Ford extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans

Ford sells an F-150 every 49 seconds, the Mustang Mach-E has given Tesla a literal run for its money, and the F-150 Lightning EV has already become the best-selling electric truck ever.

While Ford’s popularity remains rock-steady, the American automaker continues to be cursed by build quality and reliability issues. In 2023, J.D. Power ranked Ford 30th out of 33 carmakers for dependability. Lincoln, the company’s luxury sub-brand, ranked 32nd.

For that reason, Ford owners may want to strongly consider extended warranties to protect themselves from unexpected repair bills. Ford itself offers some with decent rates and amazing benefits.

Key insights

• Ford’s official extended warranty products are called Ford Protect Extended Service Plans.
• Prices range from roughly $1,500 to $7,000, with terms stretching up to 10 years or 175,000 miles, whichever comes first.
• At least one third-party warranty company offered similar coverage to PremiumCARE, Ford’s top-tier coverage, for less than half the price.

Ford extended warranty coverage

Ford calls its official extended warranties (aka vehicle service contracts) Ford Protect Extended Service Plans. There are seven plans in total (or, as Ford calls them, tiers); four for gas and hybrid vehicles and three for electric vehicles (EVs). We’ll break down what’s included in each tier later, but for now, just know that extended warranties cover the cost of fixing covered components when your vehicle breaks down from normal use.

You can purchase a Ford Protect Extended Service Plan for any Ford or Lincoln vehicle that’s still within its three-year/36,000-mile limited factory warranty. (Note that this is different from your five-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty.) You can get price quotes online, and you can even purchase coverage online without going to a dealership.

Terms for Ford Protect Extended Service Plans range anywhere from three years/36,000 miles to eight years/175,000 miles. Ford also lets you mix and match any combination that works for you, so you can purchase a four-year/175,000-mile warranty or a 10-year/48,000-mile warranty if you want.

» LEARN: What does a car warranty cover?

Ford extended warranty benefits

Ford Protect Extended Service Plans come with several additional benefits beyond repair coverage, including:

• 24/7 roadside assistance that helps with tire changes, lockouts, fuel deliveries and jump-starts
• Towing assistance of up to $100 per occurrence for a covered breakdown
• Emergency travel expense reimbursement of up to $1,000 within the first five days after each occurrence
• Destination assistance, such as live agent support, of up to $75
• Rental vehicle benefits, including up to $60 per day for up to 10 days per occurrence

Overall, Ford’s Extended Service Plan benefits are some of the most generous we’ve seen on a factory extended warranty — especially considering that they extend down to the cheapest PowertrainCARE plan.

For perspective, other reputable benefit programs offer $500 of emergency travel expense reimbursement, and Ford doubles that. Also, most factory extended warranties we’ve seen only offer $35 per day in rental car reimbursement and only for five days (a benefit worth $180). Ford, on the other hand, offers $60 per day for 10 days, making the benefit worth $600.

Ford extended warranty plans

While these additional benefits can come in handy, the bulk of an extended warranty’s value comes from its parts coverage. Let’s take a closer look at Ford’s extended warranty plans to see what each covers.

Ford offers four Extended Service Plans for gas and hybrid vehicles:

• PowertrainCARE covers 29 components across four component groups: engine, transmission, rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive.
• BaseCARE covers 84 components across nine component groups: engine, transmission, rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, steering, brakes, front suspension, electrical, and air conditioning and heating.
• ExtraCARE covers 113 components across 10 component groups: engine, transmission, rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, steering, brakes, front suspension, electrical, air conditioning and heating and high tech.
• PremiumCARE covers 1,000+ components across all of Ford’s 14 listed component groups: engine, transmission, rear-wheel drive, front-wheel drive, steering, brakes, front suspension, electrical, air conditioning and heating, high tech, rear suspension, emissions, audio and safety.

Ford EV plans are essentially direct copies of its gas/hybrid plans, minus the PowertrainCARE option. You can see a specific list of parts by downloading each plan's brochure from Ford.

Ford extended warranty cost

To see how Ford Protect Extended Service Plans stack up against the average cost of an extended warranty, we got sample quotes directly from Ford for a variety of vehicles.

Ford Protect costs for a 2022 Edge with 10,000 miles

Ford Protect costs for a 2022 Mustang GT with 500 miles

Ford Protect costs for a 2021 F-150 with 2,500 miles

Ford Protect costs for a 2022 Mustang Mach-E with 0 miles

Note that all plans were quoted using a $100 deductible, but $0, $50 and $200 deductibles are also options. Choosing the $200 deductible tended to lower the price by 5%, while a $0 deductible tended to raise the price by 10%.

