Ford Extended Service Plan

I am thinking about buying a 2001 Escape w/18K miles. I drive 5K/year and expect to keep the car another 7-10 years.

Any comments on (a) is a Ford ESP worth the money (b) which flavor is best value (c) better/more reliable value elsewhere?

TIA

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Reply to
John Keiser
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If one intends to buy an extended service plan it is generally best to buy one offered by the vehicle manufacture rather than one from an after market company. Be sure to buy one that best matches you miles/years goal. I should point out that historically less than ONE PERCENT of all EXP's sold ever pay out more than the cost of the plan and the deductible. IMO one is better served by asking the F&I man the total cost of the loan, with and without the ESP, then placing the cost difference into an interest bearing account and pay for any repairs from that account and adding the deductible amount from current income..

mike hunt

John Keiser wrote:

Reply to
BigJohnson

My Ford ESP experience

I negotiated hard and got both plans at about 60% or list when I bought the car (they were a high markup item for the dealer).

1989 Mustang 5.0 - Plan $789 Payout A/C replaced at 24K/4 years = ?, new paint at 50K/7 years = $2500-3000.

1995 Windstar LX Plan $860 Payout New Transmission 37K/3 years, New Engine 61K/4.5 years.

I consider the ESP plans to be as fundamental to owning a Ford as putting oil in the car.

Howard

Reply to
hnelson

Agreed 100%; my wife's Escape with 24k is in the shop as we speak getting its tranny fixed. My father in law's BRAND NEW Lincoln LS had to have it's tranny completely replaced at 15k.

Picking up my wife from the dealer yesterday, we looked at a new Freestar. I like the dash, but could not BE-LIEVE the cheapness of the interior. The passenger seating in back looked like Ford spent approx. $5 for each bench. I thought they'd learned their lessons about cost cutting from the reign of "Jac the Knife"?

Reply to
Rich

Since 1964 me and members of my immeadiate family have purchased 29 new Fords. Not one have ever required an out of warranty repair as expensive as the ESP plan.

1962 F100 - 85,000 miles, traded, brake line failed, rusted rear fenders 1964 Fairlane 500 Station Wagon - 85,000 miles, traded, no repairs 1964 Fairlane 4 Door Sedan - 60,000 miles, traded, I bent a valve in the engine, but I assume the ESP wouldn't have covered it since I was ...hmmm... doing something stupid 1967 F100 - 60K miles, traded, no repairs 1969 Ford Country Sedan - Totaled at 85,000 miles, brake rotors replaced 1972 F100 - 50K miles - needed a clutch at 50k miles, traded 1972 Ford Country Squire Wagon - 93,000 miles, traded, distributor ground strap added at around 60k miles, no other repairs 1972 Ford Pinto - 90,000 miles, sold, required a started at around 30,000 (after I filled the tank with several gallons of water) 1973 Ford Pinto - 80,000 miles, sold, required transmission rebuild at 75,000 miles ($500, Sister's car, she never checked anythng until it was too late) 1975 F100 - 40,000 miles, traded, no repairs ever 1978 Ford Fairmont - 30,000 miles, sold, horrible car, but never required any out of warranty repairs 1978 Ford Fiesta - 130,000 miles, sold, burned a piston at 110,000 miles (again I was doing something stupid, $300 repair), alternator and radiator at 100,000+ miles 1979 Ford Country Squire Wagon - 50,000 miles, totaled 1979 Ford Courier - 60,000 miles, sold - horrible truck, required one vaccum modualtor 1982 Ford Country Squire Wagon - 95,000 miles, one brake rotor replaced 1983 Ford Ranger "S" - 50,000 miles, 4 cyclinder and gutless but never failed 1986 Ford Ranger - 80,000 miles, sold after wreck, one ignition module 1986 Mercury Sable - 135,000 sold, brake rotors, CV joint boots every 40,000 miles, heater core at 110,000 miles, A/C O-rings at 50,000 miles 1989 Ford Taurus Wagon - went with the ex-wife, no problems while I still cared 1989 Ford Ranger - 75,000 miles - sold, no repairs 1992 F150 - 93,000 miles, still owned, alternator failed, fuel pump failed this year 1992 Ford Ranger - 90,000 miles sold, no repairs 1992 Mercury Grand Marquis - 85,000 miles, sold, no reapirs 1996 Ford Explorer - 34,000 miles, sold, no repairs 1997 Ford Expedition - 149,000 miles, traded in, alternator, 1 coil pack 1999 Ford Ranger - 45,000 miles, still owned, no repairs 2001 Ford Mustang GT - 40,000 miles, traded in 2001 Mercury Grand Marquis - 40,000 miles, still owned 2001 Ford Escape - 35,000 miles, still owned 2003 Ford Expedition -35,000 miles, still owned (and under the original warranty)

I know that the ESP plan is a bad bet. Ford has a pretty good idea of the failure rate of their vehicles, so they know about what they can expect to spend on fixing them. Ford and the dealers cover the cost of administrating the plan, advertising the plan, and paying for repairs and still make a boat load of money on the plans. It is like buying a lottery ticket, you know on the average you are a loser, but if it pays off you feel so good......

BTW, I have purchased ESP plans on my last two new Fords (2001 Mustang and

2003 Expedition). The Mustang plan never payed a dime. The Expedition is still under the original warranty. I bought the plans so that I could just not care if something failed. In case of a problem, I'll just have the vehicle hauled to the Ford dealer and let them sort it out. This was done as a convenience and not a cost saving measure.

