2nd Repair under Ford's ESP

[AZTB]

Just picked up car from dealer. Last Wed, on my way to our son's, the Bird started making a whining/growling noise - very loud. Took it in Thursday, and they found bad idler pulley and also bad alternator. No codes were showing yet for alternator, but they determined it was only a matter of time (most of noise was from idler pulley, addt'l noise from alternator). So, both replaced under Premium Extended Care product from Ford. Have had the policy on the car for 17 months - last year they had to major repair on A/C. They also supplied me with a 2020 Fusion Limited to drive free of charge for the duration of the repair (Thursday morning to Monday afternoon).
Now, back to normal.

[007Cruiser]

Glad it worked out well for you.

[Frank Dreano]

Help me understand Ford Premium Extended Care - you say you've had it on the car for the past 17 months...
Are you saying Ford offered you a fresh maintenance/service plan for a 17 year old car ?

[wcoates]

Frank I believe that October was the last time you could have purchased a Ford Extended warranty on a (2005 only) Bird. I do believe that if a car currently had the warranty that it could be extended.

[007Cruiser]

The problem comes when the dealer will only use Ford parts and what you need is on “back order”.

[Lakebum]

Glad they did right by you Jim After all you went through with the stealerships with your last retro

[AZTB]

Help me understand Ford Premium Extended Care - you say you've had it on the car for the past 17 months...
Are you saying Ford offered you a fresh maintenance/service plan for a 17 year old car ?

I know it's hard to believe, Frank, but they did. In 2019, only 2005's were eligible, and then only until October. The car only had 24K on it and had to be inspected before approval, but the policy has now more than paid for itself with these two separate repairs.

Glad they did right by you Jim After all you went through with the stealerships with your last retro

Totally agree...even now when I take it in, I hold my breath. This time the service writer followed me inside and got me the rental...and stayed in touch with me by phone on the repair process - of course, I also think they're hurting for business.

Frank I believe that October was the last time you could have purchased a Ford Extended warranty on a (2005 only) Bird. I do believe that if a car currently had the warranty that it could be extended.

My car had no warranty on it, but as I said, they did require it to be inspected. They came to the house to do it, and the inspection cost me $99...they then wrote a recommendation to Ford to approve the Premium Care extended warranty.

[Frank Dreano]

Knowing the paucity of parts for these cars and the lack of expertise from the young bucks in the service shop on older cars I'm really surprised that Ford signed on for this type of warranty so late in the car's life cycle; UNLESS the premium was so exorbitant that they couldn't get hurt money-wise.

Even if my 2002 DID have such a warranty the crew at my local Ford dealer are clueless - their latest incompetence was a $1,500 estimate to change an evaporator discharge temp sensor for the A/C; they thought the whole dash had to come out. I replaced the $29 part behind the center console stack in 5 minutes...

Thank goodness I got the RIGHT answer on this very forum before shelling out that ridiculous amount.

[philsbird]

Just picked up car from dealer. Last Wed, on my way to our son's, the Bird started making a whining/growling noise - very loud. Took it in Thursday, and they found bad idler pulley and also bad alternator. No codes were showing yet for alternator, but they determined it was only a matter of time (most of noise was from idler pulley, addt'l noise from alternator). So, both replaced under Premium Extended Care product from Ford. Have had the policy on the car for 17 months - last year they had to major repair on A/C. They also supplied me with a 2020 Fusion Limited to drive free of charge for the duration of the repair (Thursday morning to Monday afternoon).
Now, back to normal.

With all the far out electronics on vehicles now, I will definitely have the Premium ESP on my new truck once the new warranty nears it's end. Had these ESP's on previous retro and it paid for itself a couple times over. Happy for you Jim.

[AZTB]

With all the far out electronics on vehicles now, I will definitely have the Premium ESP on my new truck once the new warranty nears it's end. Had these ESP's on previous retro and it paid for itself a couple times over. Happy for you Jim.

Agree...when my wife bought her new Highlander, the dealer showed us the 7 pages of small print listing all the technology interfaces on the vehicle...we then purchased the Toyota ESP policy for the car if for no other reason than the technology. The Premium Care ESP from Ford was FAR cheaper than what it would have cost me in the two repairs done so far on the car...and that is with only 17 months into a 60-month policy.

[Frank Dreano]

It gets freakin' ridiculous, wife's 2016 Durango shuts off at stops to save fuel ... and you have to turn it off EACH time you drive the car, no factory permanent way to disable it. Annoying as heck and an old '60s driver immediately thinks something is wrong each time it happens...

A guy actually invented a device that plugs into the ODBC port to turn it off FOR GOOD. I couldn't buy one fast enough...

[AZTB]

It gets freakin' ridiculous, wife's 2016 Durango shuts off at stops to save fuel ... and you have to turn it off EACH time you drive the car, no factory permanent way to disable it. Annoying as heck and an old '60s driver immediately thinks something is wrong each time it happens...

A guy actually invented a device that plugs into the ODBC port to turn it off FOR GOOD. I couldn't buy one fast enough...

I agree, Frank...Susie's Highlander has the same feature. My concern on her car is not so much for the battery but for the starter motor (although I've been "reassured" they are designed to take the beating).
The default position on it is to always turn engine off when the brake pedal is fully engaged. You can disable it on her car by lightly holding the brake pedal (it won't shut off engine, but will stop the car - to fully press down on pedal shuts off engine), or there's a switch on the instrument panel to turn it off completely (until the ignition is shut off, and then it is "rearmed").

[gdon_2003]

I had Premium Care for a long time. Ford would not renew anymore. The PC saved me a lot of my net even with $100.00 deductible. My 2003 was a garage queen. Still going but I need to fix top hydraulic pump. Still enjoy driving it and get a lot of looks.

[philsbird]

It gets freakin' ridiculous, wife's 2016 Durango shuts off at stops to save fuel ... and you have to turn it off EACH time you drive the car, no factory permanent way to disable it. Annoying as heck and an old '60s driver immediately thinks something is wrong each time it happens...

A guy actually invented a device that plugs into the ODBC port to turn it off FOR GOOD. I couldn't buy one fast enough...

This is one source for a "gizmo" to plug into your Dodge (and some other models) OBD port to eliminate the continual start/stop function.

https://www.smartstopstart.com/

For those with Fords looking for the same thing - - - the following site has "gizmos" for several annoying functions on the newer Fords.

https://www.4dtech.com/

[philsbird]

Agree...when my wife bought her new Highlander, the dealer showed us the 7 pages of small print listing all the technology interfaces on the vehicle...we then purchased the Toyota ESP policy for the car if for no other reason than the technology. The Premium Care ESP from Ford was FAR cheaper than what it would have cost me in the two repairs done so far on the car...and that is with only 17 months into a 60-month policy.

Yep, I have a 2018 F150 Limited pickup - has all kinds of electronic everything - - as I near the end of the factory warranty I will be getting the ESP again. Hope your Toyota one is honored as the Ford one has been.