Car Warranty's? How does MM feel?

[midnightmare81]

How does MM feel about car warranty's (MFG) and extended warranty's, either through a dealer or private company?

[casmgn]

Generally speaking, a waste of money.

However I did buy the tire/rim warranty for my car because I got such a good price on it that it was stupid to pass it up. It was something like $200 total for 4-year protection against tire & rim damage.

[M]

On exotic cars, definitely worth it. Otherwise, a waste of money.

[Deleted]

Nov 1, 2012 12:12:12 GMT -5 M said:

On exotic cars, definitely worth it. Otherwise, a waste of money.

:Y: Exactly this

[lys]

I never spend money on extended warranties and go with the original purchase warranty only. This applies to all purchases, not just cars. They are not worth the money.

[thatgirl]

If your car has run flat tires (BMW) the tire warranty is a good idea. We just spent $920 on 2 tires. The tires were only a few months old but one had pot-hole damage the other had a nail in it. Run flat tires can not be repaired.
All other warranties are not worth the time or $$$.

[midwest07]

In my experience, big things either tend to go wrong early when you are still in the basic warranty period (usually around 35k miles), or later after you hit 100k miles (and I haven't seen a warranty that goes out longer than that). We have had a few repairs that were maybe around $500-1000 that would have been covered under an extended warranty, but the warranty would have cost more than the repairs. So we have never bought an extended warranty and it's worked out so far.

[Susie]

I've had good luck with buying certified pre-owned for the warranty that comes with the car, but I don't buy extended warranties beyond that.

[rubytue]

Had one on my Geo Storm. It was the best $200 I spent on that car. It covered the transmission that died, the rack and pinon steering box that failed, and the manifold that cracked.

Please note that was a 1992 Geo Storm. I bet half of the board barely remember Geo lol

On a Nissan, Subaru, Honda, etc - probably not worth it. That said, they are usually so cheap we still get them.

[midnightmare81]

So what would you recommend for someone who doesnt have a large e-fund/ someone who only puts away about $600 mont to savings that has an older car that needs or will soon need repairs, potentially large ones?

I ask because everyone here talks about keep cars until the tires fall off, even if it means a large repairs here and there. What about someone who doesn't make enough to keep paying these larger bills whenever they come up and doesnt have a large enough e-fund to pull out of every time?

Also, many of you say you will pay to fix the car until it costs more to fix then it is worth. Do you mean per repair, per year, or like a total of what it has cost over its lifetime excluding maintenance? Example- Your car is worth $5000, you put $2k into it in May, $1500 in Sept, and you have another large repair that needs to be done. Do you say forget it, I will have spent the value to fix it already this year, or do you do it as long as each visit to the shop is less then the value?

[aurora]

Nov 1, 2012 14:39:17 GMT -5 midnightmare81 said:

So what would you recommend for someone who doesnt have a large e-fund/ someone who only puts away about $600 mont to savings that has an older car that needs or will soon need repairs, potentially large ones?...

Well, as to this first question I would first ask if the needed repairs would even be covered by the extended warranty. If it's more of a maintenance item it probably wouldn't, so the warranty wouldn't help in that case (and a lot of expensive "repairs" on older cars are really just maintenance).

For the 12-year-old car we just sold, the most expensive repair we ever did was $1300, so there's a good chance you won't ever have to spend more than a couple of months of that $600 savings on maintenance/repairs (and no, we did not have an extended warranty).

[midnightmare81]

Nov 1, 2012 14:50:56 GMT -5 aurora said:

Nov 1, 2012 14:39:17 GMT -5 midnightmare81 said:

So what would you recommend for someone who doesnt have a large e-fund/ someone who only puts away about $600 mont to savings that has an older car that needs or will soon need repairs, potentially large ones?...

Well, as to this first question I would first ask if the needed repairs would even be covered by the extended warranty. If it's more of a maintenance item it probably wouldn't, so the warranty wouldn't help in that case (and a lot of expensive "repairs" on older cars are really just maintenance).

For the 12-year-old car we just sold, the most expensive repair we ever did was $1300, so there's a good chance you won't ever have to spend more than a couple of months of that $600 savings on maintenance/repairs (and no, we did not have an extended warranty).

I was asking that question unrelated to the first. I just meant if a person has a current car that needs more constant repairs then they can afford, what would you do? Assume they are in a position where they cannot go out and get a second job or anything to make extra cash.

This is all hypothetical btw, just wondering what they suggest in this situation

[thatgirl]

The main problem is only the top tier (top $$$$) warranties cover anything realistic. Extended warranty companies make money by finding loopholes to NOT pay claims. The fine print is like reading War and Peace. If it was a simple a paying a few thousand dollars up front for coverage on my car we would be happy to buy it. The issue is getting reimbursed.