extended warranty

kcobra302 78 · Jul 13, 2005

hey,

i received a postcard in the mail today from first national warranty. i called them and they are offering me a 7yr, no deductable, 125,000 mile, bumper to bumper extended warranty. the 7 years starts on the date i "purchase" the warranty. i checked the ford premium warranty an while the have a similar plan the 7yr starts at purchase date of vehicle and costs roughly $450 more.

has anybody picked up a warranty from this company. any suggestions would be appreciated. i plan on keeping this vehicle for at least another 5 to 7 years.

thanks

Kevin Palmer · Jul 13, 2005

Although there are certainly some third party companies out there that are an honest business, I would stay away from most.

The biggest issue is the simple fact that they may be gone tomorrow. If so,you are out all your money and have a potentially large bill to top it off.

I have a few friends that have been burnt by these type of companies.

If you go with Fords you will be covered no matter what, no matter what Ford Dealer. Yes it cost a bit more. But the comfort of knowing your safe is worth it to me.

Years ago i did subscribe to a third party company. I had a Mazda truck then. Other than aggravation approval and delays in getting things fixed due to the approval procedure they were a good company. Twice I had to dispute their findings, in both cases I won. They paid the bills. It was just a hassle.

Thomas Rogers · Jul 13, 2005

Third party warranties suck and most dealers have absolutely no incentive to honor them or to "go to bat" for you when they deny a claim, and they will deny claims. Their "typical" MO is to deny all claims over a certain amount and make you jump through hoops to try to get them to pay.

Personally, I don't believe in extended warranties. Anytime I have purchased them AND tried to use them I have been f'ed over. It's not so much an extended warranty as a repair insurance policy. And, like any insurance, they are betting you won't make a claim, and if you do they have a huge incentive to not pay.

Save the money you would put into an extended warranty, put it into a passbook savings account and use it if necessary as your vehicle goes off warranty. Oh, and once off warranty, if you have the slighest incling of a tranny going, or other costly repair coming up, dump the vehicle quickly. Most vehicles should last into 50 to 70K without ANY costly repairs, and if they don't, well then don't buy that make and model vehicle again.

TJR

Adam Shirley · Jul 13, 2005

From my experience, an extended warranty is a waste of money, especially when dealing with Ford Motor Company. Every expensive costly that I have had thus far has not been covered under the warranty. Faulty brake caliper, rotor damage b/c of the caliper( $432.00), and a bad tire which can be felt in the cabin and heard over the wind noise (which I have a lot of). The only problem that I have had that was covered is an O2 sensor. This was definitely not worth the $1,161.44 I paid for the extended warranty.

Brakes...432 dollars, Tire...200 dollars, being suckered in to paying over 1,100 for a warranty that doesn't cover ANYTHING!...Priceless