Extended Warranty: Worth it?

[Doorknob]

It's hard to believe it, but our Marauder is about to turn 3 years old, and the warranty is up in 2 months. It hasn't been much trouble for us save one of the windows going out. We worry about something else going wrong when it's out of warranty, but we also looked forward to it to get the 4.10 gearing and to chip it. Have any of you run into problems with mods and dealers or major problems where a warranty would definitely be worth it? Thanks for any help.:help:

[Marauder2005]

I got it, actually I used it today. Needed a lower control arm and wiper

motor. The car only has 18,000 but its had alot of problems. So for me,

its been worth it. Here is my problem list.....

1. 4,500mi new tranny

2. 10,000mi Alternator

3. 10,000mi Alternator wire Harness

4. 10,000mi Cooling fan

5. 8,500mi Thermostat

6. 17,500mi Lower control arm

7. 17,000mi Wiper motor

8. 7,000mi Valve Tick (Extended Warranty given for

free/un-resolved problem) :shake:

And Yes, for some reason I still LOVE this car :rolleyes:

[jstevens]

Depends how radical you're going to go on the modifications and if your dealer is mod friendly.

I've got physical (under dash chip), 4.10's and CAI. Ford dealer doesn't have any issues with it. But, I spoke with Ford ESP about warranty and could not get a straight answer if this would void problems.

[RoyLPita]

I bought a 7/60k PremiumCare policy just in case something did go wrong like my tranny which has been o/h'd already at 8k. One thing about the Ford plan: if a part that is covered takes out a part that is not, then both are covered (ex:rear main seal leaking oil onto a clutch disc).

[Rider90]

Some people have had many serious issues and some have had nothing. My only issue has been two LEDs and a light bulb in 34k miles.

[StevenJ]

I think thoose that have issues usually have A models. Bs and 04's don't seem to have problems. I know my car with the oriignal owner needed a new radiator and window motor but I think that was it. A gear swap, as long as it is a Ford gear and done at the dealer, should not cause warranty problems. As long as all work is done at a licensed Ford dealer, you should be fine.

[usafsniper]

It's hard to believe it, but our Marauder is about to turn 3 years old, and the warranty is up in 2 months. It hasn't been much trouble for us save one of the windows going out. We worry about something else going wrong when it's out of warranty, but we also looked forward to it to get the 4.10 gearing and to chip it. Have any of you run into problems with mods and dealers or major problems where a warranty would definitely be worth it? Thanks for any help.:help:

I got an aftermarket warrenty, but not through FLM. It's a true bumper to bumper, and I got it because I plan on keeping the car, not because of fear of issues at this point. Eventually though, 50K plus, things tend to go, and my past history has been that a warranty is worth the buy if you plan on keeping the car long term. For some reason, cars seem to know exactly when the 36/3 goes out, and will give you something to spend money on immediately afterward. I did ask the question before purchase about mods...the answer was...as long as the mod didn't directly contribute to the breakage...the warranty remained in effect and covered the problem. If the mod contributed to the breakage, as determined by a certified mechanic, then I foot the bill. Seems fair enough to me. Just be sure you ask a lot of questions before you buy...many aftermarket warrantys are not true bumper to bumper, even though they say that on the site. I also do not use FLM for service...I use an independent service because I know and trust their mechanics far more...no offense to FLM guys here. These guys don't work on a quota system, and don't have to worry about being the mechanic who's getting "boned" with all the warranty jobs. They get paid honest dollar for honest work.

[n-cherok]

6yr 75k premiumcare

[ckadiddle]

I always have BAD luck with cars of ALL makes and models. I have gotten a lot of use out of Ford extended warranties and third party warranties over the years. Nowadays I stick with Ford warranties on Ford vehicles to avoid the time lag in waiting for a third party company to authorize repair. Some of them were good, some took their sweet time.

So far the 'rauder has been good to us. Wacky wiper syndrome and a broken shock. Of course, it only has 28000 miles so far. Just went out of 3/36 onto Extended.

[teamrope]

We purchased the extended waranty (100K) on the car we had previouse to the MM. The only thing that went out would have cost us $900 less than what we paid for the extended waranty.

The Trans went at 105K, the day after we paid the car off. (Imagine that)

IMHO it is a crap shoot either way.

[Leadfoot281]

The salesman tried to talk me into an extended warranty. I told him that if he didn't feel it was a reliable product, I'd take my business else where. That shut him up real fast!

My '04 was built 10-24-03. I bought it 8-22-04 with 19k miles and have had ZERO problems (now at 38k).

Warrantys are useless. Cash cows for dealers ships (a salesman actually told me that). Buy powerball tickets instead.

