I'm about a month away from taking delivery of a new Cayenne Diesel. In the meanwhile, I am trying to get a sense for the value of both prepaid maintenance and extended warranty.

In the case of the latter, I should note that I tend to keep cars for a while and recognizing that things seem to break after the regular warranty has expired, it seems like a reasonable idea.

Looking forward to hearing the thoughts and experiences of those familiar with these issues.

 

I was actually at the dealer today to have a check engine light checked on and asked him these questions, since I had seen them posted on another forum as well.

Here is what my SA had to say:

pre-paid maintenance - while it can save you up to 20%, you have to fork out the cash ahead of time. He said in my case, I get 10% off as a loyalty discount, so it would be a 10% difference. So it really depends on how you feel about shelling out maintenance costs ahead of time.

extended warranty - he did recommend it, as things do break. But as others have stated, MUST read the FINE PRINT. He did say you don't have to purchase it when you pick up the car or before the first service, but the price would increase as mileage increased. Showed me on his screen the cost at 2k miles is about $3k and at 20K miles it's about $5k.

 

I've been burned by extended warranties enough in the past that I don't bother. I'd do a CPO, but no 3rd party BS as they are worse than dealing with health insurance in regards to trying to get out of covering something. Much like mortgages, extended warranties get bought and sold so just because you buy it today from a vendor that gets good reviews doesn't mean you won't have to deal with some other POS vendor by the time it takes effect.

EDIT: We've had our 996 since new in 01 and it exceptional track record outside of the factory warranty was a big part of going with the Cayenne over an X5.

For the pre-paid maintenance, you need to look at the cost of the services that you'll need in the given time and compare that to the cost of the plan. You also then need to ask yourself if you want to give all that money to the dealer or use and Indy or DIY. You're in my area so I know what all the Porsche dealers want for the 5k oil change ($375 was the cheapest last year), but it was easy enough that I did my first OCI myself and had Lindsey VW in Sterling do the second (due to weather at the time) for $112. The catch to the DIY/Indy approach is that you'll need a Durametric to reset the service interval (the Porsche dealers will do it for you, but they all seem to want to charge $50-100 for 5 minutes of work), though as long as you aren't piling on 5k a week or something insane I'd be happy to hook up and reset them for you (the outlay for a Durametric is painful since resetting the SIs is about all it does on the 958 ).

The only benefits the pre-paid plan offers, in my opinion, is that IF you are going to have all your service done at a Porsche dealer then you are covered at all dealers and you aren't hit when they up their rates (though you'd be screwed if they lowered their rates for some reason).

 

I decided to do the pre-paid plan. I am no longer able to do some of the manual work due to some pain. Also, I checked how much does the oil and parts cost. It seems that even if I took it to an independent mechanic and provided all the parts and oil, I'll be saving about $100+ or so. That, plus the cost of getting a Durametric, made me go for the pre-paid plan. Another point is that, because of the more frequent maintenance requirements, I can bunch any minor warranty repair issues into the maintenance schedule at the dealership.

I should note that if you drive less than 5000 miles a year (doubtful), the pre-paid program may not be cost effective. It may be worth for someone driving 10K or more a year.

 

are there different warranties one can purchase, eg 20k, 30k 40k 50k mile warranty. Also what are the prices for these?

 

Geico offers what they call Mechanical Breakdown Insurance as part of a new vehicle policy. It pretty much similar to an extended warranty. Price will vary based on your coverage. For example on my 2014 CD, I pay $84 every 6 months. As long as you keep this in your policy for the duration you own the car, when you're manufacturer's warranty ends, the MBI, kicks in and Geico claims its similar to dealer's extended warranties. There is a $250 deductible. I've attached a pic of the coverage and info on it from Geico.