Extended Warranties

jimbres

The point that I was trying to make last June was simply this: if you're doing a good job of managing your finances - if you're systematically beefing up your savings & paying down your debts - you really don't need one of these service contracts. You should have no trouble paying for repairs from current income or from your savings.

One of the fundamental principles of casualty insurance is that you should not pay a 3rd party to assume a risk that you can assume on your own. In other words, you should buy insurance only to protect yourself from financial catastrophes. With this in mind, I carry the best available homeowner's coverage from the strongest insurer doing business in my area because the 6-figure cost of repairing the damage from a house fire would bankrupt me. But I don't bother with automotive service contracts. I've got plenty of savings & very little debt, so a $3K repair bill doesn't frighten me. If I'm hit with one tomorrow, I'll be pretty cranky for the rest of the week. You won't want to sit next to me in the cafeteria. But I won't have to postpone my retirement or my next vacation or switch to a cheaper brand of scotch. That's the benefit of a strong balance sheet. Money in the bank will always trump any service contract.

martinf

Actually, for a 2001 Toyota Landcruiser V8, a Toyota factory remanufactured warranty with its own 2yr/24,000 warranty does cost $3200 plus about $400 for labor. At the time, out of curiosity, I checked with several independents and even they wanted between $2800 and $3000, with similar 2year/24,000 warranties. My Toyota Platinum warranty does allow for genuine Toyota parts and they authorized and directly paid my local Toyota dealer for the transmission. I was surprised by the cost of the transmission, too(as well as the fact that my transmission failed so early), but the Landcruiser is an expensive vehicle and so are its parts. At the right price, I still favor manufacturer sold warranties, and, in my particular circumstance, even my warranty at the wrong price turned out to be a good deal. Thanks for the input, nonetheless. I have really found these forums to be invaluable in the purchase of two personal vehicles and one for a close family friend.

jipster

The dealership I bought my MPV from did not have an extended warranty from Mazda, but had one available from third party. Since Ford is of ownership of Mazda, could an extended warranty be purchased from Ford for a Mazda product? Warranty Direct has been sending me e-mail advertisments for over a year as I inquired after my purchase. They seem to have a pretty good set up, prices and reliability record?

venkyn

Hi Forum members
I am planning to buy a 1999 Camry LE with 37000 miles. I am looking to buy an extended warranty (I may not be eligible for Toyota financial services warranty as it is not new). This vehicle is NOT from a Toyota dealer as they sell only 2002 or later used vehicles. Any reputable ones out there that I should consider? I understand that it should cover both mechanical breakdown and wear and tear for gaskets etc

With hundreds of 3rd party warranty services and some going belly up, and so many mixed reviews on different warranty companies, I am really confused.
Help
Venky

Karen_S

A reporter is interested in talking with consumers who have purchased extended warranties. Please respond to jfallon@edmunds.com before Wednesday, April 26, 2006 with your daytime contact info. Also, please indicate whether the vehicle was new or used, and whether the extended warranty was supported by the automaker or another company.

Thanks,
Jeannine Fallon
Corporate Communications
Edmunds.com

bbq1

Hi:

Have received quote on extended warranty for my new Acura TSX from a local dealer of $1275 (7 yrs./70,000mi); and another quote from Curry Acura of $970. Does anyone have input into a better price for a factory warranty on an Acura? Thanks.

bbq1

jrourke

Have received quote on extended warranty for my new Acura TSX from a local dealer of $1275 (7 yrs./70,000mi); and another quote from Curry Acura of $970. Does anyone have input into a better price for a factory warranty on an Acura? Thanks.

at www.hondacuraworld.com looks like you'll find a new TSX 7/70 0 ded plan for $775

shm64

Thanks everyone for the info. Just googled the ford esp plan and found I paid way too much for my plan at the dealer's. I'm cancelling it tomorrow unless they match the price I found at fordwarrantys.com. You all saved me a chunk of change!

CarMan@Edmunds

You're welcome, shm64. I'm glad that you did the research and are going to save money.

