Honda Fit Extended Warranty

scottgroff

I've been offered an extended warranty on my Fit I purchased in April by the dealer who just sold my wife her Fit. He says I can buy the warranty (7 years, 100,000 miles) for just short of $800US. He sold my wife on the warranty based on the cost of the electronics in her car (the automatic) after the expiration of the 3 year Honda warranty. What's the consensus - is it worth it?

fitman548

The Honda warranty is not three years. It is now 5 years 60,000 miles, I believe.

backy

Powertrain warranty is 5/60k; bumper-to-bumper is 3/36k.

bobw3

what's covered under the warranty and what is the deductable? If it's zero deductable and bumber to bumber coverage, then it might be okay.

coolchid

Just be sure it's GENUINE HONDACARE!!!!

maxwax

My vote is NO to paint protection schemes, extended warranties, etc.

14 Years ago when I bought my first Civic new, I bought an extended warranty. 6 Years or 60,000 miles or something like that.

I regret it for a few reasons It's a honda -- it's supposed to last and they usually do, so you need an extended warranty less than other cars. Also, It's a 'warranty' so it only covers manufacturers defects and such not wear and tear. So the longer your warranty the less likely it is that the problem you encounter will be covered under the warranty. Your 3 year, 36000 mile warranty gets the job done, and anything beyond that should be 1) rare and 2) normal wear and tear repairs.

As for paint protection -- I bought that too. Some sort of BS clearcoat added by the dealer. The paint suffered normal wear and tear and after being in a few accidents whatever positive effects it brought weren't on the entire care -- only the old, unrepaired sections. The best results for getting paint to look good in the long run were relatively simple: I got the car repainted from head to toe. Looked great.

jaxs1

A Honda Fit that is now an older design that has been sold in Japan a few years, should be one of the least likely to require an extended warranty cars you can buy.
It should be incredibly reliable. Even more reliable than a Civic.

pueo

I wrote about this on the fitfreak.net website but will post my 2¢ worth in here also. It will save some folks at least that much, I think . . .

Re: Honda Care--BEFORE YOU SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE, read one more time this Honda Care clause that seems to have sweeping implications. It is in section IV. WHAT IS NOT COVERED:

M. Negligence, error or omission on the part of any servicing DEALER, repair facility or CCMC, or any MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN or consequential damage to YOUR VEHICLE caused by negligence, error or omission.

The all-caps words are in the definitions in front of the contract. DEALER means an authorized HONDA dealership.

So to me, this clause sounds like a total loophole if Honda simply wants to deny coverage. As I read it, even if you dutifully take your vehicle to your HONDA DEALER for routine maintenance and even if you can prove that they messed up your car bigtime thru "negligence error or omission" which leads to MECHANICAL BREAKDOWN, this clause has indemnified them against any damages you might be able to claim!

I got suckered into buying HC for more that TWICE what it is available for online, felt ripped off and wretched, so I cancelled it. You cannot get it again once you cancel. I am flying w/o a safety net now and feel ok about it. It is a Honda.

But if you just gotta have the HC for peace of mind, here is what I suggest:

Go online and find the dealers/vendors that offer it for the lowest price. The best deals I found were at: Bernardi Honda (Natick, MA), Saccucci Honda (Middletown, RI), Curry Honda (Chicopee, MA), College Hills Honda (Wooster, OH). Call them up and talk to them about getting HC on your vehicle, make sure it is possible, (for instance, it seems Florida owners must buy from Florida dealers etc.).

While on the phone with the dealer offering a good price for HC, reconfirm the price, and then print out their price list. Then when the slick finance guy at the dealership tries to sell you Honda Care for more than you can buy it online, pull out printouts of the Honda Care prices from the dealer of your choice and use them to negotiate a better deal, preferably priced as low or lower, than the one on your printout.

Sionce the lots aren't brimming with unsold Fits right now about the only thing left to negotiate about is the extras and add-ons, so you might as well play hardball with those.

bobw3

No extended warranty will cover if someone's negligence (mechanic or driver) is involved.

lakeman3

Hello, I am new on this board-and I would appreciate immensely for some info-but this may take an Attorney-but if anyone knows-please help.

