Aftermarket Warranties? Yay or Nay?

When you guys purchase these older model low mileage GT500's, are you guys going with any form of aftermarket warranty?

In my case, I'm looking at getting one through the dealer that my buddy works at(my parents are pushing for this, I'm on the fence about it hence this thread), the warranty only covers power train and engine. My thinking is though, if any of those things fail, might as well upgrade'em. What are y'all's thoughts on this?

850SNCobra said:

When you guys purchase these older model low mileage GT500's, are you guys going with any form of aftermarket warranty?

In my case, I'm looking at getting one through the dealer that my buddy works at(my parents are pushing for this, I'm on the fence about it hence this thread), the warranty only covers power train and engine. My thinking is though, if any of those things fail, might as well upgrade'em. What are y'all's thoughts on this?

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That's my thought. I never purchase warranties outside of the standard manufacturer's warranty.

I have a couple of friends that own shops, and they say that those aftermarket warranty's are a joke. They will look for every reason imaginable to void the warranty. If you have aftermarket wheels-void, lower your car-void, etc. Even if when you bought it, it had aftermarket wheels, they are crooked.

So I have worked as a QA/Reliability Engineer for several years for a major vehicle mfg and I do not purchase extended warranties...usually (special cases apply).

On a reliability curve you have the infant mortality, constant failure, and wear out phase of the curve.

Infant mortality is covered by mfg warranty
Constant failure is quality of material & design.
Wear out is just that worn out.

You are using the extended warranty to cover phase 1.

I would look at similar year vehicles, what fails, how often, and the cost to replace it.

Good luck with your choice.

Catmonkey said:

That's my thought. I never purchase warranties outside of the standard manufacturer's warranty.

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Glad I'm not alone in thinking this way. I figured I wasn't, just wanted to hear from some others who know this is probably a better route to go.

HKusp said:

I have a couple of friends that own shops, and they say that those aftermarket warranty's are a joke. They will look for every reason imaginable to void the warranty. If you have aftermarket wheels-void, lower your car-void, etc. Even if when you bought it, it had aftermarket wheels, they are crooked.

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I have heard of this happening to a few people. On the other hand, I've seen a handful of guys have this sorta pay off for them, on another forum I'm apart of, guy is basically got a brand new engine installed for $800. I will keep this in mind though if I go through with the warranty.

12Red500 said:

So I have worked as a QA/Reliability Engineer for several years for a major vehicle mfg and I do not purchase extended warranties...usually (special cases apply).

On a reliability curve you have the infant mortality, constant failure, and wear out phase of the curve.

Infant mortality is covered by mfg warranty
Constant failure is quality of material & design.
Wear out is just that worn out.

You are using the extended warranty to cover phase 1.

I would look at similar year vehicles, what fails, how often, and the cost to replace it.

Good luck with your choice.

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Thanks for your reply with your experience in this field. I think that's my next thing to lookup, common failures with these years cars, I haven't really looked too much but from browsing this board I haven't seen a ton of engine/transmission failures due to material and design. Of course I could be missing some but I will do more research and see what's out there.

Thanks for the replies and if anyone else has any other info don't hesitate to post up!

No on the bumper2bumper warranty but possible yes on wheel/tire damage coverage depending on cost. There is a lot of road debris out there to deal with. I have that coverage on mine but I drive it a lot.


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Fidelity warranty top level is amazing. They even cover the f150 sunroof brackets and apim modules
ford premium care is my first choice

If you can still get one from the manufacturer go for it. If it’s some aftermarket warranty from an insurance company or other provider that isn’t the manufacturer DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME. I’ve dealt with dozens of claims where I personally did the claim through their warranty and I can tell you out of all of them, they only paid twice. And it wasn’t even the full amount, less than half at most.


Pick your poison.

Had one once. In the end what they covered I could have less for if I had kept the cost of the coverage plan. Paid I believe 3k and got about 2.6 back in coverage. They nickle and dime you. Case in point had a air dryer go out on the motorhome. So the replaced it but did not cover the cost of reprogramming it.

Man, I've heard almost nothing good about these aftermarket warranties.

This one in particular is Hendricks' Autoguard, the Powertrain coverage is all they would cover, after looking at the list of what they would cover(which actually covers a lot more than I initially expected), I bet they would find any/every reason to not honor the warranty once I start to mod the car. Which will be soon lol.

I think if I were to leave the car stock then the warranty may make sense...

If you can get a Ford back warranty then I would really consider it.

Just in case some of you did not know you can buy Ford ESP plans for used Shelby's just like the new ESP plans. I am in the market and looking at some GT500's now and don't want to be without warranty. I don't know how far the coverage goes back because I only asked about 13/14 GT500's. Any GT500 under 40K miles they will allow up to 5 years of warranty starting from the day you buy the plan. I will get a Premium Care plan but you can buy any one of the plans. For GT500's over 40K miles they will allow 4 years of warranty coverage.

