Extended Warranty on used cars, Yah/Nay?

[Regular_John]

Thanks for all the info folks. To give a bit more background, our last two cars have both been 10 year old beaters with 200,000+ KM on em. So we've had our share of repair bills, thus part of the reason we're going for something newer and considering a little upfront insurance on the big stuff.

Obviously our experience with such old cars skews things towards the end of life on many components, but we've seen/experienced first hand how $200 here, $500 there can add up.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

It's the Mazda Protection Plan straight from the dealer. It appears to cover most things except the basic "wear & tear" parts, light bulbs, break pads, upholstery, etc.

I am leaning towards getting it, just wondering if anyone has any first hand experiences, good or bad with having bought one.

I have this exact warranty plan. I bought a brand new 2008 Mazda 6 GT and got the extended warranty. I've had both good and bad things happen with it. Good because the roadside assistance package is worth it. Had to get my battery boosted in the middle of a blizzard one time and Mazda was able to get someone out to me in 20 minutes.

I've also felt it was kind of a waste of money because I've never had the amount of $ to repair my car exceed what I paid for the warranty. I guess that's just a testament to the car in the first place. Twice I've had to bring my car in for ''major'' repair and both times the part of the steering column that required fixing wasn't' on the warranty list and was attributed to normal wear & tear, so I ended up having to pay for it.

Even with not having some parts under that extended warranty, I would still recommend getting it. Mazdas for the most part are pretty sturdy, reliable cars. But all it takes is one break on something big and your then screwed forking the money out of your own pocket. And like someone said, if you buy it you won't need it. If you don't buy it, you'll end up needing it. Also it is transferable.

[Regular_John]

Originally Posted by Huntingwhale

I have this exact warranty plan. I bought a brand new 2008 Mazda 6 GT and got the extended warranty. I've had both good and bad things happen with it. Good because the roadside assistance package is worth it. Had to get my battery boosted in the middle of a blizzard one time and Mazda was able to get someone out to me in 20 minutes.

I've also felt it was kind of a waste of money because I've never had the amount of $ to repair my car exceed what I paid for the warranty. I guess that's just a testament to the car in the first place. Twice I've had to bring my car in for ''major'' repair and both times the part of the steering column that required fixing wasn't' on the warranty list and was attributed to normal wear & tear, so I ended up having to pay for it.

Even with not having some parts under that extended warranty, I would still recommend getting it. Mazdas for the most party are pretty sturdy, reliable cars. But all it takes is one break on something big and your then screwed forking the money out of your own pocket. And like someone said, if you buy it you won't need it. If you don't buy it, you'll end up needing it. Also it is transferable.

Awesome thanks for the info. I'd have to confirm if the roadside assistance is part of the package we're looking at, but even that's a $125/year touch through CAA, so over 5 years the value on that is over $600.

[darklord700]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

our last two cars have both been 10 year old beaters with 200,000+ KM on em. So we've had our share of repair bills, thus part of the reason we're going for something newer and considering a little upfront insurance on the big stuff.

New cars don't incur large repair bills but depreciate a lot more. Older cars cost more to repair but don't depreciate as much.

Most people only see one side of the equation in either the repair or depreciation and make their decision. But the invariable truth is it costs money to drive cars new or used.

[photon]

Originally Posted by darklord700

But the invariable truth is it costs money to drive cars new or used.

Exactly, it's all about TCO so I might as well maximize my enjoyment. (Which for some means tinkering with an older car, for others means new car smell)

[Super Nintendo Chalmers]

Originally Posted by Swarly

I won't buy a car without it, I bought a '09 car from a dealership in 2011 that was just about to pass the 60k normal warranty that came with it, spent 2k on a super extended warranty and ran into trouble about a month later, the transmission was shot and needed a full replacement, they set me up in a rental and it ended up taking 6 weeks for a new transmission to be located and shipped (from overseas), never had to pay a dime, without warranty they told me it would have cost about $12k in total. Overall a very reliable car and never heard of that problem on any others like it.

I had almost the same experience as you. About 6 months after buying a used car, the tranny craps out. A new tranny had to be Fedexed from overseas. Never mind the shipping and labour, parts alone would have cost me $5K.

[photon]

My Murano had $8000 worth of transmission work, would have had to pay but the CVT had a 10 year extended warranty from Nissan.

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by photon

My Murano had $8000 worth of transmission work, would have had to pay but the CVT had a 10 year extended warranty from Nissan.

Did you have to pay anything or was it all covered?

[photon]

Originally Posted by puckluck2

Did you have to pay anything or was it all covered?

Totally covered, though they said if they had to go to the next possible thing to fix it that it'd start costing me as it was getting to parts not covered.

[Red John]

Normally would say never take an extended warranty, there's a reason dealerships make a ton of back-end profit off it.

Cars are built so solid these days, nothing should be going wrong that isn't being caused by normal wear and tear.

That said, if you don't have cash on hand to make any potential repairs you should probably get it. With the amount of people who live paycheck to paycheck and finance cars, that situation probably applies quite often.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by pylon

Also, those claiming extended warranties are pure, up front profit for the dealer, you couldn't be more wrong. The average industry markup on a factory extension is about $600. Also the amount of people that have the discipline to self insure, is very, very low.

The $600 is still $600 to the dealer instead of your self insurance plan. And I'm sure VAG has some profit built into the part they receive.

Financially, the average person will be better off over the course of their life never buying an extended warranty.

You raise a great point about the discipline required to self insure. Most people don't and put themselves in a position to get caught with their pants down.

As anti-extended warranty as I am, I actually bought a VAG one once. I bought a 2004 S4 years back, and at the time I knew I was making a totally impractical purchase for my income level, but dammit I wanted that car!

I opted to pay more at a dealer for an inspected and extended warranty instead of a private sale because I knew self insuring $10G on that car wasn't a realistic option.

I will say that the VAG extended warranties are great. You don't have to research or worry as with a 3rd party.

The biggest reason to get one, in my opinion, is it allows you to dump the car at a dealer, get a timely, proper repair, have a really nice loaner vehicle, and a hassle free experience.

After I was out of warranty it was taking it to an Indy shop to save on the repairs, which meant waiting 4 weeks to get in, running it down, taking the train back, trying to line up parts, etc.

It is a huge convenience item. If I had more money to blow and could self insure even easier than I can now, I'd probably buy them all the time.