Warranty work strikes again for the Swamp Ape

[gatornek]

I've had small things replaced under warranty. PCV valves and hose type stuff from what I can search my memory for. Never did I have an entire transmission replaced under warranty at just over 20K miles
https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/badlands-2-0-transmission-clutch-failure.12181/

Now, its the Rear Differential with the dreaded "contaminated fluid clutch pack chatter while turning in 1st gear".

If y'all remember me from when I first got my Badlands, I was very excited. I was a Mustang guy with a brand new kid. Loved the fact that I got a compact little off-roader that was also great for road trips. Could've spent another 10-15k for a Passport or a 4Runner, but decided on the 'savings'. Well, many times when we buy our vehicles, we count on the "savings" finally happening when the vehicle is paid off. You know ... that beautiful 2-5 years when you have no more car payment? But this depends strictly on your car being reliable after 60K and well into the 100's.

My BS Badlands is at 48K now. The 'savings' I chose when I chose this car, gets eviscerated if I go out of warranty and have to deal with one of these repairs out of my pocket.

I'm not a gambler. You can't catch me betting on sports. I have some fun maybe when I go to Vegas, but that's ONLY in Vegas. I'm not in prediction markets and I'm not on Kalshi. So for me, going out of warranty in this vehicle has become a MAJOR gamble.

So I wanted to throw this out there to all y'all afficionados. With this vehicle demonstrating "less than stellar" reliability (pretty sure I'm not going out on a limb there), how does everyone here feel about keeping their vehicle past warranty? Are any of you feeling like I am and not willing to make that gamble? Anyone here comfortable with extended warranty plans? I looked into Ford Extended Warranty but I think you have to be below 36K in order to get that. Can someone clarify? I also looked at (for the first time in my life) 3rd party plans like Carshield. But again, now we're possibly looking at close to a $200 payment monthly just to have peace of mind. If I were to sell/trade the BS now, I'd lose about 3 or 4K of the DOWN PAYMENT I initially put down. And that doesn't include the last 3 years of car payments, that would basically equate to a lease.

My thought is to wait until the 2027 models start rolling onto lots in September. And see if I can't exit stage left then. I'm definitely going to at least scope it out.

Some of you have mentioned that "I'm lucky" that these major pieces have failed while under warranty. Maybe so. Maybe Ford got it right now. It all just seems risky to me at this point.

I'll let you guys know how the Ape sounds when I get it back. Hopefully by next week.

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[Dude]

There seems to be 2 schools of thought here:

1. Buy an official Ford extended warranty (ESP) from one of the discount online Ford sites (Granger, Zeigler, Flood) when the vehicle is still within the time and mileage allowance then skip all the major fluid changes (RDU, Transmission, PTU but perform coolant maintenance) and hope any major failures are resolved under the ESP

2. Don’t buy the official Ford ESP but Do perform all the major fluid changes (RDU, Transmission, PTU, coolant) yourself or pay the dealership or a mechanic for those. Many owners suggest every 30k miles for RDU, Transmission, PTU, and for coolant I had mine serviced at 40k.

The other common approach might be more like yours - don’t buy the official Ford ESP and don’t get all the major fluid changes (RDU, Transmission, PTU, and perhaps coolant) done on say a 30k mileage interval and hope for the best (or trade before the 5yr/60k powertrain warranty ends)

 

[jkernitzki]

Given the number of (admittedly mostly anecdotal) issues of the BS’s longevity, I purchased a 10 year/100k mile ESP from Granger at the time I bought the car.

My intent is to keep it as long as possible, so I wanted to hedge my bets up front.

 

[Ernest T]

What’s more reliable in the same class? My ‘25 is 11 months old with 7K on the odometer and given the sketchy reliability of the previous model years, I’m not confident I’ll get anything close to 100K trouble free miles. That’s disappointing since my wife’s ‘14 Cherokee and my ‘17 F150 both have been reliable vehicles and have over 100k on them.

I changed the oil at 5K and will stick to that interval for the life of the vehicle. I’ll also change drive line fluids at 30k as long as we own it. An extended warranty will may also be in the plan.

 

[gatornek]

The other common approach might be more like yours - don’t buy the official Ford ESP and don’t get all the major fluid changes (RDU, Transmission, PTU, and perhaps coolant) done on say a 30k mileage interval and hope for the best (or trade before the 5yr/60k powertrain warranty ends)

I'm HUGE into PM. I would've got the transmission fluid changed at 30K and the RDU at 50K. But neither of those will be necessary after replacing the part and getting fresh fluid then. I did change my coolant at 30K, and have religiously changed my own oil every 5K miles. The engine, I feel CONFIDENT in. I owned a 2.3 Mustang for 7 years. It's everything else BESIDES the engine that has me worried. Albeit, I probably knocked out the most expensive items so far. I can do many repair items myself. If a CV boot fails, I can get access to al ift and get it done myself. I can also replace plugs (which I've done), replace condensers, replace exhaust/downpipe, wire audio, etc, etc, etc. Same thing, with just about EVERY ancillary item. Those things aren't an issue.

