Ford extended warranty: cost, coverage and plans
Expect average costs, excellent benefits and limited parts coverage
Ford Motor Company 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 2024, J.D. Power ranked Ford 23rd out of 29 carmakers for dependability. Lincoln, the company’s luxury sub-brand, ranked 25th.
For that reason, Ford owners may want to strongly consider extended warranties to protect themselves from unexpected repair bills. Ford itself offers some with amazing benefits, but are they your best option?
Ford’s official extended warranty products are called Ford Protect Extended Service Plans.
Jump to insightPrices range from roughly $1,500 to $7,000, with terms stretching up to 10 years or 175,000 miles, whichever comes first.
Jump to insightNone of the quotes we collected from third-party extended warranty alternatives were cheaper than Ford Protect, but it’s still worth shopping around since your experience may vary.
Jump to insightFord extended warranty coverage
Ford calls its official extended warranties (aka vehicle service contracts) Ford Protect Extended Service Plans (ESPs). There are seven plans in total (or, as Ford calls them, tiers) — four for gas and hybrid Ford vehicles and three for electric Ford vehicles (EVs). We’ll break down what’s included in each tier later, but for now, just know that extended warranties pay for the cost of fixing covered components when your vehicle breaks down from normal use.
Extended warranties don’t cover repairs needed due to negligence, abuse or misuse. Basically, your car needs to break down on its own due to a manufacturing defect for your extended warranty to kick in.
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 ESPs 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.
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 warranty plan covers.
Ford offers four ESPs 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, high tech, and air conditioning and heating.
- 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
Based on our quotes, Ford’s extended warranties with $100 deductibles tend to cost between $700 and $1,400 per year of added Ford PremiumCARE coverage. (Basically, you’ll pay between $700 and $1,400 for each extra year that isn’t already covered by your three-year/36,000-mile factory warranty.) For context, the average cost of a bumper-to-bumper extended auto warranty is around $1,000 per year, meaning Ford’s prices are likely about average, depending on your vehicle.
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.
| Coverage | Term | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| ExtraCARE | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $1,873.55 |
| ExtraCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,777.50 |
| PremiumCARE | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $2,216.95 |
| PremiumCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $3,520 |
| BaseCARE | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $1,373.60 |
| BaseCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,227.05 |
| PremiumCARE | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $2,025.05 |
| PremiumCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,772.45 |
| PowertrainCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,353.30 |
| PowertrainCARE | 10 years or 175,000 miles | $4,262.20 |
| PremiumCARE | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $2,363.40 |
| PremiumCARE | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $3,080.50 |
| PremiumCARE | 10 years or 175,000 miles | $6,893.25 |
| ExtraCARE EV | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $1,691.75 |
| ExtraCARE EV | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,535.10 |
| ExtraCARE EV | 10 years or 175,000 miles | $5,034.85 |
| PremiumCARE EV | 6 years or 75,000 miles | $2,262.40 |
| PremiumCARE EV | 8 years or 100,000 miles | $2,979.50 |
| PremiumCARE EV | 10 years or 175,000 miles | $6,792.25 |
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%.
As for the price difference between plans, the three more affordable plan options (ExtraCARE, BaseCARE and PowertrainCARE) might not actually be a better value than the top-tier Ford PremiumCARE plans. PremiumCARE might cost more in some cases, but it covers 90% more parts. That could be a worthwhile trade-off.
Ford extended warranty terms and conditions
We dug into the terms and conditions of Ford Protect Extended Service Plans to see how these contracts handle some key details:
- Maintenance: You’re required to 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 Ford warranty coverage to the new owner by filing some paperwork and paying a $75 fee within 180 days of the sale.
- 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.
What’s not covered by a Ford extended warranty?
Ford’s extended warranty does not cover the following:
- Normal wear and tear
- Maintenance
- Damage from accidents or environmental damage
- Aftermarket parts or failures caused by aftermarket parts
- Preexisting conditions
- Negligent use (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.)
» LEARN: What voids a car warranty?
