Lincoln Extended Warranty Overview

Motor1 Reviews Team Take:

• Our quote data shows a PremiumCare plan of 10 years/175,000 miles costs $5,737 for a 2020 Lincoln MKZ.
• According to RepairPal, Lincoln vehicles are expensive to repair – on average $879 annually—making an extended warranty a budget-smart choice for most owners.
• In our 2024 luxury automaker survey, 16 out of 20 Lincoln owners were satisfied with their extended warranties.
• The third-party warranty provider, Endurance, is our top pick for Lincoln owners since it covers luxury makes and offers maintenance options.

​​Even the most well-designed vehicles experience the occasional breakdown, and researching your Lincoln extended warranty options could save you hundreds of dollars in repair costs. You can get coverage from Lincoln directly or shop from the best extended car warranty companies on the market. We’ll cover all your options below.

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Lincoln Extended Warranty

Lincoln Protect Extended Service Plans (ESPs) come in four varieties and cover vehicles up to 10 years or 175,000 miles. The highest level of Lincoln extended warranty coverage is called PremiumCare and is comparable to a factory warranty.

Lincoln Extended Warranty Plans

Lincoln extended warranty plans are available in four levels of coverage: PremiumCare, ExtraCare, BaseCare, and PowertrainCare. Coverage kicks in at the end of your Lincoln factory warranty, and each of these plans can extend select protections for your vehicle for up to 10 years or 175,000 from its original in-service date.

Many automakers offer just one or two options. Similarly, many other brands limit coverage to 100,000 or 120,000 miles. Lincoln has a fairly long warranty period and plenty of coverage plans compared to the industry.

Each plan offers different levels of coverage:

Plan Name	Description of Coverage
PremiumCare	This is the most comprehensive Lincoln extended warranty option. It covers over 1,000 key components in total, including all high-tech systems, which is important. Lincoln’s luxury vehicles have a host of connective services that can be expensive to repair.
ExtraCare	Covers 113 parts, including some high-tech components, but not all. It also doesn’t cover the rear suspension, and it only offers partial coverage on a number of systems.
BaseCare	This Lincoln extended warranty plan covers 84 parts. At this level, the steering system is the only system fully covered. Other systems, like the electrical, brakes, and transmission systems are only partially covered.
PowertrainCare	The lowest ESP that Lincoln offers only covers the bare essentials in the engine, transmission, and drive systems. It can save you from an expensive repair with a high-mileage vehicle, but it doesn’t cover much more.

The cost of a Lincoln extended warranty depends on when you purchase the plan and what deductible you select. 

What Parts Does the Lincoln Extended Warranty Cover?

See an in-depth comparison of Lincoln extended warranty plans below:

As you can see, the PremiumCare plan is best for customers who heavily rely on their vehicle, want peace of mind, and want maximum protection. The ExtraCare and BaseCare plans protect fewer components at a more affordable rate. Finally, the PowertrainCare plan is the best Lincoln extended warranty for drivers who own a highly reliable vehicle.

What’s Not Covered by the Lincoln Extended Warranty?

Lincoln’s PremiumCare plan is an exclusionary warranty. This means it covers any mechanical breakdown except for a list of exclusions. Coverage is similar to Lincoln’s factory warranty in this way.

Here are a few examples of what the plan doesn’t cover:

• Damage from accidents or the environment
• Damage from lack of maintenance or misuse
• Aftermarket components or modifications
• Cosmetic damage
• Parts expected to wear out like air filters, belts, and hoses

All other Lincoln extended warranty plans only cover the exact parts written on the contract.

Lincoln Extended Warranty Benefits

All Lincoln Protect ESPs come with 24-hour roadside assistance. Here’s what that includes:

• Towing
• Spare tire replacements
• Battery jump-starts
• Lockout assistance
• Fuel deliveries
• Destination assistance (up to $75)
• Emergency travel expense (up to $1,000 during the first five days after a breakdown)
• Rental car reimbursement (up to $60 or $72 per day for 10 days depending on the model)

If you bought a Lincoln model year 2012 or newer, you have access to roadside assistance for the lifetime of the vehicle. However, that only applies to original owners. If you’re a secondary buyer, you have roadside assistance for the duration of your car’s original powertrain warranty, which is 6 years/70,000 miles.

Note, a Lincoln extended warranty will naturally lengthen your roadside assistance coverage. Lincoln Protect ESPs also cover a portion of rental car expenses when your car is in the shop due to covered repairs.

Lincoln Extended Warranty Terms and Conditions

Plans come with a few terms and conditions that are helpful to know. For example, Lincoln allows you to choose your deductible, which is what you pay out of pocket for a covered repair. You can choose from $0, $50, $100, or $200, which will be waived if you visit your selling dealership for repairs. 

