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Wife got a new (used) card, 1996 i30.. Buy Extended Warranty?

S

SuperSix

Elite Member
The lease was over on the 1998 Olds Intrigue, (great car BTW) so we went shopping. We found her car, the 96 Infinit i30. I am VERY happy with the purchase, and was wondering what you freeks think about the extended warranties. It has 53k on it. The only factory warranty left is the 6yr/70k powertrain warranty. This caw is immaculate. It was a one-owner lease return. I ran the VIN @ Carfax to confirm. We've driven the car for two days and the freshly-changed oil is still clear as a bell! I got interested, and shone the Maglight in the oil fill hole.. NO build-up, NO grunge, just slightly yellowed aluminum. They must have changed the oil every 1k miles! :Q

Anyway.. I did a lot of research on extended warranties, and after reading all the fine print, and seeing a 3yr/36k extended warranty would be $1,200.00. (2.1k from the dealer!) I declined it. I based this decision on the condition of the car, the remaining powertrain warranty, and the additional cost of the extended warranty. I figure I can always get one after the powertrain warranty is up..

Any comments?

Anyone have experience with the i30 or Infinit's "Total Customer Satisfaction" experience?

BTW.. If financing a car, check out www.peoplefirst.com before acepting the dealer's rate.. My dealer offered 11.5% (reasonable on a 96 w/53k), I got my loan from peoplefirst @ 8.64%.. The extended warranties could be had much cheaper online as well.
 
SuperSix: I would suggest that you ask the people at Maxima/I30 Forums about the Infiniti warranty. There are quite a few Infiniti I30 over there...and they'd be more than happy to help you. You should also check out what some of them to do their I30s..it looks really really amazing! ...I'm rambling now..

But I really do suggest you post a message on the Maxima forums...the I30 owners would be more than happy to help.

Maxima/I30 Forums
 
All my credit cards come in brand new....what kinda company would send you a used credit card? 😕

😀



<< and shone the Maglight in the oil fill hole.. NO build-up, NO grunge, just slightly yellowed aluminum. They must have changed the oil every 1k miles >>



Don't be so sure (with any used car)....they could have VERY EASILY thrown in some engine cleaner and presto, dinner plate clean engine.

The warranty is a tough one, as is with any extended warranty.
How long do you plan on keeping the car in general?
 
Great car, my mother bought a '93 J30t not too long ago and, like yours, was a very well kept one-owner car. If the I30 is anything like the J30 in terms of quality, you're gonna love it. Good pick! 🙂
 
Very nice car, but if it breaks, it will be very expensive. Most manufacturers base their warrantys on statistical information with regard to MTBF of components. That means that if a vehicle has a 3yr / 36000 mile warranty, for example, they feel that they don't want liability after that. Just food for thought. The car should go 100,000 miles + with good maintenance, but consider the costs of labor today and it would not take much for a big repair bill. 🙂

If I remember correctly, doesn't that model have a 4yr/48,000 bumper to bumper?
 
Just my opinion, but my take on extended warranties is: they are hard to get claims validated because of lots of &quot;fine print&quot; and loopholes for the issuer to get through, and are very expensive (almost pure profit for the seller).

I'd think you'd be better off taking that $1200 and putting it into a CD or some other investment that's easily liquidated. This way you draw interest instead of lining someone's pocket with something you may never use. Second, it's there if you need it. And if you never do use it, you've got a nice chunk of change to play with in a few years.
 


<< but if it breaks, it will be very expensive >>


Very true! The only downside to expensive cars is expensive repairs (if there are ever any).
 
Thanks for the responses..

I feel that with proper maintenance, this car will go 200k miles plus. I plan to keep the car for a few years, as long as it's safe and not spending me to death. I think I will hold off until at least I'm close to the end of the powertrain warranty, then get a new powertrain warranty after market. I can fix most anything, so the most important coverage I need if lower engine and transmission. I even swapped trannies in my FWD '87 Buick Riv.. by myself. 🙂

Compuwiz - According to the Carfax report I got, the car was initially registered 04/01/96. 🙁 Past the 4yr/48k bumper-bumper. It has a lifetime corrosion warranty, but that's not an issue, the car is in Tampa Florida.

Thanks for the forum link, Madd INdian..

Don't know why, but I think this is odd. No automatic headlights... I think that;s the only complaint we have...
 
My take with extended warranties is that the dealer makes money on them, ie. if it costs you $1200 for 3 years/36k well stastistically the car will probabaly only cost the dealer $600 in repairs for instance. That said I would get one anyway because peace of mind is worth more than the money that &quot;most&quot; people will lose with extended warranties because their car would not have broken down anyway.

If your powertrain is covered well then the extended may not be worth it but any warranty you can get when the powertrain warranty is done is nice - the last thing you need to do is spend $3k replacing an automatic transmission on your inifinity because you were one of the unlucky ones!
 
Thanks for the input, Skoorb.. I read over the warranty details, and it covers the powertrain all the way down to seals and CV joints. I think I'll ride the Infiniti warranty and then get a powertrain warranty 3rd party.

 
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