Had some warranty work done.. its amazing what dealers bill for this crap!

[Curtis]

I have an aftermarket warranty that cost me $1900 when I bought it. So far, its covered almost $5000 in work.

Its an 04 V8 4x4. Bought it at 2.5 yrs old in 2007
Up to this point, Ive had $2500 worth of work covered
AC recirt door, transmission pump seal, front wheel bearings, shifter cable
so the warranty is paid for

Last week I dropped the explorer off for some other things and got it back today. They replaced the following.

Radiator.........................$540.95
Upper Ball Joints..............$477.77
Rear Axle Seal.................$376.31
Drive shaft.....................$527.26
Power Window Motor.......$268.92

Total.............................$2191.21 ($1200 of that was labor)

My charge......................$106.50 ($100 deductible + tax)

I did have to get an alignment after too.


The point is, I could do most of that myself using aftermarket parts

Radiator...................$200
Ball joints.................$180
Used drive shaft........$100
Rear end seal............$30
Used power window...$50

Total......................$560 25% of the dealer



Whats funny is the warranty denied my AC recirc door as its broken again!
They said it was a mistake that it was covered last time.
My warranty states it covers AC ducts.
However since the warranty company says the door is broken, they don't cover the door. You cannot replace the door alone, you have to replace the duct.... SOB's. So it looks like I'll be doing it myself with the help of this guy --> http://www.denlorstools.com/autoblog/2008/08/2003-ford-explorer-ac-not-cold-enough/


.

 

[thepotroast]

Actually upper ball joints are $40 each (Moog K80008's) and you can replace them yourself without the control arm assembly. My How To is stickied at the top of the forum

It seems like the warranty work that was performed was quite sporatic in nature, none of the things really tie together.

Radiator, drive shaft, ball joints, power windows, A/C parts?

Do you only get to take your car in once a year or what?

 

[Curtis]

Actually upper ball joints are $40 each (Moog K80008's) and you can replace them yourself without the control arm assembly. My How To is stickied at the top of the forum

It seems like the warranty work that was performed was quite sporatic in nature, none of the things really tie together.

Radiator, drive shaft, ball joints, power windows, A/C parts?

Do you only get to take your car in once a year or what?

LOL

I have read your ball joint thread before in anticipation of having to do these myself and if I have to do them myself again it will come in real handy

The reason it all got done at one time is that the warranty does not cover parts if they are within tolerances.

I put it in for ball joints previously as the boots were totally gone, warranty company denied it stating they do not cover the boot, just the joint, and at that time the joint was fine.

Same for the drive shaft, I was feeling a bump in the slip yolk, but it was not worn enough to be replaced.

The power window motor was to be replaced before but part of fords diagnostics was to bang on the door to see if it would work again. And it did, so the warranty company denied that too!

Same for the radiator, there was no drip as such but one side was covered in white crust, they denied it the first time, but has gotten worse so it was corrected this time.


Finally everything was bad enough to be replaced
All these things have been a pain in my a$$ for the last 2 years.

 

[thepotroast]

LOL

I have read your ball joint thread before in anticipation of having to do these myself and if I have to do them myself again it will come in real handy

The reason it all got done at one time is that the warranty does not cover parts if they are within tolerances.

I put it in for ball joints previously as the boots were totally gone, warranty company denied it stating they do not cover the boot, just the joint, and at that time the joint was fine.

Same for the drive shaft, I was feeling a bump in the slip yolk, but it was not worn enough to be replaced.

The power window motor was to be replaced before but part of fords diagnostics was to bang on the door to see if it would work again. And it did, so the warranty company denied that too!

Same for the radiator, there was no drip as such but one side was covered in white crust, they denied it the first time, but has gotten worse so it was corrected this time.


Finally everything was bad enough to be replaced
All these things have been a pain in my a$$ for the last 2 years.

With all that in mind, it makes my mind boggle when people on here talk about these 3rd party warranty service companies who charge a butt load up front to cover the car, but when it comes time for the part to be replaced, you have to go through hoops and end up having to compile dissimilar parts and repairs to have it approved.

Just this statement "I put it in for ball joints previously as the boots were totally gone, warranty company denied it stating they do not cover the boot, just the joint, and at that time the joint was fine" makes me cringe. The fact that they wouldn't replace the ball joint just because the boot was non-existent is asinine, and I'm sure you went off on them about that! The boot being cracked not only shows a sign of overall wear, but also makes the joint succeptable to dirt and debris that will enter the joint and wear it down significantly.

With all that said, I'm just assuming that you have a 3rd party warranty service....and certainly not a factory warranty? I've had factory warranty work with both Ford and my Hyundai sedan (10yr-100k mile) and neither have refused service for just one thing being bad.

