Should I buy an Extended Warranty?

[SILVER2000SVT]

My 00 Lightning is sitting at 31K and is about to run it's 36 months out in the middle of July. I'm considering getting an extended warranty for it but want some opinions. Depending on what kind of plan I get it's going to cost me between $1500 and $1800. I've looked at a couple of the 3rd party warrantys, but these don't seem to cost any less than the Ford warranty, some were consideribly more.

Should I just let the warranty run out and save the money for future repairs, and if I did that, for example, the tranny goes, I can spend my money on a beefed up tranny instead of going back to stock. Right now I do have some light mods, but want to add more. Presently I can remove everything to send it to the shop, but the more stuff I put on it the harder that becomes. I'm not afaid to touch any part of the truck. I've rebuilt my share of motors and know electrical systems very well, so the only real costs if the worst happens the way I see it is the costs of parts, and extra time that it would take me to fix it over the dealer. You can tell that I'm leaning a particular way, does anybody need to slap some sense into me? (on this subject anyway)

Jason

[dboat]

my advice is as follows:
1) buy only the Ford warranty, dont ask
2) Have you had very many problems that would requie warranty work? if not, then what you are buying is an insurance policy, only you can assess that risk/reward.
3) If you intend to do more mods, just gives them a reason to deny coverage. I plan on very few mods and buying a warranty.

Some dealers are still covering modded trucks but it seems the hammer is coming down on that..
The amount of money for a ext warranty can cover a fair amount of work, will you put the money aside so that you have it available when something does happen?

Dana:vomit:

[Crawford]

I have been asking myself the same question lately... To extend or to not extend? I think a good question would be this: in the event that Ford voids your ESP warranty, can you get a refund on the remainder of the unused portion? When you trade off a vehicle with remaining ESP on it you can get a refund on the difference. Any thoughts guys?

[SILVER2000SVT]

I'm pretty sure that the ESP will stay with the truck and transfer to the new owner.

On the previous question, "can you get a refund on the remainder of the unused portion? " They will make sure you don't have much left, you know, something simple will cost $1000. They also will pro rate it in addition to claims.

Jason

[Moonshine]

My '00 has 72K miles on it right now, and I haven't had anywhere near $1500 in out of pocket repair expenses since 36K. Unless you're looking at a 100K mile warranty, then I think the better financial decision is to save the $$ and pass on the extended warranty. If you're considering a 100K warranty, then it probably gets closer to being a good deal, but only if you're willing to go through the hassle of de-modding before every trip to the dealer, and you're willing to run the risk of having your warranty voided.

[SILVER2000SVT]

The on problem with a 100K warranty is that for the base care plan, which is almost no coverage, prices starts at $2455. For the premium care 7 year 100k price is $3310

The $1500 to $1800 I mentioned is from a 5 year 60k to a 6 year 75K. There is a massive price jump for anything over that.

Jason

[Moonshine]

Well, all I can give you is based on my experience. If I'd bought the $1500 5 yr/60K then I'd have come out $1000 in the hole. As for the 6 year/75K I'll let you know in another 3K miles. :tu:

[wesman]

If you're gonna mod more, save your money. It would suck to spend the cash on a warranty that ultimately gets voided. I beleive Andy Cain cancelled his because he knew even if something did happen it probably wouldn't be covered once they investigated it.

--wes

[L8 APEX]

The only reason I like 3rd party waranties is they allow your ASE Cert. mechanic to do the repair. Sometimes that helps with high performance work. I had a race trans built under waranty on my Tahoe. My warranty paid off on the Tahoe in that one item. The warranty was 800 bucks and the built tranny was near 3K!

[andy_cain]

Save your money...any mod is probable cause and nothing but a hassle....Do yourself a favor...put the same money in bank, earn the intrest on it yourself and you wont spend all your time wondering what happens when she goes POP.
I had mine refunded a month after buying it and was honnest with them .... "say bud, I'm thinkin' of addin' Juice to it"...they were happy to give me a refund
Some people still get the plug issue partially paid for well out of warranty. :D