Car_man
Host
Smart Shopper / Prices Paid Forums

jeanp2

Hi,
I just bought a 2004 Buick LeSabre from a Buick dealer. It has about 35,000 miles . I didn't buy the extended warranty the dealer offered . After I own the car 3 months or 4000 miles I won't have any warranty. Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations. Thanks
Jean

audia8q

the best suggestion is to only buy an extended service plan that is backed by an automaker. You usually will pay a little more but it's worth it....non-manufacturer service plans have a dismal track record of service and they usually don't stay in business long enough to cover anything.

rick42

Does anyone known anything about CostGuard extended service contracts? Trying to decide if I want to buy one for a new Santa Fe before it hits 12,000 miles.

Thanks

wester8

I am about to purchase a 2006 RAV4 Sport model. The salesman is pitching the extended warranty...6 years, 75,000 miles...Is it worth purchasing?? And what should I expect to pay??

wlbrown9

Check with some of the dealerships that sell GMPP warranties on-line. www.gmoutlet.com is one...you may qualify for the genuine GM GMPP since you might have a little time left on the original warranty. If you can not get that one, I would just put the money in the bank to pay for repairs later.

becben

just bought 2001 3 series with 53K, dealer sells CNA extended warranty.. can i get some advice, have not discused price yet

bbq1

Many thanks for your reply and input, jrourke!
bbq1

yogeshts

Hi Forum members, I have bought a 1999 C230 Mercedes Benz sedan car. I have planned to go for an extended warranty for my car. There are hundreds of companies listed in internet. Can any one suggest me a reliable warranty company or a warranty company used by many. Thanks.

mikefm58

You won't find any recommended warranty here other than one backed by the manufacturer. I realize that doesn't help you since you have a 1999 Mercedes, so if you really have to have one for peace of mind, get a 3rd party warranty that your dealer sells. That way when there's problems with the warranty company, you "may" be able to get help from the dealer.

sayers1

When I bought my RAV4, the dealership let me have the Platinum 75,000/6 yr warranty w/ $0 deductible for $470. It's all part of the haggling process. The MSRP was over $950 I think. You can find that at the Toyota site. The cost is all smoke and mirrors though.

onebadskwerl

Hello Everyone!

I'm looking into purchasing a used 2003 Mazda Protege with 145,000KM. I'm very interested in getting a warranty (through Mazda or a third party) however I am a Canadian citizen. Would Mazda Canada offer an extended warrany on a car with 145,000km on it? Does anyone know of any decent third-party companies which offer warranties to Canadians?

Thanks in advance!

qbrozen

I seriously doubt it. Even if you could, I don't believe I've ever seen an extended warranty that went beyond 100k miles, so you'd be looking at alot of money just to cover the next few thousand (i can't remember the exact conversion at the moment, but i think you are saying it has about 95k?).

lorryfan

yogeshts -

One of the best extended warranty companies is warranty direct. Check them out at http://www.warrantydirect.com

They have a decent track record with the BBB as well....Hope this helps!

lorryfan

onebadskwerl -

you may want to check with warranty direct.
http://www.warrantydirct.com

I maybe wrong. but I don't believe Mazda will have any EW for a car with 145,000Km on it.

treshntr

You got screwed. I am getting an extended warranty for my 2002 CLK55 AMG Convertible(with 29850 miles). I did a lot of research to find the best value from a trustable source. I just got 2 quotes from 2 resellers of Mercury Platinum Warranties. Neither was above $2850 including tax and the surcharge to bring me down to a $0 deductible. Of course one of these companies has Kurt Nelson as the President (Auto Club) who was involved with Warranty Gold who went bankrupt and screwed their customers. But the other company is First National Warranties (866.493-8447).

Doesn't really matter which reseller you get it from as Mercury Group is the underwriter and you'll never deal with the reseller again anyway. But it's the point I guess. I'm paying a couple hundred more just not to have to deal with Auto Club.

Anyone have any better recommendations than the Mercury Platinum?

audia8q

Anyone have any better recommendations than the Mercury Platinum?

