Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan: Warranty/Extended Warranty
Starting 2007, powertrain warranties for Ford/Mercury's will be stretched to 5 years, 60K miles, and 6 years, 70K miles for Lincoln.
I've been at pushing this for years if some of you have remembered from earlier posts.
I've been at pushing this for years if some of you have remembered from earlier posts.
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This 5/60 warranty will give some peace of mind to some potential consumers, however.
If you haven't bought that 06 yet, the warranty is quietly being offered on 06's in stock...or that's my understanding, any way...
http://carreviewsonline.auto123.com/en/info/autonews/index,view.spy?artid=65470
Yes! I can't believe that no one is making a big deal out of this either. All we ever heard on these threads is how Ford should step up their warranty if they think they stepped up the quality. Well, here it is. Who's ready to buy now?
Bryce G. Hoffman / The Detroit News
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Ford Motor Co.
Ford's generous warranty could boost sales and lift resale values, some analysts say. See full image
Warranties at a glance
While some warranties may vary within a company, here's a quick look at what warranties automakers are offering.
DaimlerChrysler AG
Drivetrain: 3 years/36,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles
Roadside service: 3 years/36,000 miles
Ford Motor Co.
Drivetrain: From 5 years/60,000 miles to 6 years/70,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles to 4 years/50,000 miles
Roadside service: Up to 6 years/70,000 miles
General Motors Corp.
Drivetrain: From 3 years/36,000 miles to 5 years/60,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles to 4 years/50,000 miles
Roadside service: Up to 4 years/50,000 miles
Honda Motor Co.
Drivetrain: 5 years/60,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles
Roadside service: Not offered
Nissan Motor Co.
Drivetrain: 5 years/60,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles
Roadside service: 3 years/36,000 miles
Toyota Motor Corp.
Drivetrain: 5 years/60,000 miles
Basic: 3 years/36,000 miles
Roadside service: Not offered
Source: Edmunds.com
Ford is increasing the warranty on all of its 2007 Ford and Mercury vehicles to five years or 60,000 miles. In addition, Ford will offer free roadside assistance for the entire warranty period. How important are these benefits when you're shopping for a car?
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Ford Motor Co., struggling to gain traction with its North American turnaround effort, announced a series of moves Thursday aimed at cutting costs and boosting sales.
Ford's Board of Directors voted to cut the company's quarterly dividend in half, from 10 cents to 5 cents a share, beginning in the third quarter. The dividend is now at its lowest point since Ford eliminated payments altogether in 1982 and mirrors a 50 percent dividend reduction at General Motors Corp. in February.
Ford's directors also cut their own $200,000-a-year compensation by half. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr. said the moves were necessary to maintain strong liquidity.
Also Thursday, Ford announced that it is extending the standard powertrain warranty on all Ford and Mercury vehicles from three years or 36,000 miles to five years or 60,000 miles. Lincoln's four-year or 50,000-mile standard powertrain warranty is being extended to six years or 70,000 miles. In addition, Ford said it will offer free roadside assistance for the entire warranty period and allow customers to transfer their warranties if they sell their car or truck before the warranty expires.
That makes Ford's warranty package the most generous of any full-line automaker -- a fact it hopes will bring more customers into Ford dealerships, which have seen retail sales drop 9 percent so far this year.
"The headwinds we faced at the beginning of 2006 have only become stronger, as consistently higher gasoline prices in the U.S. have caused consumer purchase preferences to shift away from SUVs and large trucks to smaller cars and crossover vehicles," Bill Ford said in a statement issued after Thursday's board meeting. "While this shift plays positively to our new vehicle offerings, we must still get our costs in line in response to segment adjustments and higher commodity prices that are affecting the company."
But Wall Street said the decision to cut dividends signals bad news ahead as Ford prepares to release its second-quarter financial results next week.
