Aftermarket warranty worth it?

Krakabeast

Krakabeast

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After a year without one, I'm finally about to purchase another LS, an 06' just near the 100,000 mark. I have little experience with dealers, and I'm curious if I should sign off on an aftermarket warranty. Is there a factory warranty for the 06' models? I'd just like there to be a cheaper alternative to the aftermarket warranties because they'll boost my payments too high. The LS I'm looking at is not certified. I want to say the aftermarket warranty for my last LS saved me money, but I'm not sure it did. It was an AUL "Estate" warranty that supposedly covered damn near everything EXCEPT our notorious ignition coils. What's my best option?
 
Lincoln's factory warranty is 4 yr 50k so the warranty on that car is way passed. You'll pay more since the car is now not in warranty. If you buy an extended warranty while the car is still under factory warranty it's a lot cheaper than buying one on a car that is currently not covered.

Is it worth it? I don't know. The 06's are pretty good, but still at 100k something could happen. When I had my extended warranty between the time the car had 33k and 45k the warranty had already paid for itself. And that was on a low mileage car. However I bought a different 06 now and I did not opt for another extended warranty. Most problems you can find the answers to here and fix yourself. But then again I'm not to worried anything major will happen to mine with only 50 k right now.
 
Thanks for your insight. I'm mostly worried about the transmission. I test drove it in D4 because I forgot D5 is default, and felt the trans delay quite a bit at a couple points. My V6 did it too, but I don't remember it being as noticeable. Even the salesman, whom was in the car with me, mentioned it when I did a little aggressive acceleration. I'm definitely going to test it again in D5 when I go back, and probably even soft reset the transmission if things don't feel right again. After reading the forums for the past few years, I feel like every model of the LS is either hit or miss, even the 06's.
 
I believe you can also have a Lincoln dealer reset the trans or something to the original specs, and then the trans will learn your driving habits and adjust accordingly. I think? Maybe the driver before you either rode it rough or something. Again I'm not for sure about this. But If you did buy it I'd for sure see if a Lincoln's dealer can do that before spending the money on the warranty if the tranny is all your worried about.
 
M4rk said:
Best option is a Ford ESP IMO.
Click to expand...

Do you think Ford will offer one when the car is touching 100,000 miles or does current mileage not matter? The price would probably be higher since they'll probably suspect the car will have problems sooner than later.

EDIT: Did some research. Probably a bit late to get an ESP.
 
Yea I was going to say you can do all of that online. Everything you need is online. When I bought my esp I live in Illinois and I actually got it from a dealer in Rhode Island. Because they offered the best price online. And yes my local dealer honored it and fixed all my issues when they came up.

And I was also thinking about if it was even possible to get one when your already to 100 k. :/
 
Check the websites for the Ford ESP warranties. I think their "best" coverage is no longer offered after 100K and even then, it is only offered for 2 years/24K.
Their next best, you can get it for 4 years/48K. It would cover most items (powertrain, suspension items, AC, etc.)

My previous, non Ford warranty paid for itself in that I had my DCCV replaced, all plastic cooling system items replaced (except Degas so far), upper and lower A arms, etc. I also have a 2006.

I have yet to use my Ford ESP waranty, but I expect to be able to use it before my car hits 150K. WIth Ford parts and Ford labor, I expect to eventualy break even if not come out ahead with the ESP warranty.
 
Just plugged in the numbers online and was quoted $1900 for a 2yr/24,000 for premium ESP with $100 deductible. Not complaining, but the AUL Estate plan was nearly the same price and was a 3yr/36,000 deal, but that one didn't cover coils. Why don't the more moderate plans cover coils?:mad:

Well, at least I know what to expect.
 
Krakabeast said:
Just plugged in the numbers online and was quoted $1900 for a 2yr/24,000 for premium ESP with $100 deductible. Not complaining, but the AUL Estate plan was nearly the same price and was a 3yr/36,000 deal, but that one didn't cover coils. Why don't the more moderate plans cover coils?:mad:

Well, at least I know what to expect.
Click to expand...

It's pretty simple. They have done the math and they limit what they cover and decide what to charge so that they come out ahead on average, and most of their customers lose. Any part that is expected to fail during the warranty period will not be covered.

If you can do many of the repairs yourself, you are far better off to put the plan money in a savings account for repair part expenses. If you plan on having someone else do all the work, you could come out ahead with an extended warranty, but most likely you won't.
 
Krakabeast said:
Just plugged in the numbers online and was quoted $1900 for a 2yr/24,000 for premium ESP with $100 deductible. Not complaining, but the AUL Estate plan was nearly the same price and was a 3yr/36,000 deal, but that one didn't cover coils. Why don't the more moderate plans cover coils?:mad:

Well, at least I know what to expect.
Click to expand...

