Just bought a 2007 ST8 - Cant use Warranty for 30?

I just bought a 2007 ST v8 4x4 last Saturday. I noticed the coolant a little low, so I topped it off to the cold mark. Next day it is low again. I top it off again. Drive up to meet a friend somewhere and noticed it smelled like antifreeze. Got home and the truck has a bunch of it scattered from the fan. I am thinking radiator, especially after everything I have read.

Also, the transmission is acting funny (like so many posts here). At 96k miles, it could be coils or anything. Looks like there are updates for the computer, so maybe the tsb was not performed.

I called the dealer this morning and they tell me I have to wait 30 days to make sure I can use my extended Ford warranty. You know...the Ford Premium plan that was about $2,000 for 3 yr 36k miles.

So...I have a truck I drove for two days that I cannot drive for a month or I just need to fix myself.

Anyone else run into something like this? I have 30 days to cancel the extended warranty. I can't even use it for 30 days.

This has made my mind toast...

Tell the F*^kers you are going to take it out for a nice long joy ride the way it is and they can replace the motor under your warranty along with the transmission and rad. Either that or they hook you up with a loaner you can destroy for the next 30 days on the house.

Wow, def haven't heard of that issue before. I would be calling up and talking to the manager of the dealership if you are having major issues only a few days after buying it. Waiting 30 days will only cause the issues to become bigger.

Here is the angle they are going to play. They know damn well after you pay for all the repairs over the next couple years you wont be a ford customer anymore so they will get you as much out of you as they can.
You wait 30 days, they get your 2k for the warranty. They say it was a know issue when you bought the truck (just like the stereo) in a month and decline the repair under warranty. Then they hose you on the repair as well, if you let them said repair, because they can.
Why wait? You bought the warranty in good faith, and there for, they fix the truck, and then collect after this magnificent 30 day wait.
I would tell them you either get the truck fixed now, they take the truck back and refund your price plus the cost of the stereo, or you will take them to small claims. Not sure how customer friendly they are down there, but I know up here the case would be 5 minutes and you would get everything back.

Bill gates said it best in that episode of The Simpsons, I didn't get rich by writing a lot of cheques.

I work at a dealer. ........ they are putting you off so the repairs get paid by warranty and not the dealership. This is actually a violation if it was sold as a certified pre-owned. Talk to someone other than your salesman or the used car manager, they are the ones trying to fill their pockets. The general service manager or the gm of the dealership is who you need to talk to, skip all the other idiots.

Thank you for the responses all. My thought was that the dealer didn't want to bite the cost like "boomin" stated. I mean...if it was an existing problem, it shouldn't have been cleared to be put under warranty by the dealer, correct? By selling me a Ford warranty, is that automatically considered "certified"??

I am not expecting a perfect vehicle and is why I considered the warranty, but I paid good money for the truck and they expect me to park it for 30 days or so?

I planned on having to do the radio, spark plugs, coils, and brakes, and you all know that is bad enough.

I was going to try and talk with someone with the warranty program. The dealer might freak out if I tell them that. I don't want to be part of a scam, which is what this is starting to sound like. "Tech by Trade" has some good points (some entertaining as well).

I am keeping my emotions out of this and trying to consider all my options.

At least posting this and taking pictures is giving me proof of some sort. It was probably leaking on my test drive, but they had just done the detail on it and I didn't notice.

I had a similar problem immediately after I bought (and had shipped) my 08 Limited V8 earlier this year. The coolant leak turned out to be the crossover tube that runs from the rad under the intake back to the rear of the motor. The intake had to be removed to replace..cost about a grand. The Ford dealer from which I purchased (480 miles away) reimbursed me the repair cost plus towing to my nearest Ford dealer..30 miles away.
The dealer from whom I purchased the truck had replaced the water pump and radiator prior to my purchase but the leak turned out to be the deterioration of that tube. Truck only had 33k miles on it. Might want to check that out as well...

I hadn't heard of the crossover tube being an issue. Good to know! Glad you were reimbursed.

I looked further into mine. There is coolant all along the bottom of the radiator and it was probably replaced at some point because it was not sitting straight. The driver's side ear was not resting in the proper place. This probably caused premature failure of the radiator, as it has quite the "twist" to it. Obviously the dealer did not do a close inspection.

The last few vehicles I purchased were used with very low miles. I bought a 2007 Mustang from Texas Direct with 5,000 miles a few years ago and then a Challenger under warranty just under 2 years ago. This is the first vehicle I have purchased with high miles in about 7 years so I must have been a little rusty being spoiled by the protection of a warranty.

This might knock some sense back into me. I had people thinking I was crazy buying an older vehicle now after having something with warranty and obviously they were correct, but I have been wanting one of these for some time so I am getting it out of my system.

If they made them new, I probably would have gotten one of those instead, or waited a year to buy one slightly used.

All of this has me feeling lucky my minor issues earlier this year were handled when I bought my '10. Overall quite happy with the truck. No issues after putting nearly 20,000km on in 5 months.

