For me it would depend on the vehicle - is it known to have issues or are they known for their reliability?

My 2012 Camry has 130K on it now. In that time along with regular oil changes, I've replaced brake pads, serpentine belt, tires, rear struts and a battery. Those are considered maintenance items and would not have been covered under an extended warranty.


I have purchased an extended warranty in the past - with a 1999 Mitsubishi 3000GT. At that time their offer was if you didn't use the extended warranty before it expired, they'd refund the cost. I ended up using it for a (manual) transmission repair and the dealership had to fight to get it covered.

The Toyota/Lexus vehicles (2 Tundras, 2 Camrys, a Corolla,a GS350) I’ve bought over the last 15 years didn’t need extended warranties. I maintained them pretty well, but I just trust the brand to work every day with a small amount of care. I would trust Honda the same way. Not the same luck with Nissan.

All this talk of "electrical things might fail". That is a dealer scare tactic.

I tend to buy reliable cars. I have never had an electrical failure except the blower resistor in a Ford Contour, which was a known defect (I worked at Ford then), and an ignition coil module on a Mazda (also a known defect).

Other things that have failed among all cars owned - A/C hose, A/C belt pulley, corroded top water tank, radiators (2), condenser, windshield wiper rack and linkages (windshield replacement on ex's Forester misaligned the wipers so they kept hitting the A-pillar.) intake manifold gaskets, bad exhaust valve lash on a solid lifter engine, fuel line hose (connects two metal sections) and maybe a couple other things.

Electrical things usually die fast in the warranty period or they don't. Like computers. Infant mortality then pretty long life.

Depends on the car for me as well. I only purchased one extended warranty which was on my last new diesel truck(Sierra 2500HD). Got a 5 year 125K bumper to bumper for about $2500 IIRC primarily due to the diesel emissions equipment. That one more than paid for itself and I had no major mechanical failures. Both power folding mirrors went bad, $1600. Window regulator $800. And about another $3000 on exhaust emission control sensors, and another $1500 for a DEF tank replacement.

That was the only vehicle I have owned where it would have paid for itself. I am on the fence regarding purchasing one for my next car but if I can get one at wholesale pricing I may just for insurance.

I have a 19 Ram with a 12" touch screen. I have three months left on my factory warranty. Im about 99% sure Im going to buy a factory extended warranty.

The other day my backup camera just went black. The next day it worked again. Its little electrical gremlins like this which gives me concerns.

If your looking for a Ford or Mopar warranty I believe Zeigler Auto sells for the lowest price online. When you add promo code PAYINFULL it takes off $365. https://www.factoryplans.com/

I can speak to this, although really only for Toyotas and Lexuses (Lexi??).

I have owned over a dozen Toyota/Lexus vehicles that I bought new over the years. I bought extended warranty/service agreements for many of them. In all cases, I have been satisfied. Toyota Financial services now offer 10 year/125,000 mile platinum, zero deductible plans. These are generally what I buy.

As has been noted by a couple of previous posters, the Platinum agreements from Toyota Financial Services are awesome. It has a couple of benefits that I have not seen mentioned here.

1) If you no longer want your vehicle, sell it, or stop using it (like if it is totalled in an accident) you can get a pro-rated refund based on the remaining amount of time left on the agreement. I've done this once, when I traded a Tacoma in to a dealer. I called Toyota Financial Services and they sent me a check.

2) If you sell your vehicle to a private party, the warranty is transferrable to the buyer. This means, as a private seller, you can offer to transfer whatever term remains on your extended warranty. This gives piece of mind to the buyer, and often helps sell the vehicle faster, and allows a slightly higher sale price.

The times I have had to use the warranty for repair, I have never had a problem, or even any questions asked.

Finally: I seldom buy the warranty from the selling dealer. There are a number of Toyota dealers that are happy to sell you the warranty - the only thing is you must buy it before the base 3 year, 36K warranty expires. These are available MUCH cheaper than selling dealers are willing to sell them for. These dealers are often in the midwest, seldom in major metropolitan areas. I suspect they only make a couple hundred dollars profit. It's easy work for them. Several times, I have gotten quotes from these people, and I tell the selling dealer I'm willing to buy it from them if they will match the price. I've never had a selling dealer do this though.

