Hi, i recently purchased a gently used 2020 honda crv ex with 16500 miles at a Honda dealer. I admit i wasnt prepared for the final paperwork ansd was offered a 4 year extended warranty for $1400 and took it. I have another month to get it refunded.
Any advice on if i should keep the warranty? I have read online equally pro and con. It is a Honda based warranty, not 3rd party but with hondas general reliability…im not sure. Help!
I’ve never bought an extended warranty and never will.
Vehicles are least reliable it’s first 30k miles or so due to manufacturing problems…and after about 150k miles due to wear and tear. The extended warranty covers the period when a vehicle is MOST reliable. These are nothing more than a very expensive insurance policy. Very small percentage of people actually get back anywhere close to the money they spent for one of these policies.
The best extended warranty is to put the $1400 in the bank or some interest bearing account that way you will have the cash if it is needed for repairs if they are ever "MikeInNH, .
I’ve never bought an extended warranty and never will.
Also agree with Mike 100%.
Do you have the remainder of the original Honda warranty? If so no need for the extra $1,400 cost
Agree with all, those extended warranties are not worth it for you. They are great for the warranty company though!
I agree with @MikeInNH. There is a statistical distribution which describes a piece of equipment having a more likelihood of problems when the equipment is first put into service. Sixty years ago, the warranty offered by auto manufacturers was 90 days or 4000 miles. This took care of most of the problems due to defects in manufacturing. In 1963, Chrysler corporation on all its products extended the warranty to 5 years or 50,000 miles on the engine and drivetrain from 90 days or 4,000 miles. Chrysler corporation really didn’t change anything in its product, not did the five year 50,000 mile warranty cost them much over the 90 day 4,000 mile warranty as most of the manufacturing defects would show up in the first 90 days or 4,000 miles.
Selling extended warranties are a money maker for manufacturers. I don’t purchase extended warranties. I recently purchased a new battery powered mower. I turned down the extended warranty. The mower quit running after 10 minutes of use. I took it back to Lowes and it was replaced under the warranty that came with the mower. The manufacturing defect occured right away. I have put 20 hours on the replacement with no problems. I have had two flat screen televisions go bad in the standard warranty period. I did not opt for the extended warranty. Both sets were repaired both sets have been used many hours since the repairs were done.
The strangest warranty extension I was offered was on a vacuum cleaner. I had an upright vacuum cleaner for the carpets in the house. It cleaned the carpets well, but the suction provided through the adapter for the tools was poor. The upright was also clumsy to use for vacuuming the car. I was walking through Sears one day and saw a canister vacuum on sale for $19.95. When I asked about the vacuum cleaner, I was told that the tools (wands, upholstery brush, crevice tool, etc.) had been lost. All that $19.95 would purchase was the power unit and the hose. I bought the vacuum because I know the tools from my upright vacuum would work which they did. One week after I purchased this vacuum cleaner, I got a call from Sears. For only $20 a year for the next three years the warranty would be extended from the 90 day manufacturer’s warranty. I declined as the extended warranty cost more per year than my $19.95 original purchase.
Whether it’s an automobile or a vacuum cleaner, I don’t think extended warranties are worth it. I’ll take my chances that the problems will show up in the original warranty period.
I am going to go against the grain here. If this was a third-party “extended warranty”, I’d say to get rid of it. However, if this is backed by the manufacturer itself, similar to the Certified Pre-Owned warranty, I’d say the peace of mind is worth it.
When I bought my 2004 Corolla new, I opted for the Toyota Care extended warranty, and it paid for enough repairs to cover the cost. At the time, I was living in an apartment, so DIY repairs were not an option. I took my car to the dealer for all maintenance and repairs.
Now that I have a house, I DIY all the maintenance and most repairs. I would not bring a vehicle to a shop unless it needed something done that I could not do with the tools and equipment at my disposal.
