Extended Warranty

[A Sturdy Beast]

I'm coming up on a year with my wonderful 2025 Maverick Hybred AWD Lariat. I normally don't purchase "extended warranties", but there is a lot to go wrong with this machine. Any thoughts?

Extended warranties are a gamble and the odds are usually against you. Also, never buy a third party warranty. If you plan to keep the truck long term, it might be worth it.

I’m a low mileage driver and the only extended warranty I’ve ever bought is one for my Maverick. In 2024 I got a 10 year 36,000 (more than enough miles for me) zero deductible Premium Plan for my 2023 hybrid from Grainger Ford for $735. Lights included (headlights are $400 aftermarket, $1,100 OEM each), but no enhanced rental coverage.

Annoyingly, the hybrid battery is not covered. Only the original 8 year factory warranty applies. Additionally, oil leaks are not covered. A really crappy exclusion from Ford. Other manufactures do include oil leaks in the factory warranty. I recently bough a new Mazda, and oil leaks are covered in the factory warranty.

This won’t affect most people, but looking at the Grainger site today, they no longer sell 36,000 mile / 10 year warranties. The minimum 10 year warranty is 60,000 miles. I wonder if this is Ford or Granger?

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[MaverickDragon]

As others have mentioned, extended warranties are a form of insurance.
All insurance is gambling. The ins co is the 'house', and the house always wins.
(And from your later post) " Whatever the issues are with any given vehicle, the underwriter is fully aware of the costs, "

If you said "usually wins" instead of "always wins" I'd agree, especially historically speaking.

I had an extended warranty on a 1984 Isuzu Impulse.
It had a major design defect, in that the electric windows used a cable connected to the glass by a plastic clip on the bottom of the window. Every use of the window flexed the clip until it failed.

Repair required complete replacement of the window motor and cable system.
IIRC, it was a $300 to $400 repair. Over the course of the 6 year warranty, I had over a dozen replacements. I don't recall the exact number, but the warranty cost me less than a grand.
The house lost several thousand.

Were the underwriters "fully aware"... Nope.
They can look at history, but can't predict the future.

In the past, major vehicle changes lasted for an extended period and annual changes were more frequently cosmetic than substantial.

Currently, the arms race to computerize everything, and rampant addition of safety features means that there are frequent modifications and significant feature changes, even in mid year refresh cycles.
This introduces a large unknown factor in warranty covered repairs, that frequently involve wholesale component replacements. With a new feature introduction, there is no history for an underwriter to look at to accurately assess potential repair costs, so it's at best a guess.

The vehicle owner is in the same position as the underwriter.

I looked up the replacement cost for a 2025 Maverick infotainment screen. The bot said it was $2000. I'd rather buy an extended warranty than pay one and a half times that cost for a single possible repair.

Self insurance is an option, but in some circumstances it can be an expensive one.

 

[Suzukiridr14]

Extended warranties are a gamble and the odds are usually against you. Also, never buy a third party warranty. If you plan to keep the truck long term, it might be worth it.

I’m a low mileage driver and the only extended warranty I’ve ever bought is one for my Maverick. In 2024 I got a 10 year 36,000 (more than enough miles for me) zero deductible Premium Plan for my 2023 hybrid from Grainger Ford for $735. Lights included (headlights are $400 aftermarket, $1,100 OEM each), but no enhanced rental coverage.

Annoyingly, the hybrid battery is not covered. Only the original 8 year factory warranty applies. Additionally, oil leaks are not covered. A really crappy exclusion from Ford. Other manufactures do include oil leaks in the factory warranty. I recently bough a new Mazda, and oil leaks are covered in the factory warranty.

This won’t affect most people, but looking at the Grainger site today, they no longer sell 36,000 mile / 10 year warranties. The minimum 10 year warranty is 60,000 miles. I wonder if this is Ford or Granger?

The ESP is from Ford, Granger is selling a Ford product, and has nothing to do with what it contains. Still, it is the best price for this Ford ESP that I found from any Ford dealer.

