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did you buy an extended warranty?

  • Nope. Included warranty only.

    Votes: 73 47.1%
  • Yes. PowertrainCARE (29 key components covered).

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • Yes. BaseCARE (84 key components covered).

    Votes: 1 0.6%
  • Yes. ExtraCARE (113 key components covered).

    Votes: 5 3.2%
  • Yes. PremiumCARE (500+ key components covered).

    Votes: 75 48.4%

Did You Buy An EXTENDED WARRANTY For Your New Focus?

46K views 258 replies 109 participants last post by  Tiger-Heli 
#1 ·
honestly...there are a TON of things that can go wrong in these highly computerized/gadget-filled Foci...did you get some sort of extended warranty for your new car? i'm on the fence!!!! [scratch]

if you did...which plan and what duration did you get?

 
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#234 ·
@JustIntoxicated - Really hard to follow what you are asking?

How many miles are on your car?

Did you buy the 100K PT warranty, or it came with it?

Is that 5-years/100K - and if so, will you put that kind of mileage on the car and/or would a 7-year be better for you for the calendar time.

Is it 3K for the warranty you have or something else?

If you say it is cheaper elsewhere with lower deductible, is it still the Ford ESP warranty?

Things to remember - you have 3/36 BTB and either 5/60 or 5/100 PT anyway. The extended warranty just covers beyond that and if you won't keep the car, it is less of a deal (although I think it is transferable for $100).

Also - there are lots of expensive things on the car outside of the powertrain.
 
#239 ·
This is a call you will probably need to make. If you don't plan on keeping the car for long, don't get it. But do realize that anything can happen at any time. IN a way, you're buying piece-of-mind of not having to fork out large amounts of cash should your trans decide to quit, etc.

This was a tough call for me, but I eventually bit the bullet and realized that I planned on keeping my car for at least 6 years / 100k, so the warranty makes sense over that time frame (to me). For me, it will be less than $100 per year, which is "cheap insurance" in case something major does go wrong. And after the 100k is up, I may trade it in, or keep it... I'll have to make the decision when that time comes.

This is something you'll have to weigh out. But if you do get one, I would suggest looking around, and not just taking the Ford one off the bat. For certified used, depending on what you paid for the car and how much the insurance is in relation to that. If it's 10% or less, it may be worth it. think about where you drive, could you afford to repair the car if something broke (like a radiator, or the AC compressor, etc). Maybe get a second opinion on the condition of the car from someone else to see if there is any signs of things that may be of concern. It's really a personal preference. Some people like the insurance, and not having to worry about how to pay for a major repair. Others have faith in their purchase and assume the risk that if something does break, they'll have to pay out of pocket without assistance from a warranty. It's really your call. I did it mainly so that for the next 6 years or so I won't have to worry about major repair bills. My car expenses are pretty much set and predictable for the most part (at least in terms of maintenance and repairs).
I have currently have 3/36 BTB and 5/100 PT it came with the certified used purchase.

I bought the car used with 2k miles on it, 2 weeks later I'm just over 3k miles. I found the warranties are much cheaper elsewhere so I went and canceled the one I had signed up for. Whats keeping me from the warranty is that you pay more for a "certified used" with the extended 100k 5 year warranty on the drive train, and then when purchasing an extended warranty your basically having to buy that coverage again.

The dealer said they were giving me $1500 off the FORD ESP because it was certified used with the already extended drive train warranty but they were still more than twice the prices I found online, so not a great deal.

I have MFT, so I do worry about electronics going out, but isn't that what junkyards are for, or would this be a huge project? I'm somewhat mechanically inclined but you won't catch me changing clutches or doing engine work. What scares me with this car is the crazy pressures needed by the fuel pump for the direct injection, and the fact that the fuel pump is inside the gas tank....so if that goes out I'm looking at something like 2k in repairs.


I think I could certainly grab the warranty if I had purchased new on this particular vehicle, but since I already have the typical "certified used" warranty it makes the purchasing decision harder.
 
#236 ·
I would check around too (not with ford, but other companies). I got mine through my insurance company for about $700. 6yr/100k warranty. It isn't as extensive as Ford's but when I purchased my car, the only other warranty that made sense was the $1500 (all-inclusive).

The only reason I got an extended warranty was because of my concerns with the transmission issues everyone's been complaining about. Me personally, radios, window motors, etc, aren't that much of a deal because you can technically use the car without that stuff. You can't without a trans or engine or major engine component.

But I would look around first. You may have a small grace period where you can go back within 7 days and get the warranty as long as nothing happens to the car in that time.
 
