Extended warranty on the cobra, yea or nay?

[Lord Warlock]

My cobra's warranty period is nearing its end...36 months will expire in July. In the last month i've had the dealership perform warranty service on the clutch cable, the front suspension, replacing the rear axle/cv joint and 3rd tail light lens, all of which would have eaten over 800 it total if done out of pocket. The car is a daily driver, and only lightly modded compared to most here. Intake, shifter, with a catback to come in the near future. I don't plan on doing the pulleys or tune in the near future.

Is it worth it to buy the extended warranty available through ford? I've never been a warranty type person, either doing minor maintenance myself or taking cars to a trusted shop, but this car seems to have alot of little things going wrong considering it only has 28k on it. But then again, i've never bought a car for myself with less than 30k on it. (wife has gotten 2)

What options are available from ford, length (mileage) of warranty and cost of warranty, I figure some of you have paid for one and would know more than requiring a trip to ford to talk to the business manager. I plan on keeping the cobra at least another 2 to 3 years minimum, and maybe considerably longer after that - my cars tend to average 9 years of active duty before i move to the next one. If the shelby's had sold at book value I probably would have got one of those, but i'm not spending that much extra for a newer car.

Thanks,

Lord Warlock

 

[01cobravortech]

With no pulley or tune in your future, you should definitely pickup an extended warranty.

 

[RIDE THE]

IF your not going to mod it then get the warranty. There are many options of coverages for miles or years. You can do low miles/high years or high miles/low years. They also have different types of deductables. $0, $50 or $100.

Just remember that the warranty is active from the day that the warranty coverage was originally started on the car. If it is three years old and you buy a 5 year/75,000 miles plan today, it would only be covered for another two years from today. A lot of people think it is an additional 5 years of coverage on top of what the car came with and it's not. They don't tell you these things when your sitting in front of them with a checkbook in your hands.

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

I would pass, most extended warranties are BS. You have to be very careful.

 

[Wings65288]

just get it and then de-mod if something goes wrong.

 

[BelvedereGTX]

just get it and then de-mod if something goes wrong.

I dont know man, thats treading on thin ice. Thats a hit or miss if a ford rep detects a tune to the car if something in the ngine fails.

 

[traktrbeam]

Nay, buy mods.

 

[cobraracer46]

Extended warranties are a waste of money and if you disagree with this fact then you're a stupid mother f**ker. A better plan would be to stash a couple of G's in the bank in case anything in you have goes to shit, not just your car instead of giving away your hard earned money to the dealer for a worthless warranty that you can only use on a Cobra.oke:

 

[Ryushin]

Well, I just got my 2003 DSG two weeks ago with only 5100 miles on it and it was completely stock. Even though the car was out of warranty, the ford dealership gave me the option of a Landcar Agency bumper to bumper warranty for a 100,000 total miles (so in my case I have a 94,900 miles left) or 72 months with a $100.00 deductible for $2900. Since this is is going to be my daily driver (except for winter, then the Subaru SVX comes out) and it has such low miles, it was a no brainer for me. Good thing too, because within a few days after picking it up, I noticed the drivers side window wouldn't roll down. A quick trip into Ford and they fixed the window motor regulator. It cost me a $100 when the total was $466.53. So within two weeks, the extended warranty has already paid for itself by about 12%. One head tick should pay for the extended warranty outright. I also figured it would give me piece of mind for several years and the 15K plus miles I'm going to put on it every year.

 

[Tom's_03SVT]

if youre sitting on a huge pile of cash in your savings account then skip it.

If you are living pay check to pay check then I say, get the extended waranty and gap protection.

 

[dan04gt]

If your not going to mod it get the Warranty IMO.Only get the ford mo. co. warranty,others may not be worth it. I have the 100,000/6year myself.If you think about it the motors are very expensive on these cars if something happens it could be costly to replace.Worth it for the peace of mind.