3 days ago I purchased a "used" 2008 Fit w/ 2200 miles on it. $15,900-Baby blue
Sport w/ AT. Lots of accessories-I think I made a really good deal. I purchased the extended warranty from the Honda Dealership in Bentonville, Ark and I reside in Springfield, Mo-dealership here would not negotiate whatsoever and had a very small inventory. My extended warranty was for 8 years and 100,000 miles-cost $1100.00
Supposedly, some lady purchased the car, owned it 3 months, did not like the size, traded it in on a Toyota in Joplin, Mo-and the Fit ended up back on the lot in Ark. As I was going thru the papers from the glovebox-I noticed that the original owner(lady) had also bought an extended warranty. So, the Dealership in Ark sold the same Fit twice in 3 months, and sold an extended warranty twice in 3 months!
Is this legal?? Why was the original extended warranty not applied to me..I am sure extended warranties are transferable.
Any recource to get my 1100 bucks back?? Should I call a Lawyer?? or is this legal. I am also paranoid the dealership here in Sprld will not be very "friendly" to do any warranty work since I chose not to purchase the car or the warranty from them.

zombietom3

There is a reasonable argument in the pricing that you were not cheated. If they had listed the vehicle as having a transferable extended warranty (95-99 % remaining) then the asking price of the car would have been jacked up to include that extra value. I doubt that you would have gotten the more valuable car much cheaper at all than you paid for the car plus extended warranty. Maybe a couple hundred less. If you didn't want the transferable extended warranty then you might have gotten the dealership to drop the price on the car to what you actually paid for it before adding the extended warranty. In that case they would keep the proceeds of the warranty they sold the woman, but they may well have given her a fatter trade-in for the vehicle because of that add-on. Looking at it this way I don't think you have much of a case.

jacksan1

The first thing you must determine is whether or not the previous owner's policy was transferable by checking the written policy. Not all policies are.

Second, if it's transferable, you must check whether the transfer goes with the policyholder or the car. Some warranties of this kind follow the policyholder, so that if that policyholder sells the current car and goes onto another one, the policy will follow to the that new car. If the policy follows the car, well, then it follows the car.

Third, you must also find out whether the last owner's policy is actually effective. Needless to say, if the policy was canceled at any time, it does not do any good.

Do not assume that all extended warranties are transferable. Many are, but not all, and there must be an explicit allowance for that in the contract.

If the extended warranty is indeed transferable, and moves with the car, then what? It might be difficult for you to prove actionable damages by the dealer's action unless you can prove that you would have paid less for the exact same coverage had the policy been transfered. As another poster wrote, the dealership could have easily tacked on the value of the extended warranty that was transferable. If what you would have paid as a result of that and what you have paid in actuality do not differ, or for that matter, your coverage is longer and/or more extensive than the "other" coverage, then you are not really sustaining any substantive damages.

ellenoc

I've seen quite a few posts where people canceled warranties purchased from dealers. So if it turns out that the original warranty is valid and does apply to you, or that the original owner could transfer it to you (and she's willing), can't you just cancel the one you bought? Maybe there would be some cost to doing that, but surely you'd get most of the price back. Seems as jacksan1 said, your first step needs to be to find out if the original warranty is still good and can be transferred to you or has been transferred to you by your purchase. Also is that warranty for HondaCare or with a reputable company that you can trust to honor it?

lakeman3

Thanks for the info and replies. I have now checked the Honda Care-Vehicle Service Contract booklet left in the glove box from the original owner.It states;

This contact cannot be transferred to another vehicle, to a vehicle dealer or to the customer of a vehicle dealer, or to a lender. So. I guess I'm out of luck and have no recource??

I still think it is a ripoff that this dealership can sell the almost exact, expensive
Service contract twice within 3 months on the same car-ouch!!

jacksan1

Well, let's think about this a bit. I am no lover of automobile dealerships, but are they really ripping you off? By selling an exended warranty on the same vehicle twice in three months, yes, the dealership is making good money, a lot of money. No doubt about that. However, they are not taking anything away from you, are they? You are getting an extended warranty at the price that everyone who buys one for the same car from the same dealership is paying, are you not? In addition, it's Honda Care contract T's and C's that state that the contract cannot be transferred to another vehicle, not the dealership.

Yes, this dealership did a great business by selling two policies in a very short period of time, and I am positive they are laughing hard to the bank. But I am not sure whether they did anything to harm you. Yes, it is a shame that the contract does not follow the car, but a lot of things in life are non-transferable contracts, and besides, the transferability term in the contract was written by Honda or whoever is underwriting the warranty, not the dealership. If anything, the complaint should be directed to Honda and/or underwriter, IMHO.

By the way, I never buy an extended warranty, especially for a Honda. That, in my opinion, is almost defeating the purpose of buyng a Honda in the first place. If you want an warranty like that, you would be much better off waiting until the factory warranty runs its course. Just my opinion, of course.

handcraft

Last night I bought a 2008 Honda Fit and the overpriced warranty.

