I just bought a 2014 Acura MDX and bought extended warranties. What is the general feelings on buying extended warranties? I believe that the 2014 MDX is a new model so it might be good to have??? I bought the gap insurance, Windshield Protection, Acura Care, and This Select Vehicle Coverage for dents and tire/rims. I read where I have 30 days to fully cancel the dents and tire/rims coverage which cost like $2,000. Do you think I should?
Unless you plan on hitting a lot of stuff, yeah, I’d cancel the dents/rims coverage. My Acura is an '07. It has 0 dents on it, and I don’t take anal-retentive care of it in the form of parking a county over at the store, etc.
The windshield protection is probably already covered at 0 deductible by your comprehensive insurance.
I don’t know what “Acura Care” is.
Here’s the scoop on extended warranties: They’re pure profit for the dealership.
Now here’s the trick: A clear bra costs the dealership a few bucks to install, and provides actual, real paint protection from grit and stones that get kicked up on the road.
I’ve never yet failed to get a dealership to throw in a clear bra for $1 if I buy the extended warranty. The best part is that generally the extended warranty is around $1500, and the clearbra is at least that much, and sometimes 2 grand. So, sure, I’ll buy that extended warranty for $1,500 and the Clear Bra for $1. I get $499 knocked off the price of the Clear Bra, and the dealership gets to chalk another extended warranty sale up on its whiteboard. It’s a win for both parties. And who knows - something might actually break and I’ll get to use that warranty.
Of course, you’re past the point of being able to negotiate this now, but keep it in mind for the next car you buy.
Not worth it to me, you just bought one if the most reliable brands out there.
As a general rule anything they sell you at closing is generally worth much less than the price. That’s where the dealer makes much/most of their profits.
I’ve never bought an extended warranty, but my mother has, and there always seems to be some loophole that keeps a needed repair from being covered.
If your car is so unreliable that it needs an extended warranty, you might have bought the wrong car. I’ve bought three vehicles in my lifetime, a new car, a new motorcycle, and a used motorcycle. An extended warranty on any of them would have been a complete waste of money.
Gap insurance on any of my vehicles would also have been a complete waste of money. Again, if your car is so bad that it depreciates quickly, you might have bought the wrong car. I put $500 down on my car, and I fully financed both motorcycles. I also tracked their values over time. Except for when I first owned the car, I never owed more than the vehicles were worth.
I take care of my things. An ounce of prevention…
Whether you should cancel the part that you can cancel depends on how you drive and whether having that coverage helps you sleep at night.
You don’t need that tire/rim package, as it should be part of your coverage already. The dealership where we bought our car try to sell us the same thing too, and it was supposed to be part of the package (they try to sell us the extended one). Just be careful of those pot holes and don’t park too close to the curb. You can choose to buy extended once your current one is about to expire in 2017
We have this newer insurance policy (third party, called Ultima risk solution) in Canada where they will cover the cost of any deductible as long its not your fault, unlimited (windshield crack on highway, dents in parking lot, smashed window), fixing your car with OEM (not aftermarket) parts, and total replacement of your car if the it’s totaled (in cash or new car at equal value. It sounds like a good deal but the upfront cost is pretty high
For some reason, it will not let me post when I have link inside, sorry for any double posting
NO!
You’ve just been “taken”. Extended warrantees a ripoff. Write it off as the cost of an education.
You’re betting that you’ll have a failure beyond the manufacturer’s warranty period and within the extended warranty period of something that the warranty covers and that costs much more than $2,000. The warranty carrier is betting you won’t. The odds are in his favor by a longshot. Especially on an Acura.
In future, if you prefer to have some additional security, you’d be much better off to put the money in a separate bank account and call it “my extended warranty account”. That way, if something happens, you’ll have the money to cover it. It it doesn’t, you’ll still have the money. Having bought the extended warranty, the money is now in the seller’s bank account and if no catastrophic failure happens, you’ll never see a dime of it again. And if something DOES happen, you’ll probably have to fight him to get it covered!
But, we all make mistakes. That’s how we learn.
Enjoy your new Acura. They’re great cars.
My neighbor’s wife has an Acura MDX, bought 7 years ago. She now has her first repair, a new battery. This car has been bullet-proof so far and an extended warranty would have been a pure wast of money!
My general feeling is, whatever helps you to sleep at night. From an economic point of view, they usually do not pay off, but then neither do the slot machines at the casino. FYI, most advice here is based on outdated information.
Car dealers used to sell independent, aka third party, warrantee policies. These were always full of loopholes and not worth the paper they were written on. Today, the factories are in the game so these are full factory backed warrantees, but the odds are, you will need less repairs than the cost of the warrantee. Therefore both the dealer and the factory make a little more money. If you were a good negotiator for the price of the vehicle, then there is a chance that the dealer made more money off the warrantee sales than the car sale.
You should check with your insurance agent as some of the things that you are buying a warrantee for may be covered by the insurance policy that you are also paying for. Drop anything that is a duplication. I don’t know if those fragile factory alloy wheels are covered by your insurance if you hit a pothole, but your windshield should be covered.
I bought the extended warranty for my Toyota Matrix, but I talked them down to 1/2 the initial price.
