Is an Extended Warranty worth it?

[SpaceEVDriver]

We just invest the money we could have spent on the extended warranties.

If we have to make a major repair, that money was in our investment account making money for us instead of for the manufacturer. If we don’t have to make a major repair, that money was in our investment account making money for us instead of for the manufacturer. Much more often than not, we don’t have to make a major repair.

We bought our Lightning with those investments and still have quite a bit left from the many, many extended warranties we don’t buy (for any product: TV, blender, tools, etc).

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[markboris]

I had to use the extended warranty that I bought from Flood Ford on my '21 GTPE before trading it in with 52K miles. Defective drivers door module, left rear half shaft leaking oil, defective frunk latch. Three somewhat minor things to fix that would have cost more than the $2150 I paid for the warranty. It was an 8 year, 100K extended warranty and when I traded in the car, I cancelled it and received back around $800 for the unused portion.

For my current '24, I purchased the extended warranty from Granger. If you have Ford Reward Points, you can use them during checkout. I had 100,400 points which amounted to $502 that I applied to my 7 year, 100K, PremiumCare Plan. Total price after applying the Ford Reward Points was $1663 which included the $70 interior/exterior lighting option. As with my '21, I will get to 36K miles right around the 2nd year and that is when the bumper to bumper warranty runs out.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

I've had cars with and without extended warranties. With the cost of technology in cars these days, along with its relative newness, I'm comfortable getting one. But one two important things here: 1) while the margins are high, as a result, so is the negotiability. People often get them at list price (or even higher), when dealerships will happily sell them for much, much less. So if getting one, be ready to rumble! 2) If I understood correctly, the OP is looking to buy an extended warranty on his used Mach E. This is a different animal from an extended warranty on a new purchase. The costs (and likely margins) are much higher for warranties on used cars. Sucks, but that's the reality. They're still negotiable, but from a higher starting point. That might explain the OP's dealership quoting such a high price. I've no idea if Granger or Flood offer them on used cars.

 

[Mach1E]

According to Dave Ramsey, the payout rate on extended car warranties is 12-13% in aggregate. I’d bet that the sleazy 3rd party guys that advertise on TV probably skew those numbers quite a bit. Nevertheless, Ford is still coming out ahead.

Yup.

So your chances of breaking even are 1 in 8.

The person above who claimed to be ahead 7 cars in a row, statistically that’s a a chance of 1 in 2,097,152.

And that’s only if you keep the car for the length of the warranty. Yeah, I don’t like those odds.

On a related note- never go to the dealership for repair work outside of warranty.

Part of the reason people may think they’re “way ahead” on warranty repairs are the inflated quotes they get from a dealer.

Find a good local mechanic and fix things for half the price (with the same OEM parts too). There’s a reason we call the dealer service centers the “stealership.”

 

[GreaseMonkey]

I've had cars with and without extended warranties. With the cost of technology in cars these days, along with its relative newness, I'm comfortable getting one. But two important things here: 1) while the margins are high, as a result, so is the negotiability. People often get them at list price (or even higher), when dealerships will happily sell them for much, much less. So if getting one, be ready to rumble! 2) If I understood correctly, the OP is looking to buy an extended warranty on his used Mach E. This is a different animal from an extended warranty on a new purchase. The costs (and likely margins) are much higher for warranties on used cars. Sucks, but that's the reality. They're still negotiable, but from a higher starting point. That might explain the OP's dealership quoting such a high price. I've no idea if Granger or Flood offer them on used cars.

John, unless I misunderstood your comment, it makes no difference when you buy the warranty, as long as your mileage is less than ~41k. So your original warranty could be expired for 5k miles and you can still buy a Ford ESP from a dealer. It would be the same as buying it when you took delivery, except the price would have gone up with inflation (historically $100-150 per year).

Which is a good way to hedge your bets because you have more experience with the vehicle and you know the type of issues it is experiencing.

 

[silverelan]

Yup.

So your chances of breaking even are 1 in 8.

The person above who claimed to be ahead 7 cars in a row, statistically that’s a a chance of 1 in 2,097,152.

And that’s only if you keep the car for the length of the warranty. Yeah, I don’t like those odds.

On a related note- never go to the dealership for repair work outside of warranty.

Part of the reason people may think they’re “way ahead” on warranty repairs are the inflated quotes they get from a dealer.

