Automotive Warranties - any good?
 

Hi everyone,

I'm constantly seeing all these ads on TV for automotive warranties - "I saved $8700 on repairs!!" ... always *sounds* good, but has anyone had any true experience with them? Good? Bad? Scam?

Thanks!

Biggest scam in the automobile business, but people keep buying them.

Our company has 17 dealerships and we have our own warranty company (almost all dealers do). It's the highest profit item we sell. We probably make 75%+ profit, maybe more. It's essentially, over-priced insurance.

Some of the manufacturers (particularly of high line cars) have a "certified used cars" which come with an extended warranty and they're a little bit better deal, with an expensive vehicle.

In general, there are a 1000 reasons they're not a good investment and the only positive, is if you happen to be the 1 person out of a 100, who gets to benefit from one.

SCAM !!!!

RUN :wave::wave:

Remember too....they don’t use manufacturer parts either. Mostly after market, inferior stuff. The marketing is towards the fairly older, higher mileage vehicles. Then you have to make sure your mechanic is even in the program. As @BrianL99 stated, owners with new dealer purchases....already have a built in warranty. So extended ones are the focus there. If you can part with a minimum of $100 a month (that’s the lowest coverage), read the fine print on what is actually covered and what isn’t. The commercials you are referring to use paid ‘actors’....unless you really believe Ice T is so destitute (net worth 65M) that he needs this type of ‘coverage’!

I'm not in the operational side any more and it may have changed, but when all the auto dealers originally got into the "extended warranty" business, we had to ship the money to "off shore banks" and keep it there. That should give you a clue.

.....and they wonder where the ‘pols’ get their ideas from! (or vice versa)

That's funny. They never sound good to me. They sound like a scam. I would never pay money for any warranty.

If you buy a quality car why would you need it?

A ripp off !!

My car came with a manufacturer 5 year bumper to bumper warranty. I was surprised when they replaced my battery at about 4 and a half years, they also replaced a headlight all at no cost. I expect I will need a battery every 5 years maybe a few lamps, but if I keep up with maintenance I should be good without any extra warranty.

don't waste your $$. i actually purchased one of these things years ago, & wouldn't you know they didn't cover a heck of a lot. repairs were still out of pocket, even the major ones they claim to cover. when my intake manifold cracked, it was crickets for miles around! something about the year & make of the car, is the nonsense i was told, as to why it wasn't covered. SCAM

Money maker for the dealer.

When you buy a car and you negotiate a price when you get to the price you are satisfied with tell them to throw in the extended warranty and you got a deal. It works every time, I have never had to use the extended warranties but I got them free.

I always buy the bumper-to-bumper 100k miles 7-years extended waranty when I buy a used car from a dealer.
If you buy it from a dealer any dealer of that make will honor it. Bought an Outback 2009 with 9k miles on it in 2011, in 2017 automatic transmission went and it felt good walking into the service center saying "it's under warranty."
Like all insurance you'll probably never need it, but I sleep better at night. They have gotten more expensive recently.

About same level as dental insurance. Which. IMO nearly worthless.