I posted this in the Other Aftermarket forum about extended warranties:
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OK guys, here is my two cents worth.

Bought my 01 SCrew in 12/00 and purchased the PremiumCare Warranty. Have not really had any problems with the warranty until now.

Truck has 96K miles on it, so I decided to get some things taken care of while it was in getting a coil pack replaced and a tune-up.

Had my driver's side lumbar mechanism replaced at 60K miles - covered under warranty. Noticed it was broken again, so had the dealer check it out.

Service rep called the other day and said that this part was not covered under the extended warranty and I would have to pay the $178 to fix it. I mentioned to her that they had replaced it once before and she did verify that, but said NOW that same part is not covered. So I called the Ford 1-800 # that she gave me. After sitting on hold off and on for 10 to 15 minutes, after giving my info to the CSR, listening to her blow smoke up my butt about how I made a good choice buying this vehicle, that it is very powerful and costs a lot of money, she basically says "yep, that part is not covered and for any further action I need to contact the customer service manager at the dealer." So after getting irrate and hanging up on her, I contacted my service rep again, and she gives me the number to the extended warranty division. They proceed to tell me not only is that part not covered, but that I had never had any claims against my extended warranty, according to their computer. Called my service rep back and she now was pissed because she knew I had about 8 or 9 claims!! She took over from there and got it taken care of.

To me it sounded like they were having problems with this part and then decided not to cover it any longer, which is WAY wrong!! When you buy one of these warranties, it is a binding contract and they should not be able to remove things from coverage.

Oh, and when you go to the warranty website, at the bottom of the PremiumCare coverage page, it states:

THESE ARE THE ONLY COMPONENTS NOT COVERED BY ESP PREMIUMCARE

INTERIOR
Buttons, carpets, dash pad, door and window handles, *****, rearview mirror, trim, upholstery.

I do not see anything there about "lumbar mechanism".

In addition, I ended up having to replace my control arms and some other components in the front end (steering).

This has been my first Ford, and I love my truck, but I have to say this will probably be my last. This truck replaced a '95 S-10 with 175K miles on it and I never had to do any repairs on it like this - think the worst thing I had to do to it was replace a water pump.

Oh, and by the way, my dealer has been excellent in this whole process - I blame all of these problems on FoMoCo.
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Well, went to pick up the truck last night - $700!!!!!!!!!! They covered the lumbar replacement and most of the front end components, but they would not cover the re-alignment that was required after replacing those parts. Coil was not covered and the dang tune-up cost over $400!!!!

I can't imagine what the cost would have been if I had not had the extended warranty.

Again, I never had this much problem with other vehicles I have owned and this will be the first and last Ford I will own!!!

Sorry guys, I had to vent.

 

Wow, I gotta tell you that what you experianced isn't right man...

I hate going to my dealers in town, so I drive the 200 miles to the dealer I bought the truck from in Wheatland, WY. (Laramie Peak Motors) They are the nicest people and there is little pressure to purchase anything. In their building NO really means NO. "No I don't want to buy this today."

I have never had an experiance like you just described. I recently had a minor dispute about alignment that wasn't done right three times in a row, and they bi*ched about giving me back the $39.99...I took it to an Alignment shop and they said I needed a Camber/Caster kit and $49.99 later it drove straight as an arrow.

If you haven't done so already, file a complaint or something against your dealer and see what happens. IF they want to keep you as a customer...IF being the keyword...they will make it right like my local "stealer" did.

Just my opinion,
--Justin

 

What front end components did you have replaced on the front end? A front end alignment should be covered if the suspension components are covered under extended warranty.......you just have to pay your deductible.

I have a explorer in my shop that is having a control arm replaced and the subsequent alignment is covered.......

 

Sounds like a bad dealer. Some of that should have been covered. I agree with Tampa man about the alignment. If the components that were covered wer edefective, then the alignment should be as well.

I had a coil replaced under PremiumCare ESP on my 99. I paid only my $50 deductible.

 

What dealership did you go to??? I work at Pugmire Lincoln Mercury in Marietta as a service advisor. I'd be glad to assist you anytime if you need anything to do with your truck.
BTW the alignment should have been warranty, I'd be calling a service manager on Monday looking for some answers. Hope u aren't dealing with Mall of Ga Ford.

 

Hey guys, thanks for the input. I am not going to name the dealer right now because I want to give them the chance to make it right. I have been using this dealer for a long time and overall they have been great, but I totally agree with your points. I said the same thing about the alignment - if you are replacing parts that are covered under a warranty and to finish the job it requires a realignment, why is that not covered?? And I wondered about the coil - I do not see it under the "not covered" catagory in the extended warranty.

I will keep you updated.

And no, it was not Mall of GA Ford.

 

I just scanned this page for Premium-Care Info Link .
Coil is covered.

What were the parts & labor charges ?

Each item should have been itemized on the invoice for you.

 

I will give you two email addys for yor consideration. The first is Mr. Jay D Klahn, Fords Customer Service Division Manager at jklahn@ford.com and Mr. Steve DeAngelis, Head of Vehicle Warranty Issues at sdangel@ford.com . You need to be specific in regards to the problems you having, no ranting allowed or they won't bother to read your email. Be as clear and accurate as possible and make it short. Hope this helps.

 

Well, guess I get to discuss all this with the dealer sooner than I thought.

Driving down the road today, I left a green light and THUNK, THUNK, CLATTER, CLATTER, CLATTER!!!!!!!!

Keeps doing it, so I pull into a parking lot to check it out. Overdrive OFF light is flashing. Truck is having trouble going into gear and will not move in reverse. Call dealer up and they have to haul it in. No one to look at it today - will find out more on Monday.

Can you imagine all the four letter words that came out of my mouth today!!!!! (not at anyone - just to myself)

I tell you what, this Dodge Crew Cab that I have had as a loaner for the past week is looking better and better!!!

 

New transmission a comin'!!!!

In a way, I guess I am happy that I am getting my money's worth out of the extended warranty!!!

 

Glad to hear that your issues are being handled under your warranty and I'm sorry that you've had problems.

It's very unfortunate when someone has problems of this magnitude but, we all must realize that we are dealing with a 'mass-production' vehicle and, of course, when anything is mass-manufactured there will be an occasional dud come out of the group. It's just the nature of the beast.

Keep that head up and don't loose the faith yet. Tranny problems are few and far with this particular truck thus, don't jump ship unless you've totally lost hope.

Best of luck with the repairs and please let us know how it all turns out.

RP

 

Well, my baby is finally home. Brand new tranny with 3 yr/ 36K warranty (which is a little over a year for me ).

RP - I understand what you are saying - I just have been a little frustrated, especially when they told me of all the things they were NOT going to cover under my $1000 warranty that I had bought. But I guess the tranny going out and Ford having to pay for it was kind of "sweet justice".

Again, I love this truck - I have worked hard to make it look like it is and still have many more things I want to do to it. The thing is, I plan on putting a couple hundred thousand miles on this truck and when stuff starts falling apart before the first hundred, it makes you second-guess if it is going to last.

I am still going to talk to them about the coil and the alignment, because I just don't think those charges are correct - I will let you all know how it turns out.

 

Glad to see you're back on the road, man. Make some noise at the stealership about the other charges and maybe they'll pick them up. Good luck!