Well, I just bought a used car. Dealer tried to sell me a warranty with it, but I wasn't sure and it smelled a bit like a scam so I declined. On the other hand, however, the car I bought is an Audi. So if a warranty is a good deal rather than a scam, I'd be smart to grab it up.

So, who's had experience with these strange creatures? What was it like? I'd like to hear actual experiences if possible, rather than hearsay. And company names would also be great if you've got them.

Also, what should you expect to pay for a policy?

He said I've got a week to decide, so I thought I'd ask those who've been through this already.

Thanks a lot guys....





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Hey, Kentetsu!

I work for a Honda Dealership up here in Saskatchewan, Canada. I'm one of the sales and leasing specialists for the dealership. Hopefully I can provide some insight into warranty for a used car. It CAN be beneficial, but more often then not will be an unnecisary purchase.

The company we deal with is called 1st Canadian. They offer warranty on any used vehicle within a certian criteria (Under 140,000km, no older then a 2000 ). Now, the Warranty we offer covers a large portion of the vehicles power train. Whats extremely important though, is to obtain a copy of precisely WHAT compenants the program your being offered covers. It can vary wildly, and the price will vary with the coverage.

Also, most used Warranties have a deductable. 1st Canadians is $200-400 depending on the policy. Which means, most repairs on the vehicle that may be covered under that policy tend to fall under that price range anyway, and you'll often not use it. Some programs though do offer a money back thing if you never make a claim. Often though, if you do not specifically mail them requesting your money back at the end of the program, you'll never see it.

Used Warranty pays the dealership a huge, huge dividend. As a sales person, I get a $50 bonus every time one is sold. The finance manager likely gets a few hundred (They wont disclose that to me :P ) and the dealership even more then that. So, it is a very large profit area for the dealership.

If the package is under $1000 and you can finance it with the car - I wouldnt see the harm in it, to be honest. Its extra protection, and often transfers with the vehicle to the next owner should you decide to sell it.

However, more then that - I would say it's not worth it. I'd rather see you put 2 grand into the bank, collect some interest on it and keep it for an emergency repair. (We DO drive RX7s, you know)

We had a customer here this week that bought a used Subaru 8 months ago. only 70k on it. Wife was driving it though, and doesnt know anything about cars. The Turbo died, she didnt realize the loss in power and ignored the check engine light.. cooked the engine shortly after. They refused warranty when it was offered.

If its cheap, It's worth having to cover the large failure like the situation above (Which is actually one we're dealing with at the moment). If not, save the money in a bank account and keep it for real emergencies.

Hopefully that'll provide some insight for you.

PS: Thanks for all your posts on your build threads and other such places. I really enjoy your articles and your car is fantastic. Take care

 

You know, I'll bet my Slowfire's check engine light is the same thing. The turbo, why didn't I think of that........

On a more serious note, WHAT DID YA GET, WHAT DID YA GET?!?!?!?!?! Is it race worthy or just a commuter?

I got a warranty with my Sunfire but never needed to use it before it ran out. Cost a pretty penny too. Since you are mechanically inclined, I'd suggest just saving the money for any possible part replacements and handling the job yourself.

 

I don't have any experience with car warranties but i do sell them at my job on computers. From my experience they are only used 10% of the time. Most of the times the computers go bad after the warranty and by then they are not worth repairing. They say when if the warranty is less than 10% of the cost then its a good buy, its all just a gamble, besides if anything goes wrong u can probably fix it yourself, so tell me Are u feeling lucky punk?

 

ive worked service and parts at mazda dealerships forever, and how good the extended warranty is depends on the fine print.

the ones we see usually come in a couple of flavors, there is a basic powertrain type one.

these are crap, they generally only cover hard engine parts, IE a piston, and they DO NOT cover seals and gaskets. on a Mazda the piston is $50 but the intake gasket is $150.... BAD DEAL

what you want is one that covers seals and gaskets, and coils and electronics and stuff, and since you have an AUDI you want free towing too.

deductible is up to you

we've had a bunch of audi's in the family, and they all have had problems. my brother carries an extra set of coils in the glovebox, as he's had to get towed a couple of times.

i have no problem owning an out of warranty mazda, but after the last audi experience, i would not want to own an audi period. lease, yes.

the lest audi experience, my dad leased a 2008 A6, at about 18,000miles check engine light comes on, for that code they reflash the ecu. car gets to 20,000miles, the check engine light comes on again.

same code, and step 2 is to remove the cylinder heads and clean them.

needless to say my 1958 Tr3 has a service interval where they want you to pull the head off and clean it, but its longer than the Audi, and what happens @40,000miles when audi won't pay for it? (mazda would extend the warranty for this)

and the cylinder heads are a big job! his mileage dropped from 32-33 to like 28, so he just turned it back in, they obviously didn't get it back together right...

his previous car, an 04 A6, we can't remember exactly what the problem was, something like the dome light on the passenger side stopped working. it needed some $1000 control unit....

needless to say, we make fun of the british cars for being unreliable, but the Tr3 has actually been better.

 

Just read the fine print and you will notice that most are a scam. The only things that are truely covered are parts that typically do not fail. Secondly, usually you have to document all your maintenance too. If anything is out of order; meaning you went one mile over your oil change interval - they will deny you a claim.......on your A/C compressor!

They really aren't worth it, and I've made the mistake a few times when I was younger. Never again, I say. I spent more time with an attorney suing the companies (which conveniently go out of business - OFTEN) for repairs, that the headache isn't worth it. I say invest the $$ and over a few years it will help pay any major repairs.


Just my .02 cents

 

Thanks for the input guys. I know that Audis are maintenance hogs, and some of the repairs can be unbelievably expensive, so I'd really feel better with a warranty on it. Maybe I'll ask a good mechanic and see if there are any that actually pay for repairs.