Vehicle Extended Warranty - Are they worth it

[travisstorma]

I've never used my standard warranty on the three vehicles I have bought in the last few years. No reason for an extended. I usually have way over the miles long before the date expiration.

Wife had one on her car she got before we met. She used it once and it had a 200 dollar copay on all repairs. Was pretty pointless.

When I bought my 4Runner in September, the finance guy was pushing the warranty hard. After telling him no several times, he said okay, but I may end up buying you one of the lower tier ones myself. This started a conversation that they have a quota to make every month. If they beat it, they got a nice "bonus" in addition to the normal commission on the warranty sale.

ETA: About 10 years ago when I worked as a mechanic, I dealt a couple times with third party warranties. Those ripped people off. I remember them waiting several days for approval, then they would search salvage yards in like a 500 mile radius for the cheapest used part. I remember swapping a transmission twice on a car a couple weeks apart due to the junk parts they want to use.

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[Biggsly]

I never paid for extended warrantees. But when I bought my Tundra, they offered me one for 2k. I told them no. They came back with $1200. I told them no. They came back with $800. I told them no.

Then they read me a list of parts and their cost. They got me at ac compressor for 900.

I bought the warranty, and the only thing I used it for was shocks and struts. I just about broke even.​

This. They are good if you buy them right. When I sold cars, the average warranty that we sold cost us about $350-500. They wanted us to sell them for 1,500-2,000. You have to deal, just like on the car. I have not bought them on the last two Kia Sorentos that we bought, because they came with a factory 100K warranty. I bought one for our Z71 Suburban, because it was used. I told them that I would give them $500 and after a little back and forth, he took it. We took it back in at 99,000 miles and had them run a full warranty check. "Yes. You can do that."
They fixed all kinds of small issues that we did not know about. One of them was a new transmission. I would never buy one at the full asking price.

 

[Lurkerinthewoods]

When I bought my ram 1500, I went to my credit union and got pre approved to avoid the finance hassle. When I got to the finance manager, I gave him my paperwork and told him I wasn't interested in his options, that I like my credit union and wasn't switching. He said that they do a lot of business with them and punched in some numbers and told me if I added the best extended warranty, he could lower my interest by 2% points and that the saved interest would pretty much cover the warranty.

So in the end, I got a 100,000 mile warranty that was as close to the factory warranty (and also includes a rental car for all repairs) there was and my payment went down 6 bucks from what the same credit union approved me for. Go figure. Doubt I will ever use it, but if I sell the truck before the factory warranty is up, I get a refund on the extended warranty.

 

[n423]

Usually doesn't payoff to buy one, but have known a few where it paid off.

A relative pd $1600 for ext warranty and had a garage do $2200 in repairs after it first needed a water pump. It needed a lot more repairs(water pump,motor mount,etc) and warranty comp. paid for all of it.

Seems like extra gravy for car lots.

 

[SPDguns]

Not a fan. Basically you are gambling and hoping something goes wrong so you don't "waste" the money you spent on the extended warranty.

 

[Sanford]

Third party warranty? No way. I did pay the difference on my '09 Ram to upgrade the factory 7/70 with lifetime power train to be lifetime bumper to bumper. Haven't really needed it yet so can't comment on anything else about it.

 

[inactive]

I could buy a brand new Range Rover, and I'd still be money ahead with all the money I've saved by not ever buying warranties.

Just think of all the money ahead you are buying Toyota, Nissan, or Subaru over Land Rover.

 

[YukonGlocker]

Just think of all the money ahead you are buying Toyota, Nissan, or Subaru over Land Rover.

Agreed. I could buy a couple new Subarus with all the money I've saved by *not* buying warranties...and still be money ahead!

 

[dennishoddy]

I bought a slightly used F150 4X4 from a dealer, and like some turned down the warranty untill it got cheap. Knowing how tough I am on trucks, Figured it was a pretty good deal. Was trying to pull out a disk stuck in some sand, and spun a main bearing. Paid off the warranty plus a couple of grand in my favor after a total engine rebuild by the dealership. Then the transfer case would start buzzing and vibrating the shifter handle so violently that it was just a blur by my knee. They ended up replacing the transfer case after a three try's fixing it. Rental truck each time.
Traded it in on a Bronco with the VV carb system. Bought the warranty again. About 40K into it, out of factory warranty, the VV locked wide open flooding the crankcase and cylinders with raw gas. Ate up the rings and crank in short order. Same dealership had to replace the engine using the extended warranty.
I've been driving Toyota's ever since, no extended warranty, and they take everything I can put them through. I'm not easy on vehicles.

 

[Backstrap]

I only get them on Chrysler products, for several reasons: 1.) Chrysler. I like the air suspension on the Rams and Grand Cherokees, but those are hella costly to repair. 2.) I found a dealer in MO that will sell the Chrysler factory warranties just above their cost. 3.) They're refundable if you never use them (e.g., if you sell the vehicle).