Can a Ford Protect Warranty Help You Beat Inflation?

[Zach@Granger]

It is not breaking news that prices are up on everything. Inflation has run high, and the federal reserve doesn’t think the battle is over yet to get inflation back down to 2%. One of the areas that has seen some of the biggest price increases is the automotive repair industry. The Federal Reserve Bank goes in detail to explain the reasons why, but it boils down to a tight workforce that is in high demand as well as a parts shortage.


I was curious to see how much that has affected our service department, so I pulled all our repair orders that were paid by an extended warranty company for 2 time periods (Jan-Apr 2020 and Jan-Apr 2024) to see how it has changed at our shop. Through the first 4 months of 2020 our average repair order covered by an extended warranty was $776, and in 2024? An eye-popping $1841! That is a 237% increase in 4 years. Admittedly we have a small sample size being only one dealership. But for the last 3 years, the federal reserve has registered a 5%, 13% and 8% rate of inflation for motor vehicle repair, well out-pacing overall CPI.

So what can be done to minimize the effects of repair inflation? One of the lesser talked about benefits of an extended warranty is that you are locking in tomorrow’s repairs at today’s repair prices. We work with both Mopar and Ford extended warranties and both of them have many actuaries that determine our cost for their plans. The feedback I’ve received from both manufacturers suggests prices will continue to rise in the future, because repair cost increases are well outpacing the reserves set up to cover them. Ford has scheduled a price increase in August of this year and Mopar just increased its prices in February and is considering doing it again.


I again was interested in seeing what increases we’ve seen over the last 2 years of selling service contracts and our average service contract price has increased 14%, much less than the 23% the CPI repair costs have increased at the same time. None of us can predict the future, but in the past inflation has proven to be sticky and takes longer than anticipated to get fully under control.


Another tool we’ve added to our websites is the ability to pay monthly. We realize increased prices have eaten away at monthly budgets and spending over $2000 on extended warranty coverage can be hard to budget for. So, we added a monthly payment option that allows our customers to pay for their warranty over an 18-month term. Our average monthly payment is taken automatically and comes out to less than $100/month.


You can find our coverage options for both Mopar and Ford on our websites.

www.buymoparwarranty.com
www.grangerfordextendedwarranty.com

Zach

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[ZBOBMAN]

Another bit

How many people have retired 5 years ago and had to get back into the workforce just to keep up with inflation?

 

[FarNorth]

I guess the first thing would be to analyze the number of repairs needed over five years considering most trade every five years or less. Would they equal the cost of the insurance?
I looked at this on a Ford Edge I had years ago and had to replace all the wheel bearings but Ford covered it all under an extended warranty program. It was the only problem I had. The Ford Extra Warranty at the time was $2500. So in my case no.

 

[DCS]

It is not breaking news that prices are up on everything. Inflation has run high, and the federal reserve doesn’t think the battle is over yet to get inflation back down to 2%. One of the areas that has seen some of the biggest price increases is the automotive repair industry. The Federal Reserve Bank goes in detail to explain the reasons why, but it boils down to a tight workforce that is in high demand as well as a parts shortage.


I was curious to see how much that has affected our service department, so I pulled all our repair orders that were paid by an extended warranty company for 2 time periods (Jan-Apr 2020 and Jan-Apr 2024) to see how it has changed at our shop. Through the first 4 months of 2020 our average repair order covered by an extended warranty was $776, and in 2024? An eye-popping $1841! That is a 237% increase in 4 years. Admittedly we have a small sample size being only one dealership. But for the last 3 years, the federal reserve has registered a 5%, 13% and 8% rate of inflation for motor vehicle repair, well out-pacing overall CPI.

So what can be done to minimize the effects of repair inflation? One of the lesser talked about benefits of an extended warranty is that you are locking in tomorrow’s repairs at today’s repair prices. We work with both Mopar and Ford extended warranties and both of them have many actuaries that determine our cost for their plans. The feedback I’ve received from both manufacturers suggests prices will continue to rise in the future, because repair cost increases are well outpacing the reserves set up to cover them. Ford has scheduled a price increase in August of this year and Mopar just increased its prices in February and is considering doing it again.


