Somewhat off topic but I'm looking to buy another car and I'm looking at at Ford Fusion. However the deal breaker to me is the fact that they use a rubber timing belt. Before anyone even starts trying to tell me that they're OK, let state right now that, NO! They're NOT! I've had three different full maintained engines that have slipped their timing belts and suffered catastrophic damage so don't even start that conversation. But to get back on track, I am still considering buying a Fusion but only with the extended warranty that will fully cover the engine. So my questions are; Is the extended warranty that Ford sells any good? Or is it full of holes and exceptions like most extended warranties? Does FORD stand behind this warranty or is it just so anonymous company that operates out of a PO Box in the middle of nowhere?

Comments, observations, experience with the late model Ford Fusions also welcome. We are considering a 2016 Fusion SE or Titanium with the 2.0 engine. Extended warranty is $3,605 for 8 years. That's supposed to be in addition to and AFTER the factory warranty. 8 years or 125,000 miles with $100 deductible.

 

Thread moved to GD

FWIW
1.5L EB has timing belt
2.0L ED has timing chain
2.5L N/A has timing chain

 

So just a thought -- if Ford is charging you $3600 for the policy they are betting that most people will not incur $3600 in repair costs over 8 years. I would say this is a pretty safe bet in looking at my history with new vehicles.

So divide $3600 by 96 (8 years x 12 months) and you will see that if you simply saved $37.50 each month over 8 years and put it in the bank in a separate "car repair fund" you would be making the exact same bet Ford is, but you would gain the benefit of being able to keep any of the money you didn't use for repairs.

For me, this makes more sense than buying an insurance policy you hope to never use!

 

You can buy a genuine Ford ESP from online Ford dealers a lot cheaper than that, and you don't have to buy it right away.

https://www.google.com/search?q=ford...utf-8&oe=utf-8

 

Buying the ESP right away isn't an issue. I was just wondering if ESP was worthwhile or not. I've seen too many ESPs that were worthless.

And that is a genuine Ford ESP. This was straight out of "Ford ESP Florida Retail Price Book, October 2014", page 9. Online dealers may discount that but that is what two local dealers are charging.

But we ended up buying a different brand that didn't use a rubber band in the engine. FORD TAKE NOTE! We loved the turbocharged Fusion and probably would have bought one but after having THREE rubber band motor destroy themselves we just weren't willing to take that risk.

Also:

2.0 EB engine used in 2016 Fusion has a belt according to two different dealers here. If that's wrong then Ford needs to do a better job of educating their sales force!

PS I looked on line and I found found both listed. One of the longer articles that appears to have come from Ford and it talks about their "Award winning design that uses a timing belt bathed in oil" on the 1 liter engine then it goes on to talk about that engine being enlarged to 1.6 (IIRC) and 2.0l and it never mentions the belt or a chain again; so that clearly leads one to think that it still uses a belt.

Thanks for the replies.

 

Just curious for the information. Did you change the belt before the recommended maintenance period was past on the 3 engines that were destroyed by the belt breaking?

From what I have heard, Mitsubishi had the worst rep for breaking timing belts. I bought my wife a new Mitusbishi Outlander that had a belt. I had it replaced before the 48 month maintenance interval and had no problem with it. The Mitsu recommendation was 48 months or 60k miles.

 

I have a 75k Premium Ford ESP and i paid 810 dollars for it online. So far i haven't had to use it, BUT i had work done which was covered on the 60 powertrain and the warranty paid for the rental car. After Miles and the Rental car cost they paid around 350 bucks. I think i am going to have to use the ESP on the front hubs of the truck since it seems the bearing's are getting loud. Once that repair is done i will say i have atleast broke even on the $810.

Have never really heard anything bad about the Ford Esp's.

 

I went through all three engine options on the service maintenance books for 2016 and none of them mention a timing belt.

https://owner.ford.com/tools/account....html#/details

Without having a full owners manual service book (in paper form) its harder to know for sure

 

extended warranties never cover maintenance items. if the timing belt has a service intravel of 60k 60 months or what ever if you dont pay to have it changed if it breaks your screwed

 

Yes, in every case. The first one was a Nissan Maxima V-6. We replaced the belt at 58k (60K recommended). The new belt failed with 5k miles on it. It was a factory belt installed by a factory trained tech. "Luckily" the car was idling at a red light when it failed so it only destroyed ONE head and one piston and not the entire engine. Repairs were $1400 (in 1988!) 2nd failure (different car) was was at about 50k miles and the factory replaced literally everything above the block under warranty. $2800 IIRC, that was in about 2003. The same car failed again later at about 130k miles, and we scrapped it at that point. After the first two experiences, we were religious about replacing belt, pully and all bearings before they were due but it still failed. IIRC that time the belt had about 45K on it.

 

I agree. That's why I like to have a factory SM for all of my vehicles even if they're under warranty or ESP.

But I think a lot of manufacturers don't even make paper manuals any more. In fact some don't even have a CD version! You have to subscribe to an on-line version and pay a monthly fee!