I'm paying $100 deductible for a transmission replacement in our 2008 minivan. So the investment paid off .

Had the water pump bearings fail (sounded like someone dumped a bag of marbles inside the engine) and that alone paid for the majority of the extended warranty cost on our first minivan - a failed radiator covered the rest.

Our Chrysler minivan's extended warranty was covered by a failed air conditioner.

cbelt,

Agreed. And not just with cars. With all sorts of devices. Unfortunately, I've had to use extended warranties I've purchased for TVs, appliances, phones, you name it. Int he end, they have _always_ paid for themselves and then some. Consumer Reports (and people in general) can say what they want about extended warranties but they've proven very cost effective in my experience.

Robert

Quote
cbelt3
I'm paying $100 deductible for a transmission replacement in our 2008 minivan. So the investment paid off .

'Problem is separating legit extended warranties from scams.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 09:11AM by Chakravartin.

I brought up the 2nd extended warranty for an older car (my father's) last year. So fars they've paid for a new Power steering pump (still less than the warranty cost, but; you never know.)

---

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Quote
cbelt3
I'm paying $100 deductible for a transmission replacement in our 2008 minivan. So the investment paid off .

1) what make/model/mileage, how come the tranny failed so soon? did you change the tranny fluid, how often?

2) what extended warranty, from dealer, third party? was it purchased before or after the original warranty expired? how long is it valid (time/mileage)? how much did it cost?

Chrysler extended warranty. Cost about $1200 I think , 10 year 100k miles .bought with the car , new
Town & country 2008, 60k miles. Tranny seals failed .. I expect lots of new parts.,

With the brake issues and the fact that our kids are grown , this is the last minivan. And the last Chrysler.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 10:11AM by cbelt3.

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Chakravartin

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cbelt3
I'm paying $100 deductible for a transmission replacement in our 2008 minivan. So the investment paid off .

'Problem is separating legit extended warranties from scams.

Yep, that is the real problem. Also not paying too much, at $1200 cbelt3 left a lot of money on the table at the dealer. The dealer cost for that item was probably about $500.

Quote
JoeH

Yep, that is the real problem. Also not paying too much, at $1200 cbelt3 left a lot of money on the table at the dealer. The dealer cost for that item was probably about $500.

Why rain on his parade?

Joeh,

You can't make that assessment. That's just one repair. The warranty is in effect until 2018 or 100,000 miles and, depending on the actual warranty, will continue to cover most non-maintenance type costs until it expires. CBelt won't know how much the warranty has saved him or cost him until the car turns ten or reaches 100,000 miles. That and the dealer cost for an item has no bearing how much they'll charge a customer for it. A new tranny, installed, can easily cost well over $1000.00. So, that warranty could actually have paid for itself already.

Robert



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 11:13AM by Robert M.

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Robert M
Joeh,

You can't make that assessment. That's just one repair. The warranty is in effect until 2018 or 100,000 miles and, depending on the actual warranty, will continue to cover most non-maintenance type costs until it expires. CBelt won't know how much the warranty has saved him or cost him until the car turns ten or reaches 100,000 miles. That and the dealer cost for an item has no bearing how much they'll charge a customer for it. A new tranny, installed, can easily cost well over $1000.00. So, that warranty could actually have paid for itself already.

Robert

I was referring to the cost for the extended warranty. They have some of the highest markups around, the actual cost of the warranty to the dealer was a lot less than he paid for it. The price paid is negotiable. Also, recall that the extended warranty applies after the original warranty expires. As I recall Chrysler was 5 years/50,000 miles at the time. In addition, for Chrysler vehicles purchased after July 2007, there was a lifetime coverage on drivetrain components that includes the transmission. So he should have been covered under that, not the extended warranty he paid extra for.

In addition, for Chrysler vehicles purchased after July 2007, there was a lifetime coverage on drivetrain components that includes the transmission.

do you have more details about this? is it only for original owner or transferable? if I buy such a vehicle used, would I get this lifetime warranty on drivetrain?

I found details.

[www.chrysler.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 11:56AM by space-time.

