2015 VW Diesel Extended Warranty?

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

I am a proud and excited owner of a copper colored 2015 VW Diesel and I absolutely love it! It presently has only 2700 miles on it and I’ve driven to NYC and back. The mileage is phenomenal for city and highway of 42-45 miles per gallon and gas here in Cleveland, OH is lately, yesterday, $277.9. Wahoo!

So now I have a dilemma that I could use some out input on. I have always owned Toyotas all my life. I have a 1987 Camry that was wonderful. Then a 2002 Solara Convertible that I sold to my brother in law last September with 150,000 miles on it.

My wife has been driving and loving her 2013 Diesel VW Bug Manual transmission. And so I bought mine in automatic about 5 weeks ago.

The car is all paid up as of yesterday. I drive about 20 miles a day to work and errands. I can buy an extended warranty for $2364.00 right now and that is a “Platinum” coverage plan for 7 years. It says in the pamphlet that it covers Everything except:

brake linings, brake drums and rotors, disc brake pads, standard transmission clutch components, air bags, solar powered devices, hinges, glass, lenses, sealed beams, body parts, trim, moldings, door handles, lock cylinders, tires, wheels, batteries, upholstery, paint, bring metal, freeze plugs, heater and radiator hoses, exhaust systems, shock absorbers, front end alignment, wheel balancing, joint boots, convertible tops.

Fidelity Warranty Services, Inc. is the Vehicle Protection company.

Should I do this? I can kind of afford it. My last 2002 Solara I kept for 13 years and I do intend to keep this one indefinitely.

2

Most of the regular members here do not like extended warranties . If it is not backed by Volkswagen than I would say don’t buy it.

3

No, you should not buy this.

Instead of giving away your money to them IN CASE you have a problem, put it in a separate bank account and call it “my extended warranty”. That way, you’ll be “covered” if you have a problem and still have the money if you don’t. And, as a bonus, should you need the “coverage” you won’t have to fight to get it!

These extended warrantees are scams. Any manufacturing or design issues will show up during the break in period, when a car is still covered by the manufacturer. Old age problems don’t show up until the car becomes old and high mileage. That period between is for most vehicles extremely reliable. The likelihood of and major failure not normal wear related (the only ones covered by the warrantee) is extremely small. If anything does fail, it’ll be far less expensive than the cost of the warrantee, the money you have already sent them. It is that period that the warrantee covers.

Don’t give them your money. Bank it.

4

“Fidelity Warranty Services, Inc. is the Vehicle Protection company.”

Although I normally advise against extended vehicle warranties, one might be a good idea on a VW, given their…aging…problems after 4 years or so.

However, the ONLY extended warranty that you should consider is one from VW of America. Extended warranties from aftermarket companies have a strange way of becoming worthless due to…
…a huge number of them dissolving their corporate entity after a couple of years and disappearing with your money
…“weasel clauses” that allow them to avoid paying for most claims, and–even if they do pay-- reimbursing owners for only a very small percentage of the actual costs.

5

One more ‘no’ vote. A factory-backed warranty, while expensive insurance, at least has the company behind it. There are MANY cases where 3rd-party insurance policies like this proved to be worthless, either when the company disappeared or refused coverage. I have no knowledge of ‘Fidelity Warranty Services, Inc.’, but their industry has a TERRIBLE history of defrauding purchasers.

6

+1 to TSM. Put the money aside in a CD or something getting more than the .0001% the banks are giving and use that as your warranty fund. You will be ahead of the game.

7

Volkswagens don’t age well compared to Toyotas. After 5 years or so you will have many more repairs with a VW and those will not likely covered completely by a purchased extended warranty.

I’m with the others; don’t buy the warranty, put the money in the bank and very carefully maintain both VWs. If you intend to keep them as long as your Toyotas, drive them until the first really big repair and then simply scrap them.

If this sounds harsh, that’s the experience of many VW owners in North America. In low wage countries like Brazil they just keep rebuilding them, a policy that does not work in the US.

8

“Put the money aside in a CD or something getting more than the .0001% the banks are giving .”

The bank on the corner is almost surely paying that paltry rate of interest.
However, there are much higher-yielding legitimate alternatives which are also FDIC-insured.
I am constantly amazed by how few people realize that they could be getting much higher interest rates if they just searched a little harder.

Rather than posting that bank information here and taking this thread into a non-automotive realm, anyone interested in this information can send me a private message and I will be glad to provide it.

9

Are you looking for the smartest financial choice or are you willing to pay for peace of mind about future unexpected expenses? From the numbers I’ve seen, I’d say that on average extended warranties might pay out half of the cost. Although some people do come out ahead, that means that the majority of buyers do not.

