I bought a 2002 Acura tls, there are some alarming lights that appeared recently. There’s an exclamation point, the vsa light and a check engine light. The car has 145,000 miles on it. I’ve been reading they have transmission issues. Should I buy an extended warranty? And if so, what are some reputable companies who won’t try to rip me off. I love the way this car drives and want to keep it as long as possible.
I would not recommend any non-Acura warranty companies, the industry is too full of scammers. You need to get the codes read at a car parts store, let us know what they are.
The general consensus is that those extended warranties are expensive frills and unnecessary. I would put the $ in my savings account instead.
Accordion
I agree 110% with Texases. You’ll likely get canned into giving a huge chunk of meny to one of these companies and they’ll then have the car checked out and refuse to pay for it as it’s a “pre-existing condition”.
You want to save money and you are hoping that if you buy that extended warranty, it will cost you less than you will pay. However remember what you are looking at is really not a warranty, but an insurance policy being sold to you at a price higher than they expect your car to need. They are pros at figuring out how much they might pay out. (I was once offered the job of figuring that stuff out. (that’s what econ majors end up doing…
Don't expect that you will be in the 5% group that actually saves money on one of those deals.Dunno what the ! could mean. Don’t think TPMS came on many cars before 2005~7.
Go to Autozone, advance auto or the like and have them read the CEL for you, then post back the codes they give you; we’ll be better able to help you from there.
These products are not warranties. They are pre-paid repair insurance policies, sold on 50% commission. Put the monthly premium in your own bank account instead of theirs…
As I see it, the problems for the OP are as follows:
Although the ONLY extended warranties that are acceptable risks are the ones issued by vehicle manufacturers, the time period when Honda/Acura would have sold an extended warranty for this vehicle expired…at least…5 years ago.
That leaves the OP with extended warranties from aftermarket companies, and paying for one of those policies is essentially the same thing as flushing your money down the toilet. The aftermarket extended warranties come with so many loopholes that the chance of getting anything more than 10% reimbusement for repairs is…extremely unlikely. In fact, most of these companies have the disturbing tendency to go out of business after a year or so, thus leaving their so-called “policy holders” holding the bag for repairs after losing ALL of the money that they spent on the policy.
Yes, these models have transmission issues, unfortunately.
You should begin saving money, in a special account, for car-related expenses.
You don’t seem to know what those warning lights mean. This should not be a mystery, as your Owner’s Manual will explain what the various warning lights actually mean.
Did you get an Owner’s Manual with this car?
If not, that is a bad sign.
If you did get one, you need to begin referring to it.
The OP needs to have the stored trouble codes read (free-of-charge) by an auto parts retailer. Then, he/she can come back to this thread, post the codes, and see if we have further advice, based on those codes. In the meantime, I suggest that the OP use the “Mechanics Files” tab at the top of the page to locate recommended independent mechanics in his/her area. It appears that you will be needing a reliable and honest mechanic.
Pass on the extended warranty. Put the money in the bank until you need it for repairs.
145k miles, 2002 mean an very expensive warranty that covers very little. The reputable ones don’t cover it.