Extended warranties

[oldmaninsc]

Originally Posted By: bigmike
Well, for those who never heard anything good about extended warranties, it's obvious you never heard my story. I'm shocked my extended warranty didn't find a way out after them paying out closer to 5-6k for all the repair work on my truck. They actually did a great job and never gave me grief. It really depends on the warranty company and I believe alot has to do with how the service advisor pitches the deal to them. It helps if he knows what he's talking about and has a working relationship with the warranty company.

I agree but personally the one time I did buy the service contract (Ford Aerostar in my sign.) I didn't use it one time.
While I declined it on the Trailblazer many people over at the Trailblazer forum used their service contract MANY times and most said it paid for itself many times over. For my TB some (not all) of the expensive stuff was fixed under factory warranty but I still would have been money ahead if I had bought the service contract.

Maybe in Pop's perfect world it's never needed but I can see it being a good thing for some people and some vehicles especially if you don't or can't DIY.
For the record I declined it on the Mercury - due mostly to the reputation the "Panther" cars have of being pretty reliable. I just hit 100K miles and so far have only had to replace the control module for the HVAC fan - about a 60.00 part and a half an hour of my time.

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: VicVinegar
I don't know, I'd be wary unless it was manufacturer backed or sold through a company you know stands behind their products. Costco and USAA both offer extended warranties, and I'd probably be more apt to buy that product than any other third-party warranty. I'd be very surprised if USAA or Costco would direct you to a ripoff warranty.


My brother purchased through AAA an extended warranty for his troublesome Saab 95. It was horrible and very difficult to collect on. AAA actually let him exchange the warranty for a small fee with their new vendor.

 

[wings&wheels]

add me in as a convert to extended warranties under the appropriate circumstances.

I was never a fan of them and almost never would have benefitted from them had I had them. Several years age we needed a family car and bought an '08 CPO Grand Cherokee Limited, 20k miles, loaded. The dealer offered the Chrysler extended warranty. My initial reaction was no, but looking at all the goodies in this car and the fact that its' 3 yr original warranty was over in ~1.5 years and my past experience w/ some domestics we've had (NOT throwing down the domestic/import gauntlet here, but this is my experience), I took the ~$1,300 bet. within the ~2 yrs since, i've probably avoided 1.5x the cost of the warranty. Failures included the transfer case shift motor (would pull itself into neutral..exciting) and the climate control relay. I do like the car though.

Are the extended warranties always the best option? heck no. Given a fully optioned, complex vehicle with a less than stellar service reputation that you plan on keeping, a good, solidly backed warranty is worth considering.

All comes down to what basic warranty is left, can you foot the bills if they occur, do you expect them to occur and how lucky do you feel?

Good luck.

w

 

[rjundi]

I think some folks really like the feeling of a warranty and predictable car payment per month. So for folks who bail out of warranty(5yrs) due to unexpected repairs I honestly think its cheaper to purchase an extended warranty and not have such a depreciation financial hit and fees associated with a new vehicle.

I know a few Acura owners with their 8yr/120k extended bumper to bumper. They stated they will trade off at first repair past warranty.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Her's a real life warranty story.

99 Dodge Ram bought new by my wife. Transmission issues ensued, 3 replacements later we figured out why. There was a torque converter update that our credit union warranty could never get because they used the cheapest rebuilder and shipped the thing to Dodge for replacement!

Had we had the factory warranty it would have been a one time deal!

 

[JTK]

I had a feeling that warranty was 100Kmi period, not 100K + what was on the ODO.

Aftermarket extended warranties can be OK if you're buying one from the dealer you purchased the vehicle from. They know which one's pay out well are and are ONLY going to deal with companies that are easy to work with. A big chain dealership isn't going to sell you a package that doesn't work.

I know I bought one for a 2001 Ford Windstar LX I purchased used in 2004 from a dealer with ~32K on the ODO. Got the van AND ext warranty for ~$12K out the door (those were the days). The warranty was around $1000.

Like I've said, that warranty must have paid out well because on any dealer visit, they'd FIND stuff to change out on that van; Steering rack, pump, new front struts, suspension and brake parts, etc..

I spent over $1200 on wheel bearings and other issues for a late model Hyundai just out of warranty. I got rid of it when the 3rd $500 bearing started failing. A warranty would have been OK for that vehicle.

Like everything in life, it's a gamble as to if it's going to be worth while for you or not. IMO, over 3-5yrs, ~$1500 is not much. A/C or ABS work can easily meet/exceed that.

I know people always say "You're better off investing that $1000". C'mon... Today, what are you going to earn with $1000 over ~3yrs? $1050? Sure you're ahead if that warranty was useless for you, but you can scenario yourself to death either way.

Joel