Put the $2850 in a savings account and forget about it until you have a problem....Self Insure. This way when the aftermarket warranty company vanishes, and it will...you'll still have something.

nortsr1

Another very wise move is to "ALWAYS" go to your local service dealership and ask them if they "ACCEPT" whatever warranty you intend to get....as it is usually "QUITE A HASSLE" for them to get "PERMISSION" from whatever warranty company involved. Audi8 gave you the very best advice.

dr_j

Is there a place at Edmonds or elsewhere
that lists for each Auto company what their extended warranty options are and how much each goes for retail

JUlius Edlavitch

sky23213

Has anyone dealt with getting a refund on an EW at the expiration of the term/mileage? I read this thread going back almost a year, but didn't see anything similar. I know it sounds like an urban myth, but I actually have one of those on my 01 Galant, with the papers that state so. It looks very tricky, the refund is supposed to be paid back by a third party (an ins group). To my amazement the 800 number on the contract was valid, talked to a live person, that promised they'd walk me through the refund process once I hit the mileage (100K), and would be less demanding than the Conditions for the Refund stated in the contract.
Does anyone have any experience with this, and any traps I might want to avoid?
Thank you, will keep u updated.

An update. Since no one replied back in January I guess this is pretty rare, so I thought it would be informative to post the outcome (OK, and because I feel good about it, I admit :shades: )
I received the check today, for the full amount (which was so high I'm embarrassed to share). Took a while, no run around, although I checked with them regularly.
All in all, cost me about $200 in finance charges - pretty good for 5yr/100K Service Contract. Would it have worked well in case something had happened? I'm glad I never had to find out.

venkyn

Old Republic Extended warranty Warranty4wheels (a warranty broker company) offered extended warranty from Old republic (gold exclusionary coverage) for my 1999 Toyota Camry with 37500 miles.

Has anyone heard about or had any experience with Old Republic company ?
1. They cover wear and tear, damage due to overheating, and seals and gaskets.

thanks
VEnky

mikefm58

They cover wear and tear? That in itself should tell you how good it is.

chrisl22

I'm buying a new (2006) Subaru outback and am considering an extended warranty. Does anyone know what a Subaru manufacturer extended warranty is like and how much it should cost? Thanks.

Chris

venkyn

Mikefrm58

They cover wear and tear, seals and gaskets. The coverage is gold plan (from old republic insurer) which is exclusive (which means few things listed are not covered. Everything else is covered).

Venky

mikefm58

You missed my point. What I should have said is. "They cover wear and tear? That should tell you how long before they go bankrupt."

My advice, save your money.

1spillman

Venky

I know of two Internet companies that represent Old Republic Insurance Company.

http://www.warranties4wheels.com

http://www.5starwarranty.com

Here are a few very strong points about Old Republic

Old Republic Insurance Company has been in business for over 100 years.
Publicly traded on the NASDAQ (symbol ORI)
AM Best A+ rating
Corporate assets in excess of 10.6 Billion dollars
Underwrites GMAC's Gap Insurance product in 16 states
Underwrites Hyundai's factory extended warranty in 14 states
Underwrites Subaru's factory extended warranty in 6 states
Underwrites Honda's Cross Country Motor Club in several states

They also can do business in California.

So, I do not know how mikefm58 can make these assumptions without having any fact on this company. I do not believe any manufacturer would do business with an insurance company that wasn't of the highest caliper. This is probably the best directly insured contract available on the Internet today.

drtbgted

Are you kidding me? Wear and Tear is for mechanical components, not brakes and other maintenance issues. They are a 10 billion dollar company and http://www.warranties4wheels.com has a spotless record. I have 2 policies from them and have never had an issue. Put your money in a savings account, yeah a 2 percent, what a great deal! Not.

mikefm58

Sorry, but as someone who got burned in the Warranty Gold fiasco, I'd never recommend anything but a manufacturer backed warranty.

He asked for advice, I gave him my opinion, and you gave us yours. Peace.

geo9

CHUCKLE !!!!!!!!!!!

