Ford tacks on another two years to powertrain warranties
Ford Motor Company is sweetening its warranty with an extra two years of powertrain coverage for its 2007 vehicles, Automotive News reports. The deal that covers all Ford and Mercury brand vehicles supplements the three-year, 36,000 bumper-to-bumper with a five-year, 60,000 mile powertrain warranty, while the powertrain warranty on Lincoln vehicles ups the coverage to six years and 70,000 miles. Free roadside assistance extends along with the new powertrain warranties.
The move is Ford's effort to provide customers with more value and fend off quality issues.
[Source: Automotive News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
igor 3:41PM (7/13/2006)
Here is a link to Ford's press release on this topic, since AutoNews is paid site.
http://media.ford.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=23815&make_id=trust
Igor
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djSyndrome 3:53PM (7/13/2006)
So does this leave GM (well, at least their non-premium brands) as the only company with a 3/36 warranty on the powertrain?
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Noah 3:59PM (7/13/2006)
Man Ford's got the numeric lock keyless entry and a modern warranty... that 500 is looking better and better all the time.
I'm not against any one brand or another or for any one brand or another, however I've made use of the key pad keyless entry system and found it to be even more desirable than a "clicker". I don't mind unlocking the doors, if you're already getting in you're already mere inches from a lock. Seriously work on your coordination people you can insert the key turn it and open the door all in one fluid motion. But that key pad ZOWIE! It's simple but very useful. It can be very nice to have the option to leave your keys in the car when wearing dress clothes or if you would like to leave it at the airport for a friend to pick up. Not to mention you don't have to hide your spare behind the license plate anymore (yes we all know it's there) you can now tape it in an obscure location inside the car.
It's just too bad most of their cars are so bland because they really are great value... white on warranty.
--Noah
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Michael Karesh 4:04PM (7/13/2006)
This is going to be the minimum warranty for everyone within a year or two.
This has been Toyota's and Nissan's basic warranty for over a decade. For 2006 Honda adopted a similar warranty. Now Ford and Mazda are doing the same for 2007.
Chrysler was planning to discontinue its 7/100 powertrain warranty (which unlike the others has a deductible), but I suspect they and GM, which has had no extended powertrain warranty, will also go to 5/60 for 2007.
These days, people expect the powertrain to have no issues for at least this long, anyway, and thus tend to press for and get manufacturer assistance for powertrain issues during this period. So extending the standard warranties to some extent just formalizes what has increasingly become a standard practice.
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Elliott 4:07PM (7/13/2006)
Noah, I totally agree. Keypad entry is awesome, especially if you are "sharing" the vehicle. If you both know the code then you can jsut leave the keys in the glovebox or ashtray.
This "good news" from Ford coincides with their announcement about cutting their stock dividend this quarter.
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James 4:25PM (7/13/2006)
At first I was impressed, another OEM adding a longer warranty. BUT.....I didn't realize the warranty was so short to start with. I applaud Hyundai for their outstanding warranty, backing their products powertrain for 10 years (even longer then my BMW & Lexus warranties, which charge a premium for being Luxury brands). I'd like to see more OEMs standing behind their vehicles longer - show us you BELIEVE in the quality you talk about. Why send out a press release that you're improving your below par warranty with one that is just average? At least they are moving in the right direction.
James
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igor 4:30PM (7/13/2006)
well the one problem with the Hyundai/Kia warranty is that it is not tranferrable .. if you buy a used Hyundai/Kia you only get 3y/36k miles...
but I agree .... sometime,s when I look back home to Europe and see everyone offereing bare 2y warranty (EU minimum) I want to laugh..
Igor
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Gardiner Westbound 4:38PM (7/13/2006)
Still not as good as Hyundai, but a move in the right direction.
The domestic automakers are finally putting their money where their mouth is. They have been crowing domestic auto quality is comparable to the Japanese and Koreans but didn't back it up with comparable warranty protection.
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laserwizard 4:46PM (7/13/2006)
I've long contended that if the domestic manufacturers have really built better cars, then why not back them with longer warranties? This extension on warranties shouldn't be costly if the cars are TRULY better and is a very smart move to build value and to change perception of people about products. Afterall, look at all the mileage Hyundai has gotten out of its huge warranty program.
I suspect GM won't match this - afterall, their products are only better in the short term - long term you will be more likely to have your GM car recalled than you will paying off the 72 month note before trading it.
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LM Dealer 4:56PM (7/13/2006)
This warranty is better than Hyundai in a few ways. It transfers to subsequent owners at NO CHARGE and it includes Roadside Assistance for 5yr/60000mi. Honda and Toyota dont even offer roadside assistance. So maybe now everyone can catch up to Ford?
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Jeff.55 5:14PM (7/13/2006)
This is exactly what the domestics have to do to add value to their product. A really "bold move" would be to go even farther to meet or beat the japanese and korean brands.
