When I decided to buy a quality preowned vehicle I could have gone to a buy-here/pay-here dealer and take my chances.instead, in 2003 I went to World Ford in Pembroke Pines, a reputable dealer, and purchased a highly recommended 2000 Ford Excursion V10 with 40k miles on it. At this time I also purchased an extended warranty from Fidelity. This warranty was highly recommended by the dealer so I purchased it at a cost of approximately 2k dollars. The dealer also said that no service was need it because they had recently serviced the car. Today the car has 67k miles so we have driven approximately 27k miles.
The car has been meticulously maintained, most of the time by World Ford, resulting in over 1300 dollars of service and maintenance fees. The first oil change was done at 44k miles, the second was done at 48k miles, the third at 53k miles, the fourth at 59k miles and the last at 63k miles. So I have changed the oil 5 times within 27k miles of driving, well within the manufacturer recommended service interval for a heavy duty truck.
Last week, as we were driving, the oil pressure gauge all of the sudden went to "L" and the oil light came on. I pulled over and called a tow truck and the car was taken back to World Ford where after two weeks was inspected by a representative from Fidelity. According to them there was "smudge" in the engine which clogged the engines lubrication system causing unrepairable damages. They refused to pay for repairs because they found this so called smudge. I asked them how does "smudge" occur and they said, that the oil turns to smudge if it is not changed often and that it is often noticed when replacing the oil filter. I obviously changed the only often and it is documented that I have done so therefore the smudge must have been already in the engine when I purchased the car.
To recap, World Ford sold me a car and whether they new it or not the engine had smudge in it. They also sold me a comprehensive extended warranty to cover damages from the moment I purchased the car. That engine or anything else could have gone bad as soon as I drove out of the dealer, it just so happens that something went wrong when there is only 3k miles left on the warranty and they don't want to pay. Fidelity should have or maybe did inspect the car before deciding to guarantee it.
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