Did I waste money buying an extended warranty??

[BleedinBlue]

We went and traded my red car in on a 2011 GT/CS yesterday. Black on black with 14K miles. We got a good deal on the car, and a great deal on the trade in. The only thing that has me questioning our choices is that we got talked into an extended warranty...which we paid $2800 for. It's a 5 year/60K bumper to bumper, and that's 5 years/60K from yesterday's date and mileage.

The fiance' felt more comfortable with the warranty, and we can cancel it at any time and get a pro-rated refund off the top of our loan, so I didn't fight it.

Of course I'm going to be modifying this car...albeit mildly...so that alone makes me wonder if we shouldn't cancel this thing soon anyway. If something goes bad in a couple years and the warranty is void because of xx mods, I'm going to feel real dumb for not canceling this warranty while it is still valuable. On the other hand, if I do cancel it and end up needing it for something that would have been covered, I'm still dumb. I'm not sure which way to gamble.

 

[quiksilver15]

did the car come with any warranty from the dealer? Like 1 year or something, or does it still have any factory warranty left?

 

[BleedinBlue]

did the car come with any warranty from the dealer? Like 1 year or something, or does it still have any factory warranty left?

Little to no bumper to bumper left. The three years is up (Or would be soon, as it's a 2011) Still has the powertrain though.

 

[07gtcs]

IMO it depends if its the Factory extended warranty or some 3rd party crap.

 

[BleedinBlue]

It's all Ford.

 

[dre256]

In my opinion, most times an extended warranty is waste of money. But if you feel you cant repair the car due to lack of funds while you are making your monthly mortgage payment on the car then should keep the warranty.

Now on this bumper to bumper what is covered? Everything except maintenance, like oil changes, tires, brakes or are they covered? Most times (there is always exceptions) after 1-3 years if there was going to be an issue like a lose door handle or a bad radio that is all going to act up before that time.

I personally don't like extended warranties as there is a lot of underline fine print of you still pay labor and they get parts or other way around. Or they cover everything and there is still a flat rate of 50-100 dollar deductible. Depends on what is in your contract. 2nd reason I don't like them, they can range from 1500-4000 dollars and that's a lot of money that most of your cars will never need that much in work on them in 5 years and you still need to buy tires, brakes, oil changes.

My final thought, if you are paying for the bumper to bumper warranty don't mod the car unless its an approved Ford Racing part that wont void it. Even if you do a Ford Racing PCM tune, that may void that extended warranty you need to ask. As if your going to mod your car and cover a warranty, and there is an issue you are just asking for a lot of shouting matches and meetings with managers or lawyers to get the repairs covered.

 

[MADGT]

Many opinions on Ford ESP, my actions speak louder than words: I have ESP on my 2004 Ford Expedition and 2005 BMW X3 I bought used. Within 3 months of buying the X3, I had a repair done that cost $1,700 and because I had Ford ESP, I only paid $100 deductible.

 

[Scott_0]

eh, Id get a refund but if it gives you peace of mind.........

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

Id have gotten mechaincal breask down insurance through your insurance company before i got an ext warranty.

 

[LAllison20]

cancel it and use refund for mods!

 

[Steedman07]

They bent you over on the price. How much modding are you going to do? You should have paid half what you did for that warranty. Trust me.

 

[BleedinBlue]

I'm not going to go crazy with mods. Suspension, gears, tune obviously, probably a boss intake, exhaust, etc. That's probably all I'll have time to get done before we start having kids, then I'll probably be too broke to even drive the damn thing!

I'll go over the warranty paperwork closely and if it looks to not make sense, I'll cancel it.

I told the finance guy at the dealership, the only one we talked to about the warranty, about my plans. He said the warranty wouldn't be in danger...but he was looking to sell the warranty, obviously not the one who would make that decision if needed, and I know he wasn't a "car guy" that knew what I meant by "custom tune."

 

[JEWC_Motorsports]

If its not in writing it didnt happen or wasnt said.

 

[BleedinBlue]

If its not in writing it didnt happen or wasnt said.

Oh, I know. As soon as he said it I knew the guy didn't know what he was talking about...I'm not counting on it at all.

 

[3VPOWA]

I'm not going to go crazy with mods. Suspension, gears, tune obviously, probably a boss intake, exhaust, etc. That's probably all I'll have time to get done before we start having kids, then I'll probably be too broke to even drive the damn thing!

I'll go over the warranty paperwork closely and if it looks to not make sense, I'll cancel it.

I told the finance guy at the dealership, the only one we talked to about the warranty, about my plans. He said the warranty wouldn't be in danger...but he was looking to sell the warranty, obviously not the one who would make that decision if needed, and I know he wasn't a "car guy" that knew what I meant by "custom tune."

I paid $1,800 for mine several years ago and only used it once when the alternator died. Cammed the car three years in to ownership and sprayed it following that. Pretty much voided anything worth a damn on the car.

$2,800 seems like a lot, especially if you're going to void the warranty on one of the most expensive parts of the car (the engine). Yeah, people on here will argue it depends on who you go to to get it fixed but you still run that risk.

Guess it comes down to, is the cost worth the peace of mind for the other things that might break? AC, electrical, etc.

 

[BleedinBlue]

I agree. And I don't think the price is worth the piece of mind TO ME...but at least yesterday it seemed to be worth it for the fiance. But to be fair I haven't given her entire disclosure about what I know mods may do to a warranty, lol. Right now she is OK with slinging some extra cash toward the car. If she knew everything...probably not so much!

 

[Steedman07]

I'm not going to go crazy with mods. Suspension, gears, tune obviously, probably a boss intake, exhaust, etc. That's probably all I'll have time to get done before we start having kids, then I'll probably be too broke to even drive the damn thing!

I'll go over the warranty paperwork closely and if it looks to not make sense, I'll cancel it.

I told the finance guy at the dealership, the only one we talked to about the warranty, about my plans. He said the warranty wouldn't be in danger...but he was looking to sell the warranty, obviously not the one who would make that decision if needed, and I know he wasn't a "car guy" that knew what I meant by "custom tune."

If you tune it and put a Boss intake and the engine blows or something happens with the powertrain, they "can" void the warranty. Do yo uhave an "in" at a Ford service department? If not, I would cancel the warranty honestly..

 

[Renesis07]

How many miles were on the car at time of delivery? They didn't 'bend you over' if your car had 30K+ miles. Keep the warranty if you plan to just lightly modify the car, if you plan to really go all out, cancel it.

 

[Slowstang305]

I would return it. $2800? I mean on a mustang I don't see many repairs coming close to that amount in the life of the car.

 

[o2sys]

Who is the warranty by? I got one from Fidelity Warranty and their service is awesome!

I take it to any dealer in my case my friends shop and just pay a $100 deductible for not going to the original dealer who sold me the warranty. My shop includes the deductible as part of the cost so I pay nothing out of pocket.

It has payed for itself several times.