Well, from what I've read here, I see that if I cancel my Honda Care warranty ($2k for a $0 deductible 7 yr, 120k mile), then I can't get it again. I was told at the dealership that I had to buy the warranty then and there or I couldn't purchase a Honda Care New car warranty (which later today I found wasn't true). I also found out today that I could get the same warranty from another dealer for $805. Hmmm. Makes me a little annoyed that the woman doing the paperwork said I had to buy the warranty then or never. She also told me that if I was in an accident, my original Honda warranty would be voided, and that's why I needed the Honda Care warranty. Does that sound fishy to anyone? Was I just getting played or was she correct? I suppose I can call Honda tomorrow and find out. Well, thanks for all the great posts and helpful info. Wish I would have found this forum before I bought my Fit. Cheers! :confuse:

ars10705

I bought a Honda Civic LX on 12/8, The business manager in the dealership told me about the Honda Care Warranty. He said it was a $2500 value and he would give it to me for $985. He also told me as your dealership had told you that I had to purchase the warranty then and there, not at a later date, Since I had purchased extended warrantees on both my two most previous cars, a Toyota Camry and a Dodge Neon, I thought it would be a good idea to get one on the Honda. The extended warrantees had basically paid for themselves on the Camry and Neon because both needed expensive work done during the extended warranty period.

So, after I purchased Honda Care, I went on the web and found it would have been $25.00 if I purchased it on the web. And then, I decided to change auto insurance companies to Geico and found out that they offer an extended warranty called Mechanical Breakdown Insurance, where I could take my Honda Civic to be fixed at any mechanic. not just Honda. Although the Geico policy covers 7 years instead of 8 and has a $250.00 deductable instead of Honda Care's 8 years, $100.00 deductable it is much cheaper than Honda Care--$60,00 per year, which ends up costing all together $420.00 for 7 years.

I have 90 days from the date of purchase to cancel the Honda Care and get my money back. Should I cancel and switch to the Geico Mechanical Breakdown insurance or should I keep Honda Care?

handcraft

I'd keep the Honda Care. From what my friends have told me, that's the extended warranty to have on a Honda, especially if you get it cheaply enough.

I read on this forum that if you cancel your Honda Care, you can't get it again. I called Honda Care, and they told me that's not true. They said if you cancel within 30 days, the cancellation costs nothing. Then it takes about a week for the cancellation to show on Honda Care's end. Once it shows, you can go ahead and purchase Honda Care from whichever dealer you'd like.

For the 7 year/120K mile w/ $0 deductible, which I was looking at, the cheapest online deal was through Bernardi Honda (quotes@hondawarrantyinfo.com). They quoted $805, which my local Honda dealer said was below what the local dealership bought it at. If you've found Honda Care even cheaper somewhere, let me know for sure.

Wishing you the best with your Civic, T

iamacat

I bought a Honda Fit tonight and during the warranty pitch, I am certain the finance fellow said the warranty was transferable. At a minimum, I would research this further by reading everything thoroughly, checking out the Missouri consumer protection laws, and asking the dealership to explain what's going on!

Best of luck to you!!

protrack

I would recomend it at that price. I paid $1060 for my Sport automatic. It really is cheap insurance for any potential issues that can arise.
Daytona Bob :shades:

jacksan1

An extended warranty bought when the car is new, especially for a Honda, is in my opinion a total rip-off. Do not forget that you can always purchase an extended warranty later as the manufacturer's warranty runs its course. I would not get one even then, but if you have to have it, that's the time to do it, not when the car is new. Otherwise you will be paying extra for something that is already included in the car's price as a standard warranty (because an extended warranty is concurrent with the standard one until the latter expires).

Frankly, I would rather put away in a money market fund the same amount of money that would otherwise be spent on an extended warranty and let it earn dividends over the years. That way, the money is always yours to use, for a car repair or otherwise.

wisemoney

Honda Care Extended Warranties are the worst products ever created. You will only lose money long term by buying such a financially stupid product. Long-term reliability is the number one factor and decision maker in buying a new car. Therefore when you choose a reliable car like most Hondas are, you're saying that your Honda is going to break down, and repairs will cost more than the overpriced cost of the extended warranty, within the short time frame, and within the short mileage limits, and most importantly within the extremely limited parts that are covered. If a Japanese Honda mechanic read the entire Honda care vehicle service contract, he or she would say that the covered parts are LEAST likely to breakdown, and the parts that are NOT covered are MOST likely to break down. It is so so so sad, that consumers can be so stupid to throw away their money and buy an extended warranty on a Honda Fit for example. A Honda Fit is by far the most reliable car in Japan, and quite possibly the most reliable car ever made. Why would anyone bet on a breakdown in just after 3 years of proper care. I've never heard of that in any well maintained Honda.