"This certainly suggests that second-quarter earnings are going to be uglier than expected," said Bradley Rubin, vice president of credit research at BNP Paribas in New York. "People are finally realizing at Ford that this turnaround is a little more difficult than they anticipated."
Ford shares closed down 32 cents Thursday to $6.56, a 4.6 percent decline.
"The dividend cut telegraphs the board's mounting concern about the company's performance," said John Casesa of New York's Casesa Shapiro Group LLC. "It's a very pessimistic signal."
The dividend cut is expected to save Ford about $375 million annually.
"Strong liquidity is an important enabler of our ongoing turnaround efforts and this action will make an important contribution," Bill Ford said.
But credit analysts said the move will not change the company's balance sheet enough to boost Ford's weak credit ratings, which have already fallen into junk-bond territory.
"The cash savings are relatively marginal," said Robert Schulz, who follows the company for Standard & Poor's in New York.
Craig Hutson, an analyst with Gimme Credit, said he expects Ford's ratings to sink even deeper.
"It is a sign that the company is acting to shore up its liquidity amid greater headwinds in the industry than it originally anticipated," he said. "A dividend cut is never good news."
But Ford's decision to extend warranties may be good news, at least for consumers.
The five-year or 60,000-mile powertrain warranty being offered on Ford and Mercury cars and trucks is substantially better than the three-year or 36,000-mile warranty offered on all of DaimlerChrysler AG's domestic nameplates and most of General Motors Corp.'s brands. More importantly, it matches the warranties offered by Ford's leading Japanese rivals: Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co., neither of which includes roadside assistance as part of their standard packages.
"Ford is setting its own path," said Cisco Codina, head of North American marketing, sales and service for Ford. "All of this is part of our strategy to become America's car company."
The new warranties, which are effective today, will be applied retroactively to customers who have already purchased 2007 cars and trucks. Moreover, the company said it will offer extended warranties to customers who buy 2006 models. The new warranties apply to all Ford, Mercury and Lincoln vehicles, except for those like Ford's diesel pickups and hybrid SUVs that already featured more attractive terms.
"It definitely gives consumers another reason to look at Ford," said Mike Jackson, an analyst with CSM Worldwide in Farmington Hills.
Boosting warranties addresses one of Ford's biggest product problems -- the resale value of its vehicles. However, the move could increase the company's warranty costs substantially.
Ford's second quarter warranty data shows that 2006 model year per-unit warranty costs are 24 percent less than those for 2005 model vehicles.
"I'm glad that we're leading instead of following," said Kenny Shreve, owner of Kenny Shreve Ford Mercury in McLeansboro, Ill.
"I feel better about Ford today than I have in years."
This is such a big deal, especially for a US automaker. This is exactly the right move on fords part. This shows the company is standing behind its product, and could potentially increase resale values of there cars.
They are beating Honda and Toyota with this and its a very important move. Don't make it out to be less than it is. The other automakers you mentioned have only a toehold in the US market. There total warrentee costs for the US pale in comparrison to a full line maker like ford.
This is why its so important that ford did this, and why fords descision is more significant than huyundai or kia.
Look at it from the other standpoint - they now offer a better powertrain warranty than Honda, Toyota, Nissan, Infiniti, Lexus, Acura, BMW, Mercedes, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Audi, VW, Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Saturn, Scion, Hummer and Saab.
Wow !!! Yeah I think this warranty along with great new cars would definitely get allot of people off the fence and into Ford/Mercury/Lincoln showroom in a hurry. I think that this is the biggest news of the automotive year so far. Oh and you should hear how quite the import fans are. The import fans have nothing and I do mean nothing to say. You could hear a pin drop in the Forum.
I agree is is a good move for Ford. But let's not make more of it than it is. Ford's marketeers are doing a good enough job of that on their own.
And before you talk about "toeholds", I suggest you look at the sales for a few companies, such as Honda, Nissan, and Hyundai/Kia.
Also, if Ford builds good products, their powertrain warranty costs shouldn't be very large, should they?
