Thank god for extended warranties

I'm generally against extended warranties too. However, I have bought them on three cars and in every case I got back between 70% and 100% of what I paid for them. So I did lose money but I never had to worry about getting them repaired. I keep a vehicle typically for at least

15 years so I look for a very long warranty purchased separately from the dealer. They run from 7 to 10 years in length and the typical cost per year is $170. It can be thought of as prepaying for repairs

- For example, on my new car with a 10 year extended warranty I'm effectively paying no more then $350 a year ($100 deductible) for any and all repairs (I'm only counting the 7 years after the factory warranty runs out). If I didn't have the warranty I'd wind up fixing it my self most of the time (that's just the way I am) so it's also like paying to not have to work. And while others don't care about the "peace of mind" aspect, I do. It's a lot different when you are looking at paying for an extended warranty on a blender, I'm not likely to get stuck out of town due to my blender breaking down and have to go to some unknown repair shop and hope for the best at whatever price they quote.

Actually a lot more involved than CAFE. They also meet a lesser safety standard - which is less onerous and less costly.

It's the dealerships.... People need to realized that they are buying a car from a dealer, not from the manufacturer. Too many people I know think that when they are buying 'A' Ford, they are buying 'FROM' Ford. They are not, and the extended warranties that are offered at the time of purchase are from a 3rd party company that has a deal going with the dealership, and not the manufacturer. The ONLY extended warranty anyone should ever get (if you insist for some reason to have one - I don't) is a Manufacturer's Extended Warranty, that way as long as Ford is in business, your in business and can go to any dealer for warranty work.

The main reason for this is that most people work the cost of the extended warranty into the final price of the vehicle. Most think it's a "Ford" warranty, when in fact most are third party and people are so excited to get in the new car, they don't take the time to go through the fine print. Most cases, the extended warranty price is spread out for 5 years (depending on the loan length). 6 Months after the purchase of your car, you get notice that the 3rd party company that was to cover the extended warranty on your car is going or is now out of business. You are still under the manufacturer's warranty for now, but congrats...you just paid for a service you will never be able to use when you get to 30,001 miles. There is a reason dealers schedule all the signing on the day your going down to pick up your shiny new car. Be prepared to walk away, even if you have done all the legwork and loan and have the certified check from the bank made out to the dealer on you.

Yes, buying the car without a presale inspection was really dumb, but I have to tell you the AC worked perfectly when I got the car. Normally I always have a car inspected by an independent before buying, but I just had a good, gut feeling about the dealership and the salesperson. They fixed everything I found wrong, which wasn't much, before the final sale. As for interest, not an issue. I paid cash for the car and the warranty. Also, I know the warranty was probably not a Ford warranty, but I never had to pay a dime when I picked up the car. I'll have to check, but I honestly don't know if they will pay for repairs done outside of a Ford dealer. They will pay for a tow and a rental if needed.

I mean, if the repair is going to be free I don't mind going to the dealer even though it's 45 miles away.

No, I wanted clarification on why you're calling them Vans. I've never seen any federal definition for van, but the Feds have a lot of rules and I might have missed one or two. ;) So where exactly are you getting this NHTSA definition for what a van is?

Derek