We’re buying a 2003 Passat GLX 4Motion sedan – auto trans – with 83K from a VW dealer (Minuteman in Bedford MA). The car checks out as a single owner, very clean, and well maintained vehicle. Felt great on the test drive. No whines, no shimmies, no thumps. Getting a great price. It’s for my son who’s a senior in high school and who will put relatively low miles on it. Perhaps most important with these cars, it’s already had the timing belt and water pump replaced (a must by 80K). All that said, we’ve been offered a two-year/24K extended warranty for $1300 by dealer. We’re leaning against taking it but would love to get some other opinions. Thanks!
Well any car can have major expensive repairs.
The profit to the salesman and company is usually over 50%. So for every $1,000 you spend the insurance company has less than $500 to pay for repairs or they will loose money, something insurance companies do not do. Some peop;le will get nothing back and some will get a lot more than they pay. Most will get far less. In addition you need to keep in mind that the insurer has worded it to eliminate as many expensive things as they can.
Remember that the seller is out to make money and they get to write the rules and set the price. They are not going to sell them at a loss so one way or another they are going to have you pay more than they will pay out.
Would you gamble with a car dealer who gets to set all the rules and knows all the odds?
Your decision has to do with the value of the piece of mind it gives you. If that is worth the cost then buy it. Don't expect it to cover everything however, most are written to keep cost down and exempt what they know will cost them money.
Good Luck
Thanks for your insights. They’re very useful. I will read the warranty carefully, but I suspect that you’re on the mark in terms of not actually covering the things you’d want. And I’m thinking that if I put the $1300 away, it will earn some interest and will likely cover the majority of repairs we may need to do over the life of the warranty.
Happy New Year!
For a VW, it might not be a bad idea, if it covers a lot of things and you don’t have a deductible. If you decide to buy it, offer them $750 for it
Agree with bscar, it may be worth the money. VW’s tend to have issues and this one has 83K miles and is 7 years old. The likelihood of a major repair is not that remote in a VW of this age and miles. The AWD parts for the 4 matic are expensive and lots of VW’s seem to need new auto transmissions at this point in their lives. It is a gamble but my daughter just put a new transmission on their '04 Jetta. Read the fine print, if you think the insurer will honor a claim I’d go for it.