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KT 5:20PM (7/13/2006)
Hyundai HAD to increase their warranty a few years ago to stay in business. It's nothing more than a marketing gimmick. It's not transferable and it has a lot of limitations and fine print. You can find info on owners who have been declined service due to it's various exclusions. I know they are all "limited" warranties but it seems Hyundai's is more limited than most.
Same goes for Kia.
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Mike 5:44PM (7/13/2006)
About time!!! I was wondering when Ford (and GM) were going to do this. It actaully is pretty pathetic if an automaker only has the confidence for their powertrain to last 36K miles. kudos to Ford!!!
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Lithous 6:04PM (7/13/2006)
"The domestic automakers are finally putting their money where their mouth is. They have been crowing domestic auto quality is comparable to the Japanese and Koreans but didn't back it up with comparable warranty protection."
Let's analyze this... Honda who's cars "last forever" and gets hand pleasure from CR only offered 3/36 until 2006 and you are "all over" the domestics for not backing up their "crowing"? Glad to see Honda could go so long and no one demanded more. And please don't say it's because Honda didn't HAVE to offer a longer warranty because their cars ARE bullet proof because WE all know about their transmission problems in the Odyssey and Accord.
"So does this leave GM (well, at least their non-premium brands) as the only company with a 3/36 warranty on the powertrain?"
The interesting thing is I did an edmunds comparison via Toyota's website of the Corolla vs Cobalt and the Cobalt showed up with a 5/60 powertrain warranty.
But the thing I don't get, is if people are really concerned with the domestic's warranties then why not take that $3k cash back (in many cases) and buy a 6/100k powertrain (or bumper to bumper) and still have money left over. Or go invest the $3K back to make enough to pay for repairs. Are Americans that unimaginative that they can't figure that out? GM and Ford have to start selling for what everyone else does to offer the warranties everyone does or they "give" you money (cash back i.e. cash off) to do what you want in what people on here call fire sales.
Americans are so bad with money that if you give 'em $3K off/back they gotta go buy a flat screen instead of getting an extended warranty and then they bitch and complain if the car does have an out of warranty problem.
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Lithous 6:18PM (7/13/2006)
http://www.chevrolet.com/cobalt/warranty/
If you click the Powertrain Warranty tab on that page it states:
In addition to the standard 3-year/36,000-mile (whichever comes first) New Vehicle Limited Warranty, Chevy Aveo and Cobalt come with a 5-year/60,000-mile (whichever comes first) Powertrain Warranty that:
-has a $0 deductible
-is transferable to another owner at no charge
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Road Tester 7:03PM (7/13/2006)
This was necessary all along. Considering what the extended warranty has done for Hyundai's reputation, this might be a major step in restoring the customers' faith in the quality of Ford products again.
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Tom Design 7:23PM (7/13/2006)
Holy crap, Kim-man! Who would have thought 4 years ago with Hyundais cheap-econo-cars falling apart at the seams, we'd be using them as a benchmark for long term reliability and warranties? Way to go Korea!
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ron 7:28PM (7/13/2006)
A few months ago the local paper had it's Wednesday motoring article covering the '60 Lincoln Continental. According to the article one of the features of the '60 Conti was a standard 2-year warranty, unheard of in those days as the standard warranty for new cars was 90 days/3000 miles. I'm sure no one in their right mind would have dreamed of a 10-year powertrain warranty!
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sam 7:56PM (7/13/2006)
hold the phone on hyundai. go to their warranty webside and read the fine print. it's more like a warranty fit for a rambler. my daughter-in law fought all the way to arbitration to get a tranny fixed. went out in winter, they say she was rocking the car in the snow excessively. funny, no snow on the ground when it went. bottom line, car wasn't worth crap on a trade because the warranty wasn't transferable. also all maintainence MUST be done by hyundai at the intervals specified to continue warranty. lithious, i have a problem with extended warranty's, for starters, most people keep their cars for around three or four years or 50-60k. the vast majority of cars don't experienc major problem before this. my thought is, if you take the 3k and purchase a cd or even passbook and reserve it for if you do have a problem, the odds are extremely in your favor that you won't use the warranty and have money in the bank. these warranty providers are making a killing in this market. bravo to ford for this boldness, but unless you come up with something as nice as the blogged future cts, you don't get my money yet!
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GhostDoggy 8:10PM (7/13/2006)
Considering a lot of dealerships like to make expensive vehicles affordable to a lot of people living above their means, the feds should pass a law prohibiting bumper-to-bumper warranties from being less than the loan the dealership arranges on behalf of the buyer.
Now, if the buyer get's a loan from their credit union then a more basic one should be applied as an option. But, I find it difficult to swallow the motives of new car dealers selling whoppers on 72-96 month loans when their vehicles will likely breakdown after a 3/36 and well before the loan is paid off.
Takes a lot of guts for GM, Ford, and Chrysler to do something like that, but I understand that their products would be liabilities fairly quickly so why warranty them even for 3/36.
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