Need extended warranty advice

[Coramie]

Hi all,
I’m strongly considering replacing my ‘18 Ram Laramie with a ‘22 Ram Laramie. I have a lifetime warranty on my ‘18 but an axel (or something else structural) was bent during a brake job and as a result I’ve been dealing with a vibration for the past year. I’m sick of it and don’t want to sink the money into replacing the axel/components. Anyhow, the ‘22 would be through Carmax. My question is, with the increased denials of warranty coverage for Mopar’s warranty, should I get a Carmax Maxcare extended warranty instead?

I’ve used the Mopar warranty twice, both with no problems. First was to replace a delaminated Uconnect unit, and the second was broken manifold bolts. The ‘22 is an E-torque HEMI unfortunately, so I’m torn on which extended warranty to choose. I’ve never purchased through Carmax before so any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Edited to add the ‘22 has less than 15k miles so the Mopar warranty is within mileage acceptance.

 

[tron67j]

If you want to go with a warranty, there are a number of third-party warranty companies out there. I think consumer reports has rated them and they include feedback from their customers who have and use the warranties. I would also research online. I don't know anything about CarMax warranties, but read the fine print and see if you have to use them or if they have to approve repairs. The nice thing about third-party warranties is that there's no middleman, you work directly with warranty company and they pay directly to the dealer.

Not sure that your problem from the after effects of the brake job could be that serious. It is possible that somehow the wheel got unbalanced or screwed up one or more of the studs and the wheel isn't going on quite straight. I would take it to a different mechanic and have them check it out to see if they can find an issue. I don't think it would be that expensive to fix. Find it very hard to believe it could be an axle for a brake job.

 

[mikeru]

It’s been my experience that even the best 3rd party warranties aren’t as good as a manufacturer’s extended warranty. Mainly because of the hoops you have to jump through when you need work done. Obviously I haven’t worked with all of them, but those I have worked with kind of sucked. Even with their problems I’d go with a Mopar extended warranty. The main thing is to know what is and isn’t covered. All of that is spelled out in the fine print so make sure you read through the paperwork for any extended warranty you are considering.

 

[oe542bob]

I have a friend who has used Zurich for extended warranties. He’s told me that they have worked out well with any service/parts. The couple of vehicles he’s had it on were not Ram trucks.
OP, as far as the ‘22 Laramie, I would check when it was originally sold. The actual date because once the 3year/36,000 miles has been met, either or, you would have to have it “certified” by a CJDR dealership. Any issues would have to be fixed on your dime. Then you would be able to buy a Mopar extended warranty.
I would kinda be leery about a “car max” extended warranty, but it maybe under written through Endurance, Zurich, etc. I have no experience going that route.
Another thing, not 1st hand experience, but hasn’t CarMax had issues about titles??? People sometimes don’t get the title and you can’t register it!

 

[Coramie]

If you want to go with a warranty, there are a number of third-party warranty companies out there. I think consumer reports has rated them and they include feedback from their customers who have and use the warranties. I would also research online. I don't know anything about CarMax warranties, but read the fine print and see if you have to use them or if they have to approve repairs. The nice thing about third-party warranties is that there's no middleman, you work directly with warranty company and they pay directly to the dealer.

Not sure that your problem from the after effects of the brake job could be that serious. It is possible that somehow the wheel got unbalanced or screwed up one or more of the studs and the wheel isn't going on quite straight. I would take it to a different mechanic and have them check it out to see if they can find an issue. I don't think it would be that expensive to fix. Find it very hard to believe it could be an axle for a brake job.

Thank you for the response, Tron. I'm looking around at 3rd party warranties and feel like it's a crapshoot no matter what. Carmax says they have a network of 30k + shops they partner with for the warranty work, so access I assume wouldn't be too much of an issue. I know the Mopar would historically be the best bet but with all the recent problems I've read about where they delay or deny coverage, it doesn't look good when considering an E-Torque Hemi with it's documented issues.

For the vibration, yeah I'm torn over that. Over the past year I've had the tires balanced and road-force balanced about 5 times, rotated, and finally put on new tires. The vibration always stayed in the seat and never transferred to the steering wheel, so it seems to be something stationary in the back. As a last ditch effort, I met with a trusted independent mechanic earlier this week and we looked over everything. We also replaced both back rotors as a Hail Mary. Still a slight vibration that starts at 40mph and gets more pronounced around mid 50's and up. Initially, after the brake job, I brought it back to the shop that did it b/c it drove like a princess until then. The shop kept it for 3 days and told me "We can't figure it out, we're all stumped". The independent mechanic said my best options were to start piece-mealing replacement parts in hopes that we get the right one, or just rebuild the back end.

