Neverending question: extended warranty for fairly reliable car?

[rz]

Forrest wrote:
I'd skip the warranty. There's no reason why any modern car should need anything beyond normal maintenance for the first 100K miles.

Unless it's a Chevy. While technically not a car, my wife's 2005 Suburban has less than 100K miles on it, and I'm guesstimating that we've had to put close to $10K in repairs into it in the last 7 years. And several things have had to be repaired more than once.

[Dennis S]

I wouldn't do it with that car.

[Ted King]

The 2011 Consumer Reports buying guide has the 2008 Acura MDX reliability as better than average and running gear and most of the active parts of the car are rated at much better than average in reliability. The only thing that it got bad reliability ratings on was its audio. So, if you look at it in terms of probability, you have a low probability of needing to use an extended warrantee. But if you just like the feeling of having that coverage in case of the low probability that you will be hit with a big bill on repairing the car, then the extended warrantee may make sense.

Insurance on a house makes sense because the costs of repair can be overwhelmingly large. But usually most of us can find some way to handle the repair costs on a car even if they are large (especially if you can afford an extended warrantee), so with cars it comes down to whether or not you want to go with the odds and possibly save yourself the money on an extended warrantee, or want to insure against even the low odds because of the peace of mind it gives and/or gambling that your car is one of the ones that is worse than the odds suggest and you'll come out ahead because you think it will need costly repairs.

I think it is likely that the extended warrantee companies have cranked through the probabilities and are fairly certain they will end up with a profit by insuring those cars in general at that rate even though individual cars may cost them more than the warrantee fee they charge.

[tenders]

My wife made me buy an extended warranty on a 2004 Sienna we bought in 2008 from a Toyota dealer. The warranty has paid for itself twice. The basics of the vehicle have been fine but the features have been problematic - seat heaters, power sliding doors, and proximity sensors have all failed and required repairs in excess of $800 each. All covered under warranty.

If/when we buy another vehicle with stuff like that we're definitely getting a similar warranty. Now that the warranty is up I'm almost afraid to drive the thing.

[DRR]

lazydays wrote:
Magic, what kind of car are you driving?

Don't inflate his ego any more. :biggrin:

He drives a 2005 Audi Allroad, 4.2 V8.

[sunfalcon]

We just purchased a 2008 Lincoln MKX and got the Ford ESP. It cost around $2500 as well, but the car is covered bumper to bumper to 125,000 miles. It's peace of mind for me and it's a reputable warranty that can be transferred if the car is sold. Most any minor repair on a car these days will cost at least $500. I can easily imagine a few of these happening.

It's insurance. You hope you never need it.

[pinkoos]

To answer one of the earlier questions, we plan on keeping the MDX for maybe another 2 to 3 years unless something unusual comes up.

Thanks for the great advice. I'll discuss with my wife and see what we want to do.

I'll also give the dealership a call and see if they offer extended MANUFACTURER warranties on out of warranty cars.

[pinkoos]

Mavic,

What is the name of the 3rd party warranty you used? Inquiring minds want to know!

Thanks.