Buy the Lifetime Warranty or not???

LOFSFIRE · Mar 20, 2013

So my 2013 Sport CC 4x4 will becoming in soon, the last big decisions in need to make is, do I buy the Lifetime Warranty or not? Normally, I never buy the extra warranty, but with all the extras on this truck there is allot that could go wrong.

The warranty will cost me about $3,300!

I think I would like to keep it for at least 10 years, but who knows... I'm putting on allot more miles per day now so it may not see 10 years. My current truck is a 98 with 189,000 miles on it. After all these years the warranty would have paid for itself and I would not have had to do allot of the work.

What are your thoughts?

81SHOVELHEAD · Mar 20, 2013

LOFSFIRE said:
So my 2013 Sport CC 4x4 will becoming in soon, the last big decisions in need to make is, do I buy the Lifetime Warranty or not? Normally, I never buy the extra warranty, but with all the extras on this truck there is allot that could go wrong.

The warranty will cost me about $3,300!

I think I would like to keep it for at least 10 years, but who knows... I'm putting on allot more miles per day now so it may not see 10 years. My current truck is a 98 with 189,000 miles on it. After all these years the warranty would have paid for itself and I would not have had to do allot of the work.

What are your thoughts?

I Bought one on my new 2012 2500 Hemi 4x4 .
After looking under the hood i decided this truck has to many things i couldn't even fix if i tried so i guess i'll just let the dealer fix it under warranty for the first 5 yrs or 100.000 miles .
I bought it for peace or mind & cheap insurance if something major was to break .
Just my 2 cents anyway .

0212353 · Mar 21, 2013

3300 is CRAZY.

The prices go up after the truck is a year old (or over 12K), and I just bought one for my (almost) 3 year old truck with 17K on the clock...for 2200ish.

Just looked at the place that I got mine from.......

CHRYSLER SERVICE CONTRACTS: Extended Warranties from Chrysler. SAVE 60%! Quick Quotes. Buy Online.

Brand new 2013, lifetime warranty with a $100 deductible, $2185.

Year: 2013

Make: Dodge

Model: Ram Pickup

Current Mileage: miles

Miles Driven/Year: 0 to 12,000

Requested Coverage: 99 years

AWD or 4x4: YES

Diesel: NO Within 4 years and 48,000 miles: YES

Within 12 months and 12,000 miles: YES

Specialty Class: None

Current Warranty: 5/100 Powertrain Warranty and 3/36 Factory Warranty

limited · Mar 21, 2013

i did life time warranty, i keep thinking i what to so after market stuff,
Like right now i can get magflow exhaust cat back for less then $ 500
I just don't know how much i can change on the truck and not lose the extra warranty
I have had the truck for 8 months and already have 15k miles, I may need the warranty before i get ready to retire in 6 or 7 years, I plan on keep the truck, it has everything i need on it, i did fine out. Let say you get to 300k miles and the engine goes out, you may what the engine replaced but they will only pay what the truck is worth

Birddog · Mar 21, 2013

The reason I never buy warranties is they never give you replacement costs on anything, your parts are prorated so you have warranty and still spend money. Then there are those parts like belts that wear that arent coverd by warranty. By the time you buy the warranty and then have to shell out money for repairs you have to wonder where it will finally pay for itself. The big payoff is only when something like a transmission or engine goes. How often does that happen? If you buy a problematic vehicle then the problem should arise within the first 36k miles. Now we're back to, why buy the warranty? At the end of the day you have to decide what decision you'll sleep good at night with.
If you want the warranty, tell the dealer you're not interested and negotiate something else in your favor if you buy it. They can give you better interest rates or truck accessories, etc. get some nerf bars or a tonneau cover out of the deal.

Chewy · Mar 21, 2013

IMO, if you can afford the truck, you can afford to fix it. If you can't, then you can't afford the truck. IMO, it won't really have any major issues for 4 years or so and unless you put a crap ton of miles on every year, that's around 60-80 thousand miles. The truck should probably be paid off in 4-5 years (I'd hope) so if you have a repair bill, you should be able to afford it.

I'd say NO, don't do it. IMO they're not worth it. If they paid 100% of EVERYTHING, then SURE, but they don't. They just take the sting out of the *****.

Chris

dsent · Mar 21, 2013

I never heard of any MFG offering a "lifetime" Warranty?

I did purchase the 100k extended warranty for my 2500 CTD because I use my truck for business (tax write off) and I travel up and down the east coast.

I like the Idea of not being stuck along the road and the dealers have to fix any problems, no way for them to weasel out it!

Regards
Don

Graygoose · Mar 21, 2013

I paid $1800 for mine....

dsw1519 · Mar 21, 2013

Extended warranty is big business and a huge profit center for dealers. You will notice they tend to push the "non factory" warranties more because they have a bigger profit margin on those than the factory ones. There is a lot of room to negotiate on these, and push the dealer hard. Depending on the warranty, you can get 40% or more off. You just have to stick to your guns and don't be afraid to put a low number out there.

You can also tell them you have researched on line places to buy an extended warranty and you intend to go that route if they can't make a deal with you. To them the thought of a missed opportunity makes them more inclined to deal.

