well, its the end of my ford extended warranty. it basically was a total waste of money. for some it might be a good deal...but..my experience is if you live or travel to a large metro area...the ford extended warranty could be a total waste of money.

wish it wasnt the case...but it is what it is.

AND...it seemed to me that during calls to the service dept for help...it seemed the second the service department picked up on your extended warranty...totlly different demeanor. in all cases...reguardless if I was in NYC, orlando, or where ever...it was always the same sotry...no appts within a 100 mile radius...and if they gave you a token appt for 30 days out....a week before the appt I would get a call that they were going to reschedule...in most cases...they moved the appt another 30 days out.....and...you guessed it...a week before that appt...same thing...they call to move it. A few times they had to drop me off the system and put me on a paper someday list .

SO..before buying an extended ford warranty...do your home work and find out if FORD will have appts when you need it.


some of the things I had to fix on my dime becuase I could not use the extended warranty.....

drive shaft twisted and started to vibrate = 1200 bucks
loss of power and wrench light - exhaust back pressure sensor / MAF / MAP / IAT = dont remember the exact cost but around 300
Throttle body = about 4 hundred
engine bay fuel filter which only had a few thousand miles and was a rotorcraft burst = cost of filter, tow off the highway, a few ubers

on the positive side...had a service charging system now dash light...that was fixed under extended...but had to take it 3 states away. turned out to be a wire that ford had to by pass.

it was a good feel good having the extended warranty until I actually needed it.

you guys that have great access to repair service.....definitely should buy the warranty.

but...if you live in a large metro area ...better check into the availability of repair appts for extended warranty customers.

 

- allways take my truck to a rural ford, or rural fleet ford, where they actually know trucks. Never to a city ford where they cant even lift it.

- never buy the warranty or truecoat. Most likely, im useing a private mom pop shop for repairs that I dont have patience for.

-ford dealers have had a capone level of corruption for as long as Ive been alive.

 

When I bought mine the F&I person asked if I wanted to buy an ESP and I declined. The last "good" family owned Ford dealer near me (Hillier Ford) shut down a few years ago when Ford was aggressively pushing dealers to go EV or else and I don't trust the ones remaining with a tire rotation.

 

to start haven been a dealer SM, there's only one good extended warranty the one that has the manufactures name on it, the others are not worth the paper they are printed on,
factory wise if a dealer gives you a hard time over a manufacturer extended turn them in for failing to honor ,

 

I never bring up the extended warranty until it is AT the shop. It's about the only way to get big city dealers to be honest.

Big city dealers also tend to have more customers, because - surprise, surprise, - there are more people in the area, and their service department is only so big. I'll go out of my way to get to a more rural dealership to get a better appointment. I also try to avoid large metro areas anyway, but that's a different issue.

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you.

 

I guess it can depend on the plan you have. Which plan did you purchase?

https://fordprotect.ford.com/extended-service-plan

 

I just had this discussion with a family member that lives in a big city.

When I can't do a service online, there is no waiting. Driver's license, car tag, haircut, pharmacy, car wash, oil change. I'm an hour out of Atlanta. Summit Racing, Nascar, Hawks, Falcons, Atlanta United, minor league sports, pretty much everything I want 1-2 hours away.

Savannah, Nashville, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, all an easy drive on good roads.

Big city? No thanks.

 

im not talking about services like oil changes and such....I do those myself....Im talking about in warranty repairs for break fix stuff.

 

If you are replying to me .. the link i posted should be for extended warranty plans. That site does show they offer maintenance plans too.

 

Its definitely region influenced
I have had fotd esp on all our fords
I used it
And even renewed it 2x on the edge
and boom right at 80 k
Got new struts, cameras. Steering pump, lines etc all for the 100 deductible
ten year old car with ford esp was a win
I use a rural dealer that treats you like good family
Granted they are busy busy
But emergent things he finds a way to at least take a peek
to get things moving
Todays computer on wheels
I would not venture without fords esp
I know some have had issues or never used it
My dealeralso matches zeigler ...
And I never finance the warranty

 

I have multiple Ford dealerships within a 20 mile radius. Thankfully, I've had good luck with my trucks and only needed them a few times for warranty work. The one I did use was for warranty work and I'm glad I didn't have to pay those bills, outrageous pricing, and service was marginal.
I expect even higher prices and worse service now, years later. Fingers crossed I don't have any major issues outside of warranty.

