Extended Warranties

ifyoubuildit

Sounds like the dealer was looking out for your best interest - I certainly wouldn't consider NOT purchasing a warranty on a vehicle that was out . You are not 'upside down' anymore than you were before either b/c the market value of your vehicle doesnt change. The warrant @ $1500 and the reduced price by $1500 = a wash. The total amt. being financed is the same. (LTV doesnt change)

fcswgn00

If I cancel the service contract now, then I have purchased the car for $1500 less and am much less likely to go upside down as that's close to wholesale value. I could put the $40/month I'd save in monthly payments into an interest-bearing account and pay for my own repairs at my discretion, and if I need to get rid of the vehicle it would take $1500 less to pay off.

Or am I missing something? The whole process was/is somewhat confusing to me. I don't know that the dealer is looking out for me by having me pay for a service that isn't truly a guarantee, a warranty, or insurance, at 1/4-1/5 of what the car is worth. Maybe I'm just not that risk-averse, or maybe the plan is truly valuable, but judging from so many negative posts in this thread I'm inclined to think it is not.

I'm curious, why wouldn't you consider not purchasing a warranty (the double negative has me a little confused - I think your meaning is you would only consider purchasing such a car if you had an extended warranty, correct me if I'm wrong) on a vehicle whose worth was already so low?

Thank you for your thoughts!

mikefm58

Are you 100% sure you can cancel the contract and get the $1500 back? That almost sounds too good to be true. If it is in fact true, I'd cancel the contract and put the $1500 in the savings account for future repairs.

fcswgn00

From page 3 of the contract: "This service contract may be canceled by you at any time. If you cancel within the first sixty days, a 100 precent refund of the purchase price will be made."

Doesn't sound like there's much wiggle room for them, but I've read (I think earlier in this thread) that sometimes the dealership will "lose" your cancellation.

markhampton

Yesterday I purchased an '05 Town and Country Touring van. The finance lady offered us an 84-month/70k mile bumper-to-bumper warranty (MAX CARE) for $1890. I declined it, so she came back with a second offer of $1300 for the same warranty. Again I declined, figuring the van already has an 84-month/70k-mile power train warranty from the manufacturer. I traded a '98 Dodge Grand Caravan, and didn't spend anywhere near $1300 in repairs.

Anyway, she said the offer was still open if I wanted to buy the warranty after the fact. Is $1300 reasonable for a B2B warranty on my van? What can I expect to pay for a similar third-party warranty? Is there a list of reputable third-party warranty providers?

mikefm58

I found the best price for a Chrysler warranty at www.chryslerwarrantys.com. Stay away from 3rd party warranties. I got burned by the Warranty Gold bankruptcy and won't touch any extended warranty except a manufacturer backed one. I have a friend that had a '99 Durango and bought the Chrysler ext. warranty, which they more than got their money's worth.

markhampton

Thanks for the site -- the listed price was $1440 for the same warranty that the dealer was willing to sell me for $1390. I did, however, get an email from them saying they had a $190-off promotion, so that would make the grand total $1250.

I just don't know. Basically, they're covering everything except the drivetrain for a four-year period (year-4 through year-7 -- drivetrain is already covered by the basic warranty for 7 years). On my old caravan, over a seven year period, both the driver and passenger mirrors failed, the rear wiper stopped working, and the serpentine belt broke a couple of times (which, evidently, is not covered by any warranty). All together, these things cost much less than $1250.

ragdollgirl

My dilemma is whether to buy a warranty at all. I just bought an '05 Toyota Camry and am debating getting a 7yr/100k mile warranty from Warranty Direct. Their prices seem decent and it's bumper-to-bumper coverage. They've been in business for 25 years. However, I've always been leery of extended warranties on anything -- looking at them as a total waste of money. But with the price of parts and labor going up week by week, it seems, maybe the warranty is a good idea. I do keep my cars a long time and I've had a Mercury Grand Marquis for 12 years/202k miles that has dinged me for lots of repairs. The warranty on this new car with no deductible would work out to about $340 per year for 4 years. I bought a Camry with the hope that it would be a lot more reliable than a Ford, but I know any car can have problems. It's now or never, as I won't be buying the warranty later on, since it will be more expensive then. Advice, anyone?

mitzij

When did your Merc start giving you troubles? I'd wager AFTER about 100k miles. Chances are good that you won't see a decent return on your money if you buy a service contract. You're better off putting the money you'd spend on a service contract in Savings.

