WS & extended warranty

[shevek]

3 year service coming up on my manual WS Zetec, all fine. Had zero problems.
City Ford Rockdale guy left a message about Extended Warranty.
I've always assumed these things were a waste of time but assume this is Factory, not Blue Care or something.
Don't know price yet. Any thoughts?

TIA

[Pursya]

Won't be factory.
Factory will always only apply on purchase day.
This will be a third party deal.
Simply you need to get a list of what is covered and a list of what is not covered.
The not covered list will be your focus and you may have trouble getting a copy as that's not an item that they use in selling these policies.
What I would recommend is that you sit down, spend an hour and think of all the worst things that may happen mechanically and cosmetically.
So, the list would include things like transmission failure, brake calliper failure, oil leaks, fuel leaks, cracked dash, faded paint etc, etc.
Then sit down with the guy trying to sell the policy and go through your list line by line, and get him to show you on the policy the coverage on each item, because he will simply say "yes" to each item relying on the "I never said that and you have no witness" defence come claim day.
I know it sounds harsh, but the commissions they make on these policies are huge and they really do not care about you or your vehicle so are heavily conflicted when it comes down to the truth of the policies actual cover.
Sorry.

[brydie76]

Actually, Ford does offer its own extended warranty-
http://www.ford.com.au/ownership/myf...ers/warranties

Looks like you can get another 3 years of factory-exact warranty or up to 4 years of a less comprehensive (but still Ford) warranty. From memory it was pretty exxy when the dealer told me about it when I got my Fiesta, around the $1k mark or more. If you are really worried though (and see yourself holding onto this car for a while), may be worth it...

[Pursya]

That's pretty good that the factory offers an extended warranty. Never seen that before.
A few issues with it;

The myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty is available at the time of your Ford purchase from a participating myFord Authorised Dealer and for existing owners. Vehicles that are under three years of age from the date of first registration and have travelled less than 100,000kms at the time of application are eligible to apply.

So get in before the 3years is up.

Looking at the actual policy the first mention of coverage worries me;

Where we have accepted your extended warranty application, we warrant to you that we will, during the myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty period, at our option, repair, replace or adjust free of charge at the premises of the servicing dealer, any part of the vehicle (except batteries)1 which are found to be defective in factory materials or workmanship under normal use and operation within Australia provided that:
a) The part has not become defective as a result or consequence of the owner’s failure:
• To properly maintain, use or operate the vehicle in accordance with the recommendations and instructions, and the capacity and operating limitations specified for the vehicle by Ford.
• To have the vehicle properly, regularly and punctually serviced in accordance with the instructions and recommendations specified for the vehicle by Ford.
b) The vehicle is, under normal circumstances, delivered at your expense2 to the servicing dealer for the carrying out of the required myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty service as soon as possible after the need for such service becomes apparent.
Unless Ford expressly agrees, the myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty will not apply to any defect in, or which is attributable to, or to the use of, any modification made to the vehicle unless such modification has been made by, or at the direction of, Ford.
The myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty will cease to apply to any vehicle which Ford believes, on reasonable grounds, has been written off 3.
Ford may cancel the myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty where you have not fully complied with its conditions, or in accordance with the cancellation rights (refer to Warranty explanation, Question 19 on page 25) or where the vehicle as described on your myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty certificate falls outside Ford’s stated extended warranty acceptance criteria.
The above cover is provided subject to the terms and conditions of the myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty as set out in this document and your myFord Extended New Vehicle Warranty certificate.

A few let outs for the company, but I suppose most warranties have these.

My Fiesta came with a 3 year extended warranty, and I certainly tried to have it taken off the contract with a drop in the purchase price. Sadly they wouldn't do it.
I've not bothered to even read it as the warranty is held by the dealer, not Ford, and the dealer is about 4 hours drive away. Clearly I won't be going there.

[wombat66]

I am considering buying the warranty as well. I will be getting a price this week. We have the dealer's extended warranty on our Focus. Doesn't seem to include much at all. They threw it in for free when we bought the car.

[BrisVegas]

My WS Fiesta has the extra 3 year MyFord warranty. The seller "paid" $1400 or so for it when new, although the selling price of the vehicle was adjusted somewhat to include the warranty, it appears on the sales invoice as a separate item. They are transferrable, subject to servicing being up to date and Ford agreeing to the transfer once the seller and buyer sign off on it. There's a $75 transfer fee too. I'm in the process of transferring it across on ours, as we just bought it. I figure for $75 it's worth having.

[Pursya]

Nothing to lose for $75.
But $1400 on a vehicle that was what, 16/17k to start with?
That's a pretty big % slice on top of the purchase price.

[BrisVegas]

WS Zetecs were around the $22k mark. I think he basically paid that WITH the warranty.

[Pursya]

22K!!!
What a rip off.
Surely no one paid 22K.

