akirby

Think about it. I can buy the same vehicle from Ford with either a 3 yr 36K mile warranty or a 7 yr 100K mile warranty. I just have to pay about $1500 more for the longer version. The vehicle itself isn't any different. Once you get past the CCA capacity it's mostly warranty cost.

Yes, and it could very well be the new multi-link rear suspension of the CD4 platform. My point was it wasn't just because it used the Fusion (car) platform since they modified both the CD3 and CD4 platforms for CUV use. But it could be a quirk of CD4.

What about something like this on the cargo box? http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/automotive/heat-shield-and-thermal-barriers/hp-sticky-shield

The original Edge was also built off of the Fusion platform so I don't think it's a limitation of the platform per se. With each vehicle there are packaging issues that have to be overcome.

Don't waste your money. I haven't found any difference in battery life between the cheap or expensive ones. In most cases you're just paying more for the longer warranty.

There you go. Your engine barely has time to warm up and you'll never get great fuel economy with all of the current emission controls. This is where a plug-in hybrid would work well.

I've never had a battery (factory or aftermarket) last more than 3 - 3.5 years. Some factors can affect that (temp, driving cycle, accessories) but you can also just get a bad cell sometimes. At this point I'd recommend getting a new one anyway just to be safe ($100 or so at most places). At least you would be able to rule that out and not worry about it for another 3-4 years.

First house was in Woodstock near sixes road. We're in southeast Forsyth county now.

Yep. Battery.

How long are your normal trips?

No reprogramming. That's why its easy.

Most likely the key battery. Easy to fix and test.

Most likely a stuck caliper if one wheel is hotter than the other. Could be intermittent. Might just need to grease the slide pins.

Gotta be mostly highway miles.

I agree if you already have the button shifters then the programming is there, but if there are two different sets of wiring then the software would be looking for the wrong one. You can fix that by swapping the wires which you already know. On models where there are no shift buttons already then you usually have to get it reflashed. We did this on the Lincoln LS in the early 2000s (the first Ford model to use Selectshift BTW).

Read post 7 more carefully...

I keep hearing the term "peace of mind" but I don't get it. Is it just that you know you won't have to spend more than $1500 or so plus the deductibles? For me I have more peace of mind knowing that I did not spend $1500 up front unnecessarily. If you can't afford a big repair bill and you finance the cost with the vehicle then that makes sense and "peace of mind". But not paying cash. Maybe it's just me. I've saved well over $7k by not buying them so even if I had to spend $4k tomorrow it wouldn't bother me because I'm still $3K ahead.

I don't think it's a configuration - I think it's a totally different version of the pcm code.

Google - where else?

It has to be repainted. A good detailed can usually do it or you can find DIY kits.

Yeah - you don't want anything other than a Ford ESP. Not worth the hassle. You can see my thoughts on extended warranties in general in other threads.

The actual price difference before the first 12 months/12K miles and after (but before the 3 yr/36K bumper to bumper warranty expires) is only $100 for the same coverage (which runs concurrent with the factory warranty). The only way I can see for the price to triple is if the 6 yr/75K warranty started at the time the warranty was purchased so buying later provides a lot more coverage. But that's not how Ford ESPs generally work.

The order guide will tell you for sure. I expect that to show up around November-ish.

Probably not other than ordering/production dates. Ford usually doesn't release details on new vehicles to dealers before the public. If they do they're embargoed. So don't get your hopes up.

By contrast, our last 5 vehicles (Lincoln LS, Fusion, Edge, Aviator, Expedition) were kept 5-7 years and well beyond the factory bumper to bumper warranty. I only had two minor repairs on all of those that would have been covered by an ESP - a $60 door handle on the Fusion and a $150 cooling fan on the Edge. Had I purchased a $1500 ESP on all of them I would now be $7380 in the hole. You can always get a lemon (or two) but 7 out of 8 vehicles needing more than $1500 in ESP covered repairs sounds really abnormal. Which vehicles were they? Think about it - if, on average, these insurance policies (that's all they are) paid out more than they cost then the company selling them would lose money and they'd stop selling them.