Extended warranties are a waste of money.....

[UG_Passat]

Which means to be a common thought...

I don't know about that. I got one of those "Lifetime" extended warranties when I bought my Tiguan... and soon I will get my ROI.

My engine died last week, Cylinder #2 lost compression due to "wear"... but only Cylinder #2, not the rest of the cylinders.

A replacement engine from VW is going to cost $5600 plus labor, and all I pay is a $100 deductible (after paying $2000 up front).

supposedly they cover up to $40/day for rental car costs also.

 

[parshisa]

Details please: mileage, OCI length, oil used, prior symptoms etc. BITOG community needs details!!!
And yes, warranties are waste if money. Up until you actually need one (i also have on both of my hondas)

 

[UG_Passat]

Originally Posted by parshisa
Details please: mileage, OCI length, oil used, prior symptoms etc. BITOG community needs details!!!
And yes, warranties are waste if money. Up until you actually need one (i also have on both of my hondas)


Since you asked....



First 50,000 miles: had the 50,000 mile pre-paid service with VW (10k, 20K, 30k, 40k, 50k)

5,000 miles: Fuchs 5w40 + Ceratec
10,000 miles: Castrol 5w40
15,000 miles: Castrol 0w40
then alternate between dealership and at home to 50,000 miles
55k to 80k (5k oci): Redline 5w30 (the High Performance stuff, not the OE stuff)
85k, Motul 8100 X-cess 5w40 (got tired of bringing my own oil in, so I stuck with the shop oil to make things easier, but supplemented with the Lubegard oil additive since I wanted more moly in the oil)
90k: Motul 5w40, with lubegard
100k: Motul 5w40, with lubegard (with 60 mile commute, i'd figure I could go to factory OCI)
108k: Last thursday morning, started to misfire (P0302 code) every time engine needed anything more than a light load. Made it to work and back... since it was stop & go traffic for 30 miles. Friday. shop diagnosed it, wasn't the head, only Cylinder #2 had low compression, some excessive scoring only on cylinder #2.

 

[TTK]

There are always a few who benefit from them, but as a population, they are not a good bet.

 

[Donald]

Insurance is all about risk.

They are betting you will have less repairs than the money you paid them. They also get to invest your money for the period of time you have no repairs. Which may be the period of manufacturers warranty.

 

[skyactiv]

Originally Posted by UG_Passat
Which means to be a common thought...

I don't know about that. I got one of those "Lifetime" extended warranties when I bought my Tiguan... and soon I will get my ROI.

My engine died last week, Cylinder #2 lost compression due to "wear"... but only Cylinder #2, not the rest of the cylinders.

A replacement engine from VW is going to cost $5600 plus labor, and all I pay is a $100 deductible (after paying $2000 up front).

supposedly they cover up to $40/day for rental car costs also.



The OP has a APR stage 1 tune on his VW. Would this thread exist if his Tiguan was stock?
He's lucky they didn't discover it to get out of covering the warranty.

 

[maxdustington]

Cars have a lot more electronics than they did twenty years ago, so that $2000 up front is probably not that far off the cost of a BCM or something of that nature. It's also peace of mind for when your car randomly smokes it's mill, as I'm sure you know.

It makes sense on something with high maintenance costs. I think the story of the Carmax warrantied Range Rover exemplified that.

Your car has mods, UG. How does that effect the extended warranty?

 

[mbacfp]

Originally Posted by Donald
Insurance is all about risk.

They are betting you will have less repairs than the money you paid them. They also get to invest your money for the period of time you have no repairs. Which may be the period of manufacturers warranty.


What Donald said. Is life insurance a waste of money? Perhaps so if you never use it. Pooling of risk among the many is usually a very profitable venture for insurance companies and assume so for extended warranty companies.

I purchased a 7yr/60,000 mile warranty on my 2018 Dodge Charger (first time ever purchasing one)...will let you know in 7 years if it was a waste of money.

