Just got this certified pre-owned 2015 Civic EX, should I get extended manufacturer warranty? Does anyone have big problem after 36,000 miles? Or what’s thef worst nightmare of owning a 2015 Honda Civic EX?
Please clarify some things. . .
You bought this car from a Honda dealer?
You’re thinking about buying a genuine Honda extended warranty? . . . I’m asking because some service writers at new car dealerships WILL sell you an aftermarket extended warranty
I believe your car has very good predicted reliability, as per Consumer Reports
Have you already had the automatic transmission fluid serviced . . . it should be done every 25K, even if the service writer says otherwise
My mom has a 2014 Civic EX-L, same as yours, except better optioned. No problems so far.
I honestly think you’ll be wasting your money on that warranty. On a reliable car, it’s almost never worth it. You’d have to need a transmission repair, and even then it might be a wash. They are generally speaking massive profit generators for everybody involved . . . except you
3 Likes
How about figuring out the cost of the extended warranty and just putting that money in savings? There’s a better than average chance that you will need less than what you put away for repairs that would have been covered by the warranty. Warranties are gambling in which the warranty provider knows all the odds and makes all the money. Why not just bet on yourself?
If the monthly payment with and without the warranty is provided, just put the difference away. If you don’t have that, then you should be able to get the total cost of the warranty, divide by 24, 36, 48, or 60 months and put that much away for 2, 3, 4 or 5 years.
You don’t say… How many cars do you own?
I have a half dozen, for example, and it doesn’t make sense to buy any kind of warranty that would cover only one and a big waste of money to buy several. In that rare instance that something expensive, like a transmission, air-conditioner, etcetera goes belly-up it probably is only going to happen to one vehicle.
Better to save the money and self-insure.
Only one vehicle? I’d only consider a Genuine manufacturer’s provided extended warranty. These warranties are insurance policies that buy peace-of-mind. Do you worry that something will go wrong with the car and it will be expensive? Do you stay awake worrying about it? Then you need it.
CSA 
I generally don’t buy extended warranties. I figure that if I need one in order to have peace of mind, I’m buying the wrong vehicle. I’d much rather invest the $100-200 it costs to have my mechanic inspect the vehicle thoroughly before I make the purchase to make sure I’m getting something that is in good reliable condition.
Only you can weigh the value of peace of mind an extended warranty can give you and decide whether it is worth the cost. After all, that’s what you’re buying: privilege of not having to worry about needed repairs. It’s not as if you’re going to save money on an extended warranty. People almost never do.
I don’t believe any of those extended warranties are worth the cost. I was offered one on a new 2007 Toyota at $1800 for 4 years. During those years nothing happened to the car and the money would have been wasted. Cars like Toyotas and Hondas will run trouble free well beyond any of those packages offered.
With consumer products, I kept track of 12 items bought and priced all the extended warrantees over he period covered.
My out of pocket repairs were $115 (on 2 items) while the cost of all those programs would have been $1300!!! So a negative return on investment of 1130%!!!
Most posters here don’t endorse extended warrantees.
I have had good luck with some of the extended warranties that I purchased. They work great in some circumstances, but as others mention above, ONLY the Mfg’s ones, not 3rd party. However, I am pretty sure that the CPO Honda you just took home now has a 7-year, 100K mile powertrain warranty (from date of first registration). In addition, you also have a 12-month and 12K mile warranty that starts the day you buy a Honda CPO vehicle. So, you have bumper to bumper coverage through as many as 48K miles and then a drivetrain warranty till 100K. Given all of that extended coverage, it is hard to build a case that you need more. Here is a link to the brochure.
Never bought an extended warranty, and never will. They are way too expensive.
They only cover a vehicle from the end of the warranty period to 100k miles. That period is when the vehicle is the most reliable. For every one person who’s made a claim and got enough back to cover the cost there are probably 100 who lost. It’s a gamble…very expensive gamble.
Suppose you end up with a very costly repair…guess who is gonna pay.This is why you buy an extended warranty.
Why give money to them in case the car breaks?
Why not give it to yourself in case the car breaks… put it in a separate account and call it the “warranty account”.