I might have paid less. That was 5 years ago. And yes, the lifetime power train is a nice thing. Glad they didn't dump that when they went bankrupt.

Quote
cbelt3
I might have paid less. That was 5 years ago. And yes, the lifetime power train is a nice thing. Glad they didn't dump that when they went bankrupt.

Quote

Q15: What does 'lifetime' mean?
A15: Lifetime means lifetime.

Glad they cleared that up.

Quote
sekker
Our Chrysler minivan's extended warranty was covered by a failed air conditioner.

Another Chrysler product: I did a lot or research before I bought a '97 Dodge Intrepid in '99 (two year lease return) which indicated the likelihood of an AC compressor failure was pretty high. So I got the extended warranty and sure enough the AC compressor failed. That repair alone would have cost more than the warranty.

No extended warranties after that because I haven't had a Chrysler product since.

---

Quote
AllGold

Quote
sekker
Our Chrysler minivan's extended warranty was covered by a failed air conditioner.

Another Chrysler product: I did a lot or research before I bought a '97 Dodge Intrepid in '99 (two year lease return) which indicated the likelihood of an AC compressor failure was pretty high. So I got the extended warranty and sure enough the AC compressor failed. That repair alone would have cost more than the warranty.

No extended warranties after that because I haven't had a Chrysler product since.

The replacement AC only lasted a couple years. Repair cost was $1700.

When we sold it and purchased our replacement, there was no working AC - and we got a Honda.

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Robert M
cbelt,

Agreed. And not just with cars. With all sorts of devices. Unfortunately, I've had to use extended warranties I've purchased for TVs, appliances, phones, you name it. Int he end, they have _always_ paid for themselves and then some. Consumer Reports (and people in general) can say what they want about extended warranties but they've proven very cost effective in my experience.

Robert

YMMV, but they don't always pay off. Otherwise those companies are out of business. I consider extended warranties, and even insurance, a form of gambling. You may come out ahead, or the house may come out ahead, but over the long haul, the house ALWAYS wins. Why would they do it if they didn't?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2013 02:08PM by BernDog.

I know a guy who sells aftermarket car warranties. He's sold thousands of them, and has thousands of happy customers. Why? He pays close attention to what repairs a car will likely need and when, and then makes sure the warranty he sells has a high chance of paying out more than the warranty cost. He'll happily tell customers when it's not worth buying the warranty.

Customers love him. Warranty companies, not so much I imagine. I got a warranty from him. Years later the company stopped selling warranties for my car. The last few times I had it in, they got super picky about what could get repaired - eg, sending out an inspector for a $200 repair when a couple years earlier they didn't flinch at a $4k repair. I paid a couple grand for mine, and it paid out several fold more.

---

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I've also had good luck with extended warranties. However, I would never dream of buying one from a dealer since they mark them up so ridiculously and they are available much cheaper as an aftermarket item. I've bought two used cars (I buy all my cars used) for which the original owner purchased an extended warranty. In both cases, the original owners never got any value out of the warranty because they sold the car before the factory warranty ran out. I reaped the rewards since the extended warranty has a worth of pretty much zero when it comes to pricing your used car. In both cases I had several significant repairs done under warranty, costing me only a $50 deductible.

---

"In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987) -- Carl Sagan

My mom bought one on a used Avalon. The shop didn't catch a leak and steering fluid was leaking out until it was dry. I asked the salesmen when we picked it up if the reservoir was dry. He said it was just the way the sun was shining on it. I figured he knew more than I did about cars, so I forgot about it.

The next day, I looked and it was empty. I took it in and it needed something that was fairly costly to fix. I told him we had their insurance policy. I could tell by the way he was talking that they didn't plan on honoring it. I pitched a holy fit and they called the salesmen in from the used car office next door. I figure he had to eat it. Then, they tried to charge us to realign the front end since they claimed they needed to after fixing the problem. I pitched another fit and they went through the process with the salesman.

So, my point is, be careful who you buy it from and who honors it.

I think I heard Clark Howard say extended car warranties are about the only ones he recommends.

