Extended Auto Warranties

[GH41]

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??

[223to45]

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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[signal4l]

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

[chadbag]

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.

[AndyLate]

I thought it would be a rant about the endless phone calls.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

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.

[Arik]

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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[odugrad]

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]

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.

[mrbieler]

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.