In order for the GT500 to be approved for coverage it has be inspected and costs $99 for the inspection. I spoke with Lombard Ford in CT and quoted it online but I would think all Ford dealers would sell these plans but not sure.

04MysticCobra said:

Just in case some of you did not know you can buy Ford ESP plans for used Shelby's just like the new ESP plans. I am in the market and looking at some GT500's now and don't want to be without warranty. I don't know how far the coverage goes back because I only asked about 13/14 GT500's. Any GT500 under 40K miles they will allow up to 5 years of warranty starting from the day you buy the plan. I will get a Premium Care plan but you can buy any one of the plans. For GT500's over 40K miles they will allow 4 years of warranty coverage.

In order for the GT500 to be approved for coverage it has be inspected and costs $99 for the inspection. I spoke with Lombard Ford in CT and quoted it online but I would think all Ford dealers would sell these plans but not sure.

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This is great info. Thanks! I will check with my local Ford dealer. Only reason I was going to look at the Hendricks Autoguard is because my buddy can most likely get the inspection fee waived, which is $399. Ouch lol.

I'd have no problem paying $99 to get it inspected. I haven't seen many major issues with the 08' GT500's on the board from my searches just yet. Mostly just the typical clutch failures. Of course a few have bent axels and such, but they were on the drag strip and I doubt my car will see a strip anytime soon.

Food for thought, these are JUST Mustangs.
Its not like these things are overly complicated to work on, or are known for any real issues. Save the money for a rainy day and use that for mods.

850SNCobra said:

This is great info. Thanks! I will check with my local Ford dealer. Only reason I was going to look at the Hendricks Autoguard is because my buddy can most likely get the inspection fee waived, which is $399. Ouch lol.

I'd have no problem paying $99 to get it inspected. I haven't seen many major issues with the 08' GT500's on the board from my searches just yet. Mostly just the typical clutch failures. Of course a few have bent axels and such, but they were on the drag strip and I doubt my car will see a strip anytime soon.

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I only had one aftermarket warranty and it sucked. Would not buy another one. I found 3 dealers who supplied online quotes so far. They were Lombard, Ziegler and Troy Ford. Lombard has a discount offer going on right now. They had the best prices. I don't know if the plans are available for a 2008 GT500 like you have but for me buying a used 13/14 GT500 with the high prices I want some coverage.

PM-Performance said:

Food for thought, these are JUST Mustangs.
Its not like these things are overly complicated to work on, or are known for any real issues. Save the money for a rainy day and use that for mods.

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While I do agree with you and I have owned 12 Mustangs I don't want to spend 45-50K on a low mileage used 13/14 GT500 without warranty coverage and be sorry.

PM-Performance said:

Food for thought, these are JUST Mustangs.
Its not like these things are overly complicated to work on, or are known for any real issues. Save the money for a rainy day and use that for mods.

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These are my thoughts too. My car wasn't as expensive as the newer model GT500s. I think we paid 24K. Still a lot in my book but nowhere near the 13/14 models.

04MysticCobra said:

While I do agree with you and I have owned 12 Mustangs I don't want to spend 45-50K on a low mileage used 13/14 GT500 without warranty coverage and be sorry.

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I'm with ya on that, if I had bought a newer model like an 13/14 I would definitely be on the train for getting some sort of warranty.

Luckily for us, there haven’t been any major issues with GT500’s that have been inherent through the models or consistent with the drivetrains. That being said, if you’re seriously worried about it and can afford it, take the $2000- $3000 you would spend on the warranty and set it aside, adding a few bucks to it here and there when you can. If something major fails, you’ll have a descent start to repairing it without hitting your day to day or tapping your savings. If nothing fails, well you still have your money and if you’re like me it’ll become the bigger blower fund or the down payment on your next toy.

Otherwise, on a GT500 with low miles and a thorough pre-purchase inspection, don’t waste your money on a warranty that’s not manufacturers.

PistolWhip said:

Luckily for us, there haven’t been any major issues with GT500’s that have been inherent through the models or consistent with the drivetrains. That being said, if you’re seriously worried about it and can afford it, take the $2000- $3000 you would spend on the warranty and set it aside, adding a few bucks to it here and there when you can. If something major fails, you’ll have a descent start to repairing it without hitting your day to day or tapping your savings. If nothing fails, well you still have your money and if you’re like me it’ll become the bigger blower fund or the down payment on your next toy.

Otherwise, on a GT500 with low miles and a thorough pre-purchase inspection, don’t waste your money on a warranty that’s not manufacturers.

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This what I have to convince my dad on, he didn't understand when I brought this up the other day, I literally said what you recommended lol. He's the one who really really wants me to get the warranty.

For every 10 vehicles I sell, we sell 8 extended service contracts.

Same as home insurance, if you never use it, you're losing your ass, if you need it, you'll be happy you have it.

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