Are extended car warranties worth it? | Consumer Reports

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[davidwilliams]

I've only bought one of these in the past. It was on a German luxury brand SUV. The best money ever spent, as the repairs were 3 or 4 times the cost of the warranty. The advice here is kind of obvious. Buy a reliable car, maintain it properly and you won't need the extended warranty. But if you do buy it, recognize that like any insurance, you are paying for the risk mitigation not pre-paying for repairs.

[snowrocket]

OK, and when they surveyed Chrysler and Jaguar owners about their extended warranty experience, they said what? I'll BET it's a different story!

[Cmc]

Who the hell thinks you buy these things to save money? You do it to protect yourself from a repair costing more than extended warranty in the time you have the warranty, not to save money. Do people also believe that auto or health insurance saves you money? No, we pay for these things to help handle extraordinary bills.

And we also shouldn't be calling them warranties, they're best described as service contracts that you purchase. If something breaks, they're in an agreement to take care of it. That's all there is to it. Don't delude yourselves.

[symawd]

So people are upset that their car didn't break?

[XtremeRT]

Fully Disagree! I did spent $2400 on a 3YR/36K warranty with Infiniti when I hit 72, 000mi... at 77, 000 the transmission went out. Infiniti doesn't replace with rebuilds, you get a brand NEW transmission! Cost? $12, 500 including a new sub-frame and other parts needed as well. Last month, my radiator went out... $1400... but I have a $100 deductible... the extended warranty is great! I'm covered up to 108K and loving the savings!

[vamboroolz]

Around 12% of the cost of the warranty is set aside for future repairs by these companies, the rest goes on commissions, profit and running costs of the companies, etc. They know EXACTLY what they are doing, they have well paid experts telling them the statistical chances of each part failing and at what time in the vehicles life. For every person that you hear about that ‘made’ on their warranty, statistically, in the same time period, you have less of a chance of making on yours. Some companies want you to service your vehicle at a main dealer then tell you that you need items replaced at inflated prices for parts and Labour, ( wear and tear items not covered by warranty). This makes them more money again and prevents you going to a good independent garage that, in some cases, would correctly tell you the work doesn’t need done. As others have said, it’s a

[TheKKyle]

oh how dare car companies like honda and toyota etc build reliable well made vehicles that last a long time and claim they do yet offer OPTIONAL extended warranties for customers god forbid they feel they need it. its a consumer decision... if you know what you are getting into than you should trust your car purchase without pouring an extra 1200 bucks into it.

[gene]

Extended warranty protected my 1994 Dakota when the 4wd system went and my mom’s Oldsmobile Aurora when the engine went. Expensive repairs worth the added price of the warranty.

[LGMinnesota]

I always buy them, but ONLY directly from the manufacturer (like GM, Ford, Dodge, etc). Don't buy from others, you'll get scammed. Don't fall for non-manufacturer warranties either. I believe people do buy and use them. Think about repairs and simple things can be hundreds of dollars and you can go through a few of those in 5-6 years to make the warranty worth it.

[nobujak]

I purchased a pre-owned 2011 Honda Insight yesterday at a very popular local auto dealer where I almost got ripped off big. When things finally got to signing paperwork, I was taken to a small room where I was suddenly presented an option of an extended warranty that they sell. They scared me by telling a possible horror story of a hybrid vehicle whose electric components failing miserably, costing an owner $6, 500 to repair without THEIR extended warranty. So what was the offer? 5 yr/60, 000 mi coverage for $2, 500. INSANE. They showed me financing APR of 3.9% initially, then they offered a steep discount to 2.0% if I opted for the extended warranty. I was stupid enough to say yes under pressure; they said the extended warranty was available only at the time I purchase the vehicle. They used every possible psychological tactics to presume me into buying the warranty.

After failing to say no and signing paperwork, I expressed my strong displeasure about the fact that they never mentioned such a costly option until the last minute and didn't give me time to think. They continued persuading me into believing that buying THEIR warranty was absolutely beneficial, but I was not convinced and looked extremely upset (I indeed was for good reasons). They finally gave up their attempt and allowed me to drop the option by redoing paperwork. My upfront payment dropped from $10, 000 to $7, 500.

So at the end of the day, I could barely avoid the rip-off. However, the fact that they tried to take advantage of me remains and it really pisses me off. I will never come back to this dealer again. If you are an auto dealer practicing the same SCAM, you better understand that you are actually losing business at the expense of easy money. This dealer just lost their possible future business with me and potential others as well.

[hotxed]

Go for a lifetime extended warranty if you do opt to buy one, and be sure to shop around for the best coverage/price, sure it's a gamble if you'll use it or not, however if you think about it you gamble on car insurance, health insurance etc.. I mean do you plan to get sick or have surgeries?

[SandmanPoetEmani]

I instead bought coverage through my insurance company that had the same deductible as the warranty they offered. I had a broken timing chain on my honda accord and geico fixed it for $200 flat. If you do want coverage for a car you'll own for more than five years its worth it. Cars tend to start breaking eventually and the cars driving history is never thought about thoroughly with inconsistent maintenance. Just two oil changes being off by ten days each forced me into a check engine light.my car still.drove but poorly and lost alot of mpgs. The cheaper alternative to buying from the dealer is first seeing if good insurance company has any form of gap coverage. It was way cheaper and I didnt need receipts they still fixed it. Even with the extended warranty from the dealer it still needed maintenance receipts even though my car was maintained at the dealership, and they dont keep your shit on file on purpose.

[RealtimeReviews]

If the warranty is $1000 or so its a good deal. Anything more is a bad deal unless your buying a unreliable car like an american car etc

[Rebu]

An even more expensive “gamble” is car insurance. The fact that you might not need it would apply to any type of insurance. You may even outlive your life insurance coverage.

They still make sense.

[thRiflesOCI]

Buying a lexus, sales person tried to sell me life time rust proofing. Declined, final step to making the payment and the billing person tried to sell me an extended warrenty before I sign the form to decline it. 

[thwipp]

consumer reports- how long were these extended warranties for?? mine covers 8 yrs/125k miles, bumper to bumper, $0 deductible and cost $1, 100 thru honda (i got a 2013 civic) . i would think with all the technology cars have today, some of those repairs can be pretty expensive. ok, so it cost me about $200/yr for my 5 yr loan (0.9% for 60 months) but i'm covered for an extra 3 yrs and a bunch more miles than the standard warranty.

[DisneyMusicVideos]

My previous car was a 2006 Toyota Corolla & I also bought an extended warranty for it & never needed it. I agree that it's a waist of money if you buy a car with a great reliability history. Planning to buy a Toyota Camry in the next few years & won't buy the extended warranty if I buy the car new.

[ofhtcln]

I thought I would have to only have to pay $300 for the contract and $30 every month for a 4 year old car with not even 27k miles on it. When I got the confirmation paperwork, it was $230. I called right back and demanded my money back. Don't buy, save the money because you know they'll try to get you disqualified when you finally try to use those plans.

[bagelboi]

I have to say no to them as well. I bought an extended bumper to bumper warranty one car back for $1927 that gave me coverage for 7 years or 84, 000 km. I traded the car after five years having never used it even once.

[jwuuds]

You only made the right choice if your engine or transmission don't fail though. If you are good with money you can put that aside but if you're buying during tax season and don't always have 5k laying around Warranties are smart to get. They are a blessing if engine, transmission, transfer case etc.. fail.. which does happen more often than people know.