Dealer add-ons & options

[steven]

There are details below but suggest a forum for what appears to be scams by dealers to fatten profits when selling Lightnings and other new EVs. I suggest:

• a forum listing similar questionable experiences of other Lightning buyers
• a warranty forum discussing what is and is not covered by Ford’s warranty
• A discussion of what dealers are and are not allowed to include as a condition of sale.

My local Ford dealer requires the purchase of a $1700 'Desert Protection Plan' that provides tinted windows, door guards and 'lifetime maintenance' . The lifetime maintenance appears to provide little besides rotating tires and changing windshield wiper blades. Do Lightnings really come from the factory without tinted windshields? And if they do, how much should it cost to have them tinted?

My real heartburn is a "Mechanical Repair Service Contract"(MRSC) I was sold from Partners Administrative Services. I recall being told by the finance person at the dealer the warranty on the Lightning was for 12 months or twelve thousand miles. I knew it was 8 years for the battery but didn't know how much of the electronics were covered. When the finance person was selling me the contract, he specifically mentioned the $3700 display screen. I have yet to read through my warranty and am not a lawyer or mechanical engineer. But I did find a post here suggesting the electronics WOULD be covered for 8 years by Ford.

I asked for but did not receive literature describing the MRSC so I took a picture of the laminated flyer the dealer had. When I got home I discovered the contract was a generic agreement covering mainly ICE vehicles with only incidental coverage for the Lightning. When I actually read the contract, I discovered that there was a 60000 mile limitation on coverage as well as the 8 years.

 

[frunk]

There are details below but suggest a forum for what appears to be scams by dealers to fatten profits when selling Lightnings and other new EVs. I suggest:

• a forum listing similar questionable experiences of other Lightning buyers
• a warranty forum discussing what is and is not covered by Ford’s warranty
• A discussion of what dealers are and are not allowed to include as a condition of sale.

My local Ford dealer requires the purchase of a $1700 'Desert Protection Plan' that provides tinted windows, door guards and 'lifetime maintenance' . The lifetime maintenance appears to provide little besides rotating tires and changing windshield wiper blades. Do Lightnings really come from the factory without tinted windshields? And if they do, how much should it cost to have them tinted?

My real heartburn is a "Mechanical Repair Service Contract"(MRSC) I was sold from Partners Administrative Services. I recall being told by the finance person at the dealer the warranty on the Lightning was for 12 months or twelve thousand miles. I knew it was 8 years for the battery but didn't know how much of the electronics were covered. When the finance person was selling me the contract, he specifically mentioned the $3700 display screen. I have yet to read through my warranty and am not a lawyer or mechanical engineer. But I did find a post hereFord has always h suggesting the electronics WOULD be covered for 8 years by Ford.

I asked for but did not receive literature describing the MRSC so I took a picture of the laminated flyer the dealer had. When I got home I discovered the contract was a generic agreement covering mainly ICE vehicles with only incidental coverage for the Lightning. When I actually read the contract, I discovered that there was a 60000 mile limitation on coverage as well as the 8 years.

Ford has always had a 3 year bumper to bumper I thank 36,000 miles with a lot of things for safety covered for 8 years. I had a Ford dealer try to tell me I had to join the Planet Ford club witch gave me two free oil change and free coke cola while I waited for my truck. It cost $750. I told them I was not going to join their club. I told them they could keep the truck so then they had me sign a paper that I could not get the free oil change. Dealer are just legal thieves.

 

[steven]

Before you pick up your Lightning you need to read the warranty to be prepared for your dealer's pitch to sell you an extended warranty. Mine just told me Ford's bumper-to-bumper doesn't mean what most of us think it means. Here is the link
Warranty Guide F-150 Lightning Printing 1 (PDF)

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/owner_information/2022-Ford-BEV-E-Transit-F-150-Lightning-Mustang-Mach-E-Warranty-version-1_frdwa_EN-US_09_2021.pdf

This is from the quick reference section
i

 

[steven]

Ford’s Lightning Warranty

In his attempts to sell me a $3,000 extended warranty, the finance person at my local dealer strongly suggested Ford’s warranty was not sufficiently comprehensive to cover expensive items like the truck’s display screen. Another line used was suggesting that the Lightning’s massive use of electronic components was not sufficiently covered. Has anyone had any trouble exercising their warranty?

On its face, the Lightning warranty appears sufficiently comprehensive to cover the truck. See Warranty Guide F-150 Lightning Printing 1 (PDF) I haven’t been through the document extensively but I did find one passage that troubled me:

aftermarket parts or components, sometimes installed by Ford Motor Company or an authorized Ford dealership, may not be covered by the New Vehicle LimitedWarranty. Any damage caused to Ford components due to the failure of aftermarket parts is not covered.

if the component that caused the failure is beyond coverage and damages a component with remaining coverage, the entire repair is NOT reimbursable.

 

[ICED Lightning]

Ford dealers are in the sales business, not in the 'understanding your warranty' business - otherwise they wouldn't be trying to
'sell' you some type of additional 'warranty'... it's all bunk. Ford's comprehensive warranty is THE warranty. It's also doubtful that any other 'warranty'
would pay for something that even Ford would not have covered.