Find a good local mechanic and fix things for half the price (with the same OEM parts too). There’s a reason we call the dealer service centers the “stealership.”

Which begs the question, what mechanic shops want to deal with a busted {insert problem here} on the MME that isn’t related to the wheels and brakes?

i have previously tried to find an EV-specialist mechanic and have had no success.

Maybe it’s a topic worth it’s own thread.

 

[Mach1E]

Which begs the question, what mechanic shops want to deal with a busted {insert problem here} on the MME that isn’t related to the wheels and brakes?

i have previously tried to find an EV-specialist mechanic and have had no success.

Maybe it’s a topic worth it’s own thread.

Since the stuff they don’t touch is covered for 8 years, it’s a topic for the future.

In addition my understanding is the HV battery is NOT covered under the extended warranties anyways.

My theory is that if the HV battery dies outside of warranty, these cars are going to the junkyard.

It’s why you can buy a used 2013-2014 Tesla Model S for under $10k.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

John, unless I misunderstood your comment, it makes no difference when you buy the warranty, as long as your mileage is less than ~41k. So your original warranty could be expired for 5k miles and you can still buy a Ford ESP from a dealer. It would be the same as buying it when you took delivery, except the price would have gone up with inflation (historically $100-150 per year).

Which is a good way to hedge your bets because you have more experience with the vehicle and you know the type of issues it is experiencing.

It's possible that the person who told me that extended warranties on used cars are higher was lying. I mean, he was a car salesperson, after all...

 

[Sikkun]

Is it worth it? Statistically over a large group of people, no. Could it be for you? Maybe.

Which is going to hurt you more spending the ~$3k now and possibly never use it or coming up with the money to cover something the $3k might have covered later?

Does it help you feel more relaxed, sleep better at night? Do you get satisfaction knowing you owning one annoys some forum members?

You have to weigh all the variables and decide.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

It's possible that the person who told me that extended warranties on used cars are higher was lying. I mean, he was a car salesperson, after all...

Joking aside, the operative word is “used”. If that person was referring to an older vehicle with much higher mileage than what is permissible under Ford’s ESP then yes. It’s very possible that the warranty would be more expensive. But OP’s vehicle is less than 36 months and within the 41k miles, so in full compliance with Ford’s issued warranties. Therefore, cost should be no different than buying while the vehicle is new (except for inflation, of course).

 

[MacherAWD]

We should keep in mind that all past thoughts/trends/effectiveness on Extended Warranties does not directly apply to Fords first connected/complicated EV. We wont know for years if they are worth it.

One data point, my 8yr 100k Premiumcare cost me $1600 in late 2022, Granger charges $2400 for the same warranty on a 2026 today. So per Ford or whatever 3rd parties data, $1600 was way too low and it is moving up. For all we know in 2030 these warranties will cost $5k, which would prove that they are a good deal at the cheaper price.

And again, one owner antidote, have never purchased a warranty like this before on a car, I have COMPLETE faith in EVs and the reliability, and my extended paid for itself in the first 3 months the car was out of warranty.

 

[RickMachE]

I have to laugh at these posts.

Factual statement made - in all industries, the "house wins" with extended warranties. In other words, they make huge profits.

Bob posts - "not in my case".

Therefore, the original statement is now false. The house can't possibly win if Bob won....

Wow.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Joking aside, the operative word is “used”. If that person was referring to an older vehicle with much higher mileage than what is permissible under Ford’s ESP then yes. It’s very possible that the warranty would be more expensive. But OP’s vehicle is less than 36 months and within the 41k miles, so in full compliance with Ford’s issued warranties. Therefore, cost should be no different than buying while the vehicle is new (except for inflation, of course).

Well in this case the car was a couple years old but with very low mileage, so no, the sales guy was simply lying.

 

[Mach-e4x]

They’re statistically a waste of money. The numbers aren’t even close.

Any product that only gets sold based of fear is a crappy product.

Any? I have smoke/fire, CO2 alarms in my house because...the fear of dying, I'm sure they are not crappy.

 

[MacherAWD]

I have to laugh at these posts.

Factual statement made - in all industries, the "house wins" with extended warranties. In other words, they make huge profits.

Bob posts - "not in my case".

Therefore, the original statement is now false. The house can't possibly win if Bob won....

Wow.

How much data the warranty industry have on EVs and failure points over time?

None.

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