All of these Lincoln extended warranty plans are available for vehicles still within their factory warranty period of 4 years/50,000 miles. Terms range from 3 years/36,000 miles to 10 years/175,000 miles. Plans are transferable to subsequent buyers and can be canceled at any time. You can only get these warranties from Lincoln dealerships, and all repairs have to be done at dealerships as well.

If you buy a plan when you purchase the vehicle, you can finance the cost within your auto loan. Be aware that you’ll pay interest on the plan cost.

Lincoln Maintenance Plan

Lincoln Protect is the product family that includes service and maintenance plans as well as other services like TireCare, DentCare, and WindshieldCare. So far, we’ve talked about service plans that only apply when your car breaks down and you bring it in for repairs. But a maintenance plan is different.

Lincoln’s Premium Maintenance Plan covers routine maintenance services like oil changes and tire rotations, as well as some wear items, such as wiper blades and filters. Like the extended warranty plans, you have to purchase a Premium Maintenance Plan before your factory warranty period ends.

The Premium Maintenance Plan is basically like prepaid maintenance. The convenience can be great, but you’ll have to consider whether it would be cheaper to pay for services yourself as needed.

Other Lincoln Protect Plans

Other protection products include:

• TireCare Plus: Repairs or replaces tires and wheels damaged by road hazards
• DentCare: Repairs small dents on body panels with paintless dent repair technology
• WindshieldCare: Repairs chips and small cracks in the front windshield
• TripleCare Plus: Includes TireCare Plus, DentCare, and Windshield Care
• Surface Care: Applies treatments that protects the car’s paint job and interior
• TheftCare: Applies a visible theft protection label and reimburses you up to $5,000 if your car is stolen

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Lincoln Extended Warranty Vs. Factory Warranty

The main difference between a Lincoln Protect plan and the factory warranty is you have to purchase a Lincoln Protect plan separately. The company provides the factory warranty on all vehicles for free. Below are details about the Lincoln factory warranty on standard and certified pre-owned vehicles. 

Lincoln New Car Warranty

Lincoln’s new car warranty covers the following:

• Bumper-to-bumper: 4 years/50,000 miles
• Powertrain: 6 years/70,000 miles
• Safety restraint systems: 5 years/60,000 miles
• Rust perforation: 5 years/unlimited miles
• Adjustments: 12 months/12,000 miles

Lincoln Certified Pre-Owned Warranty

Buying a certified pre-owned (CPO) vehicle is another way to save some money. Lincoln’s CPO warranty extends bumper-to-bumper coverage to 6 years/100,000 miles. This warranty offers similar coverage as the factory warranty.

Drivers also have the option to get PremiumCare coverage that lasts up to 9 years or 125,000 miles. Interestingly, this maximum term is shorter than the PremiumCare term of 10 years/175,000 miles available for non-CPO vehicles. That means if you want to keep driving your CPO Lincoln past 125,000 miles, it could be a good idea to get a basic third-party service contract to cover the essentials.

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Lincoln Extended Warranty Cost

Our team reached out to Lincoln for multiple extended warranty quotes. We found a PremiumCare plan costs about $5,833 on average for the maximum term limit of 10 years/175,000 miles. The same plan costs an average of $1,473 for a term of 8 years/100,000 miles. 

These terms are counted from the in-service date, so the factory warranty covers the first four years. Considering that, the cost per year of coverage can range from $368 to $972 for a PremiumCare plan. Our data shows the average factory extended warranty costs $632 per year of coverage, so Lincoln’s plans are about average. They provide good value considering Lincoln is a luxury brand, and many warranties from luxury companies are more expensive.

This average combines quotes for the following vehicles:

• 2020 Lincoln MKZ with 45,000 miles
• 2024 Lincoln MKZ with 20,000 miles
• 2021 Lincoln Corsair with 30,000 miles
• 2023 Lincoln Corsair with 24,000 miles
• 2020 Lincoln Aviator with 40,000 miles
• 2024 Lincoln Aviator with 20,000 miles
• 2022 Lincoln Navigator with 35,000 miles

Interestingly, the quotes we received were the same for all models except the 2022 Lincoln Navigator. Below, we’ll provide quote examples for the Navigator and the MKZ, but the MKZ prices also apply to the Corsair and Aviator models.

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What Our Survey Respondents Say About Lincoln Warranties

In January 2024, we launched an extended warranty satisfaction survey targeting high-income drivers. We received answers from 20 respondents who had purchased an extended warranty from Lincoln. 

