Extended Warranty - CNA vs. Ford ESP

Cynthia Grant · Aug 23, 2005

I just realized that the extended warranty I purchased from my dealer is NOT the official Ford ESP plan. It is by CNA and the service dealer that I use (closer to me than where I made the purchase) just informed me that if the warranty is not ESP, I will have to pay for the repairs and then get reimbursed by the warranty company. Have any of you had experience with these types of warranties? How hard is it to get them to reimburse after repairs are done?

I have about 32K miles on my '03 ST and was wondering if I should cancel the CNA warranty and get the ESP instead. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thanks!

Kevin Palmer · Aug 23, 2005

They are more of a hassle due to the way they are layed out. In most cases they are good coverage though. The one issue is sometimes the company simply disappears and you have no recourse. Where as the Ford ESP coverage is a pretty safe bet.

If Ford misled you when you bought it I would be very upset about that.

I bought the best coverage, but when I had a problem the dealer said I had the middle coverage. After a bit of digging I found where the original selling dealer changed the paper work. So basically, they charged me for the best and gave me the mid range.

Well, when I figured it out I was more than a bit angry. I called them and gave them the chance to make it right. I got some run around about that person is no longer here yada yada yada. Well, they put me in touch with Ford. Ford explained that I must go through the dealer as it was the dealer that made the "Error".

Went to the dealer and gave them a time line. Told them to have it resolved or I will be suing them. Just so happened to have some potential buyers in th show room. I was loud enough to be heard.

Problem was solved... Took nearly a month and a half for the paper work to get through Ford though.

So,, you can have issues and problems with anyone. But I would still rather have the ESP as it is an in house item.

Tom Schindler · Aug 23, 2005

Sounds like the dealer was able to make more money on the CNA plan then the Ford ESP plan.

I would cancel the CNA plan in a heartbeat.

If it were me, I would have never gotten a warranty in the first place.

Tom

Hal S · Aug 23, 2005

Odds are that the dealer that you bought it from makes more money selling the aftermarket warranty than it would get by selling the ESP.

It is a common practice that the repair comes out of your pocket and then you have to submit a claim to the warranty company.

You can cut down on the "sorry that's not covered" by either you or the dealer calling the warranty company for "authorization" prior to having the repair done.

EDIT: spelling challenged

Thomas Rogers · Aug 23, 2005

I suspect you are F'ed. Same thing happened to me with a Chrysler minivan. Was told I was getting the Chrysler warranty, but got an inferior third-party warranty. Regardless, the extended warranty cost was no doubt lumped into your total cost, and you have mostly paid for it at this point. I suspect the dealer won't do anything for you.

You MIGHT get a partial refund, but I doubt they will even do that.

You, like so many others (me included) didn't read the fine print, didn't review the STACK of papers in your new owners packet, and didn't bring this issue to them in a timely manner (first 3 business days after vehicle delivery).

I would ask them to cancel your warranty, refund your money (as much as possible) and then don't get any warranty. I suspect they will not do anything for you, though.

Let us know.

TJR

Rich Wavrik · Aug 23, 2005

I've actually had both the Ford ESP and the CNA plan. CNA is a major insurance company so you don't have to worry about it going under anytime soon.

The big difference I've noticed between the CNA and ESP is the ESP was a little more expensive. I'm sure that the some of the dealers really push the CNA plan since they can sell it for a lower price which means more sales in addition to make a little more $$$.

You may want to see if another dealer will handle the CNA plan directly.

Gerald Pierce · Aug 23, 2005

I had a dealer try that on me... the brochure they gave me looked so much like a ford brochure (colors and layout) it wasnt even funny. I insisted on a ford warranty after dealing with a non-ford once. If you can get your money back, Rusty at fordpartsfast.com has good prices on the extended warrantys from ford.