Personally I'd take the four years of free maintenance that BMW offers vs. one more year and 10k more miles of powertrain warranty. Also, I don't see how Ford's 5 year, 60k mile powertrain warranty is better than that from the likes of Honda or Toyota. It seems to me the only major advantage Ford's new program has over companies like that is the free roadside assistance. Which is a nice benefit, but it isn't actually a warranty on the car. It helps you when the car breaks down, however.
It also helps with stupidity, you know like locking your keys in the car or running out of gas.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yeah, I had to laugh when I read that.
The power train warranty is a nice extra. Giving a longer warranty is typically something that has been done when buyers do not trust the product...eg. Hyundai and before that it was Chyrsler with the 7 yr/70,000 mile power train warranty.
I would like it if there were an option for fewer miles and more years on all these warranties, though. Since I only drive maybe 8000 miles per year, 5 years is only be about 40,000 miles for me.
Is it just coincidence that mazda is changing from their 4 year bumper-to-bumper warranty to this same warranty structure?
I still think Ford erred in not including the doorpad on Fusion/Milan.
ford does sell an add on keypad.
Gee - hard to tell you own a Hyundai.
I did qualify that with "not so much lately". Hyundai quality is much improved (nowhere else they could go but up). But the fact remains that Ford is above average in long term dependability and Hyundai is below average. Kia, Suzuki and Mitsubishi are at or near the bottom. See for yourself.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
I bet if the same survey showed Hyundai above Ford you'd be singing a different tune.
Not hard to tell who the Hyundai owners are in this forum.
Regarding the increased powertrain warranty duration that Ford is now offering, there is absolutely no doubt that this is a step in the right direction for improving their North American sales.
Ron M.
I don't know of one that does. But that doesn't diminish what I said.
I bet if the same survey showed Hyundai above Ford you'd be singing a different tune.
If you do make that bet don't put your rent money on it because you would lose. But that doesn't diminish what I said.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Also, 18th from the bottom is a long ways from "at or near the bottom." And a difference of 231 to 250 is hardly a big difference. Kia, Land Rover, Mini... they have some catching up to do. They are "at or near the bottom." Hyundai is not.
Not hard to tell who the Ford owners are in this forum.
P.S. As long as JD Power is "the industry standard", you probably noticed how Ford fared in their latest IQS, vs. the likes of Hyundai. But since that survey shows Hyundai above Ford (which was below average), perhaps you will sing a different tune?
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2006082
Ford needed this warranty to help sell cars. Sales are down and they need to restore consumer confidence in their vehicles. The Fusion is a nice vehicle, very competitive with the top selling cars (take note GM). It will need this boost to compete with the Camry and Accord. These are formidable cars, great sales, resale value and history of reliabilty (or at least you know you won't be upside down after 2 years). With the warranty, it gives folks a reason to give Ford a chance. The problem with marketing tools like this is if quality is still not up to par, what do you do for an encore?
Granted it doesn't tell you which ones are more costly to repair but it does tell you how many problems occurred which is important.
And the newer Ford vehicles like the Mustang, 500 and Fusion are even better than the 5 yr old models used for the Power survey.
I'm not bashing Hyundai - they're a solid player with solid products. But they're not better than Ford - yet.
IQS is important to the mfrs because a bad rating means you might be pissing off new customers or you either have a dealer problem or assembly issue that needs to be addressed. But consumers should be looking at 3-5 yr ratings.
I have owned Fords and I have owned Hyundais, with the possible exception of the Mustang I will stick with Hyundai.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
BTW, the VDS covers three years, as noted in the report's press release:
The study, which measures problems experienced by original owners of 3-year-old (2002 model-year) vehicles, provides useful information to both consumers and the automotive industry on long-term vehicle quality.
http://www.jdpower.com/corporate/news/releases/pressrelease.asp?ID=2005089
It will be interesting to see what the IQS score of the Fusion/Milan is. I doubt the 2006 study included them, or many of them. Also, a new VDS should be out any day now; the last one was released in June 2005. But that one may not include any Fulans yet; it will probably cover 2003-05 vehicles.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Based on the lack of problems being reported on the Mustang, 500/Montego/Freestyle and Fusion/Milan/Zephyr I think Ford will be moving up the charts over the next several years.