How Satisfied Are People With Lincoln Warranty Coverage?

Here’s what Lincoln owners had to say when asked about their satisfaction with their coverage:

• “I am very happy with it, but it was expensive. It does give me peace of mind if something goes wrong.”
• “The warranty immediately caught my attention as being very detailed and keeps my maintenance costs low. It is very easy to use.”
• “The brand’s warranty policy is very comprehensive, covering not only major components such as the engine, drivetrain, and body, but also many other details. My satisfaction with the warranty coverage is very high.”

What Is the General Experience Submitting a Lincoln Warranty Claim?

A couple of Lincoln warranty holders reported their experiences with claims:

• “I had an issue with the lift gate, and they repaired it with no issues.”
• “I submitted a warranty request and the experience was excellent.”

How Much Do People Pay for a Lincoln Warranty?

Of the 20 respondents, 40 percent reported paying between $2,000 and $3,000 for coverage. Here are all the answers:

• Under $1,000: 10%
• $1,000 to $2,000: 20%
• $2,000 to $3,000: 40%
• $3,000 to $4,000: 25%
• $4,000 to $5,000: 5%

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Should You Buy a Lincoln Extended Warranty?

Considering Lincoln is a luxury brand with higher-than-average repair costs, an extended warranty can be worth it to cover breakdowns as your car ages.

Reliability of Lincoln Vehicles

J.D. Power and RepairPal are a couple of useful industry resources that rate the reliability of vehicle brands. Generally speaking, less reliable vehicles are more likely to need repairs making an extended warranty worth it. Below are Lincoln’s scores from the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study℠ and RepairPal.

J.D. Power Reliability Ratings

Lincoln ranked 25th out of 29 brands on the J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. The study polled over 30,000 owners of 2021 model-year vehicles and asked them about problems after three years of ownership. Overall, Lincoln owners experienced 251 problems per 100 vehicles in that time. The industry average was 190 problems per 100 vehicles, which shows Lincolns have a higher frequency of issues.

RepairPal Reliability Ratings

RepairPal gives Lincoln vehicles a reliability rating of 3.0 out of 5.0, which is a bit below the average of 3.4 for the industry. RepairPal also estimates annual repair costs across all Lincoln models to average out at around $879. That’s higher than the industry-wide average annual cost of $652. Below, you can see how Lincoln compares to the average for all major car brands.

Category	Lincoln Ranking	Industry Average
Cost of ownership	$879	$652
Repair frequency	0.4 times per year	0.4 times per year
Repair severity	15%	12%
Overall reliability ranking	3.0 out of 5.0 (24th among 32 car brands)	3.4 out of 5.0

So what do these estimates and scores mean for Lincoln owners? Ultimately, the likelihood of needing repairs increases as any vehicle ages. Lincoln is a luxury brand and its vehicles carry sticker prices that reflect that quality. Combined with the cost of repairs, this means Lincoln drivers pay a steep price for ownership.

Cost of Lincoln Repairs

An unexpected Lincoln repair could cost anywhere from a few hundred to over one thousand dollars depending on what failed. Here are a few repair costs Lincoln owners could encounter, according to RepairPal:

Lincoln Model	Repair	Cost
Aviator	Radiator replacement	$1,165 to $1,272
Continental	Wheel speed sensor replacement	$178 to $290
Navigator	Rack and pinion replacement	$1,189 to $1,331
MKZ	Brake hose replacement	$135 to $155

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Lincoln Extended Warranty Vs. a Third-Party Warranty

Lincoln offers a good number of plan options and high coverage limits for a manufacturer. However, third-party companies typically offer more flexibility on plans as well as options for where repairs are covered. Compare pros and cons of each below.

Our Experience Buying Third-Party Warranties

Our team purchased extended service contracts from popular providers for ourselves to get a better sense of a company’s customer service and buying process. In 2023, we bought plans from autopom!, Carchex, CarShield, and Endurance through agents over the phone. We also bought a plan entirely online from Olive. Below is a summary of our experience purchasing plans from each provider:

Third-Party Company	Plan	Price	Coverage Terms	Buying Experience	Cancellation
autopom!	Exclusionary (comprehensive)	$135 for 15 months	5 years/unlimited miles	The salesperson was helpful and patient, though it took a few calls to reach a live person	Cancellation by phone was easy and we received email confirmation
Carchex	Titanium (comprehensive)	$140 per month	Month-to-month	The agent was helpful and not pushy about buying right away	Smooth cancellation process
CarShield	Silver (powertrain)	$159 per month	Month-to-month	Rep was helpful though they pushed the Diamond plan instead	Cancellation was easy within 30 days
Endurance	Secure Plus (mid-level)	$150 for 30 months	4 years/48,000 miles	Easy experience overall, though salesperson pushed Supreme plan at first	Cancellation within 30 days was quick with the policy number
Olive	Powertrain	$35 for 36 months	3 years/185,000 maximum miles	100% online purchase was easy to do in under an hour	Canceled via email easily, though contracts say mailing cancellation is required

*The Carchex plan applies to a 2019 Jeep Wrangler with 49,313 miles. All others apply to a 2021 BMW X5 with 26,000 miles.

