Sorry if this has been covered guys...

Our '02 LS V8 is coming up on the end of its warranty. It's very low mileage right now, and has never given us any problems.

Are there any problems with the LS I should know about? What is the V8 misfiring issue?

We have the optoin of buying a Ford extended warranty before our factory one goes out.

It is mainly my mom's car, and she's so far decided not to do it, but are there any issues I should be concerned about? I know I'm definately getting the extended warranties on my CTS-V and the CTS because there are differential issues, but we haven't had any fixes on the LS so far.

Head gaskets, seals, etc?

Thanks guys.

highly advise to get the warranty, some known issues:

Trans solenoid
Front suspension sway bar/bushings
Wheel bearings
Valve cover gaskets
Ignition Coils
Window regulators

These are the main issues I can think of along with various other bugs.

we got a continental extended warranty on the V. which was good since a month later some weird coolant leak happened which it covered. and planning on getting an extended ls warranty too.

I will always buy warranties / extended warranties, period.

I would say it depends on how much it costs for the warranty coverage and how lucky you feel. For me, i decided to pass on the extended warranty. For some reason Florida is really expensive, was like $2300 for coverage on my '05. I figured between the cost and the deductible it wasnt worth it. I could put the $2300 in a savings account, make money while NOT using it and if by any chance i get rid of the car i pocket all $2300. Now i think an '02 has more possible issues than a '05, but if you have been taking care of it and your mom drives like most moms do then i think you'd be fine. Just my thoughts.

Seems some of the above mentioned issues were worked out by 02 for the Gen1s. Gen2 seem to have some of their own issues.

I'm about to hit 72k and haven't had a issue. Front brakes, air cabin filters and oil changes, thats it.

When I get the first misfire or this winter which ever comes first, I'm doing the cam cover gaskets, coils and plugs all at once to save myself the trouble of chasing them around.

The fact that it is your mom's car, makes a huge difference on the possibilities of something going wrong as opposed to me driving it. The LS with a decent driver might experience nothing more than a trans solenoid and window regulators. If driven normally and decently, the gaskets should hold pretty good. One key fact, check the production date. In late 02 Lincoln went in and fixed a lot of tsb's on the car to prevent such mentioned weaknesses. Unfortunately, mine was early 02 production. Is she keeping the car for a long time? Sometimes the cost of a warranty is more than any repair you can do to the car. The dealer in FL was charging me $3100 for the warranty on my old LS, not worth it IMO. What could go wrong that could cost me that much, plus deductible, plus fighting for them to cover it... when you get an option for warranty, read it very good, sometimes they just cover "major" components and you're still stuck with solenoids, sensors, coils, and things that the extended warranty would consider "wear and tear" items like joints and struts, etc...

According to Consumer Guide the 2002 is supposed to be the most reliable of the LS cars. It was not one of the cars that they recommend not to buy.

I have only had the valve cover gaskets and clockspring replaced under original warranty. I replaced 2 coils on plugs myself at a total cost of $43.75 bought on eBay after the original bumper to bumper warranty on my 2002 V8 sport ended last December.

If your mom does not put a lot of miles on the car, it may not be economical to buy an extended warranty. I did buy the Ford BaseCare Extended Warranty for $1660 from my dealer who agreed to match what fordwarrantys.com was charging. But I put 15000 miles a year on my car and drive it hard.

i have an 2001, so far i have had the gaskets replaced, two coils, a window regulator, and now im getting a very large "hum" from the rear, im thinking its the bearing. tis should give you an idea of how likely these probelms are

Thanks for the insight guys.

Just wondering, at what mileage do the coil misfiring issues start to happen?

And what's the issue with the window regulators?

Thanks. :)

bump.

The issue with the window regulator is crappy plastic. If you roll the window up and hold it so the motor is still running it up after its all the way up a plastic clip will break, of course you can't buy just the plastic clip.

the warranty will pay for itself. Think of it as insurance but for your bank account :)