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Ford Protect Offers Bronco and Bronco Sport Buyers Peace of Mind Off-Road

Ford offers a protection plan built with off-roading in mind

2023 Ford Bronco Sport front
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    Chase Bierenkoven has been writing about cars in his head since he was a child. Now, he does it for real, covering automotive news and producing reviews for outlets like Edmunds, Forbes Wheels and CarBuzz. Chase's career as an automotive journalist began in 2020, and he has already written scores of road tests. Some favorites of Chase's include the Dodge Challenger 392, Mazda Miata, Kia EV6 and Bentley Bentayga. Outside his work with cars, Chase is often found justifying his latest broken German sports car to anyone that will listen or enjoying the outdoor spaces of his native Colorado.
  • Ford is offering an off-road-focused protection plan for owners of the Bronco and Bronco Sport.
  • The multi-tiered plan covers some damage caused by off-road adventuring, but it must be approved by your dealer before repairs are made.
  • Customers' vehicles must also be within their three-year/36,000-mile warranty period to qualify for the plans.

The Blue Oval's Ford Protect extended service plan will soon offer Bronco and Bronco Sport owners an additional coverage plan tailored for off-road driving. Ford Protect is the umbrella under which several coverage products are offered, including TireCare, TireCare Plus, TripleCare and TripleCare Plus — each of which is available with the new Off-Road Coverage supplement.

The most basic of these is TireCare, which covers “approved costs” for the repair and/or replacement of your wheels or tires, so long as the damage prevents the tire or wheel from being used safely and was incurred as a result of driving over debris, hitting a pothole or, with the additional Off-Road Coverage, in off-road conditions. Examples of non-covered repairs include damage as a result of tire or wheel wear, theft or vandalism. You also must obtain authorization from Ford before making the repairs in order for the cost to be covered by the plan. Opting for the Plus tier expands the protection plan to include cosmetic wheel damage like rashes or scratches and is only applicable to steel, alloy or aluminum wheels.

TripleCare consists of TireCare and supplemental protection for some for dents, dings, and windshield damage you may incur off-road, with some exceptions. Among other restrictions, only dents that can be fixed with paintless dent repair (PDR) qualify under the plan, and they must measure below 4 inches in diameter.

Windscreen damage coverage is rather limited too. It doesn't cover full replacement of a windshield, only minor cracks and chips. Ford defines “minor” as those under 6 inches by the time you arrive at a dealer for repairs. Given the rough-and-tumble nature of off-roading, this especially seems stingy.

On top of these caveats, Ford says you’ve got to pay for Ford Protect Off-Road Coverage within the Bronco and Bronco Sport’s three-year/36,000-mile warranty period. You'll have to contact a Ford dealer for pricing, but the local dealer we contacted hadn’t been made aware of the program yet and couldn’t give us a quote.

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Edmunds says

Is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? So long as your off-road-incurred damage falls within Ford’s coverage parameters, and the dealer is aware of the offerings, it would appear so. The protection plan does seem concentrated on the most likely types of damage to occur off-road, and it’s something no other off-road-focused models from the competition are offering right now.

Chase Bierenkovenby

Chase Bierenkoven has been writing about cars in his head since he was a child. Now, he does it for real, covering automotive news and producing reviews for outlets like Edmunds, Forbes Wheels and CarBuzz. Chase's career as an automotive journalist began in 2020, and he has already written scores of road tests. Some favorites of Chase's include the Dodge Challenger 392, Mazda Miata, Kia EV6 and Bentley Bentayga. Outside his work with cars, Chase is often found justifying his latest broken German sports car to anyone that will listen or enjoying the outdoor spaces of his native Colorado.

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