[TripleTransAm]

I'm starting to agree with respect to the extended warranty being questionable.

Lots of little stupid things that were not covered on my MM#1's extended warranty. For instance, the seat squeak (which occurred THREE times, and on the third time they were going to try and charge me for it). Also, I developed the moisture-in-headlight issue very late in the game, and regardless of the commonality of the problem, they were adamant that the extended warranty not cover it at all (at which point I told them to extend something else inside a personal orifice).

That's it for me and extended warranties. From now on, if the car comes from a questionable source, I'm dumping it right after the basic warranty's over.

[sfsv]

As a former FLM service advisor I have always recommended extended warranties to my clients. On the MM my main concerns have been the front struts which are covered by Ford ESP and rear shocks which are not covered. My experienced has been that a Panther would need a least two elec. window repairs, one ac repair, one trans repair, and one drivability repair in 100K miles. The price for Ford ESP is expensive and in the state of Florida is is not negotiable, but in other states it is. Here is the strange thing I notice in all my years, if a panther sees a lot of miles in a short period of time (50K a year) the car doesn't gives problems until 110K miles. On the flip side a car that averages 10K miles a year will be in the shop more often in a 4 year period. If you plan on keeping the car and like controlling your fixed costs, I highly recommend it. In the all states other than Florida, buying Ford ESP is a no brainer, but in Florida you might want to roll the dice. Ford ESP always adds to the resell value to your vehicle if you plan on reselling it to a private owner and makes it easier to sell.

[carfixer]

You don't have to buy your ESP in FL. You can buy it out of state like I did. I saved almost $900.
Try this (http://www.fordwarrantycentral.com) link.

BTW, I recommend an extended warranty and only the Ford ESP.

[TripleTransAm]

Here is the strange thing I notice in all my years, if a panther sees a lot of miles in a short period of time (50K a year) the car doesn't gives problems until 110K miles. On the flip side a car that averages 10K miles a year will be in the shop more often in a 4 year period.


Interesting comment.

Using your numbers, the high useage car will have hit 110k after 2 years on the road, and that's where you're expecting problems.

This would seem to imply that mileage has very little to do with a Panther's longevity. Seems it's more a time based thing. Which would reflect parts and assembly quality more than durability.

Which actually makes a great deal of sense, given my experience. Parts corrosion is quick and unrelated to mileage from what I've seen. My first Marauder saw about 12000-16000 miles per year of mostly very easy highway mileage and by the middle of the 3rd year of ownership it was clearly a quality train wreck. My second MM is already a rolling squeaky jallopy at 20000 miles but at 3 years of age. I'm realizing not to consider mileage when looking at daily driven Panther, but rather the overall age.

I'm getting the impression Panther quality took a slight step backwards for 2003.

[ckadiddle]

Here's another twisted way I look at the extended warranty:
While I am making what I consider heinous car payments on the beast, I cannot really handle major car repair bills without choking. The warranty is my insurance against that. I try to time the warranty to roughly coincide with the length of my loan. It's peace of mind for me - helps me keep the car in excellent running condition.

[mcb26]

Here's another twisted way I look at the extended warranty:
While I am making what I consider heinous car payments on the beast, I cannot really handle major car repair bills without choking. The warranty is my insurance against that. I try to time the warranty to roughly coincide with the length of my loan. It's peace of mind for me - helps me keep the car in excellent running condition.
That's what I did.

[Bradley G]

If you need it, It's nice to have.

[DL04]

I'm getting the impression Panther quality took a slight step backwards for 2003.[/QUOTE]
.............................. .............................. .............................. .............. I think your right alot of the '03 CVPI at work are going through trannys and axel bearings before 30k!

[MadMarauder]

I got a FORD ESP warranty from http://www.fordwarrantys.com. It cost me about $1200 for a 6 yr /100K Premium care warranty .

[whoskal]

I have a 7yr/70,000, never used it but........if something major goes wrong with your MM you will wish you had it!!:twocents:

[ckadiddle]

Oh yeah, another reason I felt it was even more important to go with extended warranty is that the Marauder is a "new" animal. While the Marauder may be a compendium of parts from other Ford products, it is a pretty unique combination thereof. They haven't been produced long enough for the kinks to get worked out of the design - no long term track record to look at. It's like buying version 1.0 of a software package. It's going to have some rough edges and bugs left in it.

[Doorknob]

I'd like to thank everyone for their input. It looks as though we've decided not to get the extended warranty. If we were sure we were going to keep it for more than another 3 years, we'd do it, but we have a tendency to unload cars sometimes. We are going to go through with getting a few mods though, so that might make us decide to keep it a little longer. Thanks :pimp: