Extended Car Warranties

[emperus]

What's your take on extended car warranties. I usually buy it when buying a car by negotiating hard with the dealer or buying it form another with a lower price when I can. But my Brother in Law is looking to extend his warranty on his Audi. He got a quote from Omega Auto Care for ~$4,000 for 4 more years or 100k more miles. I believe his car is 5 years old and has 90k on it. Trying to get more info on what it covers but my first guess is that it is too much. But not sure what the market is on older luxuriate vehicles. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[Jimzz]

If its a factory warranty then yea they can be good.

The aftermarket ones are usually junk and cause more headaches then they are ever worth.

 

[Midwayman]

Only manufacturer extended warranties. Join a board specific to your car. There will probably be threads on where to buy them. Dealers can discount them, I know it was the case for MB. I wouldn't trust a 3rd party one. Too many loopholes usually.

 

[emperus]

Thanks will check out some of the Audi forums.

 

[WackyDan]

I bumped my factory 36 month warranty on my F-150 to a Ford 7 year/70k warranty. It was actually pretty cheap... Seeing as I only drive the truck 6k a year, the 70k mile limit made sense to me.

Lots of gadgets and bullshit in the truck to worry about... Was my first extended warranty I ever bought on an auto and it was cheap insurance against the inevitable.

 

[Raizinman]

With todays vehicle being more complicated than the Apollo 1 (1967) it is easy to understand why an extended warranty is necessary. Just one use for something such as your ATC (Automatic Temperature Control) panel, or your ECM (Electronic Control Module) can easily almost pay for the entire contract.

Part of the problem is that many dealerships are substituting their OEM service contracts for (higher profit) third party service contracts. Often unsuspecting customers don't even realize it. If your third party service contract company goes out of business (as many do) you are out of luck.

As stated above, best to get an OEM service contract and just have the dealership build that into the price so your monthly payment includes the extended service warranty.

 

[KK]

when I bought the wife's car, mkx, I had found online a place selling warrantees for less than local places wanted, I think I went with 7/125 on it. I have a 100 deductible on it, and have used it twice so far. when I got my prius, I also got an extended warrantee for it with the same 7/125 from somewhere online. I don't think I had to use that one yet. both the ford and toyota warrantees are legit and are by the manufacture.

 

[smitbret]

With todays vehicle being more complicated than the Apollo 1 (1967) it is easy to understand why an extended warranty is necessary. Just one use for something such as your ATC (Automatic Temperature Control) panel, or your ECM (Electronic Control Module) can easily almost pay for the entire contract.

Part of the problem is that many dealerships are substituting their OEM service contracts for (higher profit) third party service contracts. Often unsuspecting customers don't even realize it. If your third party service contract company goes out of business (as many do) you are out of luck.

As stated above, best to get an OEM service contract and just have the dealership build that into the price so your monthly payment includes the extended service warranty.

Thet 3rd party going belly up isn't nearly as common as it used to be. At my dealership you can get the OEM or one from Zurich and I sell the Zurich's 4 to 1 because they are less expensive and more flexible. Claim performance is the same and Zurich isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Kenmitch]

With todays vehicle being more complicated than the Apollo 1 (1967) it is easy to understand why an extended warranty is necessary. Just one use for something such as your ATC (Automatic Temperature Control) panel, or your ECM (Electronic Control Module) can easily almost pay for the entire contract.

Part of the problem is that many dealerships are substituting their OEM service contracts for (higher profit) third party service contracts. Often unsuspecting customers don't even realize it. If your third party service contract company goes out of business (as many do) you are out of luck.

As stated above, best to get an OEM service contract and just have the dealership build that into the price so your monthly payment includes the extended service warranty.

Yep....Things can cost way more to fix than people expect.

Wife bought a 2015 Focus SE Sedan last month. Wound up popping for the 6yr/10000 mile bumper to bumper factory warranty with all scheduled maintenance and wearable items such as brake pads, filters, oil changes, etc. included. It only bumped the payment by $50's a month. Wife never has any money for oil changes or other car repairs at time of need. Figured it's worth the xtra money per month to not have to worry about it....Zero percent interest on the loan with a xplan discount and $2500 in rebates. Figured the dealer can make some money on the warranties and I'm cool with the deal. It's her car, her payment, Fords problem when anything goes wrong!