If you still want one anyway for the peace of mind, realizing that it’s an expensive proposition, then stick with one from the manufacturer. As others have said, third-party warranties tend to have lots of issues if you actually need to make a claim.

This topic has been discussed to death here, so please find and read all of the previous discussions.

10

‘’ there oughta be a law’’ concerning the use of the word…’‘warranty’’.
Because without a discussion like you get here…99 % of the general public is completely FOOLED by these insuarnce companies’ abuse of that word.
– if they were selling a ‘‘future repair insurance policy’’…how many would they sell ?
THOSE buyers would surely read the policy restrictions and limitations first.

But , hey, use the word ‘warranty’ and it suddenly sounds all inclusive and manufacturer authorized too !
GOTCHA !
The buyers of these policies rarely read the limitations and never see it comming…
The huge deductable…
The low labor rate caps…
The low labor time caps…
The numerous conditions of routine mantainence that must be met…
The numerous conditions of malfunction NOT covered…
The related damages NOT covered…
The fact that 90% of dealer and indy repair shops do NOT just blindly accept any of these …
That YOU must first pay out the grand total to the repair shop…then HOPE for reimbursement that even begins to come close to that total.

shall I go on ?

11

Extended warranties are worthless for the most part. Put the money in the bank for any future repairs. That’s the best course of action. Besides…extended warranties cover very little in the way of automotive repairs…just so you know.

12

Keep your money. It would likely not be spent on repairs anyway. I suggest that you read the maintenance guide for your Cabriolet and follow it to the letter. If you do, repairs are much less likely.

13

What is the included warrenty?

14

Good question Barky.
What -IS- the VW warranty now ?
Does VW have thier extended warranty if you feel so inclined ?
What is the general history of these cars ? Does it seem as though you should ? or not ?

15

After reading some reviews of the non factory warranty I say pass. If you can get a vw warranty go for it but skip the one offered.

16

I’d say no. It’s true VW’s don’t have quite as good of reliability rating as they age, but what tends to break are mostly things that are excluded in the warranty. The VW diesel engine seems to be generally reliable overall, seems to have better ratings than their gas engine. For a diesel, the thing I’d most worry about is the fuel injection pump. So me, beside keeping all the recommended maintenance up to date, I’d save my money by not buying the warranty, and use it to fix the injection pump when it goes south.

17

Diesel engines are far more complicated today that they were 7-10 years ago, especially with the fairly recent inclusion of systems that service the emission system and require an additive every 10,000-20,000 miles. I work with a German manufacturer that produces diesel engines and I see more and more oil leaks being created by high internal pressure, different cooling rates of metals, and the failing of emission control devices such as lambda probes/oxygen sensors/fuel pre-heaters. I personally recommend an extended warranty that will cover these types of failures AFTER the manufacturer new car warranty expires and for a long enough duration for it to be a good return on your financial investment. Most major problems are not going to surface during the 1st 5 years/60,000 miles, but as the vehicle starts to get to stage 2 in it’s life. And chances are, any failures just after the expiration of the new car warranty will probably be handled by the manufacturer if you have been servicing the vehicle properly and taking it to the dealership for routine scheduled services. The manufacturer has a vested interest in you. They want you to continue buying their product and saying good things about them. That being said, if you do decide to purchase an extended warranty , read the contract wording carefully. A lot of extended warranties do not cover replacement of seals and gaskets unless it is related to a covered component. A good contract will. Think of an extended warranty as an insurance policy. Sorry to be so wordy.

18

If you ever listen to the money coach, Clark Howard of radio & TV fame, or stream him at clarkhoward.com, you will hear him say to ONLY BUY AN EXTENDED AUTO WARRANTY from the manufacturer, not from a 3rd party, that usually turn out not worth the paper they are written on. I’d put that money in the bank and add to it as you can, which may cover any repairs that might come up. I believe that you have a long enough manufacturers warranty on it to begin with.

19
If you ever listen to the money coach, Clark Howard of radio & TV fame, or stream him at clarkhoward.com, you will hear him say to ONLY BUY AN EXTENDED AUTO WARRANTY from the manufacturer, not from a 3rd party, that usually turn out not worth the paper they are written on.

Any one who says you should buy extended warranty - either dealer or not…I turn off. While manufacturer warranties should better…they still should be avoided. They are a huge profit maker for the dealer…and very very very few people ever get back what they paid in.

20

The_same_mountainbike worded it very well (as did others).
Buying this warranty would be a foolish financial move. Put that $2364.00 in a bank and go enjoy your vehicle.

I just did a quick search for Fidelity Warranty Services. There seem to be many who have filed complaints against them. Here’s one at:
http://www.bbb.org/south-east-florida/business-reviews/auto-warranty-plans/fidelity-warranty-services-in-deerfield-beach-fl-25000717/complaints