I again was interested in seeing what increases we’ve seen over the last 2 years of selling service contracts and our average service contract price has increased 14%, much less than the 23% the CPI repair costs have increased at the same time. None of us can predict the future, but in the past inflation has proven to be sticky and takes longer than anticipated to get fully under control.


Another tool we’ve added to our websites is the ability to pay monthly. We realize increased prices have eaten away at monthly budgets and spending over $2000 on extended warranty coverage can be hard to budget for. So, we added a monthly payment option that allows our customers to pay for their warranty over an 18-month term. Our average monthly payment is taken automatically and comes out to less than $100/month.


You can find our coverage options for both Mopar and Ford on our websites.

www.buymoparwarranty.com
www.grangerfordextendedwarranty.com

Zach

Not available in Florida. Correct?

 

[SWPHX]

We got the ford Extended 10 year 100,000 on basically everything in the car but the clutch, with all the tech in the car, seemed like a no brainer!

 

[m3incorp]

All automobiles have a lot of tech these days... Wonder how many tech issues have arisen for warranty service. That is great warranty coverage if indeed everything is included.....of course, the price comes into play.

We got the ford Extended 10 year 100,000 on basically everything in the car but the clutch, with all the tech in the car, seemed like a no brainer!

 

[Lakersfreak]

Why isn't your warranty offered in CA?

 

[ListedGuru]

It is not breaking news that prices are up on everything. Inflation has run high, and the federal reserve doesn’t think the battle is over yet to get inflation back down to 2%. One of the areas that has seen some of the biggest price increases is the automotive repair industry. The Federal Reserve Bank goes in detail to explain the reasons why, but it boils down to a tight workforce that is in high demand as well as a parts shortage.


I was curious to see how much that has affected our service department, so I pulled all our repair orders that were paid by an extended warranty company for 2 time periods (Jan-Apr 2020 and Jan-Apr 2024) to see how it has changed at our shop. Through the first 4 months of 2020 our average repair order covered by an extended warranty was $776, and in 2024? An eye-popping $1841! That is a 237% increase in 4 years. Admittedly we have a small sample size being only one dealership. But for the last 3 years, the federal reserve has registered a 5%, 13% and 8% rate of inflation for motor vehicle repair, well out-pacing overall CPI.

So what can be done to minimize the effects of repair inflation? One of the lesser talked about benefits of an extended warranty is that you are locking in tomorrow’s repairs at today’s repair prices. We work with both Mopar and Ford extended warranties and both of them have many actuaries that determine our cost for their plans. The feedback I’ve received from both manufacturers suggests prices will continue to rise in the future, because repair cost increases are well outpacing the reserves set up to cover them. Ford has scheduled a price increase in August of this year and Mopar just increased its prices in February and is considering doing it again.


I again was interested in seeing what increases we’ve seen over the last 2 years of selling service contracts and our average service contract price has increased 14%, much less than the 23% the CPI repair costs have increased at the same time. None of us can predict the future, but in the past inflation has proven to be sticky and takes longer than anticipated to get fully under control.


Another tool we’ve added to our websites is the ability to pay monthly. We realize increased prices have eaten away at monthly budgets and spending over $2000 on extended warranty coverage can be hard to budget for. So, we added a monthly payment option that allows our customers to pay for their warranty over an 18-month term. Our average monthly payment is taken automatically and comes out to less than $100/month.


You can find our coverage options for both Mopar and Ford on our websites.

www.buymoparwarranty.com
www.grangerfordextendedwarranty.com

Zach

Sent you a PM

 

[Zach@Granger]

Not available in Florida. Correct?

We cannot sell to a Florida address, correct.

 

[Zach@Granger]

Why isn't your warranty offered in CA?

