I have an '05 DB9 and worried disaster would strike when I first acquired the car in '09. I did not purchase the extended warranty and eight years later, all is well and no issues. After a couple of years I stopped worrying about it.

 

I'm not a believer in purchasing extended warranties. And the normal bumper-to-bumper takes a rather circuitous route from front to rear as it's never really bumper-to-bumper.

Washer, dryer, mower, car, laptop .... I usually do my research ahead of time and avoid items that have documented issues. That's one thing I love about the internet. People are MORE THAN WILLING to tell you when something goes wrong.

The only expensive issue I've ever really heard on the Astons is the leaking front covers. And even then I'm thinking I've only really heard it on three or four vehicles.

I've had some issues with mine but all relatively minor and probably wouldn't have been covered anyway. And I'm putting on close to 10k miles a year and absolutely love it every time that engine fires up and I head out to wherever.

 

I think I've heard of 3 this week

I only buy insurance on what is mandatory [and a warranty is in essence insurance].

Auto, if it's full coverage or not depends on the value left in the vehicle, but liability I have to have.

Health, only because it's $13,500 max out of pocket and there are 1000 things medically that could plain bankrupt you if you didn't have insurance, and at least you get negotiated rates.

That's it. I used to insure everything I ship UPS, I stopped to self insure, the only thing that happened is I started making an extra $7000 / year. By now they could destroy a $50k shipment and I'd still be breaking even.

There's a reason insurance is available on everything, because there's big money to be made selling insurance to those that sleep better under an umbrella. I personally choose to pay for whatever happens if and when it does.

 

While...as I stated not fond of warranties...I have read many threads here and other sites...AM owners hate being held hostage by the terms of the warranty... Dealers are allowed to make a profit...no problem! But giving them the terms of doing the service only is outrageous!
many of you have good to great points...nice to see in an open forum guys can discuss...

I can sleep at night with no warranty...if anyone feels different...I have no bad feelings toward anyone that does buy one...each person's reasons are based on their life experiences ....

I enjoy you guys many smart people...giving your reasons often make me stop and think...wow...he has a point...

Enjoy....

 

+1

I analyze everything, and have concluded that in most cases, I'll save money by pocketing whatever I'd spend on insurance/warranties.

Here's the math, if any of you wanted to evaluate your own potential risk (this is adapted to phone insurance, but the formulas are generalized):
http://rsherwoodjr.github.io/Phone_Insurance.html

 

That's almost calculus! Which I completely forgot as soon as they handed me that rolled up and bow tied paper. You'd almost have to be an actuary to figure out if you should insure or not

Doesn't matter what you buy these days the cashier is always asking "would you like to insure that for $3 more?". It's a $14 pair of ear buds, if they break I'll throw them away and buy another pair. To remember what I bought a warranty on, find the paperwork, and jump thru all the hoops to file the claim?! No thank you. Life is too short.

That was one of the biggest motivators in dropping shipping coverage. I've had a couple claims in the last 20 years and the hoops you have to jump thru to file and stay on top of a claim, after they come back with the standard "NO" answer, it's just not worth the time to fight them. I had one incoming for a customer, he packed it very well [how I would pack for international] but it arrived with the contents literally exploded. It had gotten in a jam on one of those 40' high conveyors and fallen, but it landed flush on it's back so there was zero damage to the box at all. That customer [he shipped it, he had to chase the claim] fought with them for 3 months before they finally broke down and agreed to pay for 1/2 the value, and he accepted because he was too tired to fight anymore. Of course, that is the time to really dig in, you've already gotten them to accept responsibility and invested all that time to get there, and then give up with only 1/2 payout?! But it illustrates the reasoning behind, screw it, move on. Now in business when you're shipping lots of quantity you have alot of insurance you can collect to offset a possible future loss, but if you're personally shipping something, you are at risk. You might save that $20 in insurance but without the volume to make the gamble pay off, if something happens to your 1 shipment you're screwed out of $2k where $20 [and alot of hoops] would keep you safe [unless they find the loophole that you didn't obey proper packing protocol and they will never pay a claim in that case, there are lots of rules about how everything must be packed, it's part of the game to not pay claims]. It's a personal decision based on risk level and comfort level with risk everybody has to make for themselves.

As for phones, I've only broken my flip phone, after I'd used it 10 years [still miss it!] but if a friend of mine didn't have insurance she'd never have a phone. I can't count how many phones she's lost, destroyed, or dunked!

 

I'm now a bit scared.

My extended warranty will end in 9 days.

My tire ticking came back (will be the third visit for the same issue). Now it sounds more as a grinding noise and I still believe it is the wheel bearing.

Somehow the dealer does everything around the bearings.

 

If the dealer is not fixing...if possible go to another dealer...
or...take to a good independent AM repair shop and use your warranty money to fix correctly...

Does it make sense to give a dealer more money if they are not fixing correctly your problem?

Good luck...ask the guys here who they recommend in your area...they helped me..

 

Extended warranties are a tough decision... I've never bought one aside from what was included (new car warranty, or CPO warranty). But I've also always done my own research and wrenching, so the cost of repair is blood/sweat/tears and less money than 'could be'.

With Astons - if you want the peace of mind, get the warranty. Some things are just stupid expensive to fix. If you want to put some work into keeping your costs down, it ***might*** be better to skip the warranty and pay out of pocket. Lots of asterisks there because good luck if you're replacing an engine or transmission.

Zettinger - I have a spare wheel assembly that's been sitting on a shelf in my garage for literally 3 years. Yours for a nice discount if you want it.

 

Went to see how the work was progressing yesterday - pretty scary for a leak! They had to drop the engine to work on it (they had already dropped the transaxle to fix that leak). They pointed to the Ferrari 430 across the bay with the engine out to say my timing cover leak was not as extensive as it was pointing to that Ferrari with the engine sitting next to it!

 

The difference is that the Ferrari is designed to take the engine out for service.

 

That's crazy! Yes glad there is warranty. That's when it's worth it
Not on modern Ferraris.

 

While purchasing the extended warranty insurance certainly provides piece of mind, I am one of those owners who prefers to self-insure. Generally, the most expensive repairs we might encounter on a Vantage are for a leaking timing cover or a clutch. The repair cost for each is about $5,000 - and I'm not sure that a worn clutch is even a covered repair.
A dealer recently offered me an extended warranty on my '09 for $4500/1 yr. or $8000/2year. Further, I don't believe extended warranties are even offered after its 10 years old. At those rates, it makes more sense for me to set aside $4000 a year to cover any repairs that might be needed in the future. If I actually start spending $4,000 a year in repairs, I might have to think about trading it but it hasn't happened yet. In one year of ownership and 3,500 fun miles, I have incurred $0 in repairs.
One of the reasons I bought a Vantage is that they are generally reliable and much of the routine maintenance/repairs can be done by the owner or a competent independent repair shop. Ferrari's are another story.

 

I agree. I skipped the warranty when i bought my vantage and im glad i did. In 4 years of ownership and 12k miles the only issue ive had was a leaky oil line for the convertible. About $1500 to fix. Other than that, no issues and almost 60k miles now. (knock on wood!)