If you Must buy a service contract, buy the best one, backed by Toyota.

There is no such thing as a 'bumper to bumper extended warranty'
Read the fine print in the contract (there's lots of it) BEFORE you sign.

mikefm58

" If you Must buy a service contract, buy the best one, backed by Toyota. "

Good advice.

A couple years back I bought a contract from Warranty Gold. At the time they were A+ rated and I had a couple co-workers who had no problems getting them to do repairs.

June 2004 They stop paying claims, telling no one unless they had a repair.
Oct 2004 - They were sued and forced to tell policy holders they weren't paying claims. All the while continuing to sell policies and taking payments on existing policies.

When everything hit the fan, they went belly up bankrupt, policy holders get nothing, and now I hear the guy who started the company is back in business selling after market auto warranties under a different name. For all the ghory details, read forum "Warranty Gold Claims".

Stick to only manufacturer backed extended warranties.

cktjdavis

I just bought a 2002 Mercury Mountaineer from an auction (I know, not one of my smarter moves). Anyway, I've had to have MAJOR work done on it and now my husband is on the verge of choking me if we have to sink any more money into repairs. I need to get an extended warranty on it, but since it has 67k miles on it the dealer won't sell us one. Can anyone please recommend a reputable and reliable company where I can get an extended warranty. At this point I'm just confused about it and don't want to make any more mistakes when it comes to this car, so any advice you can offer would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank you so much.
Kim

ragdollgirl

Try Warranty Direct or 1Source Auto Warranty. Go to carbuyingtips.com to see what the website owner, Jeff, has to say about them. His website has a wealth of information, and those are the only two extended warranty companies he recommends. I believe they will warranty a car with the mileage yours has. May be expensive, though, I can't say. It's worth checking into. Good luck.

ragdollgirl

After reading some of your replies and thinking some more, I think I'll pass on getting an extended warranty on my new Camry. The idea of putting the money in savings makes a lot of sense, so that's what I'll do. The main reason I bought a Camry was for reliability, so it doesn't show much faith in Toyota to run out and get an extended warranty, does it? It's all a gamble, I know, and I've decided to take my chances. I never have had an EW in the past, why start now?

audia8q

A few things I always tell my friends when they ask me about ext. warranties.

If you trade every few years and dont run up the miles, skip it...

If you can afford to write a check for any major repair at anytime, skip it...

On the other hand, if the thought of a $1000 or $2000 repair would cause your budget to go haywire than I would seriously consider the warranty...but ONLY a warranty backed by a manufacturer.

canukchick

Hello, sorry I am buying a car today so don't have time to read through this site very much.

What do you guys think about extended warranties when buying a used car? I know the dealers make some profit here but I'm being offered a 3yr/60k extended warranty (powertrain) for $1000 (CDN) on a car that has 75k so has a balance of 25k factory left on the powertrain.

Is it worth it or should I pay for my own repair bills?

The car is a 2002 Subaru Outback.

Thanks in advance for your help!

canukchick

Nevermind, I decided to skip it and takes my chances.

ifyoubuildit

actaully that sounded like a pretty good deal.

mikefm58

If the warranty offered by the dealer was anything but one backed by the manufacturer, you did the smart thing. As one who got burned by the Warranty Gold bankruptcy, I'd say stay away from 3rd party warranties.

tc6

We just bought a new 2005 Honda Accord LX. We didn't really consider an extended warranty while we were shopping, as our decision to buy the Accord was based on its high reliability ratings. We've never been inclined to spend the extra money on extended warranties in the past. Well our sales "closer" was pretty good and we ended up purchasing the HondaCare (manufacturer extended warranty) plan with $0 deductible for a price of $850. Can anyone give us feedback on 1) Whether or not this was a good price? 2) Does the Accord's reliability record even call for the need of an extended warranty? 3) How would you rate the plan in terms of what it covers, service, ease of use, etc.? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. We are still within 30 days and could cancel (I think). THANKS!!!!

jb_turner

It depends on which HondaCare warranty you purchased.

tc6

Sorry about that, I thought I had covered the details. We bought the 7yr/100k mile plan with $0 deductible for $850.00. Thanks!!!

