extended warranty

**tupacboy** · 10-07-2009, 10:44 AM

I have a 2007 TL-S at 49700 miles. Original warranty is about to expire. Do you think its worth another 1400 to get me warranty till 97000? Through acura care.

Or if you know a different extended warranty that you are happy with. I'm all ears.

**attgig** · 10-07-2009, 11:02 AM

is it full bumper to bumper? or just powertrain?
has it cuased you any problems thus far?

**renovation** · 10-07-2009, 11:04 AM

Or if you know a different extended warranty that you are happy with. I'm all ears.

thats the truth some are just rip offs
my neighbor use to be a new car salesmen and we asked him about a good company to go with for are daughter. i ask him again latter today he did say one company was really good.(she has a chrysler sebring convertable and i heard they run good and bad.

**mechmike0034** · 10-07-2009, 11:13 AM

47,000 miles (coverage length) / $1400 means that Acura Care will cost you ~$33.58 per mile assuming you drive the full 47,000 miles of coverage you're buying. This sounds like an expensive wager to me.

OTOH, I am glad you are considering Acura Care - the manufacturer's service contract plans are the only ones even worth considering IMHO. The third-party extended warranties all suck.

If you really feel like you should have an extended warranty, see if they'll negotiate. Maybe you can get them down on the price given the current state of the economy.

**DarkFury** · 10-07-2009, 12:06 PM

My personal feelings on car warranties is... definitely have one through the duration that you are actually paying for the car. Beyond that, well... weigh your options of the "chance" of a repair.

That being said... maybe you can find some historic data somewhere as to the drivetrain on your vehicle. Since it is an Acura (i.e. a glorified Honda) I'd suspect that it should hold up pretty well up to 100K and beyond. Therefore that being the case, I might be inclined to roll without it.... however, if you have already sensed some issues developing (i.e. questionable stuttering, shaking, noises or other symptoms coming from the engine.) and you think that they might get worse, then by all means get the insurance now before it is too late.

Just for referrence... if an automatic transmission goes completely out, then plan to spend about $1800+ to get that fixed. If you do your routine maintenance as required, you'll probably be OK with the car as is...

Personally, I would have bought the "extended warranty" for upwards of 100K miles when you first got the car rather than extending it now when the factory warranty is about to expire. I guess it just depends on how you drive the car and how much you take care of it. If you take good care of it, then I guess I'd still be inclined to just skip the extended warranty and take the chance on it. (You can always trade it in if you really need to get out of it within the next 3 years... before you hit 80K miles

)

**WhiskeyPapa** · 10-07-2009, 12:47 PM

I always say "no" to extended warranties. Instead, set up a car repair account. I put about $85 per paycheck into this account and pay all of my repairs out of it.

The odds are overwhelming that you'd be better off to put that $1,400 in a savings account and add a small amount each payday. It takes some discipline at first, but eventually it becomes second nature.

**Markel** · 10-07-2009, 07:25 PM

Originally Posted by mechmike0034

47,000 miles (coverage length) / $1400 means that Acura Care will cost you ~$33.58 per mile assuming you drive the full 47,000 miles of coverage you're buying.

That should be $1400 / 47,000 which yields about $.30 per mile. But the conclusion is still valid: not a good deal.

**Daedalus** · 10-07-2009, 08:02 PM

Originally Posted by Markel

That should be $1400 / 47,000 which yields about $.30 per mile. But the conclusion is still valid: not a good deal.

Lol. Strike 2. Anyone else?

Insurance is a gamble for both parties. The provider will lose money on some policies, make money on others, and has a very complex math model that says he will make money overall in the long run.

Keeping this in mind, for most people over their lifetime, they will come out ahead by not getting insurance. The longer you own cars, the greater the odds you'll come out ahead without insurance. I like Whiskey Papa's approach. Very logical and prevents being up against a wall when a big repair bill hits. I keep track of expenses and I plan for them, but I don't have a separate savings account for car repairs. I have multiple cars anyway, do all my own work, and always have 1 car in work for one reason or another. I do have a personal impound account for insurance payments, property taxes, and other annual/semi-annual bills.

**mechmike0034** · 10-07-2009, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Markel

That should be $1400 / 47,000 which yields about $.30 per mile. But the conclusion is still valid: not a good deal.

Note to self - work on math skills...

**Jeffbx** · 10-08-2009, 04:53 AM

;-) I'll give it a shot! You're looking at $0.03/mi for the coverage (1400/47k = .02979)

I say it depends on what it's covering. If it's everything, then yeah, jump on it, but I second Mike's recommendation to negotiate it down. They build a lot of padding into those, so you might be able to talk them down a couple hundred $.

I bought one for my minivan for about $1200 & I more than got the value out of it.

**ramazank2** · 10-08-2009, 07:01 AM

My wife bought the Volkswagen extended warranty from the dealer. It was horrible, it did not cover anything that was made of rubber or plastic (practically the entire car...). I took it in for repair 4 times during the warranty and they did not cover anything!

**DarkFury** · 10-08-2009, 01:26 PM

On extended warranties, you definitely have to read the fine print and possibly go talk to the "service manager" and get clarifications on what is covered...

Just like an old arguement I had with Furd back in the day... "Why is the O2 sensor NOT covered as part of the exhaust system when it comes to repairs? You dang near take the whole exhaust system off to get to it in fixing them..."