Hello All,

I have been very excited and interested in AM ownership! I have been considering an AMV8V but they will at least be 3-4 years old meaning they will be outside of the factory warranty period. Being new to the marque and feeling uncertain about the repairs and reliability, I would like some type of contract to quantify these possible expenditures. I understand it is like an insurance and in this particular situation I don't mind paying out first just to get the piece of mind.

So from reading the forum, it seems like AM offers an extended service contract that will cover catastrophic failures or any unexpected repairs for any AM that is outside of normal wear and tear. The contracts do possess exclusions for infotainment and all wear and tear items.

I have some questions regarding the contracts

1. What is the difference between the Premium and Plus besides the fact they are for 0-5 yr and 5-10 yr AM's? Are there significant coverage differences?

2. Do they use the in-service date to determine the age of vehicle?

3. Is 2 years the longest term one can get? Can I get a 3 or 4 year contract?

4. Are there different levels of coverage?

5. I assume this is something you have to shop around with different dealers to get the best price? Can you buy it from any AM dealer or must it be at the inspecting dealer?

Has anyone used other providers? How is your experience? I tried Easycare and they won't quote me unless I own the car but I wanted to know the cost of warranty before considering the purchase...

Any insights would be quite helpful! Hope to be an AM owner soon too!

Thanks

Jim

 

Jim,

I am no expert on the extended warranty but here goes. I just bought a 2008 AM v8v roadster. I was lucky enough to purchase one that the previous owner had already bought the two year extended warranty option. The previous owner did this when they bought the car new, I assume it was cheaper. I think 2 years is the max length they offer, but not quite sure. I have had to use the warranty for some minor items through my local dealer and it worked as advertised. Whew!

AS for the pricing/shopping around, I doubt the dealers will offer different prices, but you never know. Then again, how many dealers do you have local in your city any way. I would get the warranty through whatever dealer does the inspection and I think that is required anyway. The cost of the warranty is something you have to weigh as you mentioned. Personally I would not go past two years. If you have issues, most likely they will come up quickly as you will tend to drive the car more in the first 6-9 months than at any other point in ownership. Typical of the high end vehicles like AM, etc. The warranty does not cover wear like tires, but the clutch is typically covered, although they may hit you with a depreciation factor. This is the most common part to fail that costs $$.

I am still relatively new, but hopefully other owners will chime in with more data than I have. Good luck. Also, don't forget to budget for the cats/filter mods, it realy is a must on a v8v. Makes a huge difference.

 

Hi Jim,

In respones to your questions:

1. I was told that Premium is the type of AM extended warranty you get up to 4 years after your factory warranty has run out. Plus is the warranty you get through AM after this 4 year period. Premium is supposed to be an extension of the factory warranty, minus issues relating to infotainment, normal wear and tear and upholstery. I was told, by a sales rep, that Plus pretty much sucks and shouldn't be purchased. It's apparently more expensive and covers less than the Premium.

2. Yes, the in-service date is issued to determine when the factory warranty expires.

3. You can buy the Premium warranty in 1 or 2 year increments. It's a bit discounted if you buy a 2-year plan. Again, this warranty is only available for up to 4 years after the factory warranty has expired. You can purchase an extension for yoru Premium warranty up to 6 months before it expires. I tried purchasing all 4 years at once and they wouldn't let me. So, I got a 2-year plan and after 1.5 years, I can renew for an additional 2 years.

4. Yes, the coverage levels between Premium and Plus are different as I noted above.

5. The prices for the AM extended warranties are definitely negotiable. If you are quoted a lower price by a dealer that is not local for you, have your local dealer match the price...they did for me. The dealer that issues the warranty will have to do an expection beforehand which costs something like $500.

On average the cost of the Premium warranty is about $3k year, so it's really a crap shoot as to whether it'll be worth it. In my experience, it has. Just takes one costly repair and it could pay for itself. For example, my seat railing needed to be replaced, which apparently meant that the seat motor had to go as well....expensive repair that would have cost (I was told) close to $3K. Now, it also turns out that my passenger side door latch needs a repair (apparently, a common issue)...was told it's pretty time consuming to repair but the warranty will cover it.

Best of luck to you Jim.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks for the reply. It sounds like the premium is the way to go. However, I did some more digging around on the AM site and they mentioned premium is for 0-5 year old cars? So you can only buy it before the car turns 5? I am a bit confused by the cut off between each plans. Is this something I can walk into the dealership and get a detailed information packet or is it pretty much all talk by the salesperson until I see the actual contract?

Did you buy your extension recently? So it was 6k for the 2 year?

I am lucky enough that there are two dealers within 30-40 miles of me but from looking at their pre-owned site I think they might be related... In that case that would not be good for competitive shopping of cars or plans...