 

[madoka]

I've been unusually lucky with them. I bought manufacturer's warranties on two very reliable brands (Lexus and Honda) and didn't on Porsche and Nissan.

I bought them for my IS-F and Odyssey. I got more than my money back on the IS-F and some of my money back on the Odyssey.

I did not buy them for my Cayman S and GT-R. I never needed to use an extended warranty on either car.

 

[Pacfanweb]

If its a factory warranty then yea they can be good.

The aftermarket ones are usually junk and cause more headaches then they are ever worth.

Yep, and dealers don't have to honor them, either.

We did that with a couple of the warranty companies when I worked at a dealership.

The ones that were known to be pains, we'd tell the customer they'd have to pay the bill and then deal with the warranty company. We would not even make a phone call.

I can't blame dealerships for doing that, either. Some of these companies will want the part # of every single thing you're going to replace. Then they think they're entitled to a discount on the parts. Then they'll want to argue with you about the labor time, sometimes even if it's right in the book. Then they'll want to argue the labor rate.
Then, if it's an engine or tranny, they'll want it torn down, and then send and inspector out to take pictures of it for them. So you have it sitting there, torn down and taking up a stall/lift, waiting for the inspector. THEN, after all that, and agreeing on a final price, sometimes when they call back with a corporate credit card, it'll be for less than you agreed with them on.
I use to say they just short it by some random amount to see if anyone will call them on it or if the customer just says "screw it" and pays the difference. Or the dealer eats it so they don't have to make another long-ass call.

 

[Jumpem]

If I buy a car I will get the manufacturer's 100k or 120k mile bumper to bumper warranty. I have never come out ahead with them, but it is a little bit of money to be worried about any problems that may come up.

For leases, I haven't bothered. But I don't like that last year of the lease between 36k and 54k miles when only the power train warranty remains.

 

[pmark]

People really buy the extended warranties? I always thought it was a waste, but I have only purchased one car (kept it for around 15 years). Is it really worth the money now with all of the electric monitoring in cars these days?

 

[Leyawiin]

Its been proven time and again to be a complete waste of money. All you're doing is padding the purchase in favor of the dealership (and they laugh their butts off and count the money after you leave).

 

[Jimzz]

People really buy the extended warranties? I always thought it was a waste, but I have only purchased one car (kept it for around 15 years). Is it really worth the money now with all of the electric monitoring in cars these days?

For most cars I would say no, American and Asian.
European cars, esp the higher end luxury ones, I thinks its worth it.

 

[Midwayman]

People really buy the extended warranties? I always thought it was a waste, but I have only purchased one car (kept it for around 15 years). Is it really worth the money now with all of the electric monitoring in cars these days?

Its an insurance policy. Like any insurance policy, they are priced so that the company makes money by selling them. That means the average user will lose money on the policy, and that's not including the dealer profit for selling them.

Only time it might really pay is first model years where reliability isn't well known.

 

[JulesMaximus]

What's your take on extended car warranties. I usually buy it when buying a car by negotiating hard with the dealer or buying it form another with a lower price when I can. But my Brother in Law is looking to extend his warranty on his Audi. He got a quote from Omega Auto Care for ~$4,000 for 4 more years or 100k more miles. I believe his car is 5 years old and has 90k on it. Trying to get more info on what it covers but my first guess is that it is too much. But not sure what the market is on older luxuriate vehicles. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

$4,000? Holy crap that's expensive!!!

I've never purchased extended warranties on anything but I'm thinking of buying one for my Ducati. It's only $900. Hell, a new stator would cost that much.

 

[Jimzz]

$4,000? Holy crap that's expensive!!!

I've never purchased extended warranties on anything but I'm thinking of buying one for my Ducati. It's only $900. Hell, a new stator would cost that much.

Yea that's for a European car. The rates depend on the car. There are some cars even the aftermarket policies will not insure.

 

[bruceb]

Never bought one yet. But on the newer cars, when I do buy one in the next year or two, I might consider it, depending on the cost and exactly what is covered. Mechanics are getting $120 or so per hour and cars are getting more complex. More computers, integrated displays with Radio, Navigation and Heating / AC in them. And when they fail, they are expensive to diagnose and repair. Same for cars with active suspension and collision avoidance features. Some people think are nice to have, but they get expensive to fix.