Quote
M A V I C
I know a guy who sells aftermarket car warranties. He's sold thousands of them, and has thousands of happy customers. Why? He pays close attention to what repairs a car will likely need and when, and then makes sure the warranty he sells has a high chance of paying out more than the warranty cost. He'll happily tell customers when it's not worth buying the warranty.

Customers love him. Warranty companies, not so much I imagine. I got a warranty from him. Years later the company stopped selling warranties for my car. The last few times I had it in, they got super picky about what could get repaired - eg, sending out an inspector for a $200 repair when a couple years earlier they didn't flinch at a $4k repair. I paid a couple grand for mine, and it paid out several fold more.

stop driving those german cars, get a Honda

Mom and Dad got an extended warranty on their RV. Covered a $4k transmission twice, and a water pump every 2 years or so, and the radiator the second time the water pump failed, and sent the fan into the radiator. The Chevy 7.4L big block just ate water pumps. Serpentine belts side load the bearings. Standard factory drive train warranty doesn't apply in an RV. Covered all the RV specific add ons too, like AC and generator.

They saved about 8 grand in 5 years after the cost of the extended warranty was figured in. And towing coverage was part of it IF it was warranty related. Pick up the phone, and say "come get me and my RV, and fix it!"

Sounds to me like they should have dumped tht RV way sooner than they did. An extended warranty is small comfort when you're stranded in the middle of the desert.

---

It is what it is.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2013 10:55AM by N-OS X-tasy!.

Joe,

It doesn't matter if you were discussing the profit on the cost of the extended warranty or the repair. Either way, Cbelt may have broken even and/or actually come out ahead when it comes to his out of pocket cost.

Robert

Dennis,

Clark Howard doesn't recommend extended warranties in general. He makes an exception for automobiles in that they might be worthwhile but the only type he recommends is a manufacturer's extended warranty - definitely not a 3rd party warranty.

One of the reasons I refuse to consider a 3rd party warranty is the experience described by Mavic. Who wants to wait for the warranty company to send an inspector to evaluate repair? If my car is in the shop, I need it back ASAP. With a factory warranty, there is no lead time. You bring the car in. If it's a covered repair, it's repaired. Done.

Robert

Quote
Robert M
Joe,

It doesn't matter if you were discussing the profit on the cost of the extended warranty or the repair. Either way, Cbelt may have broken even and/or actually come out ahead when it comes to his out of pocket cost.

Robert

Actually, since the repair should have been covered by the lifetime warranty on drivetrain, having the extended warranty that he paid for would not have provided any benefit in this situation. He is still not "ahead" on the described repair. Even if the repair was under the extended warranty, the profit on the warranty paid 5 years ago is still money out of his pocket and more than if he paid less for the warranty.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2013 11:17AM by JoeH.

Joe,

I didn't catch that part of the thread. This is true. I apologize for that mistake. However, what I said in my previous post still holds true. There is no way to know how much the warranty cost or saved him until it expires. We can revisit this discussion in 2018 or when his vehicle reaches 100,000 miles.

Robert

I paid over a thousand dollars for the extended warranty on my new 2003 Jetta. It had a one hundred dollar deductible. I only used it once for a water pump.

---

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

Quote
space-time

Quote
M A V I C
I know a guy who sells aftermarket car warranties. He's sold thousands of them, and has thousands of happy customers. Why? He pays close attention to what repairs a car will likely need and when, and then makes sure the warranty he sells has a high chance of paying out more than the warranty cost. He'll happily tell customers when it's not worth buying the warranty.

Customers love him. Warranty companies, not so much I imagine. I got a warranty from him. Years later the company stopped selling warranties for my car. The last few times I had it in, they got super picky about what could get repaired - eg, sending out an inspector for a $200 repair when a couple years earlier they didn't flinch at a $4k repair. I paid a couple grand for mine, and it paid out several fold more.

stop driving those german cars, get a Honda

I seriously considered a Honda for my DD. But the seats are painful, the interiors are not that great, the ride isn't all that good, the power is lacking... they're just not any fun to drive.

