Extended Warranties for tow vehicles - RV-Dreams Community Forum

Cyride · RV-Dreams Family Member

Extended Warranties for tow vehicles

LarryW21 · RV-Dreams Family Member

“covering most everything with the exclusion of belts, filters, brake pads, (normal wear items).”

Are you sure? “Normal wear items” hmmm Your “lifetime” or the truck’s “lifetime?” Be wary.

arcaguy · RV-Dreams Family Member

Just some thoughts. You may want to get a list of exactly what "normal wear items" are. Most people wouldn't consider brake rotors to be "normal wear" items but I bet you most mechanics would, as most brake rotors can no longer be turned, they have to be replaced as they are at minimum thickness from the factory to save weight. Something else to think about. The companies don't offer these policies to save you money they sell them to make money. Having said that, I would also make sure that they cover a vehicle towing a rig full time. They may deem this to be "commercial" use and get out of it that way. I don't know as I generally don't buy extended warranties as over a life time you generally save money by not taking them. It seems to me that if you are getting a lifetime powertrain warranty with your purchase that you have the biggest items covered. I can't think of too many other repairs on a vehicle that would cost over a couple of thousand dollars and those are pretty rare. I do like the "life of ownership" thing. But in the end you are buying peace of mind and that can be invaluable.

travlingman · RV-Dreams Family Member

Never have had the extended warranty before, but going to this time. Too much electronics now that can go wrong. I will go with the Ford ESP right before the 3 year mark on my truck. After 3 years you have to get an inspection to get the warranty. The ESP does a good job of coverage from all I have read. If you decide to go with the Ford, suggest you look at some of the online Ford providers. Flood Ford has been running some great deals on theirs. Dealers are making a killing off of these warranties. For the coverage I am looking at, Flood was around $1300 and most local dealers were in the mid to upper $2000's.

Second Chance · RV-Dreams Family Member

I don't want to get into the "Always/Never" or risk arguments. I'll just say that, since we acquired our current truck used and out of warranty, we purchased an extended service plan on it. It was a one-time cash payment and the plan has already covered repairs that recouped almost half of the premium we paid - and they were "minor" repairs - not the really costly things that can go wrong with a diesel. The same has been true with our Route 66 coverage on the fifth wheel.

Rob

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

This is NOT an endorsement for extended warranties, but I think they are valuable, so long as one does their research.

When we moved from the Colorado Springs area to Oregon, we fueled up at Cheyenne, WY and headed west on I-80. If anyone knows that area, they know that Sherman Hill is between Cheyenne and Laramie, WY and is the highest point in ALL of I-80. Five miles west of Cheyenne, our Ford F450 began to "dog down." By the time we made the summit of Sherman Hill, I was down to 30 miles per hour with flashers going and the wife following in the Expedition with her flashers going. By the time we made the summit, I had decided that the truck's engine "sounded" good, but I just didn't have power, so I strongly suspected fuel filters as the problem.

We stopped in Laramie because there was a Ford dealer there. The next morning, we took the truck in and I explained our circumstances. They put the computer on the truck and could not get any errors, so they decided that I was probably right about the filters. However, they said one of the filter casings was leaking some and some other part in the engine had a crack in it. We told them to replace them all. Two filters, the filter casing, the other part, and the labor came to $760. Believe me, that isn't one of the more expensive repairs to be done to a diesel.

Terry