Editor’s Note: On July 31, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission announced that CarShield will pay $10 million to settle FTC charges that its advertisements and telemarketing for vehicle service contracts are deceptive and misleading, and that many purchasers found that repairs were not covered. In response, the Motor1 Reviews team reevaluated CarShield’s rating to better reflect its industry standing and transparency with consumers.

What Our Survey Data Says About Buying Third-Party Warranties

Our team surveyed 1,000 different customers in the second quarter of 2024 who had bought an extended warranty. Below are a few takeaways from the survey.

Why Did You Buy an Extended Warranty?

Here’s what respondents said about buying an extended warranty:

• My existing warranty coverage expired: 23%
• I anticipated my car’s repair needs: 20%
• I saw an ad for extended car warranty coverage: 9%
• The dealership recommended a warranty for my car: 29%
• I want to maintain my car’s resale value: 15%
• I recently paid for a major repair: 3%
• Other: 1%

How Much Did You Pay for the Warranty?

Here’s what respondents said:

• Less than $1000: 11%
• Between $1000 and $1,500: 18%
• Between $1,500 and $2,000: 13%
• Between $2,000 and $2,500: 11%
• Between $2,500 and $3,000: 14%
• Between $3,000 and $3,500: 13%
• Between $3,500 and $4,000: 8%
• Between $4,000 and $4,500: 7%
• Over $4,500: 5%

Quotes From Our Survey

Here are a few quotes from our survey respondents about their experience with a third-party warranty: 

• My claim was processed and approved very quickly. The customer service is very knowledgeable and approachable.
• I like how fast and easy the process is.
• I loved that everything I needed to be taken care of was taken care of quickly.
• The customer service was excellent and they were very helpful.

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Best Third-Party Vehicle Service Contract Options

While the Lincoln warranty has its perks, we recommend our top pick for warranty coverage, Endurance, which won our Best Coverage award in our 2024 industry-wide review. See the tables below to learn more about the company and to see how the Lincoln extended warranty compares to Endurance. 

Endurance Vs. Lincoln Extended Warranty

See how Endurance compares to Lincoln’s extended warranty side by side: 

	Endurance	Lincoln
Plan options	6	4
Maximum mileage	Unlimited	10 years/175,000 miles
Maximum age	20 years	10 years
When to buy	Anytime	Before the factory warranty expires
Choice of repair shop	Any mechanic certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE®)	Any Lincoln or Ford dealership
Maintenance coverage	Advantage plan covers oil changes, brake pads, cooling system maintenance and more	Offered separately
Benefits	Roadside assistance, trip interruption, rental car plus Elite benefits like key fob replacement and tire repair for one year	Roadside assistance, rental car coverage, destination assistance, emergency travel expense

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Lincoln Extended Warranty: Bottom Line

With Lincoln Protect, you can choose from four extended warranty plans that can cover up to 10 years or 175,000 miles. This is extensive coverage for a manufacturer, but based on Lincoln’s reliability you still might want to consider third-party options to cover your car beyond that point. We recommend comparing a few quotes from companies like Endurance to see which is the best option.

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Lincoln Extended Warranty: FAQ

Below are commonly asked questions about the Lincoln extended warranty: 

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Methodology

In an effort to provide accurate and unbiased information to consumers, our expert review team collects data from dozens of extended auto warranty companies to formulate rankings of the best providers. Companies receive a score in each of the following categories, as well as an overall weighted score out of 5.0 stars.

• Industry Standing: Warranty providers with a history of strong business practices and endorsements from experts receive the highest scores in this category.
• Coverage: This rating is based on types of extended warranty plans available, coverage terms, and added benefits like roadside assistance.
• Cost: Our research team reviews sample quotes for a variety of plans and vehicles. Companies with lower prices per year of coverage receive the best scores.
• Transparency: This score takes into account contract transparency and the availability of a money-back guarantee.
• Customer Service: We comb through customer reviews and perform our own shopper analysis to get a sense of the responsiveness and helpfulness of each warranty company.

*Data accurate at time of publication.

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