 

[wvmystichrome]

I asked the same question several weeks ago and got about the same responses. I am going to get it because it will pay for itself if ever needed. Especially high dollar repairs such as heads or motor. Just make sure you get the FORD ESP that is good at any Ford dealer in the country. You can search on-line for the cost and most will email you a special savings discount code. I think I priced mine at about 1,300.00 for 7, 60,000 & 100 or 50 deductable can't remember which right now. Someone told me to take it to the local dealer and see if they will match so they can keep the business. You might try doing the same.

 

[Zinc03Cobra]

extended warranty has given me two engines... I'm a bit hard on engines...

 

[CobraBob]

The truth is that companies offer extended warranties to make money. So you have to weigh a number of things.
1. Do you have the $1,600.+ for an extended warrantee
2. Will you keep your Cobra relatively stock (with on intake/exhaust mods, shifter)?
3. Is there a co-pay with your extended warranty?
4. Are you going to be racing your car, or regularly abuse it?
5. Do you maintain your car regularly?
6. Have you had any issues which were covered under the regular warranty?
7. Can I keep $1,700. in a savings account for future repairs (not mods) in lieu of an extended warranty?

These are just a few basic questions to ask. One thing to remember. If you ever do get the urge to go with a pulley and tune, or port your blower, or swap to a Whipple/KB that extended warranty might not be worth much. And resisting just a smaller pulley and tune is really hard. Also, just because a few people have gotten an engine replaced/repaired under warranty doesn't mean YOU will. Circumstances, mods and your dealer play a big role in what will or will not be covered.

Best of luck with your decision.

 

[jm@ReischePerf]

The truth is that companies offer extended warranties to make money.

Well said Bob. Don't forget that fact guys. More than likely you WILL NOT get your money's worth because warranties are there to make money by giving you a feeling of security. Now if it's a Ford warranty and you can roll it into your loan then maybe under certain circumstances that would be beneficial to some people. I personally wouldn't by an extended warranty on anything. Keep in mind that some warranties can be cancelled by the issuer at anytime (like when you need a major repair) and then all they have to do is prorate and refund the balance of the warranty cost back to you and it's completely legit. Ask around, it has happened.

 

[Tom's_03SVT]

Well said Bob. Don't forget that fact guys. More than likely you WILL NOT get your money's worth because warranties are there to make money by giving you a feeling of security. Now if it's a Ford warranty and you can roll it into your loan then maybe under certain circumstances that would be beneficial to some people. I personally wouldn't by an extended warranty on anything. Keep in mind that some warranties can be cancelled by the issuer at anytime (like when you need a major repair) and then all they have to do is prorate and refund the balance of the warranty cost back to you and it's completely legit. Ask around, it has happened.

I agree to a point, if you replace one major powertrain item, heads or even the blower. then it's worth the investment, I know its a big if....

I guess its just piece of mind.

Tom

 

[Lord Warlock]

The truth is that companies offer extended warranties to make money. So you have to weigh a number of things.
1. Do you have the $1,600.+ for an extended warrantee
2. Will you keep your Cobra relatively stock (with on intake/exhaust mods, shifter)?
3. Is there a co-pay with your extended warranty?
4. Are you going to be racing your car, or regularly abuse it?
5. Do you maintain your car regularly?
6. Have you had any issues which were covered under the regular warranty?
7. Can I keep $1,700. in a savings account for future repairs (not mods) in lieu of an extended warranty?

