Is an Extended Warranty worth it?

[Mach1E]

My first door lock repair would have cost $900. The car required 3 additional dealer visits after to be fully fixed, I never got a bill.

Again all these discussions are pointless until we start a Poll on this forum after 5 years? 8 years?
"Have you spent more than $2000 on out of warranty repairs after X years of ownership."
"Would an extended warranty have made financial sense"

Until we have that data it is all speculation, on BOTH sides.

No, it’s not speculation. It’s math. And the math has been done and studied for decades. A small sample survey here would be meaningless.

But if you think that the odds are 8:1 against people with 12% payout rates for OTHER cars but somehow the insurance companies have gotten the formula completely wrong for the Mach E despite decades of other car data, I don’t know what to tell you.

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[Mach1E]

We got the Granger Ford Extended warranty on our '21 Mach E CA/RT1 and are using it right now to replace both side mirrors. I know we've used it with different things here and there, has it added up to $1800? I think the Mirrors may have pushed it over.

We plan on keeping the Mach E for at least ~10 years so with all the electronics on this beast, and the early issues we've had, we are glad we got it.

And, if Granger Ford is looking at this thread, we'd like to extend our extended warranty to the max level to give the Mrs a bit of piece of mind for the rest of the time we own it.

They will gladly sell you and everyone here more warranties……. Because even at their discounted prices they still make a TON of profit. Even after paying the salespeople, dealers, staff, advertising AND claims.


I have no clue why so many people here think it’s a good bet.

The “sleep better at night feel good” purchase people I honestly do understand. They aren’t trying to justify it with math.

Those trying to somehow convince us that the odds are in their favor? I think have just been duped by anecdotes or marketing. I’m trying to save you people money!!

 

[markboris]

As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the extended warranty more than paid for itself on my ‘21 GTPE. Also on my 2014 Escape and 2011 Ranger. Never took one out on the Focus RS or the GT500 because knew I wouldn’t be driving them much (my 2020 GT500 has 9K miles on the clock). I took one out on my ‘24 GTP. It’s one year old and half the B2B is already gone. I payed $2200 to Granger for the extended warranty. Will be keeping this car for 7-8 years. Three of the three cars I took it out on, have paid for it and then some. $2200 for a $60K car, I’m very ok with that especially with MagneRide suspension which I’ve had leaking shocks/struts twice before.

 

[devmach-e]

Just don’t worry

I don’t worry or even care very much if owt goes wrong.

Deal with it when/if it happens and enjoy a worry free life is my outlook on life

It doesn't hurt to plan for the worst, but hope for the best. That said, I still wouldn't buy an extended warranty.

 

[devmach-e]

There's a whole lot of tech on these new EV's. For those of us who keep our vehicles longer there's a better chance for component failure. Some of you seem to think if a couple minor parts fail, the cost to repair will be chump change. If one buys an 8 or 10 year warranty, what do you think the parts and labor cost is going to be in 7-10 years from now on say a control module or camera replacement? How about a leaking axle seal or failed window regulator?

I've been hearing the mantra of "so much advanced tech on these cars you really should get an extended warranty" since I bought my first Prius 21 years ago. Turns out the fears of the technology going bad was unfounded for the most part (color me surprised). Doesn't matter what kind of car it was, EV or ICE, I always got the same spiel. And over the last 21 years there's been exactly 0 times where an extended warranty would've paid off. Any time I've had to invest serious money in car repairs was well outside even the most generous extended warranty period offered.

 

[devmach-e]

Heck yes! You basically have a computer with lots of expensive to repair/replace components. I think of it like Apple Care for my iPhone.

Apple Care makes sense for a device that you can easily drop and completely render useless. And having bought it, and used it, for both iPhones and iPads, it definitely can be worth it. But the cost difference between Apple Care and an extended warranty for the Mach-E is at least an order of magnitude more. And accidentally dropping the Mach-E is not an easy thing to do. That's what car insurance is for.