rustyjrbaby

Does anyone recommend any of the website that offers extended warranty? Why don't they put who's the carrier or insurance company? I've heard Wynn is awesome in paying, Universal Underwriter is also very good. Have any of you have problems collecting from Great American? Royal's who handles claims for Lyndon (Protective)? National Dealers Association? Do any of you have any clue which extended warranty is "EXCELLENT?" I've gotten quote is $2500 - $3700...which is overwhelmingly EXPENSIVE...it was for a 5Yr/100K w/$0 deductible. Can anyone point me elsewhere?? I've been to Warrantydirect, Source1Extended warranty, Wynn, AWR, sooo many others...including Continental..which keeps on calling me...

ifyoubuildit

$3700? wow, what kind of vehicle are we talking about here?

mikefm58

My advice is to stick only with a manufacturer backed warranty as I got burned by a 3rd party warranty company a couple years ago.

liferules

I was just reading about Honda Care, which is supposedly the Honda USA backed policy, which is now available to OTHER manufacturer vehicles. Sounds too good to be true...is it? Anyone know anything about this?

http://automobiles.honda.com/info/hondacare.asp?ModelName=Civic+Hybrid&bhcp=1&BrowserDetec- ted=True

audia8q

Honda Care, which is supposedly the Honda USA backed policy, which is now available to OTHER manufacturer vehicles...

The Honda / Acura care warranty is actually administered by a fully owned subsidiary of Ford. Ford handles the mfg branded extended warranties for a bunch of car companies....No need to worry.

qbrozen

wow. that's really interesting.

only thing is they offer it on used cars for up to 48K miles. Most manufacturers powertrain warranties are up to 60k. So not much use there.

good part is they offer up to 100k on new non-honda cars. But... i was trying to figure out how i'd buy a new car from a honda dealer that isn't a honda ????

i guess, maybe, if its a honda dealer that is combined with another manufacturer ... like a honda/ford dealer.... but I've never seen a honda dealer that wasn't a standalone.

leblanc1

Just bought a Honda 2003 - 46,000 miles from a dealer. I've been offered an extended CNA preferred warranty, but I want a manufacturer's warranty for as many years and as much coverage as possible with no deductible. Any ideas?
Thanks!
J. LeBlanc

liferules

You don't need to buy the car from the Honda dealer to buy an extended warranty there. Just google the Honda Care and there are several dealerships offering to sell it over the web.

I have to say, this is a very tempting idea as I've not found a true "Audi Manufacturer" warranty on the new cars (only the preowned ones) as the dealerships all sell 3rd party ones...

qbrozen

sell it over the web for a non-honda car? really? how long before its considered "used"? Any idea?
I'd love to get one for my 350Z ... but if its only for 48K miles, its useless.

liferules

Google for Honda Care and check out some of the sites. I see prices for up to 6 years and 100K coverage. Sure seems tempting to me. I may ask my dealership service area if they accept it or ever heard of people using it (as I'll likely be taking it there)..

danf1

Would that be Easy Care backing Honda warranties?

mitzij

Easy Care and Honda Care are two different entities, not related.

Kinda like 'warranty gold' and 'warranty direct'

But then you have "Warranty Division", Warrantech", "American Guardian Warranty", and "Motor Vehicle Protection Corp"-all parts of one big company. All parts selling similar service contracts as if they are separate companies.

audia8q

Easy care and Honda Care both come from the same company....they are divisions of APCO (automobile protection corp). APCO is fully owned and backed by Ford.

www.easycare.com is their website.

danf1

Thanks Rich. More useless information for my arsenal.

mitzij

Very Interesting. Thanks! I learn something new every day.

So they're more like my second example than my first.

anita_083

Hi everyone,

Just bought a 99 VW Beetle (not a certified car), 67000 miles, automatic .... I'm currently debating whether I should get an extended warranty. The cheapest quote i got is from 1source auto warranty with basic coverage (emerald) for $1100 3 yrs/36000 miles. It seems like they have many complaints though, so I am not entirely sure.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much! :shades:

anita_083

Hi everyone,

Just bought a 99 VW Beetle (not a certified car), 67000 miles, automatic .... I'm currently debating whether I should get an extended warranty. The cheapest quote i got is from 1source auto warranty with basic coverage (emerald) for $1100 3 yrs/36000 miles. It seems like they have many complaints though, so I am not entirely sure.