 

[Curtis]

With all that in mind, it makes my mind boggle when people on here talk about these 3rd party warranty service companies who charge a butt load up front to cover the car, but when it comes time for the part to be replaced, you have to go through hoops and end up having to compile dissimilar parts and repairs to have it approved.

Just this statement "I put it in for ball joints previously as the boots were totally gone, warranty company denied it stating they do not cover the boot, just the joint, and at that time the joint was fine" makes me cringe. The fact that they wouldn't replace the ball joint just because the boot was non-existent is asinine, and I'm sure you went off on them about that! The boot being cracked not only shows a sign of overall wear, but also makes the joint succeptable to dirt and debris that will enter the joint and wear it down significantly.

With all that said, I'm just assuming that you have a 3rd party warranty service....and certainly not a factory warranty? I've had factory warranty work with both Ford and my Hyundai sedan (10yr-100k mile) and neither have refused service for just one thing being bad.

Yip you nailed it, its not a factory warranty.

The ball joints did really bother me and I spoke to manager after manager at the warranty company.

I explained that If I have an accident because of a broken ball joint and I keep my receipt that you denied replacement guess who's getting sued!

Just days before I put the truck in I had the pressure washer out and was cleaning the truck, I didnt realize what I had done but I cleaned out every bit of grease that was on the ball joints, they were so clean there were white! Thats what gave me the kick in the ass to try and get them replaced again. If they denied I was gonna have to do them myself.

 

[thepotroast]

Yip you nailed it, its not a factory warranty.

The ball joints did really bother me and I spoke to manager after manager at the warranty company.

I explained that If I have an accident because of a broken ball joint and I keep my receipt that you denied replacement guess who's getting sued!

Just days before I put the truck in I had the pressure washer out and was cleaning the truck, I didnt realize what I had done but I cleaned out every bit of grease that was on the ball joints, they were so clean there were white! Thats what gave me the kick in the ass to try and get them replaced again. If they denied I was gonna have to do them myself.

Well I'm glad to hear they have done so much work for you. I considered getting one of those warranties when I bought my truck at 107k miles...it was an off-lease vehicle, corporate owned and came with good repair documentation and all factory maintained, so I decided not to. I've put more than $3500 into repairs into this, some I have done, the rest a shop has had to do. Hard to tell if the warranty would have paid off, but I wouldn't have really wanted to haggle back and forth about getting things like my cooling system, ball joints or wheel bearings replaced when my truck is out of commission until I get an approval....so it was all out of pocket.

 

[Curtis]

Well I'm glad to hear they have done so much work for you. I considered getting one of those warranties when I bought my truck at 107k miles...it was an off-lease vehicle, corporate owned and came with good repair documentation and all factory maintained, so I decided not to. I've put more than $3500 into repairs into this, some I have done, the rest a shop has had to do. Hard to tell if the warranty would have paid off, but I wouldn't have really wanted to haggle back and forth about getting things like my cooling system, ball joints or wheel bearings replaced when my truck is out of commission until I get an approval....so it was all out of pocket.

Yeah thats the thing.. when I put the truck in, I know its gonna be a couple days so the warranty company can send an inspector to verify the problems

The times Ive had to argue with the warranty company, the ford service guy said if it was a ford warranty there would be no question the items would be replaced.

But I got my Explorer at auction, and figured I saved about $5k so that's why I justified the warranty. if I paid full retail, it may not have happened for money reasons.

Ive lucked out really... I had several aftermarket warranties
my 96 explorer, cost me $1100 for the warranty, and it covered about $1200 worth of repairs
My 02 Taurus had a $1300 warranty, and it covered $4k worth of stuff

Im by no means a mechanic but I love cars/mechanics and I think thats why I make out pretty good with these warranties as I notice things the ordinary person doesnt.

 

[jakedrew]

Ya I have a 04 also I bought new and got the extended warranty. I was totally 2nd guessing myself but I sprung the 1100$. Turned out to be about 20$ a month extra. I forget.

But it did pay for itself. I had no issues with the ford warrenty.

 

[DLinkOZ]

I bought my 04 in 05 and got an extra warranty. They wanted 1200 bucks, I said no. They asked what it would take, I said roll it into the loan and I'll pay an extra $5/month. Done, added. So over the course of 5 years I only paid $300 for it. Not a bad deal, considering all the work done under it (blend door, ac compressor, 4x4 switch, rear speed sensor, some stuff I can't remember). It also had the $100 ded, but it was called a disappearing deductible - if I had the dealership I bought it from do the work, they waived the hundred bucks (free).