Ford Increases Warranty Period for 2007 Models, Will GM Follow?

Hey John, we have a 2005 Chrysler minivan that has the a seven-year/70,000-mile powertrain warranty (think they went back to 3/36 in '06?). But, it sure sounds good to consumers & I'd love to see 'our' big 3 offer, with confidence, longer than 3/36 like your Ford article indicates. The 7/70 on wife's '05 Chrys sure helped decide. s

It would definitely make a difference in my future car shopping. I don't intend to buy another GM until they straighten up their act.

I dont really care too much for Fords, but that 500 (?) looks pretty interesting...that is the one, IIUC, that is sort of a Volvo crossbreed.

John,

Ahhh, I'm getting flashbacks (and it ain't a bad acid trip). Reminds me of the mid-60s when the "Big 4" got into a warranty war. Dealers made a ton of money on work but the mfrs. got clobbered.

With the quality of the Detroit products being a bit higher than 40 years ago it should not cost Ford that much to do this.

As far as I'm concerned, a better warranty might "break a tie", but I would not buy a car just based on its warranty.

Regards, Bill Bowen Sacramento, CA

John Horner wrote:

Having been "stung" on a warranty issue, it may do a little more than break a tie. I understand wear, but when non-moving parts fail inside of three years, they should be covered regardless of miles.

Wait till you discover all the parts that are NOT covered by that powertrain warranty. Things like bearings, tie rods etc.... IOW a lot of the stuff the powertrain goes THROUGH to deliver the power are NOT covered.... I know... I have a 2000 Caravan with the best warranty they offered at the time and I have still had to pay for stuff.

IE: the halfshaft is covered, but the wheel bearing that caused it to fail is not covered and neither is the labor to replace the wheel bearing. Despite the fact it all has to come apart anyway to replace parts.

Total scam IMHO.

After, on a 2000 Caravan bought brand new and lightly driven:

I will NEVER, I REPEAT NEVER, buy another Chrysler product.

They make shit!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations on having joined the Never Again Club (NAC). The US based makers (and VW!) have put millions of their former customers into the NAC and will never see them back again, not to mention the influence these people have on their friends and family.

John

Actually I like US cars, I have a mint 92 Caprice with 370,000 original miles on original engine and tranny.

BTW I live in NY and am in NYC all the time.

Try that with a rice burner.

My daughter has a 2003 Jetta and it just runs. She has about 60k on it and aside from a recall for the heated seats, it has never seen the dealer.

My next car is a Ford Mustang and in fact I am looking now for a leftover

I wouldn't take a jap car if someone gave one to me.

Why?

Total lack of ACCURATE documentation (ie:service manuals)

An anal retentive attitude at the dealerships which makes the customer feel like crap.

Parts that cost 3x the going rate.

I keep my cars a VERY LONG time and the rice burners start to crumble at the magic 100k mark...

Examples?

A friend of mine needed work done on his 2000 Lexus.... $3000 later they finally discovered the A/C clutch had an open coil....

Interestingly enough I had the same problem on my Caprice.

$49.99 and mine was fixed.....

Another example:

Another friend of mine needed an ignition module for a Camry. $350 later he got one.

My Caprice?

$25.00 and you can get it at any local auto parts store.

I travel a LOT on business and rent cars in places all over the country. I have driven all kinds of cars and for my money the rice burners are total crap.

You want to buy a real nice car? Buy a Volvo Cross Country wagon. Ugly yes...but it is built like a tank.

Wanna buy a shit car? Suburu Outback, Saturn Vue, Ford Escape, Toyota Camry interestingly enough the Toyota Corolla was a pleasant car. Anything Honda is pure garbage.

Mitsubishi? They are talking of pulling out of USA if sales aren;t up to expectations this year.

Yeah, but ugly still counts.

My 2007 Buick Lucerne has a 4 year/50K mile "bumper to bumper" warranty.

A step up from the old 3yr/36K mile warranty.

We'll see if it is a step up. Bumper to bumper might exclude everything in between.

I wish you well with it. We considered the Lucerne, but decided it was too new and too undeveloped. AND GM is such a shitteaux company that when they make a bad mistake they try to bury you with it.

I would rather have the option of buying a vehicle without any warranty, if it would lower the selling price. I have not had any car, foreign or domestic, in years that ever had a warranty claim. When I bought my first new vehicle the warranty was only for thirty days or 1,000 miles,WOF. Same with recalls. I never had a vehicle that exhibited the problem for which mine was recalled. Simply a waste of time for me. When I get a recall that says" You vehicle may have-.....ETC, I toss it in the trash ;)

mike hunt

Buy it as a Ford Freestyle and save $5,000 ;)

mike hunt

Really? I have a 1971 Ford vehicle that has 300K on the clock. I just did the first major repair, a carbon and valve job, after THIRTY five years.

mike hunt

Big deal, Ford trannies don't last 100k, so IMO they're about 40k miles too short ;)

And besides this is a powertrain warranty, not bumper-to-bumper, BFD.

Ford can kiss the whitest part of my ass. I'll never own another one. I love my Chevy :-D

-GV

It won't matter. People realize that GM and Ford produce crap. They will buy value, not bullshit.

Chrysler extended the warranty to 7 yrs on my '95 Concord's troublesome air conditioner. It cost them too and fortunately their fix worked after 3 tries.

Big box interior, but very heavy. I understand it's on the Volvo 70 frame.

Really? Then how come GM and Ford sell more vehicles in the US than ANY other manufacture? ;)

mike hunt

The 500 is a full size vehicle. It, the Freestyle SUV and the Mercury Montigo are not built on a separate frame. They are built on a Ford designed unibody chassis, first used by Volvo.

mike hunt