Hey Richard, you got a PM.

 

Thank You sir

Very much appreciated.

 

Well, I just bought the "Base Care" option from Ford ESP. This covers mostly drivetrain, suspension, & AC. Our '05 GT only has less than 6K miles, probably not enough miles for the strut bearing problem to show itself, for instance. Besides, by buying the additional "insurance" I've almost guaranteed that nothing will go wrong!

 

Rick, if you don't mind me asking, what did the base care option cost you and what are the terms of coverage (miles and/or years)?

 

I bought the ESP from Barrie Ford in Canada. Cost was 1273.00 including the GST (Gouging and Screwing Tax). The plan offers four classes of coverage "powertrain,base, extracare and premium."

I choose the extracare package with the warranty expriring in August of 2011. I think the warranty is worth the money. I recall having a new 1978 Pontiac Phoenix, the main bearings went at 18,000 miles, I had GM's extended warranty plan the repair was for a almost $2000.00 with the extended warranty the repair bill cost me $100.00. The current plan I have with ESP has a deductible of $50.00; not bad for any major repairs.
FordESP.ca - Discounted genuine Ford extended warranties available online

 

Yeah, I have to wonder as well. I got the ESP on 08, but I'm wondering about my dealer so far. I might try a different one, as there are several around here. Are there many complications or hassles with trying to use warranty coverage at another dealer (I know that strictly speaking, it's FORD warranty and usable at any dealership, but I've seen several threads where people were told to take major problems to their original dealer).

 

For $895 I got an additional 4 years coverage & up to 36K miles, which in our case should be plenty. We also opted for $0 deductible. You can check out all of the options at www.ESPfromFord.com.

 

I always buy extended warranties for my cars and my wife's cars. I always encourage my family and friends to buy them when they buy a car where I work. But, I only recommend genuine Ford ESP's as they are very generous in coverage. It's the 3rd party aftermarket warranties that have many exclusions, loop holes, and claims nightmares. That's really why Consumer Reports frowns on extended warranties as a whole.

Yes, I've bought a few extended warranties then never needed them (hindsight may say that was wasted money), but most that I've bought have paid for themselves by covering expensive repairs that totalled up to be more than the cost of the plan. So, in the long run, buying ESP's has more than paid for themselves for me.

And, dealerships do NOT have any incentive for denying coverage!!! A Ford ESP is good at all Ford, Lincoln, and Mercury dealers in the US and Canada. Ford pays the dealers to make legitimate repairs, so why would a dealership turn away an opportunity to earn money? With cars becoming much more reliable every year, business in the service departments is way down, so most dealerships will eagerly take on a warranty fix.

And, for modified cars, you are still covered under the provisions of the Moss-Magnuson Act which says that a warranty can NOT be denied simply because a car is modified. However, coverage for a specific failure can be denied if a modification caused the failure; it's totally a cause-effect relationship.

So, with Ford already offering a 5 year, 60,000 powertrain warranty on new Mustangs, it's a cheap upgrade to extend that to more years and/or miles, as well as more coverage (i.e. ExtraCare or PremiumCare). Incidentally, I always buy the PremiumCare as I tend to buy cars with a lot of high end equipment that wouldn't be covered by a simple BaseCare ESP.

 

Thanks Rick, Brian...$895 with 0 deductible sounds reasonable. I'll probably remain part of the non-ESP control group after my warranty expires, though. When the time comes, I'll tally my repair expenses and weigh them against the cost of these plans.

 

The key is to see what you spend after the base warranty expires.

 

I was thinking along those lines.