Ed

John Keiser wrote:

Reply to
C. E. White

Seems you were part of the one percent. I would take my chance at being part of the 99%, much better odds. ;)

mike hunt

hnels>

Reply to
MikeHunt

Agreed...

I don't even buy new vehicles, and even if I did, I wouldnt get an extended plan.. I don't get extended plans for ANYTHING I buy. If their standard warranty isnt long enough, I buy something that is.

I would rather someone else take the huge costs in depreciation, and buy a

2 or 3 year old vehicle for nearly half of what it would have cost new.

Chuck

Reply to
Zex0s

That's seems odd to me, the 5 speed tranny in the Lincoln is made by Getrag and used by several luxury brands. I'm on my third Lincoln LS, after owning three Lexus LS's. I own a '04 lincoln LS now but I never had ANY problems with ANY of either brand. In any event the warranty is 3/36 on the Escape and 4/50 on the Lincoln and the tranny fixes were covered so an ESP would be unneeded

mike hunt

Rich wrote:

Reply to
MikeHunt

I may be wrong but the individuals that have had warranty service done on their cars in this thread would have had the warranty done w/ or w/o an extended warranty plan. I think ford covers transmission and engine at the

15k or 24k miles they were driven. It was not the extened warranty that covered this.

I was once told by a transmision guy at AMCO when my ford tramission was being replaced at my cost that when dealers call them with a car under warranty that they tell them to fix only the part that is broken and will get them past the warranty. Dont fix anything else, or do any preventivive maintenance. Just get them pass the warranty. So thats what a warranty is worth.

Regards steve

Reply to
steve

The other thing is, what the Ford dealer says something would cost under the ESP plan, and what you might pay realistically whether you get the dealer to do it or another place, Alot of times it can be done cheaper for the same amount of work. It works like this for insurance claims also. It would never cost me X amount of dollars the insurnace co. got charged to fix something if I brought it in myself and paid out my pocket.

Cheers,

Dale

Reply to
Reality24

If it were not for buyers like you, us folks that buy new often could not afford to buy our new vehicles, thanks. Do you buy used appliances, furniture and clothing as well? If you do, call me, I can start saving big time on the stuff my wife buys. ;)

mike hunt

Zex0s wrote:

Reply to
StoneMason

The AAMCO guy lied to you. ;)

mike hunt

steve wrote:

Reply to
StoneMason

You can save even more if you do the work yourself. ;)

mike hunt

Reality24 wrote:

Reply to
StoneMason

Well.. yea.. I go to junkyards, yard sales, and flea markets, love those places.

So.. you're quite welcome. :p

Chuck

Reply to
Zex0s

preventivive

Reply to
steve

Well I just looked at a new Van which would cost about 40K. Thats more than half my years income. An appliance at 1k is a lot different than something that is 25-40k. The fact of the matter is that for right or wrong reasons new cars are very expensive. The auto industry it self is worried about this because they know that buying a new car is expensive. That most people find it out of their reach. Thus US automaker sales are down 20%. If people do buy a car they are trying to get the most reliable. I will not argue the point but, the perception real or imagined is that Japanize make the best cars. It may interest people to know that GM made more money selling morgages than on cars last year

regards

Reply to
steve

My father's company rebuilds engines. When an engine comes in under warranty, he is told only to fix what has to be fixed. For example, if a rod bearing is bad and has to be fixed, he is allowed to replace the rod bearing. However, he is not allowed to replace any other rod bearings, even if they are badly worn, though serviceable. If a set of piston rings is bad on one piston, but the others serviceable (even if they should be replaced), only the one set of piston rings get replaced. For warranty work by the car makers, they usually fix what should be fixed. A lot of times, they will just go for a new short block rather than have the car tied up and risk problems later.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

A better name for this would be "After warranty repair insurance." All you are doing is buying insurance. Ford and the other car makers don't sell this at a loss. And the dealers get a cut of the cost too. Which means most of the cost, on average, is not paid out.

You are a lot better putting the money I-series savings bonds -- which are guaranteed to beat inflation (before the end of Oct., while the rates are higher). In the event you need the money for a repair, the money will be there. Otherwise, you will be able to get the money out when it is time to buy another one, in 7-10 years.

Another advantage of not buying a ESP is that Ford and the other car makers sometimes have what are sometimes know as silent warranties. When there is a known problem (like an particular engine that blows head gaskets after warranty, but in an unreasonably short time), the car makers will either fix the problem (after the warranty expires) at a discount or even for free. If you have the ESP, it will look like the ESP is paying for it, when you would really get it fixed for free or less money.

In general, you are better saving your money in your bank account. You will have to spend money every now and then to fix something, but you are very likely to put in more money over several years than you put in (this not applies to cars, but washers, dishwashers, TVs, computers).

BTW, if you do buy an ESP, get the one from the dealer (and shop around -- the dealers would rather discount the warranty than not make money) rather than an independent warranty company. If the warranty company goes out of business or hassles you for a particular repair, you have less recourse than if you get the warranty from the car maker.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

Insinuating an AAMCO guy is a liar is redundant.

Reply to
getupand

Hate to tell you but your father lied to you. Our fleet repair shops do warranty repairs for every manufacture and I have never heard of anything like that. Think about it, why in the world would any manufacture want to take a chance on doing a partial repair while the vehicle is still under warranty and the new parts are warranted for 12/12? The manufactures cost for rings and bearing is negligible. The labor cost to replace another bearing or ring set would be far greater. Insurance companies do things like that, but they are not on the hook for a subsequent failure, as is the manufacture. A partial repair for a manufacture would not make sense.

mike hunt

Jeff wrote:

Reply to
StoneMason

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