2004 Ford Focus Extended Warranty?

Lindey

Lindey

Joined
Apr 13, 2005
Messages
842
Hello all,
I recently purhcased a2004 Ford Focus with only 47 000km's (just under 30 000 miles) on it. Anyway, I have a bit of a dilemma. The original factory warranty ends this december. I've had no problems with it yet but I need to decide whether i want to spend the extra $700-$1000 to extend the warranty for a few more years. I am by no means a car expert so I thought I'd appeal to some of the more experienced owners out there. What I'm wondering if it will be worth it or should I take the gamble and go without it? I will be haviung it serviced regularly. Thanks for any input.

-Lindey
 
I generally don't buy extended warrantees, but I bought one on a 2002 Focus I bought a couple of years ago. When the AC compressor blew, I took the car back to the Honda dealership where I had bought it (with the extended warantee). They told me they don't work on Fords. So I took it to a Ford dealership, where I was informed that they don't honor extended warrantees that were purchased elsewhere. After many phone calls between both dealerships and the office of the Commonwealth Attorney General, they all began to see the wisdom in refraining from policies that tend to defraud the public, and the Ford dealership replaced the compressor.

Bottom line is the extended warrantee cost me about $1000 and I got about $1000 of repair work done while it was in effect, after an almost unbelievable amount of aggravation (for everyone), stone-walling (by them), and threats (by me). Next time I will not purchase the extended coverage.
 
My history: I bought a certified Toyota Avalon with about 31k on it, and found (via Edmund's website) a dealer who sold me the Platinum extended warranty for quite a bit less than the actual car dealer who sold me the car.

With the car now rolling up on the 100k limit they've replaced rear struts, a windshield wiper motor, a seat belt tensioner, something with the brakes and rotors, and essentially rebuilt the tranny under warranty. Other than a discussion over paying the tax on it*, things were so easy I was a little scared, actually. If it took more than three days to fix they picked up the rental car charges, too.

I'd go for it, but check it out very carefully based on what Mycrofft has posted. Try the Edmunds site to ask specific questions--it's a treasure trove of info, or at least was when I was looking. With the kind of investment you make on a car it pays to check this sort of thing out, IMO


*the dealer told me NJ makes them charge tax on the price of the repair, even though it technically doesn't cost me anything. I have asked a local accountant about that being true per state law but don't have an answer yet. At 7% of "cost" it added up to quite a sum...!
 
I purchased the extended warranty for my 94 ford pick-up, paid a 1000 bucks for it. That was one of my best investments of the day. Once the truck's original warranty was used up and the extended warranty kicked in I had close to $4000 worth of warranty work done. First the torque converter packed up and the tranny was rebuilt saving me about $3000 , then there was a problem with the wiper switch, a ball joint, and those nylon bushings on the front end.

While I do not believe extended warrantys are worth it on small things, extended warranty coverage for things like automobiles and furnaces may make sence. Just be sure to read all the fine print first.
 
The last car that I bought w/o the extended warranty was a 1989 Voyager with the turbo motor, 5 speed manual, and A/C. By the time that I traded it in 1998, I wuld have saved at least 4 times the price of the extended warranty if I had bought one. needless to say, I have bought them on the last two cars. The 1998 Dodge Caravan had to have the valve guides replacewd on the Mitsubishi V-6 engine and the estimate was about $3000. It was covered and I paid $50. I have a similar warranty on the Focus but have not needed it as yet. We also bought one on the Mazda6 that replaced the Caravan last January.
 
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