VW extendended warranties

Maintenance/Repairs
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1

You advised the lady with the new Jetta to get an extended warranty. Does that go for Passats as well?

2

Who is “you?” Tom and Ray don’t get involved in this part of the website very often.

I never advise anyone to get an extended warranty, but if you’re buying a VW it might be a good idea.

I’d want to read the warranty very carefully before writing a check, however, because most of them aren’t worth the paper they’re written on. I’m NOT kidding.

My suggestion is this; forget the extended warranty. Instead, plan to sell or trade the car about a month before the factory warranty expires. That way you won’t have any headaches. Maintaining a VW after the warranty expires can be an expensive proposition.

3

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 people 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 cost 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.

I would not worry about it because it is a VW and certainly not one model over another. The only real of future problems and cost is the owner’s likelihood of reading the owner’s manual and following the recommendations there. (Plus a transmission fluid drain, filter cleaned and properly refilled.

Good Luck

4

  1. On average, they’re not worth it. How else would the warranty company make money?

  2. If you’re willing to pay for the peace of mind, ONLY get a VW-backed warranty. ‘3rd party’ warranties, even those sold through dealers, can be worse than worthless, with very limited coverage, refusal to pay for repairs, etc…

5

Thanks, I had a 2002 Passat, sold it to a friend who has had good luck with it and I bought a 2007, the warranty has just run out. Selling them at four years seems to work in my case. I do like the cars but am getting older. Maybe it’s time to get a volvo or an American wagon.