The only warranty I've had on a used car was the CPO warranty that came with a BMW I used to have. That paid off and they were fantastic about taking care of every little thing on the car. Aside from that, I'd rather sit on the money in case it's needed, especially given the cost.

something something Volvo parts

 

AM extended warranties are really expensive. Does anyone here have a 3rd party warranty that can be used for comparison?

 

I had the extended warranty on my Elise. It was a factory warranty and Imwas told it almost kill Lotus. It was something like 2k. I have a switch box control go out but it was really one wire was bad and it took almost 15 hours to find it. They ended up replacing the switch box and put on a pig tail. Then the a/c went out. A common problem that Lotus talks tells how to fix but the dealer put 8 hours into that job. So I blew through the warranty fast. Lotus ate every penny. By the way all of that happened in just 3k miles. FYI the Lotus dealer is also the AM dealer in May area.

 

I bought a two year extended warranty on my '09 even though the previous warranty had expired. Apparently you can cancel it at any time and get the remainder refunded at a prorated rate. If do buy it remember to haggle, they have wiggle room. You can also buy from any dealer in North America and AM will honor it, so check Canada given how strong the U.S. dollar is right now.

 

Extended car warranties: An expensive gamble

The majority of buyers never use the coverage



That headline is from consumerreports.org and while it applies less to luxury models, I believe it is relevant to us. They repeat some of the comments on this thread that the cost of the warranty is often more than the repairs for most cars.


I once bought a Mercedes warranty for an SL600, and I leant through experience the exclusions made it almost useless. However I was green and taken in by the horror stories the dealership told me about modern cars going wrong ("did you hear one guy saved $12,000 on an instrument panel fault!!!!"), and I paid up the $2600 for a year's peace of mind.


It was totally wasted needless to say, and I don't know anyone who has benefited from this kind of cover. If the warranty is used primarily for a quick sale which more than covers the cost, then maybe the 'investment' may be worth it. But $8,000/2 yrs? Wow.

 

This is just a formality at your dealer. I've had CPO work done on my 07' a few times and they went to bat for me but had to still check and get approval from AM before starting work, even if they knew it would be accepted.

I got about ~$2500 in value out of my CPO. It actually just expired at the beginning of this month. I had the idler pulley, door latches, windshield washer reservoir, and door and boot struts fixed under warranty. Nothing major. *knocks on wood*

Part of the reason I let it expire was because they told me high flow cats would void the warranty and I couldn't continue coverage with them on the car. So I waited until it expired and put some Ken Harrison cats on it a week ago or so. What an absolutely crazy sound! Finally this car is LOUD enough for me. It definitely sounds much more.... violent... than it was.

 

I heard the extended warranty song on my Jeep. The only thing I had done on my Jeep in 7 years is routine service. Not one thing more. I told the Jeep guy I will take my chances and won. But the AM dealers throw out engine or tranny and people get scared. You can get new engines and trannys all day for a Jeep but for a v12 AM that sound scarry. So it is easy to see why people pop for the extended warranty.

 

They actually are covering some smaller items now. A new drivers side mirror, and a new speaker. Got me thinking maybe another two years.

 

I have a different point of view than most of you. When I purchased my car, I didn't hesitate to add on 2 years of AM warranty. Why?
1) I can decide later if I want to use it after my factory warranty ends (see if my car is trouble free or has issues during factory warranty period)
2) I can always get a full refund (before warranty period starts) or prorated return (if I end it after the period begins)
3) Expensive car= expensive repairs. Lot of electronics and expsensive mechanicals that can cost plenty of money to diagnose before R&R even begins.

Good peace of mind and can cancel anytime....Why not?

 

As a data point, when the factory warranty expired on my '09 V8V, I did not extend it since the car had been very reliable. My total cost for repairs during the next 2 years that the extended warranty would have covered? $0.00.

 

The most I ever had to repair on my Vantages that would have been covered on warranty was my engine thermostat. Yes the early Vantages had door locks issues, but I would just reset it and lock the door. It was an easy work around.

Most of the cost of maintenance will be stuff that is not covered anyways: tires, brake pads, oil/fluid changes etc. The V8 Vantages really are possible the most reliable and bulletproof exotics you can buy (surprising given the typically bad stereotype of British car manufacturers). Save your money...

Now if we were talking about AMGs, I would say it's mandatory (hopefully not a sign of things to come)