I have picked out an '07 Hyundai Elantra to purchase. I want to have a mechanic do a check on the car and want to know what I should ask him/her to check. The car has 24,000 miles and I would want brakes and rotors to be checked. What else?
Also, the dealer tried to sell me an expensive warranty. If I get a warranty, I would rather go with another company if I can get a better price. Does anyone know of any reputable warranty companies out there?
First statistically you are likely better off not buying ANY extended warranty. Avoid any aftermarket warranty as they will weasel and threaten you out of any expensive repair. There are many cases of this posted on this board.
If you feel better with an extended warranty make sure Hyundai is the backing company not a third party. The dealer may be trying to sell you a third party one.
Ask the mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection. He or she will know what to look for.
I suggest you skip the warranty altogether. The car is still covered under the factory warranty, although the coverage is not as good as it was for the original owner, so you should be OK for a year or two.
Additional warranties are mostly profit, which is why they try so hard to sell you one, and don’t usually offer much real protection. Put the money you would spend on a warranty in the bank instead, and let it earn interest for you, instead of earning interest for the dealer.
Is there such a thing as a reputable warranty company? I think you should skip the extended warranty all together.
You should ask the mechanic to check everything. If I was to make a list, it would be too long to list here.
The Elantra comes with a 5 year/60k warranty, so the car should have 3.5 - 4 years and 36k miles left on the factory warranty. Which is still better than the 3/36 warranty on most other new cars. If the dealer would not honor the remainder of the factory warranty I would be suspicious.
Ed B.
Thank you all for your suggestions regarding warranties. The dealership also tried to tell me that they found a better finance rate (with higher payments). I’m going with my own credit union. They try to get you every step of the way.
That’s their business. They try to make as much money as possible. It’s not about the cars, it’s about the money. You need to concentrate on saving your money.
If you’re a credit union member that’s the way to go. Good for you!
Congratulations on getting your finances in order before you buy. The higher payments might be on a shorter loan term, but I wouldn’t get caught up in their games.
And, as been stated, just tell a mechanic that you want a pre-purchase, or used car, inspection. they should know what to look for, if not, then you better look elsewhere