Where I have to throw my hands up? Rebuilding a transmission. Rebuilding an engine. Replacing an RDU. Maybe anything that has to do with timing (cams, chains, etc). But that's about it. There is a part of me that thinks maybe the worst of it is behind me, if you get what Im saying.

Given the number of (admittedly mostly anecdotal) issues of the BS’s longevity, I purchased a 10 year/100k mile ESP from Granger at the time I bought the car.

Good man.

How much did that set you back at the time, if I may ask?

 

[gatornek]

I changed the oil at 5K and will stick to that interval for the life of the vehicle

Again, this 2.0 engine is solid if you know how to take care of it. That maybe we can agree on. It's all the other stupid sh!t that Ford noticeably cut corners on to put this vehicle together for off-road enthusiasts at a competive price.

That whole waterpump fiasco on the 1.5 is exhibit A1 ... and that's the 1.5!!! This is the model engine that makes up the vast majority of BS sales. And its a complete and utter f#ck up.

What’s more reliable in the same class?

Not sure. I've tried looking recently to see what my options are if I move on. Comparable "off-road" capable models for Toyota and Honda are the 4Runner and Passport, respectively. But both those models are a bit more on pricepoint than the BS Badlands.
But lets be honest, right now? Car reliability is NOT what it was even 10 years ago. And even decades long reputable brands like Toyota and Honda now have their issues. Just not as much as Ford.
I was just in Puerto Rico for a week and rented a Nissan Frontier 4x4. It had the V6, and it had a super large carplay screen that was awesome. I was impressed. I may look into it further.

 

[jkernitzki]

How much did that set you back at the time, if I may ask?

$2920 total, including car rental and lighting replacement (headlights alone can be as much as $2400 parts & labor. Each.). This was in September of last year, I think there's been at least one price increase since then.

With a $100 deductible, it was $2800 plus $50 for the car rental addon and $70 for the lighting replacement.

I paid it in full at the time of purchase.

 

[Dude]

I'm HUGE into PM. I would've got the transmission fluid changed at 30K and the RDU at 50K….

Yep I knew you can do your own maintenance from your previous posts years ago and know you are handy and do much of the work yourself

I thought you might have already sold the vehicle since I don’t think you posted in a while but then I only read a few of what is posted

I was pointing out that some owners are religious about 30k service on the major components (RDU, Transmission, PTU) and other owners just drive the vehicle till it stops which might not be all that long without proper servicing and no extended warranty (or many just self pay when something fails and post that they never buy extended warranties)

Was not implying anything else

 

[SacBroncoOB]

I bought a 5yr/75K extended warranty through my dealership in Reno right before I hit the 1-year mark this past April. I couldn't purchase an extended warranty with Granger since I live in California. I have a little over 23K on my OBX right now, and I change the oil every 5K miles. So far, (knock on wood) I have had zero issues with anything other than a brake light went out about 4 months ago. I decided to get the extended warranty mainly for peace of mind, and based on all the discussions here, it seemed like the wise thing to do. I plan on keeping my BS for the long haul. I have a $100 deductible, but car rental, lodging, lighting was all included in the price. I paid for it up front also.

 

[TheX]

I'm putting about 3K miles a year on my BS. It will be sold when that part of the warranty is set to expire. I'll be 72 and more than likely interested in something else.

 

[jkernitzki]

I'm putting about 3K miles a year on my BS. It will be sold when that part of the warranty is set to expire. I'll be 72 and more than likely interested in something else.

Golf cart?

 

[EddieTheBear]

Ha, at 72 with a golf cart you'd probably still find a way to take it off-road!

 

[TheX]

Golf cart?

Not a bad idea.

 

[Catlicker1989]

I’m going to hope for the best and go as far as I can. I have a 22 with the 1.5L. No warranty’s as they are all voided except maybe the emission one. but still under 15k miles. Planning on doing the rear diff fluid and trans fluid every 30k. Engine oil every 5 / 6 k. Still deciding when to do the wet timing belt for the oil pump

 

[gatornek]

I thought you might have already sold the vehicle since I don’t think you posted in a while

Yeah, my fervor for this vehicle took a nosedive after the tansmission issue .

Not a bad idea.

They're all the rage in my neighborhood.

$2920 total

And you were able to build that into the financing and total cost of the vehicle? I'll be honest, on all my negotiations, including my wife's, everytime I get past final price and start going into all the 'extended' and 'gap' stuff, I just tune out ... and automatically answer 'no'. I've never bought it before. I never owned a car where it came back to bite me in the @$$. But it would've made sense for better peace of mind here.

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