SlowHand

Proud owner of a new 2007 Cal Special GT but I need to decide whether or not to go for a 36 month/36,000 mile maintenance and wear plan that my dealership is offering me for $790.

This is the first Ford that I've owned (although my wife drives Explorers) and I'm having some difficulty evaluating this. The car is leased for a three-year term. Manual transmission. I'm not a road-warrior but the car will have performance mods and is likely to be driven fairly competitively yet respectfully and within its limitations.

Should I go for this plan (on top of the standard warranty, of course) or approach service and maintenance on an ad-hoc basis? I'd really appreciate some counsel here, as I have to make a decision in the next day or two, many thanks.

StangNeWbieDJB

Why are you going to put modds on a leased car??? Can you do that????

06blueovalblueGT

The only plan i got was to cover the " option " code #64W 18" 5-spokes
Just in case I grabbed a curb on accident !!!
My neighbor runs the parts counter and my sister in law is the service manager at
the Ford dealer where I bought my GT so I dont worry about service things
Loving care goes a lot longer that extended warrantees

torch red

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Its a lease..and your covered for 5 years 60,000 miles as per powertrain


Dont do it...SAVE your 800 Bucks

kenthicken

Agreed. Save your money.

SlowHand

Thanks guys. torch red, unless I'm mistaken, I'm covered for 3 years and 36k miles, not 5 years and 60,000 miles...or am I missing something very simple here?

Good point, StangNewbie: I know it seems odd to mod a lease but I have the option to buy after three years, or to renew the lease and I tend to stick with a car that I like. The monthly payments on a loan were ugly.

Good advice, though; no maintenance plan for me, I think.

kenthicken

SlowHand, the 3/36 warranty is for everything on the car (less wear items). The 5/60 is for the drivetrain only, I beleive.

Also, don't worry about modding a leased car. These things can always come back off before you turn the car back in. Just be sure to save the factory parts.

shaners90lxhatch

If you do get a service contract get it from Ford. Aftermarket ones are much more of a pain in the **** to get stuff covered. You get what you pay for in this realm of service.

moosestang

The monthly payments may have been ugly, but I gurantee you if you decide to buy the car after 3 years you'll be paying out the nose!

I never did understand leasing a car or renting a house for that matter.

SlowHand

Well, I'm not thrilled about leasing. The interest payments bug the hell out of me, as does the over-inflated buyout price. But renting a house and leasing a car are not as comparable as they might seem. Whereas a house appreciates in value, making it a good investment, a new car depreciates massively from the minute you drive it off the lot. If I had $31k burning a hole in my pocket, I'd be better off putting it in the stock market, real estate or almost anywhere but a new car. Leasing, as obnoxious as it is, is a mechanism designed to counteract depreciation; you make monthly payments and then after three years you can either give the car back and lease a new one, or you can buy it for a price that corresponds to its depreciated value (but is, in fact, too high). Leasing pays off if you do not want to hang onto a car for more than three to five years and makes it easy to get straight into another one without ever committing capital to a depreciating asset when it could be making money for you if wisely invested elsewhere. However, I do understand your point; it sticks in my craw a bit not to own anything at the end of my car lease. But you have to bear in mind; cars do not hold their value, no matter how well you take care of them.