Originally Posted by pylon
Uh oh... here comes the car biz guy.
Extended warranties are crap unless 2 variables are present.
1) Is it a MANUFACTURERS warranty? If so, they are a safe bet.
2) DO they exceed the price of said product by more than 10%? If so, it is usually cheaper to self insure.
We sell nothing but genuine manufacturer warranties on our vehicles, and I have no issues whatsoever selling them. It can't be an issue, as it is a huge component of my job in finance. But our manufacturers extension, is simply that, an extension of the coverage you drive off the lot with. Not hard to sell the benefits.
Statistically, there is a 90% chance you will not have a major repair on a car, that will exceed 10% of the vehicles original value, within a period, in which the vehicle will still qualify for a comprehensive warranty.
I use the Future Shop/Best Buy warranty pricing as an example of why vehicle warranties are affordable. "Mr. Smith, this isn't like Best Buy, where we are selling you a 3rd party, in house warranty, for $500, on a $1500 TV, or about 1/3 of its cost" "You just bought a $40,000 car, and you can double your factory coverage, for around $2500, or around 6% of the purchase price."
The best rationale I use is this. "Would you give up your factory warranty, if I were to discount the car $2500 right now?" Never in 12 years, has someone said yes. "Then if it has that value to you, why wouldn't you want to double it, and have full coverage, when the car is older, and more likely to break?" Unless it is a short term owner, it is hard logic to argue with.
Electronics though, never once bought an extended warranty from a store. I will buy Apple Care, and I have bought a couple Toshiba genuine warranties on laptops, but if isn't the manufacturer backing it, run, don't walk away.
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