#238 ·
I'm a big fan of the extended warranty for two reasons:

  • If the car is acting up - I simply take it to the dealer and say "Fix it" (especially with the zero-deductible warranty). Even if I could do the work myself - for example - I have a minor overheating issue with my car - it isn't the resistor, it isn't the relays, but I replaced all that without fixing the problem (I'm out of warranty now).
  • Whether it's worth the cost depends on perspective. The hood release cable failed on my 2002 under warranty. I think the part was around $50 or $75 and labor was around $200 - ate up a lot of the warranty price. But it still worked, so without the warranty, I would have either lived with it or installed a junkyard part myself. I either saved $275 or $10 depending how you rationalize it.
 
#240 ·
Okay - First off - you put 1000 miles on the car in 2 weeks - if that is typical driving for you, you will put 25K miles a year on the car and be out of warranty in 5 years, regardless so 5years/125K is the most warranty you should be looking at.

Unless you bought the car on the east coast and won't put that much mileage on it routinely.

Second - the dealers can reasonably charge what they want for the warranties, so it's not uncommon the for $1500 off price to be higher than the online prices.

Third - oddly, I don't think CPO comes into the warranty or that you have to be the original owner - the price goes up about $100 after the car is 1yr/12K miles from the original date of service and again after the original 3-year/36K warranty runs out.

Fourth - check the various plans - but there is a LOT of things the PT warranty doesn't cover. MFT you can probably deal with at a junkyard, but think about things like power steering, suspension, brakes, ABS modules, alternators, AC compressors, heater cores, etc.

Fifth - I really doubt it would be $2K to change a fuel pump. PITA to drop the tank, but most cars are that way these days.

Basically, it's going to be your call how much coverage and deductible you want, and yes, some of the coverage does overlap what you already have.

I think I could certainly grab the warranty if I had purchased new on this particular vehicle, but since I already have the typical "certified used" warranty it makes the purchasing decision harder.
I can see this both ways.

On the one hand, it sucks to pay extra for coverage that you may never need b/c you already have it (in essence, rather than a 7-year/125K warranty, you're buying a 4-year/89K warranty in all cases, b/c the factory warranty covers the first 3/36 BTB.)

OTOH - the car is essentially new (barely broken in), so if the ESP warranty made sense to you on a brand new car, it should still make sense now.
 
#241 ·
Okay - First off - you put 1000 miles on the car in 2 weeks - if that is typical driving for you, you will put 25K miles a year on the car and be out of warranty in 5 years, regardless so 5years/125K is the most warranty you should be looking at.

Unless you bought the car on the east coast and won't put that much mileage on it routinely.

Second - the dealers can reasonably charge what they want for the warranties, so it's not uncommon the for $1500 off price to be higher than the online prices.

Third - oddly, I don't think CPO comes into the warranty or that you have to be the original owner - the price goes up about $100 after the car is 1yr/12K miles from the original date of service and again after the original 3-year/36K warranty runs out.

Fourth - check the various plans - but there is a LOT of things the PT warranty doesn't cover. MFT you can probably deal with at a junkyard, but think about things like power steering, suspension, brakes, ABS modules, alternators, AC compressors, heater cores, etc.

Fifth - I really doubt it would be $2K to change a fuel pump. PITA to drop the tank, but most cars are that way these days.

Basically, it's going to be your call how much coverage and deductible you want, and yes, some of the coverage does overlap what you already have.



I can see this both ways.

On the one hand, it sucks to pay extra for coverage that you may never need b/c you already have it (in essence, rather than a 7-year/125K warranty, you're buying a 4-year/89K warranty in all cases, b/c the factory warranty covers the first 3/36 BTB.)

OTOH - the car is essentially new (barely broken in), so if the ESP warranty made sense to you on a brand new car, it should still make sense now.
When they say $1500... $1500 off from what amount? Because I think the PremiumCare for my car would have been $1500 when it was new for a 5/75k warranty (about $200 for the 6/100k warranty through ESP). I'd find out how much it would have been without the $1500 off, because for all you know, they are trying to sell you a $3000 warranty at $1500, that could have originally cost $1500 anyway, making you think you you're saving $1500, when in fact you'd be saving nothing and paying full price.

I've seen similar things happen at dealerships.It happens all the time with these "Trade in and we'll pay off your existing loan no matter what you owe..." No, it's more like you (the owner) will be paying it off on your own, we just add the difference to your new loan and the loan is essentially what you owed before plus your new car price.

I'd double check your numbers, and then make a move from there. Maybe call another dealer and play dumb, and say, "If I were to buy a new 2013 focus, how much would an extended warranty be?"
 
#245 ·
From what I hear, MFT seems to be a pain. I don't have it, but about half of the reviews I've read thus far, people complain about it not working (I'm sort of glad I passed on it--I considered it for a while before buying my car, but in the end, it didn't justify the extra $1000+ price increase to me).

Me personally, if I drive the car as much as you do, I'd just get the Powertrain warranty, and not the premium care. If I'm correct, PremiumCare also includes oil changes and general service, which (after I calculated it out later on my 2010 Focus) didn't matter much. I found that I saved only about $100 over the course of about 3 years, which wasn't worth the extra hassle i nthe end.

