Buying a Subaru Forester. Offered a warranty for hundreds of parts called “Added Security.” It’s for 7 years or 70,000 miles. $1,200. Anyone have direct experience?
Erm.
Who’s offering the warranty?
We need details about the specific warranty you’re offered to render any sort of useful opinion.
I have owned two Subarus, and I have paid only $350 (wheel bearings) total for repairs at the 70K mark for either car. This is expensive added security unless you get a lemon. I don’t recall needing brake pad replacement until later, either. Properly maintained Subarus go a long ways before needed repairs, in my experience.
My total repair costs on two Subarus, with an aggregate of over 170,000 miles, were about $800.00 (~ $200 for one of them, and ~ $600 for the other one). That should give you a fairly good idea about the need to spend $1,200 for an extended warranty on your new vehicle.
If this extended warranty is from an “aftermarket” company, you should most definitely not waste your money, as these policies rarely pay claims. If this extended warranty is from the vehicle manufacturer, at least they will pay claims, but if my experience is any indication, you will spend more for this coverage than what your actual repair costs would be likely to be.
If you really want to ensure a long, repair-free life for the Forester, you should do three things:
Maintain it better than is required by the manufacturer.
NEVER take it to a “quick-lube” place.
Rotate the tires every 7,500 miles, and never run the car with “mis-matched” tires, as this will prevent expensive damage to the AWD system. That type of damage would not be covered by any warranty, as it constitutes owner negligence.
It’s a profit generator for the dealer, nothing more. Save your money.
There is one thing certain. It will cost you $1,200 and likely at least $600 of that will go directly to the dealer and the rest to an insurance company who will pay out something like $300 on average. So you would be paying $1,200 for $300 worth of average return.
So the question is comfort knowing at least something is covered worth $900? Frankly there are hundreds of parts on your car that on average only fail in 1 out of many thousands of cars.Don’t consider it if not backed by Subaru. There are aftermarket warranty’s and a disaster.
You are basically betting between 3yr/36,000(included) to 7yrs/70,000 miles(extra) you might have a repair not already covered by the 5yr/60,000 powertrain warranty(included). The odds are far against you will recover anything.
Remember these things are highly marked up hence negotiable. I believe you can typically get 8yrs/100k for that price with negotiation.
I should have mentioned that “Added Security” is a plan offered by Subaru. It pays for towing and a rental car, $500 trip interruption, road hazzard tire protection. The list of parts seems extensive–several hundred.
The benefits you mentioned are also covered by AAA packages, plus you get all sorts of discounts at places that sometimes have only a loose connection to vehicles - - I got $150 off my last pair of glasses because of them, for instance.
And it’s only something like $100/year for the premium packages.