[greenfoam]

Originally Posted by Pursya

22K!!!
What a rip off.
Surely no one paid 22K.

I bet no one got one for more than a few dollars less than 22k actually, the German cars were more expensive and having compared them to the Thai cases you can see why. Quite a bit better put together.

[GoesLikeAZetec]

They were $22990 when the WS first came out... that was without dealer deliv, stamp duty, rego blah blah blah...

We paid $22k driveaway with extras and that was cheap at the time...

Back on topic we got the extra ford warranty as well. Cost us a few hundred from memory.

[BrisVegas]

yeah my first WS Zetec was just over $22k driveaway. The Thai-built WT saw the prices come down a bit I think.

[Caydus]

Aye, they're really nosediving now, but my LX was just a tad over $20k and it was a Thai built one too.

Also, a couple months ago was asking around for extended warranty. Dealers were quoting in the ballpark of $2,100 for 3 years.

[Fiesta God]

I wouldn't bother.

The new Australian Consumer Law that has been in force since 2010 requires a manufacturer and a retailer to warrant the fitness for purpose of their product for a "reasonable" period of time from sale ... "reasonable" is not interpreted according to the factory warranty period, but according to how long a part of that kind should last with normal wear and tear.

So - for example - if your transmission fails after 4 years and 60,000kms, you are within your rights to say to Ford that it is "reasonable" that a transmission lasts far long than that period of time. Which is true as you could get Ford to show you how many cars they have repaired with completely failed transmissions inside 4 years. Which would be close to zero.

Whereas if your transmission fails after 10-12 years and 250,000kms, Ford could not reasonably be expected to have warranted the fitness for purpose of that part for that length of time and distance (although you still might succeed if it was 10 years).

Basically it's not worth the paper it's written on, if you have a "major" failure with the car you are protected under Australian Consumer law for at least 5-6 years after the car has been purchased. Ford (and other manufacturers) are simply offering money to re-state the ACL and call it an extended factory warranty.

Different story with minor problems - e.g. air vent falling off. But for major things (transmission failure, cooling system failure, engine failure, major electrical failure etc.) you are protected.


Of course ... most of us don't have the time to have the inevitable argument with Ford and involvement with a lawyer.

So paying $1400 to ensure that you don't need to have that argument is probably a pretty good trade off.

[Fiesta God]

For the first 6 months they came out, you couldn't get a base model CL for less than $18k. Zetecs were basically order-only for the first year, $22k was an excellent price in 2009.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by Fiesta God

For the first 6 months they came out, you couldn't get a base model CL for less than $18k. Zetecs were basically order-only for the first year, $22k was an excellent price in 2009.

Yep my base model Morello WS CL cost me $18,000, only one they had on the dealership floor back in 2009.

[shevek]

City Ford eventually got back with $1700 negotiable for 3 years BlueCare. Guy said "it basically mirrors your original manufacturer's warranty" I'll have to check, underwritten by Swann Insurance.
The car is in good shape, had no issues. I plan to keep it for a while.

[shevek]

Originally Posted by shevek

City Ford eventually got back with $1700 negotiable for 3 years BlueCare. Guy said "it basically mirrors your original manufacturer's warranty" I'll have to check, underwritten by Swann Insurance.
The car is in good shape, had no issues. I plan to keep it for a while.

They just emailed an offer of $1588

[Spinner77]

$1700 negotiable for 3 years BlueCare. Guy said "it basically mirrors your original manufacturer's warranty"

The extended warranty could be one of the few new major inventions in retail. It started in a big way in UK electronic/appliance shops and has moved everywhere else since. If you bought a TV recently you are almost bound to have been offered one.

As I understand it, these guarantees are very profitable for the retailer.

So you have to ask what value you are getting - unless you know something about the vehicle that the dealer does not!

[Spinner77]

Following a comment someone made to me, I feel I should clarify this.

The easiest example is a laptop computer. These have long had extended warranties on offer. If you use one to browse the web, send emails and write job applications, you might consider the extended warranty worth your while. Who knows? You might have bought a poorly constructed one. But you can't be confident you are making the right decision.

On the other hand, if you have an expensive workstation-class laptop that you take on the road every day and on planes all the time, plugging drives and other add-ons in and out every day, it is highly advisable to pay for the extended warranty. Something will fall off or fail at some point in a few years. In this situation, the longer the warranty the better.

Speaking for myself recently, the fact that Lenovo offers a four-year guarantee, and Apple only a three-year, is a relevant consideration in deciding on a laptop purchase.

With a motor vehicle under normal usage, it is hard to say, "Don't buy the extended warranty". The guts could fall out of it tomorrow. Unlikely, but possible.

But if you drive hard every day in unusual or unfavourable conditions, and rack up a lot of miles, then the cost of an extended warranty may prove a wise investment.