 

First, make sure you have a good relationship with your ford service center. This is critical.
If you take your ford to the local valvoline/quick change/firestone/etc., for all your routine work, then the only time you will see your Ford service center is for a problem. At this point, they have no history with you, they have no history with the truck/vehicle, they have nothing they can look up to see "yes, this truck gets regular service", so everything is going to be questioned.

Once you've established that relationship, it's a lot easier to see what is normal, vs them avoiding you.
Example. My service center location (like a lot around here), only has one diesel mechanic. If I want ANY service on my truck, their in-house policies require a diesel mechanic to work on it. This means I might be waiting 2 or more weeks for both routine work (including things like brakes) and for emergency work. You cannot compare diesel service to gas engine service. If I got a 6.8 or a 7.3, I suspect that my wait times would be shorter. That said, I also know they only have 2 lifts that can handle my truck. If any of you folks have a lightning, Mach E, or other EV with Ford, is this also an issue there? Can anyone work on your vehicle, or do you require an EV tech? Is that EV tech a dedicated person, or can tech train to also do that work?

I do have a relationship with my service center. I work with them on many aspects of my truck and I've always had good luck with it.
I keep my vehicles a long time, 10 years or more until they start racking up more in repair bills than they do in a year worth of car payments.
Each vehicle I've had has had an extended warranty of 7/100. While some did not get a good ROI, most have, so I am definitely getting one on my new truck

One other thing...sometimes, a service manager will have a strong hint that they don't want to do the work for a reason. I once took my F-350 in because it had gotten loud. Ford service told me I would need to get new pipes starting right after SCR. He then told me he STRONGLY recommended I go see an independent mechanic for a second opinion. The independent mechanic said I didn't needs new pipes, just three new bolts and a flange as two of the bolts on a flange had broken, but the bolts were integral to one side of the OEM flange. She cut the old flange off, welded a new one on that would allow for replaceable bolts, then bolted it right up and saved me over one thousand bucks. Ford service could not do that, but the independent could, and they directed me there specifically because of that.

 

ESP's are insurance plans. No different than on your house or car. You dont need it till you need it. Sounds like the area OP lives in is not customer friendly dealers and that is unfortunate. I find the piece of mind worth it.

 

Not sure if this helps as I am betwix and between myself. Two medium sized dealers in suburban MA where service is no issue. Got the extended Ford warranty on my 2012, and my 2018. Pkgs were for 5yrs/50K as I don’t do high mileage. Had a mirror replaced on my 2012. Pkg I had was $600, mirror cost $1850 just for the part. Had chrome 20” wheels and step bars replaced on my 2018 due to peeling. Pkg cost me $900, not sure of the cost but it was certainly more than $900. Both claims were past the 3/36. And both claims approved by Ford within 2 days. Now they want over $2K for the same package and that puts me at the point where it might be worth the gamble to go without. Challenge is so many electronics on my 2025 Lariat it’s scary and I need to make a decision by my mid April anniversary.

 

Thing about electronics is that they can be broken so very easily.
The following happened to me: I took my vehicle in for a recall. They had adopted a "time of use" charging system where if you were actively accelerating, they would not charge the vehicle, but they would charge the system while decelerating. This was not a hybrid system in that electricity was used for propulsion, but simply for charging the 12V system. But the battery they used was not up to it, so it needed replacement. I get a call from my service center...sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the car's computer died and you need a new one. It will cost 4k, but fortunately my car's extended warranty would cover it.
I told them that it worked going in, and since they were working on the electrical system, the probability was extremely high that they screwed up somehow when disconnecting the battery. Didn't make a difference, but imagine you bringing in your truck, them disconnecting the battery incorrectly, and now you have a bunch of stuff needing replacement. Trust me, unless you have an extended warranty, you will be paying that bill if you want your truck back, and you won't see that money back (if you want your truck) until you get it back though court/arbitration. Oh, and it can also happen if the garage attendant hooks up the jump pack backwards. Blew EVERY fuse in my fuse block..,.

Or worse, you take it to th e