Buying Extended Warranty

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jontyrees

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Still looking like I'm going to buy my 2012 off lease in May/June, so I'm thinking about extending the warranty. There's another thread on 2013s that touches on the extended warranties, but what can I expect when it comes to buying one? When buying new cars in the past, an extended warranty has seemed to be very negotiable in price - in fact I bought a bumper-to-bumper extended to 7yrs/100k miles on my 2008 Taurus Limited from a dealer in Nashville, although I live in and bought the car in Texas. Any tips for getting a fair deal on extending my factory warranty through whatever term I buy the car under? Prob 3yrs, maybe 4, probably taking it up to around 100k miles.
 

SHOdded

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Online Ford ESP is your best bet pricing wise, though your dealer may elect to pricematch. FloodFordESP.com, andersonandkoch-ford-warranty.com, lombardfordwarrantys.com etc are popular choices. Seems there's a price change coming 3/3/15, per Anderson Koch's site, don't know if it's systemwide.
 

jontyrees

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Online Ford ESP is your best bet pricing wise, though your dealer may elect to pricematch. FloodFordESP.com, andersonandkoch-ford-warranty.com, lombardfordwarrantys.com etc are popular choices. Seems there's a price change coming 3/3/15, per Anderson Koch's site, don't know if it's systemwide.
Doh! Since mine has 43k on it already, I'm not eligible to extend, per the FloodFord site. It would be a used car warranty. Bummer.
 

SHOdded

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Maybe rubydist can shed some light on whether you can get a new car warranty as it is currently a lease, despite mileage. Lincoln with 43K would have had no problem ...
 

jontyrees

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Maybe rubydist can shed some light on whether you can get a new car warranty as it is currently a lease, despite mileage. Lincoln with 43K would have had no problem ...
That's what I was wondering. My bad for not clarifying this at the time, but when I entered into the lease, I could have sworn they told me one of the nice things about the lease is that I would not have to buy any kind of extended warranty to have the car completely covered for the term of the lease, (39mos, 53,650 miles). I'm going to be under on the miles by about 5k-6k, since my driving habits changed about 2yrs ago to include less long weekend trips.
 

rubydist

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So the way the Ford / Lincoln extended bumper to bumper warranties work is that as long as the vehicle is under the factory bumper to bumper warranty, you can add extended coverage with no problems. If the vehicle has gone out of the factory bumper to bumper coverage, then before you can add more bumper to bumper coverage, the vehicle must be inspected (so that you cannot sneak in an issue that would have been covered) and the service shop has to sign off that the vehicle qualifies for the added coverage. So, as long as your vehicle has no issues, you should be able to add more bumper to bumper coverage, up to the limit of iirc 60k miles or 4 model years old (on the Lincolns, Fords may be less). On the Lincolns, you can go up to a total of 9 years or 125k miles (from original in-service date) if you are willing to pay for it (typically 6yr/100k or 8yr/125k is the sweet spot in terms of cost on the Lincolns, I don't know on the Fords since they are priced differently) but on the Fords that is somewhat shorter and I don't know the exact limits because we do the Fords much less often.

Now you didn't get this from me, but the dealer's cost for any of the extended warranty stuff is roughly 65-70% of the suggested retail, so you should be able to get 20-25% off the "retail" price if you negotiate carefully and politely with the dealer still making some money. You may have to say "no thanks" the first time and call back later to let them know you want it, but only at the right price. And it will depend on the dealer - some are much more flexible than others.

Typically, prices change twice a year, and the last price change was last fall, so March may well be time for a price increase.

If you need more specifics, I can look up the Ford premiumcare details.
 

rubydist

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OK, so the last price change was October, so hopefully not until May for another, but I don't know...

It appears that a Ford with 40-60k miles on it (and not too old) can get PremiumCare for up to 5 years/75k miles, assuming it passes the required inspection.
 

jontyrees

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OK, so the last price change was October, so hopefully not until May for another, but I don't know...

It appears that a Ford with 40-60k miles on it (and not too old) can get PremiumCare for up to 5 years/75k miles, assuming it passes the required inspection.
Good to know, thanks! Just to clarify, is that an additional 5yrs, 75k miles, or upnto a total 5/75 on the car from new?