Extended Warranties are NOT insurance policies. Insurance is meant to protect against catastrophic events. Of course I have collision coverage at a very low cost because it protects against catastrophic accidents costing over $15,000 or more. Same with homeowner's insurance. It protects against total loss of a home which typically costs more than $200,000. I would suffer a devastating financial set back without insurance. Same goes for health insurance. Health insurance protects against catastrophic operations and costly disease management. We're talking millions of dollars of potential financial destruction. On the other hand, the worst that could happen with a car is the engine totally breaks down as far as warranty coverage goes. That's not more than $5,000 on most cars. The bottom line is if your repair costs more than the value of the car after the factory warranty expires, trash the vehicle and buy a new one because it's not worth keeping a problematic vehicle past its factory warranty. Put that $2000 you would have spent on an extended warranty in a high-yield savings account, and compound interest until the factory warranty expires. Now you have TRUE PEACE OF MIND because you know your money will cover ANY part at ANY time at ANY mileage.

absconfused

I just got an 09 FIT SPORT and was thinking of picking up an online warranty but now after reading your post, I think you have made some very persuasive points...It is evident that you have looked at the warranty very closely.

Just as a bit of commentary, years ago I got hit with the warranty sales pitch at a Mazda dealership and purchased the warranty.

Since then though, I have purchased two Hondas (the 07 fit was totaled) and both times I told the finance person that I had determined that I was not purchasing a warranty and that I did not need gap insurance due to cash purchase and therefore this simple transaction should take no more than ten minutes...They looked shocked and most recently the fellow said that Honda recommends one hour in the office :confuse:

But anyway, I have found that being politely assertive has prevented the finance people from starting up their pitch. They still in a quick roundabout way make a fast comment since it is their job but I have been pleased to be back in the drivers seat so to speak because I will never forget that hot room in the Mazda dealership where I felt so unprepared, so confused etc...It was a terrible feeling, I did not really know what hit me but that's what gives us great experience!

Thanks!

joefar75

THe extended warranty has a clause at the end that say you can cancel within 60 days as long as there was no service performed on that extended warranty which you did'nt. So I'd argue as to why the extended warranty was'nt offered to transfer for $50 and then cancel the one you bought for a full refund.

fitoh8

I just got off the phone with a local Honda Dealership here in Dallas, TX. I had brought in my 2008 Honda Fit Sport, because my air conditioner stopped working. The car is still under warranty with 27,000mi.

The dealership says that a rock hit the condenser and that's why it needs to be replaced, so it will not be covered by warranty. In the words of the tech: "First time I've ever seen it on a Fit. Just doesn't happen, you must have bad luck." Yeah, right.

So this is my first new car, and I'm wondering what the next step is for disputing this. Clearly the claim that a rock magically destroyed my A/C is complete nonsense - but what can I do? I'm interested in hearing from those who have been through this.

stephen987

Check the forums at fitfreak.net. There are a LOT of folks there who report the same problem. They've devised a fix that prevents the problem, and they may also have some advice on dealing with your dealer.

fitoh8

Thanks I will try that. I spoke with Honda and they have advised me to have the dealership put in writing exactly why they think it was hit by something, and then take it to another dealership. I will report back.

backy

If a rock did hit the condenser and Honda won't cover it, you could take the claim to your auto insurance company... depending on your comprehensive deductible and whether it would be considered a "charged" accident, it might pay most if not all of the cost.

wbfrank

I thought I was stupid to buy the extended warranty for my '07 Fit... but I have used it twice. Why? Well how about the Honda Fit Stutter see: http://www.fitfreak.net/forums/1st-generation-gd-01-08/52520-engine-sees-miss-fi- re-when-fan-comes-new-post.html

So far at 71K I have had three of the four 'coil packs' on top of the plugs. So far the extended warranty has almost been paid back!

My question is this: what is the vehicle now worth? Honda Corporate does not admit to this prevalent problem. But what if a Fit is traded in with this problem and the dealer takes it out for a spin and offers considerable less for the trade in??

Each coil-pack costs out at $85.95 (X4) plus $130.00 plus in labour. ( :lemon: ) Is this a lemon deal?? :confuse: :mad:

sooznd

I guess I shouldn't complain --my extended warranty cost only $1500. The finance manager talked so fast and rushed me through the process--she made me assume that windshield protection was covered under the warranty. When I found out it wasn't I balked--when I learned I needed to pay another $500 to get the Polystar windshield protection, but negotiated getting my windows tinted at no charge for the misunderstanding.
I figure if anything goes wrong with any of the computerized parts on the vehicle, the extended warranty will have been worth the money.