I'm conflicted between upgrading to this '22 that may have E-torque issues down the road or throwing money at my current truck to get this vibration out. I loved driving my truck for the previous 6 years but over the past year I can't stand getting into the damn thing knowing I'm about to get an unwanted full body massage.

 

[Coramie]

It’s been my experience that even the best 3rd party warranties aren’t as good as a manufacturer’s extended warranty. Mainly because of the hoops you have to jump through when you need work done. Obviously I haven’t worked with all of them, but those I have worked with kind of sucked. Even with their problems I’d go with a Mopar extended warranty. The main thing is to know what is and isn’t covered. All of that is spelled out in the fine print so make sure you read through the paperwork for any extended warranty you are considering.

Yeah that's the direction I'm leaning, but I highly value outside thoughts/opinions, so I appreciate you weighing in. This E-torque thing scares me and I'm just hoping for the best outcome if it starts giving problems like so many have.

 

[Coramie]

I have a friend who has used Zurich for extended warranties. He’s told me that they have worked out well with any service/parts. The couple of vehicles he’s had it on were not Ram trucks.
OP, as far as the ‘22 Laramie, I would check when it was originally sold. The actual date because once the 3year/36,000 miles has been met, either or, you would have to have it “certified” by a CJDR dealership. Any issues would have to be fixed on your dime. Then you would be able to buy a Mopar extended warranty.
I would kinda be leery about a “car max” extended warranty, but it maybe under written through Endurance, Zurich, etc. I have no experience going that route.
Another thing, not 1st hand experience, but hasn’t CarMax had issues about titles??? People sometimes don’t get the title and you can’t register it!

Thanks for the response! I'll look into Zurich. I've seen the Endurance and a couple others and most seem to have generally decent/good reviews.

For the Mopar, I have the Lifetime Maxcare on my current truck. I bought it used with less than 12k miles in '18. It was an Enterprise rental car that was bought at auction by the independent dealership I purchased it from. Unless things have changed since then, I didn't need to get it certified or otherwise qualified for the Mopar warranty. I've used it twice through a local Austin, Tx dealership with no problems. Maybe requirements are different now?

The in-service date on the history report for the '22 shows as 11/03/22, so it does have 2+ months of 3yr/36k warranty left on it. Not a whole lot of breathing room for something to go wrong if it's going to, unfortunately.

 

[oe542bob]

Yea OP, you could still get a Mopar warranty before that date. No Life Time Max Care anymore. Pick how may years & mileage you want along with a deductible of $0, $100 or $200
On my ‘18 2500 diesel I bought 5 year 100,000 mile max care. $200 deductible. Never used it. If you run out of mileage or years on your extended warranty, you can’t “just” extend it. A new replacement warranty might be able to be purchased, but as I said previously, it would then have to be checked out by a CJDR dealership first. Things do change so I wouldn’t worry about that now
Many people buy extended warranty (Mopar) through Granger, Ziegler, etc. They sell these Mopar warranties at a discount. I was able to buy my previous warranty through my local dealership which almost price matched when I showed them my offer.

 

[tron67j]

Does the vibration occur only during braking, only during regular driving, or all the time? Does braking make it get any different or worse?

Guess it is possible that lifting the truck up bent something just enough to through the axle housing or something off. I wonder if one of the studs got damaged, you could try replacing all studs on back wheels and include new nuts. If you do that, replace (don't reuse) the bearings as those are pretty much the only things outside of the axle or housing that could be the issue, and much more problematic. I generally don't like to just throw parts at a problem but these items can be hard to diagnose as a problem.

Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[Coramie]

Yea OP, you could still get a Mopar warranty before that date. No Life Time Max Care anymore. Pick how may years & mileage you want along with a deductible of $0, $100 or $200
On my ‘18 2500 diesel I bought 5 year 100,000 mile max care. $200 deductible. Never used it. If you run out of mileage or years on your extended warranty, you can’t “just” extend it. A new replacement warranty might be able to be purchased, but as I said previously, it would then have to be checked out by a CJDR dealership first. Things do change so I wouldn’t worry about that now
Many people buy extended warranty (Mopar) through Granger, Ziegler, etc. They sell these Mopar warranties at a discount. I was able to buy my previous warranty through my local dealership which almost price matched when I showed them my offer.

Very much appreciate the feedback oe542. I just spoke with someone at Granger about any new requirements/exclusions of getting a Mopar Maxcare warranty on a used vehicle that isn't CPO nor sold through a CDJR dealership. Sounds like things are similar to when I bought the lifetime one on my used '18. The good news is that the actual in-service date on this '22 isn't until 4/10/23. So there's still a decent chunk of 3yr/36k warranty still left. I hope I don't need it but it's nice to know it's there!

