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The wife and I have reached the age where driving a new car isn't important to us. Her 2016 Volvo will be out of warranty next month. It is 5 years old with only 27,000 miles on it. We are not comfortable driving it not under warranty. Our local Volvo dealer sells a Zurich policy and another dealer we like sells it's own Hendrick policy. Both are comparably priced and offer similar coverage. Do any of you guys have experience with either??
Sorry no experience that I know of.
But what about a factory extended warranty. I have always found they are the best.
Guaranteed new volvo parts.
Some aftermarket will use used parts.
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I've had very good luck with used car warranties. Last vehicle I bought was 3 years old. It was out of the factory warranty. I paid $1700 for 6 years/120,000 of coverage. I had $2400 worth of work done (struts, control arms). Still have about a year of coverage left. I purchased the warranty through my credit union when I financed the vehicle
The warranty is useless if you don't have mechanic that will help you file a claim. Mechanics can also tell you which warranty companies are reputable and which ones are a scam
The wife and I have reached the age where driving a new car isn't important to us. Her 2016 Volvo will be out of warranty next month. It is 5 years old with only 27,000 miles on it. We are not comfortable driving it not under warranty. Our local Volvo dealer sells a Zurich policy and another dealer we like sells it's own Hendrick policy. Both are comparably priced and offer similar coverage. Do any of you guys have experience with either??
The details are in the fine print. Reach each one over, and make sure all the details are understood. Deductibles, what is covered, and not covered. Where it is covered, who they will authorize to do work on it, etc. These guys are in it to make money and so will stick to the letter of the contract to try and get out of paying out if they can legally avoid it. Can you get a Volvo factory extended warranty still? May cost more but I would bet it would be more comprehensive and easier to make claims against.
I am lucky that Geico, who we use for insurance, offers a "mechanical breakdown insurance" which is basically an extended warranty with $250 deductible. Lasts up to 7 years / 100k miles. The problem is they only offer it to the original owner and within the first 15 months / 15k miles it has to be added. But I pay like $25-$30 (on Audi and Volvo and VW) every 6 months, and I did not add it to the cars until close to that 15k miles / 15 months deadline to lessen the time where I have factory coverage and am paying this. But at $60 a year for 6 years, that is only $360 total for coverage that is pretty comprehensive after the factory warranty expires.
I thought it would be a rant about the endless phone calls. :)
FromMyColdDeadHand
05-26-21, 22:29
When we bought our Jeep earlier this year, we weren’t going to get and extended warranty. What I didn’t know was that wasn’t my wife’s plan and she kind of sprung it in front of the finance lady…. Wife and I had a, discussion, after that.
I don’t know what to think. Cars are better than they used to be, but it is the crazy electrical problems that scare me. Stuff that takes time and money to chase down. Other than that, it’s just money. Pay for the insurance/warranty or you might have to pay later.
If the dealer is selling it he's making money on it! If he's telling you $5k it's probably costing him under $2k. That's just an example but dealers are not going to charge you a few hundred dollars over their price. See if you can negotiate on it. Otherwise it's cheaper to pay out of pocket (I don't know Volvo cars so maybe not).
I'm a used car guy. Only ever had one new car and only one that was used and under 50k miles. So most of mine are in the 10 years/100 mile range when I buy them. I stopped buying warranties back in 07. Back then I bought a 6 year old car with 81k miles. Drove it to 2014 with 300k miles and spent maybe $1000 over that time with most being preventive maintenance so it wouldn't have been covered anyway. The warranty cost me more than what I ended up spending. Most of the cars I keep less than 10 years so they're all somewhere between 100k - 300k miles and I've never needed to spend more than a few thousand over the time of ownership with a lot of it being preventive maintenance.
Having said that I buy proven old tech. I don't have an interest in computers, touch screens, integration or anything else. I don't even change the radio station. So the cars I buy have been pretty well vetted. If you're into new tech luxury it may be worth in the long run, especially with some euro cars
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A few years back I was in the market for a used vehicle and purchased an extended warranty. It was sold through a local credit union and it appeared to be a very good product. A few months after purchasing the warranty and car we had several issues. I contacted the extended warranty company fully expecting them to back me up. They denied all my claims. One they said was damage to a covered part caused by a non-covered part. Denied. The other two they said were considered pre-existing conditions and should have been repaired before the car being sold.
I cancelled the warranty and got a refund.
That's the last time I purchase an extended warranty.
joedirt199
05-27-21, 09:04
5000 miles a year. Do regular maintenence and power on. You are barely putting any wear and tear on that vehicle. They make money on not needing to repair your car under warranty. Take that money you would pay on the extended warranty and put it in a rainy day fund for vehicle emergencies and see how much you actually dip into it.
