Does anyone have any experience of this? My Mini Cooper maintenance warranty has expired (it was great while it lasted, I even got free brake pads). I can extend for another 60,000 miles if I pay $1800. I did a quick search and found I could get an additional 100,000 warranty from AAAutoWarranty.com for about $800. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) of purchasing extended warranties?
Thanks all!
These things are known as “profit generators,” because that’s primarily what they are. Suppose you pay $1,800 up front and never need anything covered by the warranty?
Buy the way, if you READ the extended warranty you will be amazed how much is NOT covered. Put the money in the bank. You’ll be much better off in the long run.
Also note that what AAAutowarranty covers is probably less than what the BMW warranty covers. It is up to you to determine the economics, but read the fine print very carefully.
There are a few folks who have success stories to share, but most never recover their purchase price – or anything close to it. My advice is to pass it up.
Thanks all. Sounds like sound advice.
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 $500 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
As others have advised, extended warranties are better for the seller and the insurer than for the customer.
Put the $1,800 into a money market account. If you need money for repairs beyond normal servicing and wear and tear, draw from the account to pay for them. Chances are you will still have your $1,800, plus interest, on the day the extended warranty would have expired.
why not simply take the monies for ext. warranties, put in bank. Should any problem occur, use those monies, if not ,you’ll have a nice savings account
Money in the bank is better. There are no refunds if the car gets totalled out, stolen or you get tired of driving it when the perfect car is made and you want to trade it.
Consider what “Consumer Reports” says about the model for the past years. An American car might need you to protect it with an extended warranty becuse there could be maga problems before 60,000 miles…the ‘break point’. Foreign made Toyota go much futher…however…parts are expensive.
My advice…I have a local Credit Union that offers extended warranties if purchased before 2 years of age…or under 23,000 miles. I did & I benefited!!!
My recommendation…consider what you have purchased…do not buy extended warranty from a dealership!
i have had extened warranty in the past the are good to have but i would check with my car insurance compy. it would save you momey.and it will cover many parts with no dect,and can cover to 100,000 with unlimated miles which is nice.
You answer implies that CU recommends extended warranties for “American” cars and not imports. This is not true. Furthermore, the decision would better be made model by model rather then the location of the company’s headquarters. Few people will be served by extended warranties due to reasons already given.
I bought a car with a transferable extended warranty. I found it difficult to get the local dealer to fix the stuff that I found worn out.
I have often seen the advice that this or that car should have an extended warranty because they have more problems. While on the surface that sounds logical, but insurance companies also know that some cars have more or more expensive problems than others.
Insurance companies are not in the business to loose money and they hire a lot of people like me to evaluate their risk and reduce it to assure profit. If a car is a high risk, they will reduce that risk by exempting those expensive or common problems or increase the cost to the customer.I had purchased a mazda extended warranty from mazda by mazda. When the transmission went out I had 2 months and 3000 miles left. Mazda found the problem and then the warranty people, who were third party, said mazda had to prove it and didnt want to pay. Took Mazda 4 weeks to convince their own warranty people that trans was bad. It involved the mazda home office, the area rep and their own service shop to get their own waranty to be honored. I got my money worth but unbelievable headaches. I will only go with manufacturer warranty. I’ll trade out cars when major problems arise.
Ok, guys, a little grammar/spelling/vocabulary lesson here. This is driving me nuts when I read the posts.
Loose: not tight. To be used concerning ropes, clothing and women.
Lose: Not win, forfeit, misplace. To be used concerning glasses, weight and MONEY.
Please, choose the right word. Yes, I know I am a twit, but I resisted as long as I could.
i purchased an extended warranty to cover my new toyota truck in long beach calif. at the dealer where i purchased the truck…6 mos. later i went back to have some work done on warranty and there was a new toyota agency there…they said the former agency was in a “cigar box”…have you ever tryied to squeeze blood out of a cigar box?
Cigar box in the yard of the former company owner. He took your money and ran.
I think what a lot of the salesmen do is say something along the lines of “oh it’s only $10 more a month on your payments”, so the sucker, I mean buyer, thinks “what’s $10 anymore” and says OK. Buddy at work bought a used '05 Caravan and said he got the extended warranty on it for $1800 I think he said. And he used that formula, it’s only like $10 more a month. I laughed at him when he said that. He also said that he knows how much a new transmission costs if he needs one. I told him he shoulda thrown that $1800 into the bank and let it grow interest and he could use it for the repair.
On these extended warranties, read, read, read, the fine prints. Not all that they claim is on warranty when the time to use the warranty there is a clause that states you are not coverred. When my Silverado dually normal warranty exp. the dealer send me a note to renew the warranty. I opted not to take it, 65,000 miles and 2yrs ago. I have had no use for it I saved $2,300. I have replaced tires, brakes, change trans fluid twice, had truk tuned up twice and still have saved more than $1,200. Which are still in the Bank for future repairs…The rest was used to buy tires ect.ect…IN a way I See it as the dealer would have payed for these. I sold myself the ext Warranty.
Well, I believe from a professional standpoint if you buy a Chrlsyer vehicle buy a Chrysler contract, if you buy a GM vehicle buy a GM contract, etc…etc…etc… However, if you are like most people and don’t believe in performing maintenance the way the manufacturer recommends than NO don’t waste your money on any contract.
It does nothing but piss you off and give me a headache!!!
However, if you are like most people and don’t believe in performing maintenance the way the manufacturer recommends than NO don’t waste your money on any contract.
I believe in performing the recommended maintenance at the recommended time, and still don’t believe in buying a contract. I figure if I put that money I would have used for the contract into a CD, stocks, or even my 401k, I’d be GETTING interest on it instead of paying it.