 

[Coramie]

Does the vibration occur only during braking, only during regular driving, or all the time? Does braking make it get any different or worse?

Guess it is possible that lifting the truck up bent something just enough to through the axle housing or something off. I wonder if one of the studs got damaged, you could try replacing all studs on back wheels and include new nuts. If you do that, replace (don't reuse) the bearings as those are pretty much the only things outside of the axle or housing that could be the issue, and much more problematic. I generally don't like to just throw parts at a problem but these items can be hard to diagnose as a problem.

Good luck whatever you decide.

The ironic thing is that the brakes work flawlessly and there's no vibration or pulsating response when using them. So they did the brake job right, just screwed something else up while doing it. Yeah throwing parts at it may cause more problems than it fixes, and then again, it may be one of those phantom things that no one can figure out. That's been the case so far.

I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions. I'm leaning heavily toward refreshing up to the '22 with a Mopar Maxcare warranty, but damn I don't like that E-torque crap! Here's a link to the '22 that's currently in transit to my local Carmax. It's basically the exact same as my '18 except for the sport hood. The 6.4 bed was hard to find but I love it in my current Ram so I wasn't willing to do go down to 5.7

https://www.carmax.com/car/27613792?adcode=Xfer_Reserved&utm_term=%%%3dRedirectTO(%40VehURL)%3d%%&utm_id=43294059&sfmc_id=385135477

 

[mikeru]

Yeah that's the direction I'm leaning, but I highly value outside thoughts/opinions, so I appreciate you weighing in. This E-torque thing scares me and I'm just hoping for the best outcome if it starts giving problems like so many have.

The thing I'd be more worried about is parts availability. The etorque system is covered by the emissions warranty, which is 8 years/80k miles, but too many people with etorque starter/generator failures have seen wait times of weeks and even months. Warranty coverage does nothing to expedite parts that are on back order.

If you're looking to upgrade from your 2018 I'd look for a non etorque 5th gen if you're at all concerned about the system. Specifically 2019 thru 2022 models. We plan to keep our non etorque 2020 Limited for the long run. It only has 23k miles and still has the new car smell inside lol.

 

[Docwagon1776]

The thing I'd be more worried about is parts availability. The etorque system is covered by the emissions warranty, which is 8 years/80k miles, but too many people with etorque starter/generator failures have seen wait times of weeks and even months. Warranty coverage does nothing to expedite parts that are on back order.

This.

The Mopar warranty is a gamble the parts are in stock, your dealership will try to get them vs just waiting forever for one to magically show up, and your dealership isn't staffed with incompetent morons and/or competent crooks. After dealing with the warranty for 4 months and getting the CEO's office involved, I can assure you none of these are a given.

If you actually need your truck, **** the warranty and keep cash in the bank. If you need aftermarket or even used parts, that's now an option for you. If you need to fix it yourself or use an independent shop, that's now an option for you. If you need to get a part rebuilt or get an improved aftermarket version to prevent future failures... you get the idea.

Buying the warranty is just putting your money up to be a hostage and hoping the warranty is honored. The "peace of mind" offered is false compared to just *having your own cash available*.

 

[Coramie]

The thing I'd be more worried about is parts availability. The etorque system is covered by the emissions warranty, which is 8 years/80k miles, but too many people with etorque starter/generator failures have seen wait times of weeks and even months. Warranty coverage does nothing to expedite parts that are on back order.

If you're looking to upgrade from your 2018 I'd look for a non etorque 5th gen if you're at all concerned about the system. Specifically 2019 thru 2022 models. We plan to keep our non etorque 2020 Limited for the long run. It only has 23k miles and still has the new car smell inside lol.

I looked around for a truck in my price range with the features I've grown accustomed to in my '18 Laramie. The only one(s) with low mileage and a price range I'm willing to pay all have the E-torque. I wish that wasn't the case and your point is well taken.

 

[Coramie]

This.

The Mopar warranty is a gamble the parts are in stock, your dealership will try to get them vs just waiting forever for one to magically show up, and your dealership isn't staffed with incompetent morons and/or competent crooks. After dealing with the warranty for 4 months and getting the CEO's office involved, I can assure you none of these are a given.

If you actually need your truck, **** the warranty and keep cash in the bank. If you need aftermarket or even used parts, that's now an option for you. If you need to fix it yourself or use an independent shop, that's now an option for you. If you need to get a part rebuilt or get an improved aftermarket version to prevent future failures... you get the idea.

Buying the warranty is just putting your money up to be a hostage and hoping the warranty is honored. The "peace of mind" offered is false compared to just *having your own cash available*.