Warranty Gold WAS AM Best ++++ rated too !
I wouldn't put too much faith in their ratings.........

andrelaplume

I won't debate the value of purchasing the warranties or the value of third party warranties. We keep our cars 6+ years. To spend $700 on a 22K vehicle is worth it to us. I have one on my Camry right now and after 4 years have never used it. I may never use it but thats ok. It will only take one silly repair to easily have me recoup some of the cost if not all. You'd think a Toyota would not break as much as some others cars and they do not...thats why you pay more for them. Still nothing is perfect and there's nothing worse than spending 3K more than a doestic and having something major go wrong. To me its just insurance.

I won't buy thrid party insurance either...it simply a hassle and these places go out of business all the time.

Still I am not a fool. I won't pay a grossly infalted price for a warranty. So, here I am doing some homework.

Anyone buy a Toyota Platinum Plus zero deductible warranty for a RAV lately. What did you pay? I am being offered the warranty for 7/75 = $900....that sounds hight since I paid $685 a few years back for my Camry....

ivy5

I was also one of the many people that was burned by Warranty Gold.

But, please get your facts straight. Warranty Gold never had an AM Best rating of any kind. They were only the warranty provider.

The warranties were underwitten by NWIG, (National Warranty Insurance Group) a risk retention group based in Nebraska.

The warranties from NWIG were then re-insured by an AM Best rated insurance company in the Cayman Islands.

I have just recently purchased from 5 star warranty and believe if you check out this link, you will see that the website gives alot of attention to explaining extended warranties.

http://www.5starwarranty.com/warranty.cfm#howInsured

ANN

bremertong

I recently bought a recent model used car and requested an extended warranty through the Edmund web site. Since doing so I have been spamed every day by just about every conceivable product (including sex). I contacted Edmunds to report this and their response was that the extended warranty web site was independent of Edmunds and there was nothing they could OR would do to have this practice stopped. I purposely used an email address that I don't give to respond to ads thinking that since I was responding through the Edmunds site I would not fall victim to this practice. If my experience is not an isolated one, than anyone using the Edmunds web site to get an extended warranty quote should be prepared for a lot of spam mail.
I would be very interested in knowing if anyone else has had this experience and what can be done about it. Needless to say it is unlikely that I will request an extended warranty quote at the Edmunds web site in the future.

mikefm58

My advice, spam is a way of life on the internet, get used to it, just delete it and move on.

geo9

ANN.........Even IF WG wasn't rated by AM Best their
reinsurer WAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You still got STIFFED anyhoo !!!!!!!!!

Shows just about anyone that a AM Best rating is WORTHLESS !

bremertong

Thank you for your post and viewpoint. I have used the internet for going on two decades and have rarely had a problem with spam. This is one of the very few times. I just didn't think Edmunds would be a site that I should be concerned about. I am now better informed.

martinf

I agree with you about the Extended Warranty. I got a $3600 remanufactured transmission for a 2001 Toyota Landcruiser last year! I have done quite a bit of research on the subject of the Genuine Toyota Platinum, 0 deductible, 7yr/75,000mile Warranty for the 2007 Toyota Camry. I sifted through a number of threads on this forum and Prius chat and compiled a list of 9 competitive dealers. For the sake of brevity, I will just list the 3 most competitive (you can find the full list on Toyota Camry prices paid, posting #3018):
Midwest Superstores (Kansas, area code 620) $520
Mechanicsville Toyota (Virginia area 804) $520(+2.5%VA tax)
McGeorge Toyota (Virginia area 804) $520 (+2.5% VA tax)

I went with Midwest Superstores who gave me a great price with no haggling. I gave him my credit card over the phone, along with my purchase date/VIN number/miles; I had the official Toyota order form receipt in 2 days; and I just received the Toyota Platinum Warranty Contract about 2 weeks later. The person I dealt with there implied that I had gotten some end of month special and he could not guarantee the price being available again, but you could always go with either of the 2 Virginia dealers and pay the $13 Virginia sales tax difference. If you already purchased the warranty and paid significantly more for it (My San Diego dealers wanted between $1295 and $1430 for it!!), you have 30 days in which to cancel for no charge, and you can buy it again from one of these guys at the discount price. After 30 days, you can still cancel and get a pro-rated refund. Unlike the new car purchase, the Toyota Warranty gives you an opportunity to correct a possible overpayment. Good luck!

jimbres

Put your money in a savings account, yeah a 2 percent, what a great deal! Not.