Let's face it - unless you're at the very top or the very bottom there's not a huge difference. The worst cars today are better than the best cars 20 yrs ago.
You spend $85K for a car you expect it to be perfect.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
And a lot of Hummer buyers are reporting poor fuel mileage as a problem which might also be the case for LR. I guess they don't read the EPA numbers on the sticker.
What? A 4.3 ton Army truck getting bad gas mileage????? Alert the news media!!!!
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Yes but nowhere near as much as MB.
http://www.autoserviceworld.com/article.asp?id=31153&issue=06012004
A Mercedes-Benz electronics vice president recently told an innovation symposium that it had already removed 600 electronic functions from its cars and that the process continues.
In a 20-minute address, Stephan Wolfsried spoke against overloading the car with electronic functions that have no use for the customer.
"Last year we removed over 600 functions from our cars - functions that no one really needed and no one knew how to use," Wolfsried said, according to Automotive News Europe.
Because of failing integration into the overall electronics infrastructure, they only tend to cause the malfunctioning of really important electronic parts, he said.
That is precicely what the problem is (But Hummer isn't built by Land Rover BTW). I remember reading news stories from USAToday and the likes reporting the same thing.
the best way to determine is talk to a trusted mechanic. Someone who knows cars and has worked on them and has access to more data then you and I.
Ford's new cars are very nice. the warranty will help. You only go to extended warranties when there is a consumer confidence issue. Hyundai had to do after the disatrous Excel of the 80's and 90's. Chrylser had to do it to restore faith in their transmissions. The good thing is Ford does have some good products on the lot and in the pipeline. Of course it does not help today's owners and their bad experiences influences future sales more than an extended warranty.
Ford has to really step it up with the engines and reliability. No excuse (other than pre-exisitng contracts that needed to be fulfilled) to introduce the 500 and Freestyle with a leftover Taurus engine. They should be embarassed by the Freestar. NO better than the troublesome Windstar and a 4.2 L engine that only produces 201 hp and worst fuel efficiency then the leaders. Too many reported trannies dying at only 40k miles and Ford is not backing the owners. The Explorer at one time was the definition of the mid-size SUV. No longer. Go read that forum and see all the problems brewing there. the Focus....let's not go there.
Like you mention, Mustang, 500 and Fusion are better but only time will tell how they hold up. Is this enough to stop the bleeding?
These electronics could have helped reduce weight and effeciency of the cars, now that MB cars are getting degenerated to the state of other cars in the marketplace, they will loose there last toehold to the reputation the three pointed star once had.
Its OK, GM and Toyota will take over. Meybe Lincoln if ford does the right thing, and cans all the luxury divisions nameplates and makes Lincoln the size and scope of MB, bieng made in facotries were all the jags and LR's are made.
It will also reduce costs.
And to the naysayers about the warrentee, please buy a 2007 Camry, be sure to go to a dealer whos next to a good mechanic
I never said they were. I was saying that some of the "problems" being reported by LR owners might be poor fuel mileage just like the Hummer owners.
They had a really good excuse for releasing the 500 with the 3.0L engine - the 3.5 was 2 years late to market and they needed new cars. Same with the Zephyr. Why the 3.5L was 2 years late is another discussion. Ford does seem to be taking a long time to get things to market. I suspect the delays are partially responsible for the increased quality but at some point you have to speed things up.
For their most comprehensive, 7 year/100,000 mile, no deductible warranty price is $1292 for Fusion/Milan and $1020 for Honda Accord. Ford seems to be doing very well on this to get a price that close to one of the benchmarks for reliable cars.