If you give it to them and nothing breaks, it’s gone.
If you put it in the bank and nothing breaks, it’s still YOURS!
Truth is, these extended warranty accounts cover the period of ownership when the vehicle is least likely to have a problem, and they don’t “normal wear” items like brakes and clutches and tires.
There is a period in a new cars life where IF there’s a design or manufacturing problem the probability of it showing up is the highest. That period is covered by the normal new car warranty that comes with the car. Beyond that period, the likelihood of something failing drops to a very low level. Then, eventually, as the car ages, past the period of the extended warranty, it slowly begins to climb again. The curve is shaped like a bathtub, so it’s called by engineers the “bathtub curve”. Yup, the game is rigged.
I would almost put that estimate as too low. When you consider the number of people who go to auto forums that don’t realize their vehicle is still in the warranty period.
Sorry, Corolla Guy but extended warranties only exist to make money for the insurer .
And the chances of that happening is extremely low. In over 40 years of car ownership I’ve only owned ONE vehicle that I might have been able to make a claim on an extended warranty (1973 Chevy Vega).
Since buying new cars in the late 80’s - I’ve never had any failure on any vehicle from 12k miles (average warranty period) to well past 100k miles. We’ve saved ourselves THOUSANDS of dollars by not buying one. I don’t like wasting money…and extended warranties are a HUGE waste.
Thanks for the laugh, Mike.
Yeah, that one would have bankrupted the extended warranty industry!
But I loved my Vega… when it was running right… not so much when the axle came off! 
Part of my job in the past has been risk analysis and reliability engineering. As pointed out, most posters here believe these large repairs are extremely rare with reputable vehicles, and therefore the warranty company is the big winner.
However, I will postulate a case FOR buying one of those.
- Start by buying a car with a poor reputation for major component failure.
- Do only very minimal maintenance at shops with questionable reputations.
- Have a very sloppy family with poor driving habits. Don’t check oil and coolant frequently.
Under such circumstances, an extended car warranty might pay off.
Years ago I was shopping for a microwave at Sears. The model on sale had the new, unproven touch pad controls. The salesman strongly advised an extended warranty because the touch pads were prone to early failure; he himself had already replaced two on his family’s micro wave. I thanked him and bought a Toshiba restaurant model, with a dial control, elsewhere and it lasted 22 years!
If I HAD to buy, say, a Chinese car, I might be persuaded to add the extended warranty. Same with unproven technology that has been rushed into production.
I always buy travel medical and accident insurance, because the probability of getting sick or being hurt is very real.
Make sure #1 it is a manufacturer warranty, see what is covered, If a $500 repair is going to ruin your life and you can roll it into the loan for an affordable amount, possibly. How much will it cost and what is the time/mileage allowance, and how many miles a year do you typically put on?
The microwave oven at our northern location, in the main kitchen, a Litton 500, has been in continuous use every day (until just recently when it retired to part-time status) since I purchased it for $419 big 1979 dollars! It has a dial for “temperature” and a dial for the timer, not touch panel. I’m fairly conservative and have no plans to replace it.
CSA
People offer me extended warranties all the time on purchases. I always put my most puzzled face on and exclaim “you mean these things are prone to failure”? I just like to watch salesmen dance. I’ll probably pay for it when I meet my maker. 
1 Like
I can understand why you do that but I don’t. I just try and deny the offer politely because I know that if the poor clerk or salesperson is observed not making that pitch they have to answer to someone.
Not vehicle related but the now gone Circuit City electronics had weekly meeting and stressed selling the service warranties.
1 Like
I recently read that they’re thinking of relaunching Circuit City . . .
Presuming you’ve got the 1.8 L 4 banger, and an automatic transmission, these are probably your worse case scenarios …
- transmission problems could run $2-3 thousand
- if engine runs out of oil, $4-6 thousand
- timing chain/cover problems, $500-700
- AC problems, $1000 to $2000
If you drive your car gently and keep all the routine maintenance on schedule, you’ll be unlikely to have any of those problems in the next 10 years or 150,000 miles imo.