 

[MrHorspwer]

Originally Posted by UG_Passat
I got one of those "Lifetime" extended warranties when I bought my Tiguan... and soon I will get my ROI.


You will "soon" get your ROI?

That means they haven't paid for anything and your VW still has a busted engine?

Don't count your chickens before they hatch.

 

[splinter]

108k on a '16? It gets driven!

We've an EA888 in our A3. It has thus far proven a reliable lump...at ~20k.

Originally Posted by skyactiv
The OP has a APR stage 1 tune on his VW. Would this thread exist if his Tiguan was stock?
He's lucky they didn't discover it to get out of covering the warranty.

'Terms, Conditions and Exclusions' make for interesting reads on all insurance and warranty policies.

Yeah one might think a 'claims adjuster' would pay a visit to the smoldering carcass in order to run a VAG ecu scan
and quite possibly unearth and document its operating parameters before it became unglued.
And forensic examinations are other telling on single cylinder lost compression "wear" matters such as these.

Curiously APR -a widely respected concern- will furnish its milder tunes with an independent extra cost whoops warranty should the buyer so choose.

But best wishes to our OP getting it squared away and back on the road!

 

[UG_Passat]

The shop that I take my car to already confirmed the warranty company already approved the claim.

 

[supton]

As stated, it's all about risk. Most of the time, the warranty isn't going to be worth it--otherwise, the company wouldn't offer it.

Glad it worked out for the OP, but I can't say I plan to get one any time soon. It's always tempting, sure, but the more times I turn it down, and not have to use it, the more I'll be ahead.

 

[pschnahc]

Originally Posted by UG_Passat
Extended warranties are a waste of money.....

but not always, Mr. Passat. I think this proves they're prudent in a certain context

 

[cashmoney]

I probably would never buy a car that I thought might need an extended warranty.

We have always owned Honda, Toyota, Lexus, Mazda cars/suvs - not much need for extended warranty on super reliable cars.

After 45 years of owning reliable, low maintenance, and low cost of ownership cars, I can easily afford to insure myself in case of rare expensive mechanical failure.

 

[fisher83]

I rarely purchase warranties. I did on the Subaru because it was only $1500 to extend the bumper to bumper coverage to 8 years/80k miles and the warranty was from the manufacturer. Having not owned a Subaru before I figured it was worth the gamble. I didn't buy a warranty on the Frontier and so far I haven't wished I had. I'd say that if you choose reliable vehicle models and maintain the cars properly the likelihood of needing a major repair during the time period warranties are offered for is very low. Warranties are designed to cover the car during a time period where the risk of catastrophic failure is fairly low.

 

[BISCUT]

All depends....think BMW. I've been hemming and hawing on a future BMW X5 and for the first time ever in my car purchasing experience I have an extended warranty factored into the price.

 

[The Critic]

Sounds like it wasn't a VW warranty?

 

[KrisZ]

Originally Posted by skyactiv

The OP has a APR stage 1 tune on his VW. Would this thread exist if his Tiguan was stock?
He's lucky they didn't discover it to get out of covering the warranty.


That's a pretty relevant piece of information regarding this particular case.
Thanks for bringing it up.

 

[paulri]

Since its obviously worked for the OP, but statistically, isn't usually a good bet, I'm wondering if the OP can give us his thought processes when he bought the warranty.

Was it because you thought this particular engine was more likely than others, to call for an extended warranty?

Or is this something you always do with your cars?

Or was the warranty bought at a considerable reduction ("We normally charge $4K for this warranty, but we'll sell it to you for $2K")?

 

[Andrew1972]

I am happy you are $3500 ahead!

The idea of waste money I think comes from stats that generally not get used. My personal case in owning 4 vehicles is 25 years is not a single one of them had a problem in the warranty or even extended if I had one period. So in short I "saved" $8000 if $2000/pop. I think they are piece of mind for people though and if people keep vehicles longer due to worries of costs then well worth the $2000 given depreciation is way more then that.