Do you know if an independent mechanic or outside shop is able to work on the E-torque system if it goes haywire or has a failure? That's the only major issue I'm not sure of in regards to getting the warranty. I'd feel 100% confident stocking the cash away to pay out of pocket up the road for pretty much anything else. Is that something you would know by chance?

 

[Dean2]

You have a lifetime warranty on a vehicle that runs very well, except for a vibration. I would find and fix the vibration and keep the vehicle you have now. No matter what that costs to do, it will still be WAY< WAY cheaper than upgrading and you don't need to futz with after market warranties. You also don't have to put up with all the e-Torque issues. Here in Canada third party extended warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on, I can't imagine they are a lot better there.

If you really must upgrade, I would suggest you get a 2500 with the 6.4. No E-Torque, not near the lifter issues, and ride almost as good as the 1500s.

 

[Coramie]

You have a lifetime warranty on a vehicle that runs very well, except for a vibration. I would find and fix the vibration and keep the vehicle you have now. No matter what that costs to do, it will still be WAY< WAY cheaper than upgrading and you don't need to futz with after market warranties. You also don't have to put up with all the e-Torque issues. Here in Canada third party extended warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on, I can't imagine they are a lot better there.

If you really must upgrade, I would suggest you get a 2500 with the 6.4. No E-Torque, not near the lifter issues, and ride almost as good as the 1500s.

I definitely hear you. I'm still considering keeping it and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. The part I haven't mentioned that is favoring the upgrade, is I have a couple of things that negatively effect the value of the truck. It suffered significant hail damage on the hood and roof in 2020. This happened right after I used insurance to fix a huge dent in the side that I made by running into a fence post trying to squeeze into an opening. So the history shows an accident, and the hail damage is still there and very obvious. The hood looks like a big golf ball. If I keep it, the value will just keep decreasing. As it stands, the best offer I've gotten is actually from Carmax at $11k. If I trade it into a dealer they may give a higher trade number but then make it up on the sale. Selling it outright without a trade to a dealership nets me between $9.5 - $10k. Either way I go the math kinda sucks lol But yeah, enjoying the lifetime warranty and driving it until the wheels fall off was the original plan

 

[mikeru]

I looked around for a truck in my price range with the features I've grown accustomed to in my '18 Laramie. The only one(s) with low mileage and a price range I'm willing to pay all have the E-torque. I wish that wasn't the case and your point is well taken.

How much is peace of mind worth to you? There's no guarantee you won't have issues with any other part of this truck, but if you buy this truck with etorque, and the starter/generator or the 48v battery module fails, how long are you willing to let your truck sit before a replacement is acquired? From what I've read those are the two main components that can and do fail. Either will put your truck out of service until it's fixed.

The vast majority of etorque equipped Ram 1500's haven't had an issue with the system. But it's an unnecessary complex system that is just one more point of failure. And long term reliability is still unknown since the oldest of them have only been out for half a dozen years.

I've said my peace and if you're willing to gamble on that I hope you never have any issues with it if that's the direction you go instead of fixing your 2018.

I definitely hear you. I'm still considering keeping it and trying to figure out what the hell is going on. The part I haven't mentioned that is favoring the upgrade, is I have a couple of things that negatively effect the value of the truck. It suffered significant hail damage on the hood and roof in 2020. This happened right after I used insurance to fix a huge dent in the side that I made by running into a fence post trying to squeeze into an opening. So the history shows an accident, and the hail damage is still there and very obvious. The hood looks like a big golf ball. If I keep it, the value will just keep decreasing. As it stands, the best offer I've gotten is actually from Carmax at $11k. If I trade it into a dealer they may give a higher trade number but then make it up on the sale. Selling it outright without a trade to a dealership nets me between $9.5 - $10k. Either way I go the math kinda sucks lol But yeah, enjoying the lifetime warranty and driving it until the wheels fall off was the original plan

I just have one question in response to this...why do you care about the value of your truck if the plan was to drive it until the wheels fall off?

 

[Dean2]

A dentless repair guy can get rid of 98% of hail damage so you cant even see it, and for fairly small dollars compared to bodgy work. If your existing vehicle is only worth 10,000, then you lose nothing by driving it for as long as you possibly can. Your newer one will drop 10 grand in the first 12 months, anfd keep dropping. You are way ahead driving the old unit but not all decisions are just financial.

 

[Docwagon1776]

Do you know if an independent mechanic or outside shop is able to work on the E-torque system if it goes haywire or has a failure? That's the only major issue I'm not sure of in regards to getting the warranty. I'd feel 100% confident stocking the cash away to pay out of pocket up the road for pretty much anything else. Is that something you would know by chance?

Not to be overly reductionist, but it's basically a fancy alternator, not black magic.