You obviously haven't rate-shopped lately. EmigrantDirect & HSBC are both paying 4.50% on their online savings accounts, with no minimum balance required. (Standard disclaimer: I am neither an employee nor a shareholder of either bank. I'm just a satisfied customer.) You can link your account to an existing checking account & arrange for periodic funds transfers. If you're buying a new car today & you can bank $100 per month - just $3.33 per day - you'll have $3850 in 3 years & $5250 in 4 years. If & when you need money for repairs, just write a check. It's your money. You're in charge, & you get to keep the interest. (If you can't afford $3.33 per day, then why are you buying a new car?)

I shake my head when I hear people say that extended warranties give them "peace of mind". The only peace of mind that really matters comes from having a fat, insured bank account. The best extended warranty in the world is a poor substitute for money in the bank.

But if you just can't handle money - if you're living from paycheck to paycheck - then I guess that an extended warranty is better than nothing at all.

martinf

I am getting 5% from accounts at UFBdirect and Superior Savings of New England (although they both have significant minimum balances for those premium rates), both of which I found on Bankrate.com. Personally, I have enough money to cover auto repair costs, I just don't like to. If you review my other posts, you will see that I am 2 for 2 for coming out ahead on the extended warranties I have on the cars I currently have. I recently gleaned enough information from this website and a Prius website to purchase a Toyota Platinum 7yr/75,000 contract for $520 (Toyota list price $1150). The vehicle is for my mother, and if I never use it, it would have been worth having just to avoid any significant aggravation or surprises when her car is brought in for service. I think your "if you're living from paycheck to paycheck" comment might be a little narrow minded, but your financial advice is absolutely right on. People should not settle for the average money market rates of 2% to 3%.

gohawaiian

1) Can anyone comment on their experience submitting claims under one of Toyota's "Extra Care" extended warranty plans? Are these claims often/routinely refused by Toyota if an owner fails to show that they've done EVERY maintenance/inspection item called for in the original factory warranty, AND have also continued to do ALL recommended maintenance items after the original warranty ends? 2) It appears (from Toyota's web info about these plans) that owners have until the expiration of their original 3yr/36,000 mile factory warranty to purchase an extended warranty ("Extra Care") plan from Toyota. If so, why do many of the buyers who post messages here apparently buy the extended warranty when they are buying their car? Why not keep the money invested for 3 years and buy the extended warranty shortly before the factory warranty expires? Would this not make more sense and have the added benefit of allowing an owner to assess how often their car has been in the shop for warranty work under the original factory warranty, so they can better judge whether or not the extended warranty is an advisable purchase for that particular vehicle?

audia8q

Are these claims often/routinely refused by Toyota if an owner fails to show that they've done EVERY maintenance/inspection item called for in the original factory warranty, AND have also continued to do ALL recommended maintenance items after the original warranty ends

Why would any warranty cover a car that isn't properly maintained per mfg specs?? For a large claim, like a bad engine or tranny its not uncommon for any mfg to ask for proof of routine maintance

gohawaiian

I basically agree; but, as with any insurance policy, the concern here is whether the insurer (Toyota) MIGHT seek to use the slightest pretext to UNFAIRLY deny a repair claim under the extended service plan: for example, denying a transmission repair claim on the grounds that spark plugs were never replaced at the scheduled time, as evidence that the owner cannot show that ALL required maintenance has routinely been performed, even if unrelated to the specific claim submitted. So, I am wondering whether any owners have had claims refused (unfairly) on similar pretexts.

zildjiankx

My car is in the shop and I just read on my extended warranty:

"Shop supplies are not covered, nor is diagnostic time or tear-down expense."

So if they approved my claim after the car had a diagnostic, and then they tear down the transmission and send out an inspector and he approves the problem, I'm still going to be charged the diagnostic fee and the $2000 to tear down the tranny?