 

[MaverickDragon]

This won’t affect most people, but looking at the Grainger site today, they no longer sell 36,000 mile / 10 year warranties. The minimum 10 year warranty is 60,000 miles. I wonder if this is Ford or Granger?

Granger is a seller of the Ford Protect warranty that can also be purchased at other Ford dealers.
They don't set policy parameters, just the selling price.

 

[Suzukiridr14]

If you said "usually wins" instead of "always wins" I'd agree, especially historically speaking.

I had an extended warranty on a 1984 Isuzu Impulse.
It had a major design defect, in that the electric windows used a cable connected to the glass by a plastic clip on the bottom of the window. Every use of the window flexed the clip until it failed.

Repair required complete replacement of the window motor and cable system.
IIRC, it was a $300 to $400 repair. Over the course of the 6 year warranty, I had over a dozen replacements. I don't recall the exact number, but the warranty cost me less than a grand.
The house lost several thousand.

Were the underwriters "fully aware"... Nope.
They can look at history, but can't predict the future.

In the past, major vehicle changes lasted for an extended period and annual changes were more frequently cosmetic than substantial.

Currently, the arms race to computerize everything, and rampant addition of safety features means that there are frequent modifications and significant feature changes, even in mid year refresh cycles.
This introduces a large unknown factor in warranty covered repairs, that frequently involve wholesale component replacements. With a new feature introduction, there is no history for an underwriter to look at to accurately assess potential repair costs, so it's at best a guess.

The vehicle owner is in the same position as the underwriter.

I looked up the replacement cost for a 2025 Maverick infotainment screen. The bot said it was $2000. I'd rather buy an extended warranty than pay one and a half times that cost for a single possible repair.

Self insurance is an option, but in some circumstances it can be an expensive one.

I fully agree with your thinking. I got an ESP from Granger for peace of mind on a new vehicle that has no infomation on what may go wrong. (Early 2022 Mav Lariat Hybrid). Since the first Mavs, 22's and 23's started showing problems, the 25's came with AMG batteries etc. and other problems resolved like the drive axels. With the ESP I'm good for 10 years worry free of a big hit, and can sell my mav after 7 years, with a transferable 3 year Ford factory warranty, like it had the day I bought it, to the next owner! That means top dollar.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Suzukiridr14
Great point - An intact warranty will usually increase the resale price if it can be transferred to the new owner on a private party sale, as in the case of the Ford Protect product.

A used car with a "new car" warranty is more attractive for obvious reasons, and the price differential is obvious when you look at the prices for used vs "certified pre-owned" vehicles.
Netting that profit against the warranty cost might even make the cost a wash.

The piece of mind factor is also a plus I failed to mention.
Good luck with your vehicle!

 

[A Sturdy Beast]

Granger is a seller of the Ford Protect warranty that can also be purchased at other Ford dealers.
They don't set policy parameters, just the selling price.

Yes I know. If I gave the impression to you and Suzukiridr14 that Grainger is selling third party party Ford extended warranties I must have expressed myself poorly. Their Ford warranty is Ford official and I didn’t say otherwise. Their prices are great and that is why I bought from them.

I laughed in the face of the finance guy at my local Ford dealer when he tried to sell me a third party warranty. He didn’t even back down and offer the Ford warranty.

As for no longer selling 10 year 36,000 mile warranties, that might might be Ford or it might be Grainger.

 

[MaverickDragon]

@A Sturdy Beast
Gotcha. Maybe I was a cup short of being fully conscious.

In any case, I seriously doubt that Granger can change Ford's policy terms, so it was most likely Ford that eliminated that provision. Maybe the 10 year 36K was a a net loss so they dropped it.

A third party warranty on the other hand can be anything a seller wants it to be, but I doubt Granger sells them. I could be wrong, but it would be in competition with their Ford sales.