Of course, if you are willing to keep a few thousand in savings that are available for major repairs, you will in the long run probably come out cheaper.

Every year, I have life insurance. So far, as of this writing :-), I have never used it. I don't complain that all the money towards life insurance thus far has been wasted. It's a piece of mind thing.

quote:

Originally posted by mod29:
There's a reason dealerships push extended warranties.
If they lost money on 'em, they wouldn't be selling them.

The dealer selling the warranties aren't the ones underwriting it.

2021 Subaru Outback. The damn thing is a rolling Cray computer. I figured with all those "chips", an extended warranty would be a good idea.

RMD

I've bought 2 aftermarket warranty plans from the dealers, 1 on a used 2006 Pathfinder, 1 on a new 2017 Escape. Both worked in my favor.

Both plans cost $2500 and had 100 deductibles.

The Pathfinder has a variable valve cam go out, the book on that was 3000, savings to me was 400. Following that, I had a transfer case actuator fail, booked at 2300, saved me 2200 for a total savings of 2600 on that plan.

My wife's 2017 Escape has a block failure at 70k. The extended warranty paid out 9517.63, I paid 100. Saved me 7,000 on that one.

Both plans were through Fidelity Car Warranty Services. My experiences would lead me to purchase a similar plan on my next vehicle.

I think one thing people are forgetting is that when a dealership works on a vehicle with a extended warranty they are more willing to swap out the big ticket items as the dealership gets a bigger reimbursement.

Example I had a Subaru outback that developed a low speed growl / rumble at 68k dealership swapped out the transmission cost me $100. I drove that car to 168k.

Dealers get reimbursed by the aftermarket warranties they sell for the work their own service depts do. And the customer is out little or no money for a successful claim. And that means the customer is more likely to give the dealership a good rating on the CSI survey, which is how dealer service depts. get their bonuses. So it's really a good thing for all involved. Why does anyone care if a dealer makes a profit on selling third party warranties? Do you expect them to operate on a loss? I want good businesses to make a profit and stay in business to continue providing a valuable product or service.

Have a friend who bought an extended on a used Charger from CarMax about 12 years ago. I believe the cost was around $1,200. She got her monies worth out of that as they did probably double that amount in work.

I would say it depends on the manufacturer. Honda or Toyota I might take a chance and not buy it but then again it depends on your trim level. If you have fancy stuff like radar cruise control, blind spot monitor, lots of other electronic sensors, definitely worth it, IMO.

I mean, I don't plan on a house fire but I have a fire extinguisher handy. Don't plan on getting into a gun fight but I carry.

One tidbit...

If you do decide to get the warranty, ask if there's sales tax on it.

If so, walk away and then call a dealer in Oregon and have them enroll you via credit card. No sales tax.

Apparently many of the dealerships in Oregon take orders for out of state people to get warranties so people can avoid sales tax.

quote:

Originally posted by woods62:
When it comes to Honda warranties shop online way cheaper than at the dealership.

This is true for Toyota as well. Do NOT buy the Toyota warranty offered by the "finance guy" when you purchase the vehicle. It is likely a genuine Toyota warranty, honored anywhere, etc., but it is the middling model warranty and overpriced at that. It is nothing but a pocket liner for the finance guy.
 
When I bought my 2010 Tacoma new, I was offered such a middling warranty (extended OEM to 5 years, deductible, exclusions, etc.), for over $2k. I already knew where I could get a good deal online and went there, in this case Handy Toyota. They made a volume business out of selling genuine Toyota warranties (registered in the Toyota system and good anywhere) for $50 over their cost. Don't know if they still do that. In this case, I got the top of the line Platinum Toyota warranty, no deductible, bumper to bumper, extending coverage out to 8 years and/or 96k miles. The cost, $1200.

A factory warranty for a new vehicle is about the only type of warranty I will buy, due to the complexity and repair expense.

It depends on the brand. On BMWs, you need to buy the one which includes services, and is offered by BMW.