Glad I bought the extended warranty for my car

[Stan Calow]

I've always been against them on principle, but you folks are changing my mind. Thanks for the discussion.

[ChrisA Edwards]

I bought a 1993 Dodge Caravan, new in 1993. I bought the factory extended warranty at the time. Over the next four years of ownership, I had five transmissions and an engine block. My wife claimed I was too hard on the vehicle, but it was front wheel drive and I changed the original tires at 66K miles and was about half way through the second set at 92K miles when we traded it. The first transmission went out at 32K miles while still on the 3Y/36K miles OEM warranty.

I also had a transmission go out on my Cadillac Escalade at around 110K miles. On this I had one of those aftermarket warranties. That was much harder getting payment. They eventually paid me $2500 for a $3600 repair. They would not cover the cost of an OEM transmission, which I wanted as that came with a 60K mile GM warranty, so I paid the difference.

The best extended warranty I had purchased was on my '97 F150. At the time, when they offered the warranty, they stated if I never used the warranty they would refund 90% of the cost of the warranty. I showed up at the dealership, four years later, with the contract in hand and left with a check for the 90% without any hassle.

So I'm a bit of a believer and figure it's just a cost of owning a complicated/expensive piece of equipment that I do not have the expertise to fix.

[Bill George]

One thing I did do is purchase a app for my IPhone that with the proper adapter on my OB2 connector can read fault codes and much more. I had some sort of code on my 2014 Silverado and it told me which sensor was bad. Went to the dealer and purchased for 1/3 the cost of a hours labor and replaced, bingo cleared the code and I am done.

[John Lifer]

99% of the time the extended warranty is just money in the pocket for the seller. New Car? 100k and 5 year warranty? you have Zero need in an extended warranty. If you had saved that money, you could pay for ANY repair needed in 7 years after the extended warranty ends. BUT, I just paid for a 2 year warranty on a HF air compressor. I just don't trust 90 days to be enough.....

[Rich Engelhardt]

So, just out of curiosity (about how people handle this sort of major annoyance) what did you do for a refrigerator for those 4 months, considering that after the first attempted repair ended in failure, you now had, by then, an unreliable fridge.
You can lose a lot of food that way.
Anyway, as I said, just curious.

Thankfully - it was in late Winter and we had an enclosed porch.
We also went out and bought one of those small bar type refrigerators.
Since there's just my wife and myself, it was pretty easy to just cut back on what we normally stick in the refrigerator anyhow.

[Bill George]

99% of the time the extended warranty is just money in the pocket for the seller. New Car? 100k and 5 year warranty? you have Zero need in an extended warranty. If you had saved that money, you could pay for ANY repair needed in 7 years after the extended warranty ends. BUT, I just paid for a 2 year warranty on a HF air compressor. I just don't trust 90 days to be enough.....

You must not of priced out of warranty hourly rate at the Dealership and they are the ones with the tools and testers to do the job, not Joe down at the Amico station. When expensive parts could be at fault it starts at maybe $800 and never gets cheaper. I can do limited repairs and always maintained my own vehicle's, today is different. Your afraid they are making money?? They will make a H*** of a lot more when you bring it in for repairs and aside from that most ESW are a sales bonus when you go to sell.

[mike stenson]

The actual cost of the warranty is significantly less than what they charge for it. That's what he's referring to.

That is, you can get it for pennies on the dollar.

[Bill George]

The actual cost of the warranty is significantly less than what they charge for it. That's what he's referring to.

That is, you can get it for pennies on the dollar.

I don't understand what your saying? The extended warranty's come in different coverages and at different prices, never buy one from a after market mailing, only with the factory coverage. Its an insurance policy.

[Dave Lehnert]

I got an extended warranty with my last new suv purchase. Never had any luck with it covering anything. If a part was clearly covered they denied it because it was "dirty" Um. the reason the part goes bad.
Had a axial seal go bad. They covered it BUT......... It did not cover the cost of fluid and labor for the fluid exchange.
All the warranty ever did for me was having to wait an extra day for the warranty company to get back to the shop denying the claim.
I paid 2K for a 10 year power train warranty. Think it only covered about $200 in work. You know, just enough so I was unable to take advantage of the 50% refund if I never filed a claim.

My point. Just because you have a warranty, dont think it will be covered.

[Brian Elfert]

My point. Just because you have a warranty, dont think it will be covered.

I am guessing your warranty was aftermarket, not from the dealer? Some independent repair shops refuse to deal with extended warranty companies because of the extra time they take to deal with. Also, the extended warranty companies often pay an hourly rate that is lower than the shop normally charges, or they don't allow enough hours for the repair. Some shops will require the customer to pay and then let the customer deal with the warranty company. Other shops will require the customer to pay the difference between the warranty labor rate and the normal shop rate.

[Bill George]

I got an extended warranty with my last new suv purchase. Never had any luck with it covering anything. If a part was clearly covered they denied it because it was "dirty" Um. the reason the part goes bad.
Had a axial seal go bad. They covered it BUT......... It did not cover the cost of fluid and labor for the fluid exchange.
All the warranty ever did for me was having to wait an extra day for the warranty company to get back to the shop denying the claim.
I paid 2K for a 10 year power train warranty. Think it only covered about $200 in work. You know, just enough so I was unable to take advantage of the 50% refund if I never filed a claim.

My point. Just because you have a warranty, dont think it will be covered.

All the dealer/factory warrantees I purchased there was no need to go to the Warranty Company.... it was the dealer right there on the spot and they always paid. You must have purchased a aftermarket one... perhaps it came in the mail and was much cheaper?

[Jerome Stanek]

When I was shopping for a new pickup the dealer offered a extended warranty that was bumper to bumper. I asked if the bumper rusted was it covered they told me no. I asked if the antanna was covered they said yes it would only cost $200 to replace it. I went to the parts department and the antanna was less then $25 dollars, Needless to say I did not take that warranty

[Brian Elfert]

When I was shopping for a new pickup the dealer offered a extended warranty that was bumper to bumper. I asked if the bumper rusted was it covered they told me no. I asked if the antanna was covered they said yes it would only cost $200 to replace it. I went to the parts department and the antanna was less then $25 dollars, Needless to say I did not take that warranty

That $200 was probably parts and labor.

[Keegan Shields]

Extended warranties are sort of like casinos. Overall, the house always wins. If every customer came out ahead on extended warranties the companies would go bankrupt. (Some extended companies have gone bankrupt.)

If newer vehicles require more repairs due to electronics and so on the cost of the extended warranties will have to go up.

In fact, extended warranties are often the highest margin portion of the product.

[Jim Becker]

In fact, extended warranties are often the highest margin portion of the product.

My dealer's profit on my contract was about $300. But it absolutely is pure profit in that they just need to collect the money. The manufacturer is on the hook for any resulting costs from claims.