I have both a manufacturer warranty and aftermarket warranties on my car. My aftermarket warranty covers ignition coils but the highest mileage option I'v seen available is 100k miles. Not sure if this holds true, but you can look into it. Here's a PDF with a list of everything that this particular aftermarket warranty covers.

http://www.aaautowarranty.com/contracts/Premier.pdf
 
I find the hassle of trying to get them to cover things under warranty to be not worth the expense of not carrying a warranty and just paying the repairs myself.
 
three ways to look at it,

if you get it any never end up using it, your going to be pissed that you wasted all of that money.

if you dont get it and need it, you going to be even more pissed that you didn't get it.

if you got it and had to have a repair done with it, your going to be happy as a clam and thankful that you did.


basically, do YOU think it is worth its price for peace of mind.

also i personally, along with my wife's car has never had a warranty not cover anything that had broke, with my first LS, it came in handy and I came out about $500 ahead, with my wifes car, we have already had to use it but they are coming out ahead so far (but we still have a few years left of coverage)
 
Krakabeast said:
Just plugged in the numbers online and was quoted $1900 for a 2yr/24,000 for premium ESP with $100 deductible. Not complaining, but the AUL Estate plan was nearly the same price and was a 3yr/36,000 deal, but that one didn't cover coils. Why don't the more moderate plans cover coils?:mad:

Well, at least I know what to expect.
Click to expand...

Covers coils but I'm willing to bet only the bad coil. It won't cover replacing all coils when one goes bad.
 
WHy you guys care about coils?

They are cheap as hell to replace compared to the transmission or engine.
 
I generally never buy extended warranties for the reasons joegr mentioned. On average buyers of extended warranties lose money. I am killing myself trying to decide if I am going to buy one for my F350 now that the factory warranty is about half gone. What I can tell you is that when I bought my 06 it came with a 60 day dealer warranty.

I had a few bad coils (coils not covered) bought and changed all 8 with plugs myself $200ish.

What was covered (2 days before the warranty ran out!!) was the transmission solenoids! WOO HOO!!!

In my experience though I have found that extended warranties arent a good buy. Especially if you are buying that 06 for say 12K, and then almost 20% on top of the purchase price for some coverage for 2 years. Seriously geet the full list of stuff and you will be shocked at what is not covered.
 
I have one from Chrylser. I know, weird huh. I bought my LS used obviously from a Chrysler lot and they offered this warranty so I bought one. It has already paid for itself since I had a myriad of problems out the gate with my 06 to include, Alternator, Bushings, Radiator, and some AC lines.

At first the Techs at the Chryslyer lot tried to work on it but gave up, since they know nothing about it. They now send my car to the local Ford Lot and then the Ford dealer just bills them. It's pretty damn useful, and considering my deductible is $200, problems aren't a hassle.

I did end up doing the coils myself on my own dime though. In order to get all the coil replaced, I would have had to wait till I get a miss, and they would replace the coil associated with that check engine code. That would have been 8 trips to the shop, with a $200 deductible each time. Um no thanks.

Its as nifty feature to have. My bank, USAA, offers tow compensation, and then the car gets fixed on warranty paid by Chrysler and then they give me a rental car.

It really has made living with this thing, almost hassle free....Almost.
 
The Ford extended warranty will only go to 100k/10yrs. I wouldn't spend a dime on an aftermarket warranty of any kind.
 
I went a couple rounds with the dealer and my aftermarket car warranty. What it boiled down to is that the service writer was a freakin retard. I literally had to sit there and talk to him like he was a 6 year old so he would call the right company to get the warranty approved. It was pretty frustrating. They kept running a suspension part under the Ford drivetrain warranty and going "Nope! Not covered" and i'd have to tell them "NO, call the other warranty company that covers the other crap".

In the end they replaced a $5 wheel bearing and the $780 aluminum housing it was in (cause you can't just replace the bearing, nooooo). Also had them pop out and diagnose the coils. Replaced two bad coils and put new plugs in those two pots. $100 for a ticket that with parts and labor ended up around $1200. I still have about $500 to go before I break even on the warranty. Kind of wondering if there's anything fragile in the cooling system that might mysteriously break before the service plan expires. :shifty:

In contrast, if I had a second car and did the work myself, I'd only have spent $5 for the wheel bearing, $200 for a set of coils and a Saturday. Been about $1200 ahead of the game not counting what my time is worth.

I think it's just peace of mind. I bought the car hearing the horror stories of the transmissions and engines and bought the extended warranty for insurance. I still got another 10K-miles or 18 months to go, but i'll probably end up getting another one.
 
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