There is a state law from California that will not allow us to sell to a California address. If you have another address available to you, we can provide coverage.

 

[Zach@Granger]

If you have any questions about any ESP that we sell, please let me know.

Currently, for Ford we are at $25 over dealer cost and Mopar at cost for the month of June.

Please let me know if I can help!

Thank you for the support and business, as always

 

[ugasouthernpride]

What protection is offered if I have my local dealer install the FP Whipple supercharger? Will that void any of the extended warranty?

 

[Zach@Granger]

What protection is offered if I have my local dealer install the FP Whipple supercharger? Will that void any of the extended warranty?

Normally the Whipple would have some sorta of a warranty. But when that is installed, any components the whipple involves or touches would be voided if the issue was because of the Whipple.

 

[DarkHorsePremium]

Older post now. Although I am not one to typically buy service contracts, I did last month when we bought two new vehicles a week apart. Over the decades I've saved myself boatloads of cash doing my own work. Getting older now, and have made different choices about how I want to spend my time. You hope you never need it and in many cases you may not but if you do, all I have to do is get my cars to a dealership. I'll still do the day-to-day myself and keep good records. If something major happens, I'm covered.

The wife's car has 3x the tech of my Mustang. Power everything. I'm not worried about the turbo motor, the F/R electric motors or batteries, but if her 360* camera system breaks, it's over. Buying the service contract was inexpensive comparatively. Same goes for the Mustang to a slightly lesser degree. Price out a head light or tail light module for one of our cars, or the adaptive cruise control (ADAS system). Here you go Ford. I don't even need to worry about it.

We all know that inflation and the cost of living is outpacing just about any merit increase, and all but the most prolific day trading returns.

Since I live in California, I didn't have the easy Ford PP option. When shopping for one of these plans, it's important that you absolutely understand the difference between an inclusive "inclusionary" plan vs. a standard "exclusionary" plan. The latter is more comprehensive. Everyone's situation is different. I think this thread is helpful. .

 

[RLE55]

Older post now. Although I am not one to typically buy service contracts, I did last month when we bought two new vehicles a week apart. Over the decades I've saved myself boatloads of cash doing my own work. Getting older now, and have made different choices about how I want to spend my time. You hope you never need it and in many cases you may not but if you do, all I have to do is get my cars to a dealership. I'll still do the day-to-day myself and keep good records. If something major happens, I'm covered.

The wife's car has 3x the tech of my Mustang. Power everything. I'm not worried about the turbo motor, the F/R electric motors or batteries, but if her 360* camera system breaks, it's over. Buying the service contract was inexpensive comparatively. Same goes for the Mustang to a slightly lesser degree. Price out a head light or tail light module for one of our cars, or the adaptive cruise control (ADAS system). Here you go Ford. I don't even need to worry about it.

We all know that inflation and the cost of living is outpacing just about any merit increase, and all but the most prolific day trading returns.

Since I live in California, I didn't have the easy Ford PP option. When shopping for one of these plans, it's important that you absolutely understand the difference between an inclusive "inclusionary" plan vs. a standard "exclusionary" plan. The latter is more comprehensive. Everyone's situation is different. I think this thread is helpful. .

The Ford Protect Plans seem to be pretty straight forward in their coverage.

Key Details Regarding Ford Protect Plans:

• PremiumCARE (Exclusionary): Covers thousands of components (over 1,000+) including electrical, steering, brakes, front suspension, and HVAC. It covers major engine components and is the only plan covering the Power Train Control Module (PCM).
• Stated Component Plans (Inclusionary): Includes ExtraCARE (113 components), BaseCARE (84 components), and PowertrainCARE (29 components).
• Coverage Details: All plans cover failures due to defects in materials/workmanship and normal wear and tear.
• Excluded Items: Generally, performance-modified vehicles (e.g., Shelby, Roush, Saleen), non-factory installed accessories, and specific high-end components not listed in the contract, such as some specialized headlights, are excluded.

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