Premium Maintenance Plan
 

New guy here, just purchased 2011 S/C 4X4, 5.0 and love it. Finance guy was pushing the Ford Premium Maintenance Plan. Did not purchase as cost was $1,795 for 6yr 100,000 mile plan. I like the convenience of the plan but not the cost. Being new here I don't know if this has been discussed in the past but would like to know if someone could steer me in the right direction if there is a cheaper plan.

There are a few factors to consider in a plan like that. Do you keep your vehicles for 100,000 miles or more? Will you drive 15k or more per year? Do you have a dealer nearby where you can drop off your truck for a whole workday. Do you like to do your own maintenance? If you answer "no" to any of the first three and "yes" to the last then pass on the deal.

I don't usually keep my vehicles that long, and I only drive my truck around 6k a year. So I passed.

You can go back to the dealer and offer them a more comfortable price and they may take it.

The premium packages and extended warranties are where the finance guys make their money. If your seriously interested in it, read the paperwork thoroughly. Make sure it covers what you think it does. Also, make sure the price is reasonable. I know I can change my own oil for under $30.00 and properly dispose of the used oil and filter. I know that I only need to do that about 3-4 times a year. Changing the other fluids (brake, transmission, power steering et al) isn't done near as often and I think the price the dealer wants for that premium package is excessive IMHO.

Boy, did I get hosed
 

Purchased a 2011 F150 XLT 4X4, 5.0 the other day. Also purchased an extended warranty-Ford ESP Premium Care extended service plan. Plan is for 84 months and 75000 miles. Cost to me including tax is $2126.88. I have read the fine print and I can cancel. This cost was rolled into my financing the vehicle. If I cancel does my payment go down or do I get a check in the mail? Does anyone have any experience in the costs of the plan?

Hubby did the same thing. He was able to cancel it and the payments went down. He had a certain amount of time to cancel and the dealer tried to postpone him because the finance guy wasn't in. He made them do the cancelation without the guy who wrote the deal.

84 months should be at least 100,000 miles IMO. 75,000 is just over 10,000 a year. Average use is between 12,000 and 15,000 a year.

Never Buy warranties from the Selling Dealer!
 

NEVER buy an extended warranty or maintenance plan from the dealer you bought your truck from...

Its EXTRA money in their pocket, period.

i'll tell you WHY.

I bought the PREMIUM MAINTENANCE PLAN for $940 from a FORD DEALERSHIP in Michigan. The sellling dealer wanted $1295 (no budging on the price either).

i bought a FORD ESP for $665 from the SAME ford dealership in Michican for $665. The selling dealer wanted $1195.

you can find better deals if you are considering these. Make sure they are "GENUINE FORD", and buy them from another FORD dealer.

Check out http://www.zeiglerfordesp.com/

ive had my truck for 6 months and put 14,000 on it already, haha!

i've had mine 4 months and have only put 2,284 on it.

I guess my esp and maintenance contract will be based off YEARS instead of mileage...

I paid around $2400 for a 7 year, 100,000 mile Premium Plan. Normally I don't touch these things but this time I did. Yeah, as others have mentioned you can get various 'deals' on them if you search around but I seriously wasn't that concerned about paying an extra grand or so and not having to dick with things. I got an outstanding deal on my truck so I didn't begrudge the dealer his inflated price....

TOO much....lol!

If you really have no mechanical ability and plan on driving 100k miles in 6 years and don't want to do any maintainence of your own, I would do it. As someone who puts on less than 7k miles a year, plus don't mind doing work myself, I couldn't justify it. The dealers are making a ton of money on it. If they weren't they wouldn't be offering it.

It's not a question of 'mechanical ability', really. Frankly, there are few things the average or even advanced mechanic can do these days to modern vehicles without an array of specialized tools and even licensed-to-dealer-only computer equipment/programs. There's not ANY repair/teardown/rebuild I haven't done in my life on both gasoline and diesel engined cars and trucks, but you're pretty well boned without the abovementioned items. For example, my Volvo uses a system called VADIS for pretty much every function of the car and all diagnostics. Without VADIS, most repair attempts are futile. Obviously I am not talking oil changes and minor shiit like this here....lol. And as I get older, I really don't relish the idea of taking apart and rebuilding a transmission or rear end or engine when I can make a phone call and have someone ELSE do it.... :thumbsup:

If you don't have one of these extended warranty/service plans - don't buy it. If you have one, cancel it if you can. Never buy extended service plans - over your lifetime, it will be cheaper to be self-insured.

I've had my truck for 5 years now and always have the dealer perform the maintenance. It's cost me a little over a $1k so far. If you could get the plan for under $1K it seems like a good deal. $2.5k is a flat out rip off. If you read the fine print it's interesting to see whats NOT covered:

Service adjustments and cleaning, batteries of all
types and cables, belts and hoses, brakes (front hub,
drums, disc rotors, pads), shoes, wheel balancing and
alignment, linings, coolant, exhaust system (includes
catalytic converter), filters, fluids, lubricants, lights
(bulbs, sealed beam, lenses), manual clutch disc,
shock absorbers, spark plugs and wires, tune-ups,
wiper blades, squeaks and rattles

When I got my truck She was a little more than a year old with only 9,000 miles on her. I still had 20 months and 27,000 miles on the factory warranty. I waived the extended warranty because my truck is FORD Certified so I get 6 yrs/100,000 mile warranty on the engine,computer,drivetrain. I figured thats good enough because if any of my electronics fail I will just replace them 1 at a time.

With that list of what's not covered, why would anyone buy it.

When buying an extended maintenance plan, if you roll it into your initial bank loan, it ends up costing more than just paying for the maintenance when needed.

I know everybody here is pro Ford, including me. I have a new XLT on order. But I don't understand why Ford has the worst warranty between what I consider the main pick-up manufacturers. I have a new ecoboost ordered and am reasonably confident that it has been well tested. But it wouldn't hurt Ford to have a bumper to bumper of at least 5yr 50 thousand mi. Just my opinion.

I'm curious . . . What other TRUCK manufacturer offers a 5 year / 50,000 mile bumper to bumper.

and explain how FORD has the WORSE warranty compared to the other major TRUCK manufacturers?

those are "regular wear/tear and maintenance items",
A premium maint program includes WHATEVER items are recommended at the regular service intervals in your users manual (including extras like wiper blades, brake pads, and a few more extras.

The FORD ESP covers another 500 items.