The warranty that I got for my 2012 Focus only covers the powertrain (engine and trans, and everything enclosed within them). For me, that was the biggest concern. Window motors are cheap. RAdios can be replaced with aftermarket units for $200, etc, so to me, the warranty on the accessories and stuff outside the engine wasn't a big deal to me. And since they don't warrant brakes, tires or batteries. Over the past 10 years, the auto industry has improved most components in cars (it used to be that window motors would only last about 7-10 years, now most people don't need to replace them until 10+ years, unless they abuse them--like trying to roll down a frozen window in winter time).

If you're concerned about your investment, get the warranty. On a car especially, there are a lot of precision-tuned parts that can go wrong. If the car were brand new without any noticable issues, I would say you could probably pass because the mfr warranty should cover anything that comes up early on in the car's life (which from my experience has been the case--any major failures I've had--knock on wood--have happend within the first year or two of owning the car, all while under the factory warranty). But a used car, a warranty may be a good thing, espeically if you don't know anything about the previous owner. The problem that I see with most cars is that for example, you don't know if they raced the thing from day 1, or if they drove it like a racecar from day one (possibly thus causing components to incorrectly seat/break-in), or if they ran it low on oil, or used cheap conventional oil, etc. There are so many variables that you can't confirm with most used cars, so I would probably get the warranty in this case, if you can afford it, in this case. And if it is truely only $1500 for the warranty, it may be worth it, especially as the car begins to accumulate miles (although aside from the trans issues people complain about--and the MFT issues--I'd say that the Ford Focus has been getting better over the years, both in customer ratings, and reliability).
 
#246 ·
when i got ny 2012 from north county ford in vista ca., they showed me the ford premium warranty brochure, so i got the 100k premium package....or so i thought. when i was at a different dealer they said the computer showed no extended warranty. So i looked through my paperwork and found no warranty info other that one small check box on one of the forms that said "portfolio extended warranty"....that company gets a "poor" rating by the BBB!

so i went in to north county ford, asked to see a finance person, and she said that the whole management staff had just been fired, and she called someone up who said to switch my warranty to the ford ESP premium, no questions asked.
Then she apologized, and asked me to consider their service department, as the management staff there had also been fired. I will give them a try, even though i was really turned off by the old service manager and see if things are better there now.
 
#248 ·
A couple of things:

Ford Premium Care DOES NOT cover oil changes or maintenance - there is a maintenance warranty for that if anyone wants one. Ford Premium Care covers the items that fail in addition to the engine and transmission.

According to Anderson-Koch, the warranty is only going up $20 (or actually the discount for not getting first day rental coverage is going down $20), so it's $20 more without First Day rental and the same price with - after today.

(The above is for the 7yr/75K zero-deductible and other plans may have different price adjustments).
 
#249 ·
Update...

I ended up buying my ESP through Troy Dietrich of FD Warranty (http://fd-warranty.com) this evening. His was the best price out of the 7 online dealers (Zeigler, Anderson & Koch, Troy, Flood, Warrick, and Hunt were the others) I contacted.

PremiumCARE, 7Y/100K, No First-Day Rental
- $869 for a $100 deductible
- $994 for a $50 deductible

I opted for the latter; if the car's in more than twice in the next 6.25 years (post-3Y/36K) I'll be saving money. Odds are it will - plus I'll probably be much more inclined to take it in when it's only $50 out-of-pocket.
 
#251 ·
I declined the dealer warranty at time of purchase. The dealer then offered the warranty at "their cost" for $1200. I still declined. After finding the forums and reading about DCT issues I think I will purchase the Premium Warranty. Are there any restrictions on when you can purchase the warranty? I purchased the car 8/30/12. I am not having any DCT issues but have only driven 1400 miles. My build date is May something '12.
 
#254 ·
I paid 1200 for 100000 mile ford premium warranty and before I traded the car ford had to buy back the warranty at a prorated cost which was 1096 for 10000 miles.....just letting people know who have bought the car and trading or selling it cause ford will not come out and say it ...B-lou
 
#258 ·
So if you get the enhanced rental option do you need the standard first day rental?

It looks like the enhanced is 170 where as you are paying 90 for the first day rental. I would rather just cancel out the first day rental and get the enhanced if possible since it sounds like the enhanced would cover you for the first day as well. On zeigler ford I am not able to do this but anderson and kock appears to let me.
 
#259 ·
I usually telephone Jason at Anderson and Koch with questions like that.

My understanding is the enhanced puts you in a Focus or a Taurus instead of a Fiesta or a Chevy Aveo, and the first day rental puts you in a rental if your car will be more than an hour or two (or I think any time if you want to rent a car for a half-hour).

Not the same thing, but I could be wrong.

Personally, I'd opt for the first day and drop the enhanced - assuming my interpretation above is correct.
 
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