Any suggestions?

Thanks so much! :shades:

liferules

Hey, is there an echo in here?

danf1

I'm not sure which one to reply to so I'll try this one. Any Volkswagen should be covered under warranty unless you have Alex Rodriguez type money. These things have a tendency to become money pits fast. Sure mechanically, they will run for a very long time if maintained properly, but the electrical gremlins will run rampant on you. Don't fill the tank after midnight.

anita_083

Thanks danf1! Yeah I heard VWs are pretty bad with their electrical parts ... my friend's Jetta, the power window is totally gone now. Oh well, I better make sure those things are covered under the extended warranty. Now the question is, what to pick? I read in other forums as well and it seems like extended warranty does not cover a lot of things that they said they would and they have every types of excuses to not reimburse your expenses. Hmm, any luck with extended warranties anyone?

danf1

I would recommend that you call the service department of the dealership where you will have the car serviced. Speak to the service manager and get his or her opinions on the different warranties that you are considering. They want to get paid for the claims and will tell you which would be best. Price is not the only thing to consider in your situation, so paying a little more for piece of mind is a good idea.

I had an Audi with an Easy Care warranty on it. My servicing dealership recommended that one to me and never denied a claim. There were many repairs covered, and the warranty more than paid for itself. Good luck

mitzij

Yes, you can cancel, the contract will give details on how to cancel it.

Be sure, before you buy another service contract, you READ the whole contract and understand it. Don't take a company's representative's word for 'what's covered'. Most service contract companies will send you a blank copy of their contracts, it they won't send one, don't buy from them.

It would also be in your best interest to read through the 'extended warranty' threads on this site.

anita_083

Oh wow thanks so much mitzij and danf1, your advises are definitely helpful! I'm planning to call the dealer to talk about the options of extended warranties and I'll make sure I read the service contract before comitting to it

teacher2

I have had Warranty Direct for over 4 years. So far the company has paid over $3,000 in repairs. I have researched them very carefully. They are very stable and will not be like warranty gold. This is an excellent company. Look at carbuyingtips.com he does a good job of reviewing extended warranties.

nortsr1

It always should be a prerequisite that you go to the repair facility that you deal with to see if they will "accept" the warranty company that you decide to go with. The hassle that most repair shops have to go through to get "permissionn" to go ahead with a repair job and then "hope" that they receive the money is not worth the time and effort to most shops; whereas, with a Factory Warranty thru a dealer, there is almost never a problem from the getgo!!!

justd

your advice about the service contract helps me a lot. I'm floundering through my first NEW car purchase, am bogged down by the f&i guy who keeps giving me warranty information from the brochure, not the dealer. I've asked more than a few times for that specific information as well as the breakdown of the car costs before I hand over the money. But while I'm trying to hold my own, I really don't understand the warranties. It comes with a 'bumper to bumper' for 3/36, but from what I understand from the informaiton given to me, an extended 3/36 warranty goes into effect from day one. So doesn't that mean I'd pay for a warranty that is covering what's already covered by a warrenty? It doesn't make sense.I realize LONG term warranties make sense, but I have a fantasy about trading this one in in a few years for a hybrid. I'm afraid if I don't take an extended, I might regret it.
all advice is welcome. Thanks.

mikefm58

" They are very stable. This is an excellent company."

That's exactly what two of my co-workers said about Warranty Gold 3 months before they went bankrupt.

" So far the company has paid over $3,000 in repairs."

If that happens with every warranty they sell, how long do you think they'll be in business?

You've had good luck with them so far, that's good. But for my money after getting burned by Warranty Gold, nothing but a manufacturer backed warranty for me.

teacher2

The site that recommended Warranty Direct warned people about Warranty Gold before it went BK. Look at autobuyingtips.com it talks about issues with extended warranties. Most are not good but there are few good ones that will not go out of business. Most dealer ones do not cover wear and tear and overheating issues and cost a lot more. If you had Warranty Gold I understand but there are other stable ones out there. My own mechanic researched Warranty Direct and said this is the only one he would ge for himself. Good ones make money and can
still stay in business.

teacher2

Wait until you have about 32000 miles on your bumper to bumper. Then get an extended warranty. If you want to sell your car the warranty will go with it. Look at autobuyings tips.com