Extended warranty suggestions.

I too am curious about extended warranties. I just called Mopar Vehicle Protection, but my truck was originally sold in Canada and I can't get a Mopar warranty.

THE PLAN WILL NOT COVER, OR APPLY TO LOSS OR EXPENSE RESULTING FROM:

Repairs required as a result of other than a manufacturing defect (such as a design defect or normal wear)
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Gee, that leaves a lot of gray area, and room for "subjective" determination doesn't it? I mean, I'm considering purchasing this warranty for my new 17 Ram 1500 so that I might keep it long term and if down the road if something goes wrong I'm not stuck with a high repair bill.

So, let's say my truck has 140,000 miles on it and the torque converter finally goes up. Couldn't this be considered "normal wear" at that mileage?

My entire reason for considering this warranty is in case something unexpected "wears out" down the road. The whole wording of this exclusion sounds like it covers "manufacturing defect" only. Well one from the warranty company could certainly argue that if an engine valve fails after 140,000 miles, that's not a "manufacturing defect" - the valve has simply reached its life expectancy and therefore the failure is due to "normal wear"... now please pay the dealership $3,200 to fix it...??

Any input?

Bingo.

It's Insurance, and as such, it has loopholes.

They bet everything will be alright, you're betting you'll have MORE than 3K in issues that they will cover.

Not a fan of insurance, they make billions, kind of like Casinos.

I've always had the minimum required, never had an issue.

YMMV

Im still conflicted about getting the MaxCare warranty, but I look at it this way:

the surcharge for an older than 12 month/12K mile vehicle seems to be about 150-200. You can just wait a year or two to see how the truck goes and in the end pay the extra 150-200 if you anticipate issues.

2700 for the plan plus 100.00 deductible each repair. 1 $2800.00, or 2 $1400.00 repairs, or 3 $900.00 repairs, or 4 $700.00 repairs, etc will cover your cost. You are hedging your bets that the truck will need that kind of work. Also note, you have to pay for the diag time/labor if it turns out there is NO issue, so your cost could go higher depending.

My "worst case scenario" would involve the 8HP70 transmission or the engine. The issue there is, how hard would they try to get out of fixing something like a wiped out cam, a torque converter clutch, or a whole new transmission? I know there are a ton of electronics in these trucks now, but replacing modules is fairly simple, and not overly expensive if you can find a good used replacement. Id be more worried about laborious jobs like a cam replacement, torque converter or complete transmission swap.

Murphy Slaw said:

Not a fan of insurance, they make billions, kind of like Casinos.

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Yeah, I'm definitely having second thoughts about it now... I mean, they only cover "manufacturing defects"...

So my thought is, if its a true manufacturing defect, I'm thinking it's likely to become apparent during your original manufacturer's warranty period, 3/36 or 5/60, anyway.

Anything beyond those miles and they have a LOT of discretion, open to interpretation, to declare if it's a failure because of a "manufacturer defect" or it's simply "normal wear" - you're at their mercy - and for me that doesn't leave much peace-of-mind, which would be the reason I'd consider purchasing it to begin with.

I'm not so comfortable hedging my bet that they'll be in a "generous mood" if it comes to an expensive repair on a transmission or motor job 10 years down the road when it's too easy for them to decide, "sorry that's 'normal wear and tear'".

I may hold off and think about this a bit and see what other owners' experience has been down the road with the extended warranty. I was considering a lifetime/unlimited mileage for peace-of-mind, but after reading this "exception", it seems to me it could create more stress rather than peace-of-mind by wondering if a major problem will actually be covered in the future...

chrisbh17 said:

Im still conflicted about getting the MaxCare warranty

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I'm with you Chris. On the fence right now. It's definitely NOT a no-brainer. It would be practically a no-brainer for me, IF I planned on keeping the truck for 10 or 15 or 20 years AND that exception clause about "normal wear" wasn't there... That leaves a LOT of guesswork!