Quote
Robert M
Dennis,

Clark Howard doesn't recommend extended warranties in general. He makes an exception for automobiles in that they might be worthwhile but the only type he recommends is a manufacturer's extended warranty - definitely not a 3rd party warranty.

One of the reasons I refuse to consider a 3rd party warranty is the experience described by Mavic. Who wants to wait for the warranty company to send an inspector to evaluate repair? If my car is in the shop, I need it back ASAP. With a factory warranty, there is no lead time. You bring the car in. If it's a covered repair, it's repaired. Done.

Robert

Robert, I liked my aftermarket warranty WAAAAAAAY more than the previous vehicle (same model, different engine) which had an extended manufacture warranty. I'm not sure where you got the idea that a factory warranty wouldn't include any sort of run-around, but that's simply not the case. I think you're incredibly mistaken on the mfg warranty process.

Yes, with the aftermarket warranty I had to wait a day for the inspector to show up. The shop was paying for a loaner already (and the warranty would have if the shop wasn't already.)

Here are some big issues, IMHO:
- With a third-party warranty, the shop is on your side. They are trying to convince the warranty company, if needed, that the work needs to get done. They get paid based on doing the work. At a dealer, the warranty is still handled by the parent company. The dealership is on the MFG's side, not yours. They will not fight to make sure work gets done.

- For a MFG warranty, the work still has to be approved. Same as third-party. Sometimes this involves an inspector as well, and having to wait for them to come out and review the findings.

- The scope of what's warrantable for a MFG warranty is much smaller than for third-party. Here's a couple examples. With my third-party warranty, I noticed lights surging a very small amount. The mechanic couldn't even see it, it was so slight. The shop did a load test on my alternator, and it was fine. They hooked it up to an oscilloscope and noticed a small issue. An inspector approved the work.

With my MFG warranty, the turbos were failing. Oil was pooling in the lines. The indy shop said the turbos could go at any time, and wrote up the details so I could take them to the dealer. The dealer looked and confirmed the issues. However, they said there's a three point scale to get work approved. Step 1 is basically evidence of excessive wear or other issues. Step 2 is another step worse, but with failure immanent. Step 3 is complete failure and the part is no longer functioning at all.

The MFG will only warranty items on Step 3. It doesn't matter if the issue is so bad that I could pull out of the parking lot and have it fail, if it hasn't completely failed, they won't do a thing.

- Choice of shop. If your local dealer is incompetent, you only have the choice of going to another dealer. With an aftermarket warranty, you can go to any shop, including a dealer.

- Warranty of work done. One of my local indys warranties their work for 24mo or 24k miles. The MFG warranty work usually isn't guaranteed for that long.

- Piggybacking other work - A shop is much more likely to roll other work into the project than a dealer. For example, when I had my engine and gearbox out, I had them do some other seals as a preventive measure. It was a minimum of $3k labor, to change some <$10 parts. Since the labor was already being done, I just paid for the parts.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the idea that a MFG warranty is no where near on the same level as a good aftermarket warranty.

---

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Mavic,

You're making many assumptions in your post. Manufacturers offer several warranties, some of which are more comprehensive than others and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if the warranties provided by X manufacturer isn't necessarily the same as those provided by Y manufacturer.

Also, please provide is the company behind the warranty you purchased for your vehicle. If it's that good, other members of the forum may be interested in purchasing a warranty from them for their own vehicle(s). I asked you for it last time and you didn't provide it. Why I don't know. Please do so this time.

Robert



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/25/2013 04:49PM by Robert M.

Robert, I'm not making any assumptions, I'm speaking from experience. Dealers may offer a range of warranties, but manufactures only have a few.

Sorry I didn't see your previous request for the name of the warranty company. Mine was from [www.inds.com] They no longer cover my car. I cannot speak to how their warranties work today, mine ended a couple years ago. Also, it's not just about the company, it's about the company and your specific vehicle. The guy I bought the warranty from sells warranties for several different companies, and picks the best one based on vehicle.

---

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