Really depends on the vehicle. With the newer tech, repairs simply cost more. Typical repair costs run from $600$~$1200 per year on average for most cars a few years old. Are you better off putting that much aside and paying out of pocket or buying it up front. One big repair (transmission, head gasket etc) can blow that yearly average out of the water. With newer vehicles, I'm inclined to pay for the factory extended it if I plan to keep the car for a while. Had bad luck with 3rd party warranties in the past.
Really depends on the vehicle. With the newer tech, repairs simply cost more. Typical repair costs run from $600$~$1200 per year on average for most cars a few years old. Are you better off putting that much aside and paying out of pocket or buying it up front. One big repair (transmission, head gasket etc) can blow that yearly average out of the water. With newer vehicles, I'm inclined to pay for the factory extended it if I plan to keep the car for a while. Had bad luck with 3rd party warranties in the past.
I generally keep vehicles quite a while and just don't have problems that an extended warranty would cover. Brakes, tires, batteries, belts, and hoses plus maybe a few sensors and a radiator. Nowhere near $1200 a year, and like I said, the warranty would not cover most of the maintenance.
With computer fuel and ignition controls, engines and transmissions tend to last. There are always outliers, but I definitely would have spent far more in my life on extended warranties than they would have saved me.
On the other hand, they are peace of mind, one less thing to worry about.
Andy
"Extended warranties" are an insurance product with a track record of really poor returns for the car owner. Hell, put the same money aside in an investment account and you can make money on your "car repair fund".
ChattanoogaPhil
05-27-21, 11:30
I'm not a big fan of insurance for things that I can reasonably pay out of pocket.
Theft of a $50k Volvo = Insurance. Insuring for a mechanical problem... not so much.
"Extended warranties" are an insurance product with a track record of really poor returns for the car owner. Hell, put the same money aside in an investment account and you can make money on your "car repair fund".
This...there is a reason they have a hard push sale.
You may still be able to buy a real one from a Volvo dealer.
Get on a Volvo forum and poke around.
I have a Tundra and passed on the extended at sign up. 3 years in and I'm considering the extended via Toyota. I've discovered on Tundra forums the price isn't set in stone and some dealers sell it cheaper than others! Like a few $100 cheaper! Plus is a Toyota warranty so no questions asked.
Sorry I know nothing about 3rd party warranties.
Good luck!
I’ve not used the companies you mentioned but I’ve had 2 used vehicles with extended warranties that paid for themselves several times over. First was an 04 Civic purchased with 67k mi that needed AC repair, along with some minor issues. Second was an 06 RAV4 with 84k mi that also needed AC, plus ignition coils a couple times.
Maybe I have bad luck with used cars but the warranties I’ve used have been a godsend
Get on a Volvo forum and poke around.
We had a Volvo (2017) (RIP) and Volvo was (and still is though we haven't had the car since Jul 2019) sending me notices about buying factory extended warranties, etc. I also poked around the various Volvo online forums and found a wealth of info on the subject. Very much worth doing.
(Unfortunately an idiot turned out of a side road and smashed into my wife as she was coming home from work -- car was totaled -- wife was fine except for a cracked rib from the seat belt restraining her. She was going 40 and a guy didn't see her coming and drove right out into her from a side street. We replaced it with a VW Jetta (top trim) as I can't afford to keep paying luxury car depreciation and not keep the car for 10-15 years to make it up on the back end)
Drive that volvo till the wheels fall off. I had over 220k miles on mine when i dumped it.
ThirdWatcher
05-27-21, 21:11
I get emails about once a week from the Mopar extended warranty people. Must be a lot of profit for them to push it so hard. I’m tempted because of the problems others have had with the DEF pump and DPF. Not very many options on this truck though, just the HO Cummins and the Aisin transmission.
Seems like just about every time I had a problem with other vehicles the problem wasn’t covered by the Extended Warranty. (Only exception was on my Mercury but the Service Manager was a good friend of mine.) Years ago I bought an Extended Warranty on a new car and by the time I needed it they had gone out of business.
I get emails about once a week from the Mopar extended warranty people. Must be a lot of profit for them to push it so hard. I’m tempted because of the problems others have had with the DEF pump and DPF. Not very many options on this truck though, just the HO Cummins and the Aisin transmission.
Seems like just about every time I had a problem with other vehicles the problem wasn’t covered by the Extended Warranty. (Only exception was on my Mercury but the Service Manager was a good friend of mine.) Years ago I bought an Extended Warranty on a new car and by the time I needed it they had gone out of business.Email cost nothing and often automated.
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You do know that for every one guy who buys a policy the rest of us get 11 million robocalls each. Thanks a lot.
ChattanoogaPhil
05-28-21, 10:22
You do know that for every one guy who buys a policy the rest of us get 11 million robocalls each. Thanks a lot.
Funny.
Xfinity now knocks out the robocalls to my cellphone but prior to that I’d regularly get calls advising me that the warranty on my 21-year old Toyota was expiring soon. Haha.
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