I wouldn't be in a good mood to have an transmission go up 10 years down the road and thinking that I thankfully pre-paid thousands of dollars for just this reason and then them tell me - nope, sorry, normal wear and tear - and be stuck with a big bill at the dealer as they have it torn down already...!

tbaker65 said:

I'm with you Chris. On the fence right now. It's definitely NOT a no-brainer. It would be practically a no-brainer for me, IF I planned on keeping the truck for 10 or 15 or 20 years AND that exception clause about "normal wear" wasn't there... That leaves a LOT of guesswork!

I wouldn't be in a good mood to have an transmission go up 10 years down the road and thinking that I thankfully pre-paid thousands of dollars for just this reason and then them tell me - nope, sorry, normal wear and tear - and be stuck with a big bill at the dealer as they have it torn down already...!

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Very true. As I mentioned, I was really only in it for covering the 8HP70 and possibly the Hemi from the dreaded cam failure. But if they are going to claim the cam failure was a 'design defect' then they can get out of covering it under the warranty? Sorry, Ill save my 2700 for something fun for the truck.

I do plan on keeping it a long time...had my previous truck for 11 years and that one I didnt even buy brand new. Even if I had to replace the cam and lifters myself, its still a far cry from the 2700 for the warranty. The X factor would still be the transmission.

chrisbh17 said:

But if they are going to claim the cam failure was a 'design defect'

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I'm re-reading this clause, which itself is a bit confusing in the semantics: "Repairs required as a result of other than a manufacturing defect (such as a design defect or normal wear)"

It LOOKS to me that the parenthesis are defining the "other than a manufacturing defect", BUT, what's in the parenthesis could also be referring to "manufacturing defect" itself... BECAUSE, it doesn't make sense that they would sell an extended warranty (or service contract) that specifically doesn't cover their own "DESIGN DEFECT"...??? Right?

I mean, if your motor goes up because of a faulty piston, it would be hard for them to say "well, that piston failed because we designed it wrong and it's our fault but now we don't have to pay to fix it even though we charged you thousands of dollars for an extended warranty... BUT if it was a 'manufacturing defect', which would also have been our fault, we would have paid for it to be repaired. It's just that it's the fault of our DESIGN department instead of our MANUFACTURING department is why we're off-the-hook, as per the fine print - sorry, sir".

So, this sounds like maybe, by logic, the "design defect" should be covered, therefore the parenthesis refer to "manufacturing defect"... HOWEVER, what conflicts this logic, is we know that "NORMAL WEAR", which is also in parenthesis and under this logic would also be referred to as a "manufacturing defect", is definitely technically NOT a manufacturing defect...?

WOW - they've really got you with the ambiguous wording... you could end up with a Supreme Court case trying to argue that one... LOL

Those of us who purchased the warranty did so with the expectation that FCA would act in good faith if a claim was ever required - and that it would essentially be an extension of the 3 yr/36K factory warranty. In my research prior to buying, i did not hear any examples of where that was not the case. You may want to call one of the many dealers who sell the FCA warranty and see what their interpretation of the "Manufacturer defect" language would be.

tempotantrum said:

Those of us who purchased the warranty did so with the expectation that FCA would act in good faith if a claim was ever required - and that it would essentially be an extension of the 3 yr/36K factory warranty.

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Well temp, For my own reasons I really hope you are correct with your "expectations" and will not be disappointed should the need ever arise - I'm still thinking of purchasing one myself and if I was confident that this was the case (they will act in good faith; an extension of the 3/36) I'd probably be leaning towards it. However, as I've mentioned, the exclusions and the wording caution me some and give some reservations about it, especially if a worst possible scenario happens - a very expensive repair bill and they decide to play the "normal wear" card...

I further found this: "The Plan protects you against major repair bills should a Vehicle component covered by the Plan fail due to defects in material or workmanship". Again, the wording in the contract gives them much discretion to determine what is or what isn't a "defect in material or workmanship" OR "normal wear", etc... Just trying to be cautious with my 3 or 4 thousand dollars is all.

Thanks for the input...

Out of the hundreds of thousands of Hemi engines on the road, there are tens of thousands of them with well over 100,000 miles.