At that price I thought it was worth it for the roadside assistance since I go on long road trips once or twice a year.
Never had to use it in those 7 years, thankfully.
No…and my reason is this: I used to work for a large RV dealership that sold motor homes and we also sold “extended warranties” to nearly every customer. My boss, the owner, called extended warranties “free money.” That was because the salesman got a 3rd of the cost, the dealership a 3rd and the warranty company got the final 3rd. That doesn’t leave very much in the way of coverage. The way the extended warranties were written…very little, if any, was ever paid out if the RV had a problem.
I read in Consumer Reports that the average extended warranty returns to the buyer $0.12 for every dollar it costs. I had Sears offer to extend the warranty on a microwave for $60. The microwave cost $56.
rbenavides01 wrote:
I believe that the 2014 MDX is a new model so it might be good to have???
The company offering the warranty also knows that it’s a new model. Do you think they’ve priced the warranty so that they lose money on new models?
You didn’t really need any of that stuff but you helped the economy by thousands. The only extra we put on was the winter floor mats for about $150. You have to figure that the normal warranty is 4 years 50K, and the powertrain extends the main mechanisms to about 70K. Plus the emissions warranty of 70-80K cover a lot of other issues like cat converters. So your extended coverage really only covers an extra 20-50K. On the other hand if it makes you feel better, no problem, same as vacations that are gone in no time for the money. There is also the chance of a high priced electronic or other device that could go out and be covered. So if you plan to keep it for 100K or so, up to you. Keep it waxed and polished. Oil changes at 5K and trans at 30K etc.
I am against the grain, I have bought extended warranties for my new cars, probably at a loss for cost but having now worries while on a skinny budget was wort the price to me. Last one was I think $1300. It insured I would not have any major repairs while being skinny on $ due to car payments. If you are a high mileage driver it probably does not make sense, but we put 10k per year on vehicles, so I could justify it.
The majority of people loose money on any insurance policy, and I consider extended warranty an insurance policy. 25 years of house insurance and never a claim, $2500 claim for damage to another car on auto for the last 25 years. $3180 wasted on homeowners, and 13 grand wasted on auto ins, if you consider the numbers.
For 120k look at acura care, sounds good to me depending on your miles per year, but as others I would pass on the tire and body. http://www.curryacuracare.com/
Though I did not see a time, only up to 120k, things covered. http://www.curryacuracare.com/coverage.cfm
If you have three teenage drivers, all vying for the use of your Acura and it’s out 24/7, bouncing from one hand to another, and, you live in downtown Boston where traffic signs are suggestions, you just may consider keeping it. For the vast majority, these warranties make little sense except to the car dealer.
An extended warranty is actually an insurance policy. In my own case, I want to be insured against financial disaster. The issue then is what is considered financial disaster?
I carry liability insurance with a high limit because if I am charged with an accident it will protect me against financial ruin. However, when I have had an older car, I dropped the collision because I could replace the car and write the loss off my taxes. When I was a graduate student and money was tight, I knew we needed health insurance. I finally found an affordable policy with $1000 deductible. I knew I could come up with $1000 if needed, but I wanted to be covered for an expensive medical bill.
My 2011 Sienna is now off factory warranty since it has 50,000 miles on the odometer. If the engine blows, I could come up with the money for a new engine. I probably won’t have to replace the engine, so I will probably save money not having purchased the extended warranty.
Sometimes factory warranties cover more than one expects. I bought a second flat screen television set for a little over $250. I didn’t buy the extended warranty, so I just had the factory warranty. Without the extended warranty, the terms of the factory warranty stated that I would have to ship the television to a factory service station at my expense. The set would then be repaired and shipped back at no cost to me. The television developed a problem during the warranty period and I called the number on the warranty for authorization to send the set to the service center. I was told that a technician would be sent to my house. This was great. The technician arrived at the appointed time, had the proper circuit board to repair the set and had it going in 10 minutes. He stayed another half an hour playing with our dog. In this case, the extended warranty would not have given me any better service.
Acura Care can be purchased after the fact up to 50,000 miles on the odometer. If you go to an Acura dealer claims get handled just like the factory warranty, any other shop and they need to get approval and still must use factory parts. Usually not needed on such a reliable car since some of the other benefits you can get from AAA for much less. Gap insurance is sometimes required by the lender from what I have been hearing, covers any difference between the balance of the loan and the insurance payoff.
I was working as a Consultant to the insurance industry just as these extended warranties started taking off. Insurance companies like State Farm All-State created separate divisions for this type of insurance. It is their BIGGEST PROFIT making division. Most of the extended warranties you buy are underwritten by the big insurance companies.
I’ve NEVER EVER bought one…and never will. They are a very very very expensive insurance policy…And one that should be avoided. Dealers love them because it’s pure profit for them. I’ve seen or heard of very few people ever getting back what they put into it. The number Oldtimer 11 reported are probably accurate.
Gap insurance is sometimes required by the lender from what I have been hearing, covers any difference between the balance of the loan and the insurance payoff.
My own insurance company offered me GAP insurance through them when I bought my car, so I wouldn’t have needed to buy a separate policy from who knows where