Ford extended warranty alternatives
Third-party warranty companies can sometimes offer better parts coverage than manufacturer plans while also being cheaper. Ford Protect Extended Service Plans aren’t your only option for extended warranties. The key is shopping around and finding the right one for your situation.
That being said, none of the dozen or so quotes we collected from third-party extended auto warranty providers were less expensive than Ford Protect plans. olive quoted us $977 per year to protect a 2022 Mustang GT. Which is much higher than Ford Protect’s offer of $675.
We also collected multiple quotes for a Ford F-150 to show how different brands compared, and you can see the results below.
| Warranty provider | Cost* |
|---|---|
| Ford | $2,353 |
| olive | $4,886 |
| Endurance | $4,193 |
| Toco Warranty | $4,960 |
| Omega Auto Care | $8,399 (with a $200 deductible) |
Ford Protect was the cheapest option by a long shot. But, as we said before, the value you get from a Ford Protect plan heavily depends on the overall quality and responsiveness of your local Ford dealer. Third-party warranties, while more expensive in this case, do let you visit virtually any ASE-certified mechanic.
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.
Is a Ford extended warranty worth it?
Whether or not an extended warranty is worth it usually depends on your circumstances. We can’t definitively say whether an extended warranty is right for you, but the odds are better if you:
- Drive an unreliable vehicle
- Think coverage will be cheaper than the repairs it should cover
- Don’t have enough saved to cover a surprise repair bill
- Want peace of mind, even if it doesn’t save you money
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 got 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
| Service | Average cost* |
|---|---|
| Axle repair/replacement | $287/$531 |
| Fuel pump replacement | $379.68-$563.92 |
| Alternator replacement | $529.23-$880.06 |
| Catalytic converter replacement | $933 |
| Radiator repair/replacement | $700/$1,757 |
| Head gasket replacement | $4,545.60 |
| Transmission replacement | $5,913-$6,405 |
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
You may never have to deal with these kinds of major repairs, but your Ford will likely still cost you some money at the mechanic. Data from RepairPal suggests that, in 2019, the average Ford cost $775 in annual repairs. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $1,060 in 2024 dollars — well above the $892 industry average.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the cost of car repair and maintenance increased by 31.4% from September 2019 to September 2023.
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.
I would most likely get an extended warranty on a Ford vehicle, especially if it’s a hybrid. ”
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 Ford warranty is to pay for itself. Plus, a warranty can provide invaluable peace of mind even when you’re not using it.
“I would most likely get an extended warranty on a Ford vehicle, especially if it’s a hybrid,” wrote Grant Lewis, co-host of Everything Auto, in an email to ConsumerAffairs.
However, Ford Protect Extended Service Plans require you to return to a Ford dealer for all repairs, so your overall service and wait times may be mixed. In other words, the overall value and convenience of a Ford Protect plan may depend on the quality of your local Ford dealer.
Considering the average cost and Ford’s mixed reputation for both reliability and customer service, it may be wise to consider other options before purchasing a Ford Protect Extended Service Plan.
FAQ
How do you cancel a Ford extended warranty?
To cancel your Ford extended warranty, contact the dealership where you purchased it. If you cancel within 30 days, you’ll receive a full refund. If you cancel after 30 days, or you’ve already filed a claim, you’ll receive a prorated refund.
How much does a Ford extended warranty cost?
A Ford extended warranty costs between $700 and $1,400 per year of added coverage. That cost is for plans with $100 deductibles.
Can I purchase a Ford extended warranty online?
Yes, you can get quotes and purchase a Ford extended warranty online.
Article sources
- J.D. Power, “Vehicle Dependability Slumps as Rate of Deterioration Increases, J.D. Power Finds.” Accessed July 31, 2024.
- RepairPal, “Ford Repair & Maintenance Costs.” Accessed Nov. 10, 2023.
- Lemon Law Experts, “Ford Transmission Lawsuit Overview.” Accessed Feb. 27, 2023.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, “Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers: Motor Vehicle Maintenance and Repair in U.S. City Average.” Accessed Nov. 8, 2023.