There are a few dozen cam/lifter failures that I've heard of. Let's say there are a hundred.

Some people abuse stuff, some don't maintain stuff and some simply have bad luck.

Some people buy extended warranties for a toaster, Harbor Freight sells them for the crap they sell.

I'll pass.

Murphy Slaw said:

Out of the hundreds of thousands of Hemi engines on the road, there are tens of thousands of them with well over 100,000 miles.

There are a few dozen cam/lifter failures that I've heard of. Let's say there are a hundred.

Some people abuse stuff, some don't maintain stuff and some simply have bad luck.




Some people buy extended warranties for a toaster, Harbor Freight sells them for the crap they sell.

I'll pass.

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All true,. But have you priced the cost of replacing the some of the electronics ? Manifold bolts and the AC compressor? Depends on how long you plan on keeping your truck.

That same 2700 dollars, parked in a mutual fund and earning compound interest turns into more than 4000 in five years and about 7000 in ten years.

If it were me, I would simply park the money, forget about it until needed, and then make my own rules as to what is covered.

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magnum318 said:

That same 2700 dollars, parked in a mutual fund and earning compound interest turns into more than 4000 in five years and about 7000 in ten years.

If it were me, I would simply park the money, forget about it until needed, and then make my own rules as to what is covered.

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You forgot the mic drop at the end LOL.

I have seen first hand with my wife’s vehicle that extended warranties has paid off in her instance. But hard to argue your logic. Have money set aside and use that. You are the decider lol.




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I like the idea of self insurance as well, however I doubt my full $2700 initial principle balance could make it the 5 much less 10 Years that it will take to fully compound into $7000. That’s the rub- if after your warranty expires you have any issues, your self insurance fund will deplete rapidly. I have always had at least some issues with any car I’ve owned after they get to be 5 years or older. Since I tend to keep vehicles til they are at least ten years old- I am confident this is a good investment.

PS- I spoke to a service manager at a local dodge dealer today as my son wants to do a tech internship there while in a local community college automotive program. We discussed the FCA warranty and his opinion was that repairs are always made in good faith unless there is clear abuse or neglect- not wear and tear. He wasn’t sharing that with me as a customer but as someone talking shop with him (literally). If you plan to keep the vechicle 5-10 Years, I think it’s a no-brainer.

tempotantrum said:

I spoke to a service manager at a local dodge dealer today. [...] We discussed the FCA warranty and his opinion was that repairs are always made in good faith unless there is clear abuse or neglect- not wear and tear.

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That's reassuring temp. I am considering purchasing the warranty and probably will unless I hear of a bad experience. That's why I voiced my concerns - just practicing due diligence...

Thanks for the info.

I always figure the "wear" items are things like brakes, shocks etc etc. Not the engine/transmission etc.

Just my humble opinion.

FCA doesn't offer the lifetime warranty in Canada, or I would have purchased it. I did however, purchase the longest one I could get (I think it's 7 years/160,000km)

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I had a 7/75 $100 deductible on my 2012 Challenger. Never used it. Best money I could have spent. When I traded the Challenger after 5 years I got $200 back from FCA. Applied that amount toward the 8/75 coverage for the Ram. 8 years of knowing that whatever happens will be their problem for about $10 a month as long as I take reasonable care of the truck? No brainer for me. On the other hand, when you are 67 (like me) the term "lifetime warranty" takes on a whole new meaning. I may have purchased one of those as well.

WaterBoy1 said:

I always figure the "wear" items are things like brakes, shocks etc etc. Not the engine/transmission etc.

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Agreed on the wear items. I think the wording in the warranty is to cover themselves in case of a questionable claim, e.g., how long should a wheel bearing last before it's 'normal wear' or is it covered under 'defects in workmanship or materials'...?

Again, I was playing the 'devil's advocate' of sorts, trying to cover all the bases before I decide.

Good input. Thanks

KSH said:

There is a guy named Rodney that had great pricing Chrysler warranty direct

888 352 6013

I got a warranty for my prior 1500 eco d

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"This number is not in service".