Graygoose · Mar 21, 2013

Ramoverrock said:
I purchased the extended warranty at $1400.00.
In return he "bought" my rate down from 4.09 to 2.99

overall savings, then when you trade in, if you have not used it, you get that partially back as a down payment on next truck. Plus, mine is transferrable for $50 if I sell to individual...helps sale to next guy knowing he can have my warranty.

Westwind1124a · Mar 21, 2013

0212353 said:
3300 is CRAZY.

The prices go up after the truck is a year old (or over 12K), and I just bought one for my (almost) 3 year old truck with 17K on the clock...for 2200ish.

Just looked at the place that I got mine from.......

CHRYSLER SERVICE CONTRACTS: Extended Warranties from Chrysler. SAVE 60%! Quick Quotes. Buy Online.

Brand new 2013, lifetime warranty with a $100 deductible, $2185.

Year: 2013

Make: Dodge

Model: Ram Pickup

Current Mileage: miles

Miles Driven/Year: 0 to 12,000

Requested Coverage: 99 years

AWD or 4x4: YES

Diesel: NO Within 4 years and 48,000 miles: YES

Within 12 months and 12,000 miles: YES

Specialty Class: None

Current Warranty: 5/100 Powertrain Warranty and 3/36 Factory Warranty

I did the same one for about 2150. I had the lifetime powertrain on my wife's jeep and thought it would be a joke. at 90,000 mile a balance weight fell off of the driveshaft. They put a new driveshaft on for free. No questions asked. The fix would have been 1300 out of pocket.

dsw1519 · Mar 21, 2013

Ramoverrock said:
I purchased the extended warranty at $1400.00.
In return he "bought" my rate down from 4.09 to 2.99

Great example. Most dealers make their money with the add-ons such as financing, extended warranties, service plans and optional accessories (bed liners, undercoating, paint sealant, window etching, etc).

Many high volume dealers are happy to sell at invoice or dip into the hold back a bit to make the money on these other items.

Graygoose · Mar 21, 2013

Note, when buying a vehicle, they want to get you to that 'payment' you ask for. lets say $400 a month.

They work the numbers without telling you, that yea, we can get you to $410 a month. Well, most of the time that includes warranty, etc.
Find out what APR is, then when you get to look at the contract before you sign, APR is there, but also look and see if added warranty is on there.
I have, twice...they say "well we fit it in your monthly budgeted payment", I would say dont need it, etc...make them lower price. But biggest deal, is make sure APR doesnt go UP if you lower the cost of the warranty.

Example, wifes Hyundai we bought in 2011, we did that, got back saw they added a $3000 extended warranty. I told him "nope, dont need it on a car that we trade every 3 years, and has 100k warranty"...he said well "ok, but then your APR goes up"...I said fine, give me old car back and to forget the whole deal,. He used padding HIS wallet to buy a deeper APR. Told him my credit hasnt changed, I expected same APR or deal was over...man was he mad. I won, got it at low APR, no extended warranty.

So be careful, they will get you a better APR IF they think your buying an extended warranty.....but you can negotiate it, and or take it off. But demand same APR.

Docwagon1776 · Mar 21, 2013

Shop online for the best price, and then have your dealer match or beat it. If they won't, buy online.

It all depends on how long you plan to keep your truck. I'm probably in this thing for 15 years or better, so I bought the lifetime. Its actually a pretty damned good warranty. Drop one transmission in 15 years and it paid for itself.

Since new car buyers tend to keep their vehicles for 3-7 years, few people will ever take advantage of their "lifetime" policy, but if you're in it for the longhaul its the best warranty you'll ever see.

I asked the same question awhile back, here's the thread:

http://www.ramforum.com/f38/chrysler_lifetime_extended_warranty-15024/

Some good info there.

2711 · Mar 21, 2013

I wouldn't bother... dealerships will almost always find a way to screw you out of warranty coverage anyways, so why delay the inevitable.

LOFSFIRE · Mar 21, 2013

Thank I'm leaning towards not getting it after reading everyone's thoughts. As I said I normally do not buy in to the Warranty but my 2007 GMC Acadia leaves me wondering now. Normal items I can handle fixing, but when my Acadia hit 36,200 mile it broke a piston skirt. GM stood behind it but now I'm just over 5yrs and a 62,000 mile on the car and 25,800 on the engine and wondering what will happen when I hit 36,000 miles again. (Now being out of warranty) I don't think expecting it to last more than 36,000 miles is asking to much. I had 90,000mi on my F150 before I changed one part other then wear items. I hope this RAM will be the same.

As far as getting them to work the numbers around, it won't happen. They have no room to do it. Its a built to order 2013 Sport CC 4x4 msrp was $47 I getting it for $33. I lost all promos, financing, etc. Only deal I can get is accessories at cost.

I have found my own financing for 2.29% for up to 7yrs. Since it's the same rate, I will take all 7yrs and pay it off in 3yrs, if all goes a planed, if not I only have a small payment that I'm required to make each month. If anyone know of a better rate please let me know.

Buy the Lifetime Warranty or not???

LOFSFIRE

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0212353

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Chewy

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dsent

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