 

[Blackbelt]

I have come out ahead every single time i buy a service contract. Of course most of those were for Chrysler/Jeep products which are basically garbage. My most recent Jeep was a Renegade i bought new in 2017. I pout the longest time/lowest mile warranty offered at the time which was an 8/60 max care. Since my brother worked at the dealer, i got it at cost, which was $1050. Although my Jeep hasn't even hit 20,000 miles yet, i had over $3500 in work against the service contract. We only use the Jeep in winter thats why the miles are so low. The contract is up now so i hope it doesn't need another expensive repair. My brother is the dealer service manager so i will not get screwed, but parts are parts.
As to my mav, i immediately purchased a 10/60 zero deductible service contract with headlight and first day rental options. Cost me around $1200 from Granger. (december 2023). I am retired so i dont drive a lot. My mav is 2 years old and has 7500 miles on it and i plan on keeping it for a long time.

 

[grumpyunk]

If my age was not so advanced, I would have skipped the service contract. But it is advanced and I doubt I can crawl under a dashboard or slide around under the engine as readily as in the past.
Service information seems expensive and rationed, so fixing problems is more difficult.
I figured one hit - engine, trans, A/C, or ?? would pay for the contract, and parts.. Does anyone thinkg parts are going DOWN in price over the next few years? I figure I pad a chunk, and may never reap any benefit, but for sure just about any problem will put me right-side-up. Maybe.
tom

 

[sajohnson]

If you said "usually wins" instead of "always wins" I'd agree, especially historically speaking.

I had an extended warranty on a 1984 Isuzu Impulse.
It had a major design defect, in that the electric windows used a cable connected to the glass by a plastic clip on the bottom of the window. Every use of the window flexed the clip until it failed.

Repair required complete replacement of the window motor and cable system.
IIRC, it was a $300 to $400 repair. Over the course of the 6 year warranty, I had over a dozen replacements. I don't recall the exact number, but the warranty cost me less than a grand.
The house lost several thousand.

Were the underwriters "fully aware"... Nope.
They can look at history, but can't predict the future.

In the past, major vehicle changes lasted for an extended period and annual changes were more frequently cosmetic than substantial.

Currently, the arms race to computerize everything, and rampant addition of safety features means that there are frequent modifications and significant feature changes, even in mid year refresh cycles.
This introduces a large unknown factor in warranty covered repairs, that frequently involve wholesale component replacements. With a new feature introduction, there is no history for an underwriter to look at to accurately assess potential repair costs, so it's at best a guess.

The vehicle owner is in the same position as the underwriter.

I looked up the replacement cost for a 2025 Maverick infotainment screen. The bot said it was $2000. I'd rather buy an extended warranty than pay one and a half times that cost for a single possible repair.

Self insurance is an option, but in some circumstances it can be an expensive one.

The house (extended warranty underwriter) always wins in the end/long run. That's an indisputable fact. They must 'win' (make a profit) to stay in business.

Some gamblers/customers are winners, as evidenced by your story above. You really made out, that's great. Unfortunately, there are many more 'losers', and they aren't particularly motivated to post on forums about how much money they lost. So the overall impression of warranties may be skewed.

You're right of course that no one can see the future. An underwriter covering a first year model must make an educated guess as to the average repair cost per vehicle. Since that's all they do, I imagine they generally get it pretty close -- but even if they screw up and end up paying out much more than they thought, that's just one model out of hundreds. As long as they make a profit on most of them they're good.

There's nothing wrong with making a reasonable profit, but (with a few exceptions) extended warranties -- for all products, not just cars -- are a huge cash cow. That's why they are pushed so hard.

I don't purchase extended warranties, but that doesn't mean they don't have value. Costco adds a year onto mfr warranties. I wouldn't purchase that extra year (unless it was crazy cheap) but I appreciate having it.

I'm not saying no one should buy a warranty. Needless to say, some repairs are expensive. Not everyone has (say) $10,000 sitting around for a transmission replacement. Or, they may have the money but the *idea* of a potentially large repair bill will keep them up at night. In either case, a lower cost mfr warranty (like Granger sells) may be a reasonable option.

You wrote:

"I looked up the replacement cost for a 2025 Maverick infotainment screen. The bot said it was $2000. I'd rather buy an extended warranty than pay one and a half times that cost for a single possible repair."

