azoufan

I'm at 32K miles, so we're just about out of the warranty period. I won't be purchasing an extended warranty. I have had zero TSB's performed as frankly, not a single one has applied to my car. The only problem I've had is with the strut popping (ok fine, ONE TSB ). Fixed twice, problem is still there. I have aftermarket springs, so it looks like I'm giving Steeda $300 for HD strut caps.

So beyond the worthless strut caps, what should I do before I run out of warranty? I have a small spot on my Shaker 500 head unit, but I'm scared to get it replaced as I haven't had any problems with it playing cd's or anything. No issues with the gas tank. Any gear whine is legitimately not Fords problem with my install of 4:10's. The stupid brake reservoir is a lost cause, do I really want to mess with it?

Your advice is most appreciated!

Sean

azoufan

You guys are awesome! Thanks for all the wonderful replies!!!

DoctorQ

Sean: what exactly are you asking input on? I see your question "what should I do before I run out of warranty?" However, that depends on what's not working on your specific car? Just like the ole saying "If it ain't broke.. don't fix it"... Ford won't do any warranty work unless you are experiencing a problem and they can see/replicate the problem. On the other issues you list:
(1) spot on Shaker 500 head unit: if you can live with the spot and the unit works to perfection, I'd live with spot. If you think the spot is the start of deterioriation, take it in and see what your dealer says.
(2) you're lucky with your gas tank.. count your blessing. Heck, even mine has acted up ~3-4 times in the first 6 months.
(3) Gear whine: you're correct, dealer will point to your mod on that one.
(4) Brake Reservior: I took mine in for leaking fluid... dealer stated factory overfills reservior and removed fluid so level was about 1/4" below top fill line.. haven't had a problem since fix.

You may want to reconsider investing in an extended warranty.. I've seen some pretty reasonable prices from "FordWarrantys.com". The first 36K rarely call for major parts malfunctions... it seems these wait until the 50-75K range to surface! Good luck.

randy_tho

Are you talking specifics or just cars in general?

I've not seen many posts on problems outside of the normal defects.

tapd117

I would buy the extended warranty, I have 14,000 on my 05 GT and it goes out of warranty in October of 07. You just never know....

just my thoughts.....

azoufan

I'm actually happy to get it out of warranty as I'd like to start doing more to the car. In it's current state, it's on the edge of having warranty issues, luckily I have a dealer that rocks when it comes to mods and warranty work.

I was just wondering if I should get them to look specifically at anything (transmission, clutch, etc.) in case anything has started to crop up as major issues on these cars yet. I haven't really heard of anything yet, just wondering.

Thanks for the replies!

Tony Alonso

Since your particular vehicle is about 2 years old and has not experienced anything significant, it follows that you probably have a car with reliable components and good assembly quality.

A quick scan of the TSB list over the past 3 model years might give you an indication of potential trouble spots. Assuming your service department actually performs the standard multi-point inspection, anything that looks like it needs attention should be prominent. If they don't, perhaps it might be worth the money to have this done.

The only reason I would consider an extended warranty is if a particularly costly subsystem of the car (engine, transmission, electrical system) has been prone to failure in previous models and is in use in this one. With this particular car, it would be difficult to say what that might be, since the engine and transmission have been improved over the past 7-8 years, and the electrical system was greatly updated as compared to the SN-95 vehicles.

Beyond that, enjoy your (knock-on-wood) trouble-free vehicle.

hi5.0

since your vehicle has so far proven to be trouble-free (again - knock on wood), it's time to go the tool-time route. save up and plan on adding "more power!" (grunt grunt)

kevinb120

Well you can't say should-of would-of if something happens. My brother's Bullitt was trouble free for years but this summer(its not even at 50k miles) he started getting the 2nd gear grind common to those cars. Brought it in, new tranny, flywheel, and clutch, voila!. I would get a Ford warranty over an aftermarket one as they are the best, maybe just the enhanced powertrain one, little more then the basic, but less then the b-t-b. If you need it once, you more then paid for it.

Tony Alonso

This was the first year of the T3650, which was unfortunately notorius for the grinding.

After the revision in late 2003 (early 2004?), there was a great improvement. I suspect these have been carried over to the current version.

Kevin does bring up a good point about the level of coverage, if you did purchase, needing to cover enough so that you would avoid paying out beyond the deductible.

I generally think of an extended warranty as a "pay-ahead" for something in the future if I don't have confidence in the thing it covers and the amount I paid is less than what I would be charged if I had to cover it. Most of all, it is the level of peace of mind that you have after purchasing one. last, I also, if I were top purchase one, would go for Ford's warranty.

azoufan

The fact is that I have gears in the car and it's been to the track, not often, but it's been there. To me it seems like I'd drop money on an extended warranty to cover the motor, but if anything truly did go wrong, I'd be SOL. It's not like it's an economy daily driver or an SUV, this is a car that I enjoy romping on. Romping and extended warranty's don't mix, I don't think.

We have guys who work at dealerships here, what would you say? Guy brings his car in, lowered, hood pins, taller gears, Hurst shifter, CAI, etc. and says "my motor is knocking, but I have an extended warranty". My gut feeling is that they will say .

Not that I would blame them...

And yes, I feel VERY lucky so far with the reliability of my car. Other than the worthless strut caps, this car has been a dream!

randy_tho

To me it would depend on what the etc. is. They should honor warranty work unless you have a supercharger, or internal engine work.

I guess a bad tune with the CAI could cause problems but doesn't this car use a "safe mode" to prevent that?

To me they would have to prove one of those modifications or the install of that mod caused a problem.

If not then they should just slap a 4 cylinder in this car and call it a day because there is no point in having a high performance engine. It's what the car is MADE to do. What you described there is a Shelby GT with hoodpins.