And just when I thought I had settled on buying my SHO, I see a CPO MKS ecoboost near me for 23,500. 46k miles, so the same as my SHO. 1,100 more before negotiating, for mks vs SHO, with the added CPO warranty. Hmmm.......
 

rubydist

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btw, it costs the Lincoln dealer about $1500 to add the CPO warranty, between the cost of the inspection and the cost of the warranty.
 

jontyrees

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btw, it costs the Lincoln dealer about $1500 to add the CPO warranty, between the cost of the inspection and the cost of the warranty.
The $23,500 MKS Eco CPO car has me curious. Just checked my buyout, and it's actually $22.3k. So without haggling at all, it would be $1200 extra to switch to an MKS with CPO coverage, and the inspections, etc that go along with that, vs a SHO that I have total faith in having owned since new. I would have to pay to get equivalent coverage going forward, and I have yet to spend a penny on brakes, shocks, tires, so that could be a factor. Hmmm, SHO vs MKS - both 2012, both will be about 46-47k miles. Sticker on the MKS was $57k, was $46k on my SHO. I prefer the looks of the SHO, but I'm a BIG car stereo fan - is the THX II audio much better than the SHO Sony? Is the interior much nicer? Argh - I thought I was done mulling over this stuff.
 

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Very interesting situation! The certified MKS would be very tempting. However, YOU know the history on the SHO. I would want to see a carfax on the MKS, take a nice long test drive, and go over with a fine tooth comb. If it met my standards, I would go for it over the SHO assuming equal mileage and overall condition.

I am not a stereo fan so you be the judge on that. The THX system has a good reputation, though - better than the Sony. I prefer the interior of the MKS but that is primarily due to the availability of colors other than black. If you like black, there might not be much difference for you. You will find soft touch materials all the way to the bottom of the doors, lined door pockets, and a few other little things on the MKS that the SHO lacks. I think the leather is higher quality in the MKS, too. If the MKS has the Ultimate package, it will have the dual-panel moonroof which is pretty cool. The MKS is not quite as firm riding as the SHO. That is either a blessing or a curse, depending upon your preference.
 

jontyrees

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People know a bargain when they seen one!
yeah, I wonder if it was just a mistake. Edmunds has that car as $30,300 Certified, and $23,500 is the trade in value. Had to be an error. Am looking now at a 2011 with only 16k asking $28.9k CPO. If they can come down, I might think about that. 16k would be nice mileage, and you KNOW that car has been babied.
 

jontyrees

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yeah, I wonder if it was just a mistake. Edmunds has that car as $30,300 Certified, and $23,500 is the trade in value. Had to be an error. Am looking now at a 2011 with only 16k asking $28.9k CPO. If they can come down, I might think about that. 16k would be nice mileage, and you KNOW that car has been babied.
going to look at the 2011 today. They say its month end so they could improve the deal. Hmmm. MKS Eco, cpo, 16k miles, but 2011. Maybe $28k? $27k? Vs my SHO, 47k miles, $22,300, no more warranty, 2012. If I like how the MKS drives, I'm really tempted. It sounds silly, but it may honestly come down to the stereo, lol! The THXII 5.1 is supposed to be great, right? That's huge for me.
 

rubydist

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imho, the THX is far better than the Sony.

we do see a few PTU issues - not a lot, but if you are one of the few you would have preferred to have spent the $$ on the warranty rather than the repair. otherwise, the vehicles are really reliable. I never used to be a fan of the extended warranties, because I could do most work myself. now, however, that's not always the case. For example, on the 09-12 vintage V6 Fusion/MKZ, to change the waterpump you drop the engine out of the car, so a low 2-digit part becomes a 3-digit repair due to the labor involved...

I think the MKS is much nicer than the SHO in terms of fit/finish/appointments, but the styling is pretty much a wash to me.
 

jontyrees

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I pulled the trigger on the 2011 MKS! 16,200 miles was a huge factor. Drives perfect, is perfect in every way. CPO so no need for further warranty. Against my usual inclination, I bought the maintenance contract. Everything paid for, oil changes, tire rotations, even brake jobs. Shouldn't cost me anything but gas, and Lincoln cpo includes loaners. I'm pretty happy. Not much break on the price, $28,600 plus tax. $189 dealer prep, $125 document fees, so not bad there. Still in the ecoboost family!
not sure if I like the stereo better yet. Bass is bigger, and its definitely more detailed, but I think the Sony was a little more dynamic. Sounds great though.
 

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Congrats! Sounds like you got a great package deal. Though I'd still get the ESP if keeping longterm.
 

jontyrees

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initial impression is that the steering is a little heavier in the Lincoln, which surprised me. Do they have different shocks, brakes, anything else? The ride is a little softer, but not a whole lot. It feels a little tighter in general, but I'll put that down to 16k miles vs 44k miles.

Definitely don't notice it being 355hp vs 365hp. Why is there a difference? No shortage of power!
 
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