Yep. That's the sales pitch given at the dealership" "This vehicle is complicated and unreliable. A new 'X' costs $Y (an insane amount of money)." Of course the question is, how likely is it that the part will fail? However likely it is, the underwriter has a better idea than the buyer, and they price the warranty accordingly, to cover the average total repair bill over the warranty period, plus a big fat premium.

And:

"Self insurance is an option, but in some circumstances it can be an expensive one."

Agreed. There are no guarantees. Overall, being self-insured makes financial sense, but there are of course cases where a person would have been better off buying a warranty.

The bottom line is it makes sense to play the averages. On average, if the repairs covered under a warranty cost (say) 25% of what the cost of the warranty plus deductibles would be, it makes sense to be self-insured (for those that can cover any potential costs). Could the repair costs be >4x the average and exceed what the warranty costs would have been? Sure, but that's unlikely.

 

[Gullzway]

I've never needed one on my 2022 Hybrid Lariat Lux.

Ford did give me a 36,000 mile/3 year Extended warranty when they replace my Engine at 40k, but that was covered under a CSP. As is the exhaust gas heat recovery system, if needed, up to 150k miles/15 years.

And apparently the Front Halfshaft was just added as a CSP, 25N09, 150k/ 10 years. Just saw that now.

 

[Kagiso]

I'm coming up on a year with my wonderful 2025 Maverick Hybred AWD Lariat. I normally don't purchase "extended warranties", but there is a lot to go wrong with this machine. Any thoughts?

I'm glad I bought the extended warranty from Granger when they were offering it at Dealer cost.

At a little over 40K miles, I had my first problem with my 2024 Ecoboost. I'm picking it up today from the dealership I've been using for routine service. They just replaced the Turbocharger & wastegate - according to AI, a BIG job that could have cost me up to $2400.

It's costing me nothing, & I've been driving a loaner (a brand new 2025 Ranger) while the Mav's been in the shop. (While in for covered repair, the extended warranty pays $35/day for a rental car up to 10 days, but I didn't need that.)

Before I bought the extended warranty, a friend and one of my brothers were warning me that extended warranties are a rip-off, a waste of money. I was told that dealership service departments can't be trusted, that they would weasel out of covering whatever breaks down, etc...

They were wrong.

 

[Suzukiridr14]

I'm glad I bought the extended warranty from Granger when they were offering it at Dealer cost.

At a little over 40K miles, I had my first problem with my 2024 Ecoboost. I'm picking it up today from the dealership I've been using for routine service. They just replaced the Turbocharger & wastegate - according to AI, a BIG job that could have cost me up to $2400.

It's costing me nothing, & I've been driving a loaner (a brand new 2025 Ranger) while the Mav's been in the shop. (While in for covered repair, the extended warranty pays $35/day for a rental car up to 10 days, but I didn't need that.)

Before I bought the extended warranty, a friend and one of my brothers were warning me that extended warranties are a rip-off, a waste of money. I was told that dealership service departments can't be trusted, that they would weasel out of covering whatever breaks down, etc...

They were wrong.

I agree with you 100%, Getting a Ford ESP from Granger is as much a bargain as buying a Maverick was when it first came out. (Still a bargain in my eyes) adding the cost of the ESP over the "out the door" price is still cheaper than any other truck purchase. Todays vehicles are no longer owner repairable due to electronic diagnostics to find the problem. You also need software to reprogram whatever you replaced. We home owner mechanics better stick to lawn mowers, and non battery operated tools.

 

[Kagiso]

I agree with you 100%, Getting a Ford ESP from Granger is as much a bargain as buying a Maverick was when it first came out. (Still a bargain in my eyes) adding the cost of the ESP over the "out the door" price is still cheaper than any other truck purchase. Todays vehicles are no longer owner repairable due to electronic diagnostics to find the problem. You also need software to reprogram whatever you replaced. We home owner mechanics better stick to lawn mowers, and non battery operated tools.

Word. I do my own oil changes on the Mav. And I can change the air filter. But that's it.

With YouTube & my little OBD2 code reader, I've been able to do a lot of work on my old 2001 Tacoma. Getting her ready to sell now. When she's gone, my mechanicking days will be over... sigh...

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