 

[MacherAWD]

No, it’s not speculation. It’s math. And the math has been done and studied for decades. A small sample survey here would be meaningless.

But if you think that the odds are 8:1 against people with 12% payout rates for OTHER cars but somehow the insurance companies have gotten the formula completely wrong for the Mach E despite decades of other car data, I don’t know what to tell you.

You have way to much faith in corporate America, but sure everything is pure planned perfection.

 

[Mach1E]

You have way to much faith in corporate America, but sure everything is pure planned perfection.

That’s an astronomical leap moving from what I stated and “pure perfection.”

The only faith I have in this situation in corporate America is that they know how to do the math to make a profit.

You must think the warranty companies are so dumb that while they can calculate an 88% gross profit margin on other cars, they’re going to be upside down on this one?

And then still have to pay their overhead, employees, dealerships and salespeople after spending over 100% of premiums on repairs.

Then so dumb that the’ve had multiple years of data across so many models and manufacturers that they won’t raise the price to offset this huge mistake?

Or……. We could just assume that there’s nothing really special about the Mach E and the extended warranty still leaves most people unlikely to get their money back.

It’s just another version of an insurance policy. The difference is that unlike other insurance that’s highly regulated with lower margins, this one is way in the warranty companies favor and there aren’t situations of catastrophic loss that would be covered anyways (unlike your house burning down or a major medical bill).

It’s a policy that costs a few thousand dollars and covers unlikely repairs that cost….. a few thousand dollars.

IF the warranty extended our HV battery and related parts coverage and didn’t cost any more…… then I would be tempted. But it doesn’t.

 

[MacherAWD]

You must think the warranty companies are so dumb that while they can calculate an 88% gross profit margin on other cars, they’re going to be upside down on this one?

I think the companies are so dumb they went with:
"EVs are simpler and will be much cheaper overall. Lets cut the prices on extended WAY below ICE.....Then a few years in, sh*t we need to raise these costs, crap, $1600 is now $2400....."

Its pointless to keep debating. An extended warranty for $1 is a no brainer, an extended for $100,000 is stupid, the value point lies somewhere in between. Knowing that I would hit 100k miles around the 8th year of ownership made perfect sense to buy a $1600 warranty for me. Many other variables would have swayed my opinion. And again, on my Chevy Bolt, which has all of the available tech options I did NOT buy an extended warranty. Different car, different use case.

Thats my opinion, I welcome yours.... - Fred Nuter for all my Maine friends.

 

[Jimrpa]

I just buy an A series pixel every five years or so, $399. The savings more than pay for my MachE extended warranty.

What is a “pixel”?

 

[Jimrpa]

Apple Care makes sense for a device that you can easily drop and completely render useless. And having bought it, and used it, for both iPhones and iPads, it definitely can be worth it. But the cost difference between Apple Care and an extended warranty for the Mach-E is at least an order of magnitude more. And accidentally dropping the Mach-E is not an easy thing to do. That's what car insurance is for.

You’d be surprised - I’m pretty klutzy

seriously, your point is valid. I guess it’s a question of risk management/risk aversion.

 

[superdave80]

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

I'm going to go and cancel my earthquake insurance right now...

 

[superdave80]

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).

I like when people compare warranties on a $50k purchase to purchases in the tens to hundreds of dollars. Totally an apples to apples comparison...

 

[superdave80]

And the extended warranty does not cover those.

The only things it does cover are the cheaper repairs. Things unlikely to cost you thousands out of pocket.

Just about any repair on this car is probably going to exceed the cost of an extended warranty (assuming you shop around for a warranty). I forget the exact numbers when I got mine, but just replacing the center screen would have been around triple the price of the warranty, so I bought the warranty.

 

[MacherAWD]

I'm going to go and cancel my earthquake insurance right now...

My logic is if you live in a place that you need Earthquake, or flood insurance you should probably move. And I say this as a person who lives 2miles from the Ocean, its just my house is 75 ft above sea level, so no concerns for me.

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