Car Warranties

[ARLO1]

Can someone help me in a big decision-

I just found out the company that covers the extended warrantee on my 2004 car went out of business so I have no extended warrantee on my car now just the manufacturers warrantee(this will be up soon). I have 30 payment left on the existing car loan.


How important to people feel the extended warrantee is and do poeple have them on their cars?

My choice is either to just suck it up and hope nothing happens or purchase a new car(with the extended warrantee through DCH) which I just found out us offering 0% for 60 months...

Help with opinions...

Thanks..

 

[Hedy]

I opted not to get one on my car (it's Nissan, so they're reliable). I'd be more inclined to consider it if my car was a less reliable make. JMO.

 

[WDWCrazzyCunninghams]

We JUST paid for an extended warrenty the other day. Reasons we chose to do it....

1) If something should break, it's covered. No worrying about whether we might have the money to fix it. A one time fee covers it all.

2) I LOVE my truck. I don't have any desire to trade it in, and intend on keeping it until it is paid off...and maybe even a few years longer!

3) We bought the truck on a 0% for 72 months. You truely can't beat that deal. If I were to trade it in, I wouldn't be able to find such a deal again and it would probably raise my payment again.

I think things you need to concider....Do I Love this car? Can I see myself driving it for the next 3 years? With the 0%/60months, would you lower your payment? OR Lower your gas costs per month? It might be worth trading then. How about the cost of repair? Do you have a couple $1000 sock away "in case" something should break? And what if it's the a/c this month and next month it's the fuel pump? Can you afford back to back repairs? Some people can, we are not in a position to do that.

There is a lot to think about, but to us, knowing that we can just take it in for whatever repairs it will need, and not have to think about the money factor, is just a relief.

Good Luck with your choice!

 

[ARLO1]

I have Saturn vue. Just had to repair the link system(?) and a transmission noise that had a recall on it since I bought the car. I had received a letter from saturn shortly after I bought the car that they knew there was a possible problem in the trany and if the problem arose it would be covered..

Still unsure what to do...

 

[ARLO1]

I usually like the security of the extended warrantee. I also do not have the money for back to back repairs. I did that on my previous car until it actually died. I hated being in the book of the month club and dont actually look forward to extending my months of payments but on the other hand would love to have a new car. Its wierd because the only time I've gotten a new car is when the previous one died - this certainly is not the case which presents the problem..

I do appreciate everyones help though..

 

[DVC-Don]

I have never opted for an extended warrenty when we purchase a new car.

 

[Anthony1971]

I never buy them...
But then again a really good friend of mine ownes a repair shop and a rarely keep cars long after the warranty is up or whne I would have to vacum it which ever comes first
You may wnat to check with your insurance company as they sometimes offer an extented warranty for the low montky of?? and it is added to your premium

 

[TN_DISNEY]

I bought an extended warranty when I bought my last USED car. If i had bought it new then i probably would have opted out. I have used it twice and therefore feel it was worth the expense.

FYI, I think there are companies out there that will sell extended warranties on used cars (i.e. you don't have to buy them through the dealership).

 

[MrMarv]

I just purchased a brand new Hyundai Elantra, and had NO desire or need to buy one of those extended warranties, since they're essentially ripoffs and loaded with loopholes.

Plus the warranty on Hyundia automobiles (10 years/100,000 miles) is the best in the industry, and their cars are sensational and MUCH less expensive and just as reliable as a Honda or Toyota.

 

[tinan]

Extended warranties are really a personal choice. Usually the things you want to think of is new vs. used car, if the original warranty is still there or not, if you can afford back to back to back repairs as it sometimes happens and who the warranty is through.

We normally buy used cars that are either out of warranty or pretty darn near out of warranty when we buy them. Since we don't have tons in savings and cannot afford to have multiple breakdowns we opt to buy the extended warranties. We have been burnt once by a company that went bankrupt, but other warranties we have gotten back our purchase price on them plus! One of the extended warranties was for our Chrysler Concorde. It's a '96 that we bought in 2001 with a 4 year/48,000 mile warranty I think for around $1400 or $1500 with a $100 deductible and bumper to bumper coverage. Well in that 4 year time frame we needed to have a lot of minor work done to the car which added up to easily about $2500 between air conditioner compressor, air conditioning compressor, front stabilizer links, tie rod ends, etc.

Our most recent purchase is an '03 Chevy Trailblazer. While we have no payment on it, we still can't afford back to back repairs so we bought a 3 year/36,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty with a $50 deductible for about $1400 GMAC warranty. For us to bump up to a 4 year one like I normally like to get it would have been an additional $1000. To us, we didn't feel like gambling that $1000 for a year. Granted we could have saved more by going with a higher deductible, but again not worth it to us.

You just have to weigh what you feel comfortable with. Also, as the old saying goes if a deal sounds to good to be true it probably is. The warranty we got burnt on was from the dealership and we thought we were getting a deal. It was '03 when we were buying an '01 very low miles Wrangler so we thought the deal was because of the year/miles when it turned out the company was getting more claims than money and went bankrupt.

 

[ARLO1]

well we called the dealership yesterday and decided to purchase an after market warranty on my car. it will cost under 2000.00 and will give a 4 yr/48000 mile warranty. it will save lots of money. thanks for all opinions though....

 

[swilshire]

Wow! I'd never even considered that possibility! What was the name of the warranty company? Did you ask the dealer if they would refund your warranty cost since I assume they're the one that selected the warranty company? (Or is my assumption wrong that the dealership was involved?)

I always take the extended warranty, even though I think they're not really a good value overall. I just don't want to be hit with any financial surprises in large sums. Just paid $1600 for repairs on my husband's truck (long since out of warranty) when there really wasn't anything much wrong with it. A few hundred here, a few hundred there, it really adds up.

It's a great comfort to me to be able to drop the vehicle off when I have a warranty and say "just fix it" unless they find a problem not covered by the warranty.

Sheila

 

[ARLO1]

i took out the original extended warranty through the dealership when i bought the car but the company that owned the warranty went out of business(great) and is in bankruptcy court now. we asked the dealer if we could get that money back effective when they went out of business and they said we couldnt because its tied up in the courts now.

i dont know the name of the old warranty company but the 2 best options for the new warranty company for bumper to bumper service is either premier(?) or fidelity. the fidelity company is a little more expensive but also a company name we know so more chance of it not going out of business.

i do have to say that saturn was very accommodating to my problem and actually absorbed the price of the repair that i had(less deductible) of the service that should have been covered under the warranty. they didnt initially offer to do this but saw that i was upset(i'm surprised they even cared) and that i was a continual customer for services.

Kind of renewed my faith in saturn.

 

[daughtersrus]

My DH is an auto tech at a dealership. Although he makes considerably less money to fix cars under warranty verses pay labor, he always recommends an ESP offered by the manufacturer, not a warranty company. The main reason is that it could be difficult to find a shop that will take an after market warranty or the company may go out of business as in the case in the OP. Although your local shop may honor the warranty, if you are on vacation when the car breaks down, will it be hard to find a place that will take the warranty?

Some other things to consider. What is the cost? Most people don't realize that is negotiable just like the price of the car. Also, what exactly is covered and what is the deductible? Will they have to send an inspector out to look at the car before they will approve the claim? How long will that take? There has been many times when my DH has had to rip a car apart and then get the porters to push it back into the lot while they wait the day or so for the inspector to come out and take a look.

The labor rate at the dealership that my DH works at is over $100/hour. When you add in the cost of parts, one major repair could cover the cost of the warranty.