I do have the full meal deal warranty, and by the time it's up, likely within 2 years - I should be ready for a big boy truck. Extended cab short box F150 will have to do I guess.

Why can't I just have a good old 4.9? I think when I build a 79 F150 w/ a warmed over 300 in a couple years with my boy, it might see more miles than you'd think - just because I'll know I can trust the damned thing. Winter can be for the newer disposable junk that wears out within 10 years.

Craigwell said:

Why can't I just have a good old 4.9? I think when I build a 79 F150 w/ a warmed over 300 in a couple years with my boy, it might see more miles than you'd think - just because I'll know I can trust the damned thing. Winter can be for the newer disposable junk that wears out within 10 years.

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I understand... I had to drive the family to Grandma's house today using my 326,000 mile ST 1st gen. I put the tried and true 302 with the 4r70w combo in there, so... 1 hour trip each way. It is going to be hard to say goodbye to that one, but I don't need two. Hopefully I won't be saying goodbye to the one I just bought.

My wife and son both ribbed me when I pulled us into the garage. wife: "Wow...that is a pretty white truck. Too bad we can't drive it." son: "Yeah dad. Got a stupid truck for the Challenger."

Good thing I am thick skinned.

I just figured I would sell my 1st gen while there were no issues and move to the next generation and keep it for 7 years like my 1st one.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

I still don't understand why they don't bring back the 300. If they are looking to throw a turbo on something that straight six was indestructible unless you ran into head problems. Good on fuel and a Torquie little bugger too.

Tech By Trade said:

I still don't understand why they don't bring back the 300. If they are looking to throw a turbo on something that straight six was indestructible unless you ran into head problems. Good on fuel and a Torquie little bugger too.

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Anytime they get rid of something they perfected, I assume it has to do with government regulations.

Yes. Emissions regulations killed the 4.9. Sin really, as they did a great job with the EFI versions.

Turbo only limited by head stud size, and press ins. Everyone I know who's done it was limited in pressure by that fact alone, nothing else.

My future build:

Scenario "A" Carb:

390 CFM Holley 4 barrel
Offenhauser "DP" Dual Port Intake Manifold
EFI Exhaust Manifolds, True duals - 2" with some kind of scavenging setup TBD
Port matched 240 cylinder head.
Mild cam
EFI Extended reach plugs
Probably stay duraspark, but will consider other hotter setups, 1 wire etc.
Will try for forged crank out of earlier HD models (think 70's dump trucks) if I can find one.

Scenario "B" EFI

May go this route with larger TB and injectors, mega squirt programming and mild cam, but I haven't researched it enough.

There are 3 cores in my garage - 2 carb, and 1 complete EFI.


5 years ago I sold my last dent side, a 1976 F250 4x4 highboy. I ran a few configurations through it.. Extended Cab Short Box (I did the work to get that body config on the highboy chassis) It was a 300 with 240 head, the EFI exhaust - but the rest was stock . It was more than sufficient at pushing around my 7500 truck, 120km on the highway with the blade on the front, no problem.

I ran it on propane when I was out west, also tried beefed up AOD's with the 4.10 gearing (had no luck on getting reliability out of them) but I sure did have fun.

Can't wait for a 2WD 300 project with my boy. Most likely will be a 77 F150, but might go older. I plan on a trip down to the Carolinas in the next few years to find one.

to the OP...Tread very carefully. If you infact have a FORD ESP (extended service plan) and since you said "PremiumCare" that means you do. Most dealers are required to do what is called a "ESP Inspection" when they service the car for sale, so that gets submitted to Ford in the event they sell an ESP. If they found a problem they decided not to address and the technician put it on that ESP inspection, then Ford will not cover that component under the ESP if the purchaser makes a claim. I would ask the dealer for a copy of the inspection report just to be safe. If it does not show anything, then glow blow the engine and tranny and anything else you want to break, and pay your $100 deductible and rock the free rental car.

As for the 30-days, that is a fact, and is there so dealers do not sell cars w/ known issues in hopes that they can get the warranty company to pay for them. Keep in mind, if they DID fix it first, you would have paid far more for the truck then you did as that cost is always reflected back to the buyer in the sale price vs. dealer cost.

Thank you, Destyn2001. I will get a report of the inspection. They did not do a good job of it for sure. I found several other things wrong that would not have passed my personal inspection. I spent this weekend going through the truck.

Everyone who has seen this vehicle is shocked that it is a 2007 as it extremely nice inside and out. Maybe the dealer assumed that if the body and interior were this nice that the mechanical components would be the same. The difference is, mechanical components are usually done by technicians that don't own the vehicle. This guy took it to Valvoline (Carfax Record). They think their transmission fluid is compatible with the 6r60. They also must not know how to check the fluid level. Granted, I needed to learn from FordTechMakuloco, but maybe those techs and the dealer techs need to watch his videos also! Amazing how much nicer this transmission is with the correct amount of fluid!