Powertrain warranty only or more coverage? 4 years from now your vehicle will be 7 to 8 years old, I don’t believe any Honda has ever needed a repair during the first 8 years. Really? Keep in mind this vehicle has a turbocharged engine and a continuously variable transmission.
That is almost enough money to cover the cost of a water pump replacement. What about the rest of the vehicle?
Today I wrote an estimate to replace the cylinder head on a 2018 Lexus NX300: $12,000. This is a 4 cylinder turbocharged engine, worn exhaust valve guides causing misfires.
No sale. The powertrain warranty expired at 70,000 miles and the customer does not have an extended warranty.
Better not tell that to the guy who replaced his head gaskets in the driveway in an afternoon for $300!
To me…Peace of mind is knowing I didn’t waste money on an extended warranty. I calculated that I’ve saved THOUSANDS over the years by NOT buying an extended warranty.
I am going a different route here (not telling you what to do either way), I have seen some really good warranties and some that weren’t worth the paper they were printed on… Read over the warranty VERY, VERY good a couple of times, to see what all it covers…
Remember that it will not cover maintenance and normal wear items like tires and brake pads and rotors etc… Now think about your budget and if you will have the funds to pay for a $$$$ repair and still be able to eat… Some people have much more means then others and have emergency funds for break downs or just have $$$$ just sitting in the bank and or investments that they can pull from if needed, again not everyone has been that blessed in life…
So depending on your finances it might be a easier to pay for a GOOD warranty over a period of time while making car payments…
Now with that being said, keep in mind that warranty company’s are for profit and are in it to make money off of YOU… And statistically are going to win more then they loose…
So again depending on your situation, it might be much easier to make 60 payments of $24.00 a month (or whatever it ends of being) for a good warranty and piece of mind, or you could self insure yourself with any repairs and have the piece of mind that you saved that money…
But how can the OP actually tell the difference? That’s my problem - I imagine there are some good ones out there, but even reading the warranty, if they refuse to honor it, what then?
I’m guessing that for $1400 it was not a Honda-backed warranty. OP, was it? Edit-yep.
My daughters was and about the same price (Toyota Platinum), it even covers TPMS sensors… If one major thing goes wrong then it more then pays for itself, if nothing goes wrong then, well, money wasted… lol
The warranty will run out about the time she pays the car off, then she will put that money in savings of some kind and use it for break downs…
But while she was in college, well it was a piece of mind thing… But that is the only one I have ever bought…
It is a gamble either way (sometimes you win, sometimes you loose)… As I said, read it very, very good a couple of times… Pay close attention to the “your responsibility’s” part of it…
Missed that it was Honda backed. In that case I might keep it, even though I wouldn’t have bought it. But first, what, exactly, is covered in addition to the regular Honda warranty? Or is it a maintenance agreement?
It doesn’t matter if the warranty is good or not and they pay out everything they should in a timely matter. It’s still not worth it. The vast majority of people are just throwing their money away. I’m not going to be one of them
The vast majority of people are living paycheck to paycheck, not everyone has been as blessed as you and others have been…
Not having a warranty is being self insured, if you can afford it then the best thing is to not buy it… Same with garage liability, a small shop needs the insurance incase a of a major event like dropping a car off the lift etc, but if you have millions, then your shop can be self insured…
Thanks everyone for your input, helpful!
The warranty is valid up to 100K and 2027. It covers (if I’m reading is right, not easy!) Systems: Engine, transmisstion, axles, computer/electronics, air cond/heating, chassis, fuel system, fluids/oils, navigation systems, audio. Also powertrain coverage.
There is also Vehicle reimbursement and road hazard.
From what I can find, any repairs under warranty have to be done at a Honda dealer, so there is that limitation. Also, do you typically own your cars long enough for this to be important?
Oh yes, my last car was a 2006 Toyota matrix, bought it in '07 and drove it until now, 200k. NEVER had any issues with it until this year and knew it was time to get another car. I plan to drive my CRV as long or longer…
All the more reason to NOT spend money on an extended warranty.