With the $100 deductible option, Ford’s prices tend to fall around the industry average, meaning you can expect to pay $2,000 to $3,000 to cover your Ford for around eight years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

As for the price difference between plans, the three more affordable plan options (ExtraCARE, BaseCARE and PowertrainCARE) might not be a better value than the top-tier PremiumCARE plans. PremiumCARE might cost more in some cases, but it covers 90% more parts.

Ford extended warranty terms and conditions

We dug into the terms and conditions of Ford’s Protect Extended Service Plans to see how these contracts handle some key details:

• Maintenance: Like with almost all vehicle service contracts, you should stick to the recommended maintenance intervals listed in your Ford owner’s manual — and probably keep your receipts — to prevent claims from being denied. If you can’t provide proof that you kept up with regular oil changes, for example, Ford may deny your claim for an engine repair.
• Preexisting conditions: Ford’s sample contract includes large, bold font telling you that “all repairs that are required due to a condition that existed prior” aren’t covered.
• Transferability: If you sell your Ford or Lincoln, you can transfer your remaining warranty coverage to the new owner by filing some paperwork and paying a $75 fee within 180 days of the sale.
• Exclusions: Ford will not cover any aftermarket parts or failures caused by aftermarket parts. There’s no explicit mention of track use in the sample contract we read, but the company does categorize “racing” under negligent use that isn’t covered.
• Cancellation and refunds: You can cancel your Ford Protect Extended Service Plan for a full refund within 30 days of signing up, provided you haven’t filed a claim. If you have filed a claim, or simply waited longer than 30 days, your refund will be prorated.

Is a Ford extended warranty worth it?

Fords are not especially reliable vehicles, and they’re not cheap to get back on the road when parts fail. In a previous investigation, ConsumerAffairs surveyed different mechanics to get estimates for fixing major problems in different vehicles, one of which was a Ford F-150. You can check out the results below.

Average repair costs for a Ford F-150

Ford itself referenced the potentially high costs of repairing its vehicles in a Ford Protect brochure, citing the following average repair costs for a Ford Edge:

• Engine: $6,996
• Transmission: $4,653
• Steering gear: $2,367
• A/C evaporator core: $1,211

Some consumer reviews also report ongoing problems that result in high repair bills.

“In February of 2017, I purchased a 2016 Ford Focus off the lot with a full 5-year 100,000 km warranty,” wrote Dan, a ConsumerAffairs reviewer. “On December 9, 2021 the transmission module failed. … The dealership I purchased the car from informed me that the car was not covered under the warranty for this repair. I contacted another Ford dealership where the warranty repair was confirmed, but the part was back-ordered 3 months.”

Ford’s repeated denial of transmission-related warranty claims eventually led to multiple class-action lawsuits and a fine in Australia.

Normally, inconsistent reliability and high repair costs add weight in favor of extended warranties — the more frequent and expensive your repairs are, the likelier your warranty is to pay for itself. However, Ford Protect Extended Service Plans may break that rule.

ExtraCARE, BaseCARE and PowertrainCARE plans may not be a good value when PremiumCARE costs in some cases costs only slightly more and covers more components.

Considering the average cost and Ford’s mixed reputation for reliability, it may be wise to consider other options before purchasing a Ford Protect Extended Service Plan.

» MORE: Pros and cons of extended auto warranties

Ford extended warranty alternatives

Ford Protect Extended Service Plans aren’t your only option for extended warranties, though. Third-party warranty companies can sometimes offer better parts coverage than Ford Protect plans while also being cheaper. The key is shopping around and finding the right one for your situation.

For example, olive quoted us $18.20 per month, tax included, for a Complete Care plan on a 2022 Mustang GT. That’s just $218.40 per year for coverage similar to PremiumCARE, which was much more expensive according to the quotes we received.

olive also quoted us just $245.77 per year to cover a 2021 Ford F-150 — again, much cheaper than PremiumCARE. However, Endurance, another third-party extended warranty company, quoted us $838.56 per year to cover the same truck. That’s why it pays to shop around.

Before you put down your hard-earned money on an extended warranty, it makes sense to check out what different warranty providers offer, get multiple quotes and read reviews from others. If you want to learn more, check out our extended car warranty hub.