was 8 years old with 74 k miles when I bought it. I figured most of what would go wrong happened by then and did not buy the warranty.
Don't you know about 5 months after purchase the IDM died. If I remember, it cost me about $1000 to replace at the time. I had no other major failures besides normal w/t like brakes and water pumps and a radiator all long after the warranty would have expired. If I'd bought that warranty, sure the IDM would have been covered. But the $1000 repair would have cost me $2500!!
Much cheaper to regularly set aside some money into a repair fund, which is what I had done in that instance.

I really, really debated on whether to get the extended warranty on this new truck. I did the math and it will cost me about $67/month for the life of the loan. Since I am paying out of retirement savings, the added expense isn't really hitting my pocketbook directly at this time and I went for it. Maybe in my dotage I'll wish I hadn't spent that $3600. But only 8 years and 100k miles will tell the answer to that.

So I am not telling you what to do.

I am just illustrating to you how the warranty works and that you are really betting that you WILL have a failure that costs more than the warranty does.

 

If you're going to do an extended warranty at all, don't do anything but a genuine Ford extended warranty. I bought an aftermarket warranty for my wife's Dodge Grand Caravan, reasoning that Dodge had a lousy track record with their transmissions. Before I could ever make a claim, the warranty company went bankrupt and I got zilch.

 

You should always purchase a Ford backed ESP and nothing else.

Ask yourself this, which company is more than likely to go out of business without any notice.

FoMoCo or an aftermarket ESP company.

If said aftermarket ESP company goes out of business, any and all repairs will now come out of your pocket and you’ve lost the money you’ve been paying on a monthly basis.

Caveat Emptor.

 

This is not really good advice. There are a lot of aftermarket companies that are financially sound. In the event they do go out of business, most are backed by an insurance company so that claims will still be paid. There was a time years ago that companies failed and they had no insurance backing, but that's a thing of the past with most companies today.

As far as "only buying a Ford backed plan" that isn't necessarily good advice either. Ford will require you to take your vehicle to a Ford dealership for repairs. You don't have to look on this forum very long to find people complaining about how long it can take for the dealership to get to your truck. With an aftermarket contract, you can usually take it to any licensed repair facility. So if you have a shop you like using that ISN'T a Ford shop, you can still take it to them. What happens if you are traveling and break down in an area where there isn't a dealership anywhere nearby? With Ford, you'd need to get it to a Ford dealership even if it's a couple of hundred miles away. Also, Ford contracts can be much more expensive than aftermarket, but vehicle service contracts are like most things at the car dealership...they're negotiable. There are definite benefits to a factory backed contract. Any Ford dealership can verify you have an ESP via OASIS. They generally have a certain dollar amount that they can approve themselves without contacting ESP. You don't have to worry about the dealership receiving payment before they will release your vehicle. But it's not the best option for everyone.

Choose what you think is best for you and how you may need to use it. Don't let someone else decide that one plan or another is best in all circumstances, because it isn't. Also, if you are disciplined enough to set aside money and keep it separate to be used only for repairs, or if you can afford to pay for a major repair even near Christmas or right before a planned vacation without it putting you in a bind then maybe you don't need one. But don't fall into the trap of thinking that you wasted money because you paid more than what repairs were needed. No one WANTS their vehicle to break down. The best scenario is to never need to use it. But no one will tell you don't buy insurance, just set aside some money in case you have an accident. Nor will they tell you that the premium you paid for your insurance was wasted because you never had a wreck. Peace of mind is valuable. And engines and transmissions aren't the only expensive items on trucks these days. The electronics are almost as expensive as the powertrain items.

 

My ESP affords me first day rental car coverage which has come in useful for the multiple attempts to repair my faulty sunroof on my 2017 F250

 

Wow, you know the financial stability of all aftermarket ESP providers as well as their backers?

With many if not most aftermarket ESP’s, the owner will still have to pay for the repair and then try to get reimbursed from the ESP provider regardless if there’s a Ford dealer around or not so that part of your reply is not relevant.

Have a great day.

 

My guess is I know FAR more about that industry than you.

 

There is a thriving business in providing extended warranty's. From my readings and listening to others online most are garbage. If a repair is needed they either try to low ball the shop doing the work, not pay after the work was finished, or they go bankrupt in a year or two. Then they reorganize under a new name and try it again.
Aftermarket warranty is something I would never buy no matter how much the savings. The only way my opinion of aftermarket would change is if an independent reporting agency decided to rank and report their findings based on a good sampling of people who actually owned and used aftermarket warranty's.

 

The other thing to consider is for example on the 8 year/100k extended warranty mentioned, you're really only buying 3 years/40k on the really expensive things (power train) as the Ford 5 year/60K power train warranty comes into play first. The diesel is would just be the additional 3 years as it comes with 5 year/100k from Ford. With a modern emission based diesel that one plans to keep, it might be good insurance. Or just invest that money yourself.....

 

Thanks everyone! After reading everyone's comments I think I've decided to stick with Premium Care. I've never had an issue using it and it does provide pretty good peace-of-mind.

 

The aftermarket warranty business is like many others, there are people who look to make a quick buck and don't care who they rip off, and there are those who handle business properly. There are a number of financially sound companies out there, JM&A (part of Fidelity), EasyCare, etc. But any company can fall on financially hard times and fail. That's why you need to make sure, if considering an aftermarket vehicle service contract, that their contracts are backed by an insurance company. Also, beware of any company willing to sell you a contract on a used vehicle, out of factory warranty, without any knowledge of the current condition of your vehicle...this should be a HUGE RED FLAG. But, there are excellent companies out there in the aftermarket industry. If you are one who only wants a contract backed by the manufacturer, then by all means stick to those contracts. But I know a lot of people who have been taking their vehicle to the same technician at the same independent shop for years. Those people may want to look at aftermarket. There are other reasons as well, but that's a big one. As far as trying to low ball the shop, the majority don't do that. MOST aftermarket warranty companies pay more to the shop than the factory backed plan, because they pay up to MSRP/List Price on parts and labor times that are verifiable in one of a few different nationally recognized labor time guides. They also usually pay the shop's posted customer pay labor rate. Usually, when a shop says the aftermarket contract is "low balling" them and won't pay the full price, it's because they are either marking their part up ABOVE list price, or they are trying to charge more labor hours than can be justified in a labor guide.

 

Lol.....Spoken like a person who pushes and sells aftermarket ESP”s so you can line your pocket with a huge commission. Lol.

 

Nice try but no, that’s not my profession. You though are a very negative individual. Just because I correctly point out that I have more knowledge about the industry than you, you get snippy. I have simply explained an aspect of that business that most people don’t know. And clearly you are clueless about it and don’t like someone correcting your false statements. Have a great night.

 

The most important info seems to be left out here. Don't jump on the first offer of a Ford ESP warranty that you receive. There is an amaaazing chance that you can find the exact same warranty plan through another dealership, for much less. Case in point: I bought a CPO '15 Platinum Powerstroke back in May that had 78k miles on it. The CPO automatically comes with 12 months/12k miles of the Premium Care Ford ESP warranty. The dealership I bought it from offered to extend it until 3/12/22 or 140k miles for $3300, without telling me whether or not I would have a $0, $50, $100, or $200 deductible. After conducting my own hunt, I ran across Ziegler Ford. They were able to get me the same exact warranty, covered until 3/12/22 or 140k miles...for $1770. That hunt took me less than an hour using the FTE search function and a little Dick Tracy snooping around!