Extended Warranty...Worth the price?

Comments

• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  September 2014

  A few months back I got an '09 minivan with 125,000 miles on it. Put 8,000 miles on it already, mostly on road trips. I'd rather save my money and address issues as they come up rather than deal with a third party warranty company. Heard too many stories over the years about coverage issues, and attempts to get work done or reimbursed. The BBB rating for this company isn't so hot.

  How much do they want for the extended warranty?

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• Kirstie_H Administrator Posts: 11,148

  September 2014

  This is always a tough question, because if you don't buy the extended warranty and something breaks, you're going to think that you should have purchased it, because the repair would be covered. However, as Steve mentioned, there are multitude tales of third-party extended coverage being a total waste. No matter how thoroughly you read the contract, you're not likely to spot all of the potential loopholes that you could encounter when trying to get work covered. Radiator has a hole? Oh, you must have hit something. Not covered. Something snapped? Looks like it had a speck of rust on it, and that's the cause. Rust-related issues aren't covered. And trying to appeal these "wiggle outs" is usually unsuccessful.

  Additionally, you mention you travel a lot. That indicates the possibility of an away-from-home breakdown, and these contracts usually have restrictions on which shops you can use.

  My opinion is that they are rarely worthwhile, and that over a lifetime of vehicle ownership, you will generally come out ahead by saving back money yourself for unexpected repairs.

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• showme66 Member Posts: 2

  September 2014

  Thanks for the comments. They are asking $1400 for the 3/75000 warranty. Think we are going to skip it and hope for the best. We can do repairs out of pocket.

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• stever Guest Posts: 52,454

  September 2014 edited September 2014

  I've seen worse price quotes but I personally would pass. If you have issues before the rest of the factory warranty runs out you can reconsider then. Good luck!

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