1. Been out of work for 18 months, cash is low. Started new job last month, now the car is being driven alot more than it has been in last 18 months, Could lump sum it if needed but prefer to spread it out if possible.
2. Intend to keep it alot more stock than a majority here. Drivability mods are considered. Got better mileage with my k&n on another car, so replaced the intake on the cobra (JLT RA) I also only plan on a stainless catback attached to the stock H pipe. (just want a deeper tone and freer flow), already have the MGW shifter installed but have the stocker set aside for later (I keep all my takeoffs)
3. I would expect some copay somewhere, or a deductible, though the initial warranty didn't have one.
4. Racing? only the occasional burst from a light. Its only seen 2 burnouts since i bought it, it would fall more under the category of babied. Abused, no it almost never gets abused. I abused my first car, (still got it though, and it runs) but learned to enjoy cars without trashing them. Although i wouldn't mind taking it to a track once, I doubt i'll see one unless the local mustang club has a big meet at one.
5. Maintain my car, more than average, not a stickler though tend to push oil changes longer, I keep my cars a loooong time usually, but i use them up as well, in the past we've paid for a warranty on the wife's car, that has been pretty useless but that isn't the cars fault, the car just hasn't broken anything major in 75k. I usually start looking for a replacement when the car reaches 100k. Hate to pile the miles on the cobra like that though, would like for it to reach retirment with low mileage .
6. Have i had any previous issues? Yes, i have. The car is actually the youngest car i've ever bought for myself, at 22900 miles. I usually get them 3 to 5 years old with around 30k. Anyway, the car when first purchased was totally stock still, all original pieces in place, no marks indicating parts being removed. engine runs smooth, quietly - no tapping in the heads, Car ran great, but drove mediocre. Shifting was horrible, replaced the cable and quadrant,(which snapped in 6 months so had whole thing returned to stock cable and quadrant, at my expense since it was aftermarket not stock equipment.) Replaced the shifter, but the stock shifter cable replacement did more to correct the problem than anything else.
6. As stated before, don't keep 1700 set aside for car repairs, set aside 10k for emergencies normally but we're trying to replenish that after a leeching unemployment. I also have "other" cars that demand attention and $$. One alone would be a much simpler situation. Ain't likely to sell the charger, but may unload the stealth turbo eventually. (its too fast to let 16 year old daughter drive)

A note here, the car had been titled to 6 owners before me, mostly wholesalers but there were some buyers sprinkled in.

Anyway, the latest repair work, involved replacing the entire rear right cv joint/axle. Fixing a crunch in the front suspension, drivers front, (still haven't tested this to see if its fixed right) but involved cv joint work up front too. Got the rear 3rd tail light replaced and had the recall on the carpet done. I figure total repairs so far were only 800 or so, for parts and install, but if anything else pops off it could be another 500 or so. And that is falling into range of what i would have spent for a warranty.

I also wanted to add, I've worked at a dealership before, in sales, as well as being a loan officer, so know that warranties are money makers for the most part, I don't buy them on anything electronic, but have been grateful that the cobra still had 2 years of warranty left when i got it. Its been my experience that mustangs in general tend to last a long time fairly cheaply, but if the cobra has needed this type of work on a suspension that hasn't seen an ultra harsh life, kind of wonder if it made sense to spend on the extended plan. The packages offered by ford are at 3 levels, from 1500-2500 in price, I'm not willing to spend 2500 extra for the fanciest package, and not really sure if the lower packages are worth it or not.

Reading this site tends to get you reading of broken parts often, some should be expected under harsh use or abuse, but other items seem to have issues as well among cars with much lower mileage than normal.

 

[Lord Warlock]

Well, let the warranty expire without renewing it, figured i could always try to renew it just prior to putting 36k on it if i change my mind. July has come and gone, just like my bumper to bumper warranty.

 

[Unoid]

dunno about you but I just bought a 2003 with 15k miles. I def had a 3yr/36k warrenty thrown in with a 100$ deductible for 1900.

Nothing like having 3 years or 36k miles of driving knowing the car won't cost you anything crazy.

 

[willyum]

Wow, I just bought the Ford ESP (their best package; $100 deductable) for $900 a couple of weeks ago, since I will be out of my original warranty on Wednesday, August 8th. I was going to write them a check but they offered the 0.0% financing option for 11 months with 10% down (my figures may be slightly off). I have a 6 year, 60,000 mile warranty (translation, 3 more years until 60k).

I have had some issues, so my warranty has been good to me. It's not for everyone, as most has suggested.