Purchasing a extended warranty, yes / no?

[WaterBoy1]

Just my $0.02 here, but something I never thought of before actually made my mind up that I would purchase extended warranty from now on.

2 winters ago, my thermostat went out (it's a bit more involved nowadays with sensors etc) and my truck was down for 9 weeks while waiting for the backordered part.

They put me in a rental 1500 for all 9 weeks. If any of you have rented a vehicle before, you know that the cost alone for that, more than paid for the warranty itself.

I have also had 2 axle joints replaced, ball joints, and a few other items. My warranty has paid for itself 2x over now.

It is a 2014 2500 with around 83,000 km on it...

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[buddy guy]

I agree with you, Tidefan. But I also remember back in 1998ish when the F150 was said to have one big flaw by many auto critics. It was built better than it needed to be today. And I bought one & for the 4 years I had it, no problems I can recall.

Roll forward to today. How good are Fords these days? And thats coming from a long term Ford fan. My 2003 Tacoma came from what many consider to be the best generation of Tacos in durability & build quality. Part of the reason they are still so highly value is the 2005 plus 3rd generation were more prone to being of average build quality along with most north American trucks.

They simply & truly "don't build them like they used to".

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[RLJ10X]

9 weeks for a thermostat?

I need to go to the local Toyota dealership and take a picture of the pile of rusty taco frames that they switched out. That's been going on for years. You NEVER hear about that because it's a Toyota, and they're the greatest.

But as soon as Dodge has to replace one frame, you'll never hear the end of it.

A Tacoma isn't even really a truck. It's more like an el Camino that looks like a truck. I spent 6 weeks in one. I was glad to be done with it.

If you came out ahead on a warranty, I'm glad for you. You beat the odds.

9 weeks for a thermostat......

 

[buddy guy]

I need to go to the local Toyota dealership and take a picture of the pile of rusty taco frames that they switched out. That's been going on for years. You NEVER hear about that because it's a Toyota, and they're the greatest.

But as soon as Dodge has to replace one frame, you'll never hear the end of it.

A Tacoma isn't even really a truck. It's more like an el Camino that looks like a truck. I spent 6 weeks in one. I was glad to be done with it.

If you came out ahead on a warranty, I'm glad for you. You beat the odds.

Yeah what a fiasco that was! First thing I did before I bought my Taco was verify with local dealer that my frame had been given the treatment to prevent the issue.

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[Daddyhas2boys]

I say hell yes to extended warranty, I paid 1400.00 for mine and got over 6k in repairs with 100.00 deductible, prolly 4 or 5 different issues all under the warranty....

 

[Adam E]

I have the lifetime MaxCare on my Ram because my brother who is Chrysler mechanic recommended it. He also purchased the Lifetime Maxcare when he purchased his wifes 2017 RAM, he still drives an '05 RAM. We both plan on keeping our trucks for a long time and I think that is the key. I dont plan on my warranty paying for itself until my truck is 15+ years old.

 

[Lucy Girl]

You got that right bro. Screw lifetime warranty and the dealership that has them.

Sorry I called A Lady bro. Please forgive me.

 

[Tracy in IL]

Extended warranty's on all my vehicles: two free engine rebuilds on my Bronco, new tranny on Pontiac, front-end rebuilds and one tranny rebuild on the Nissan. Only 2.5 yrs and 20k miles on my Ram, so haven't needed it yet. Will extend warranty if/when I need to.

 

[Jim Bowker]

My first "new" vehicle was a 1994 F150. Kept 6 years, no extended warranty, and no repairs needed that would have been covered under that warranty.
Next was a 2000 Chevy S10 ZR2. Kept 7 years, no extended warranty, and no repairs needed that would have been covered under that warranty.
After that was a 2007 Ford F250. Kept 7 years, no extended warranty, and no repairs needed that would have been covered under that warranty.
That was followed by a 2014 Honda Ridgeline, but I ended up only keeping for 3 years as I needed better tow capacity. Obviously no extended warranty there either.
Current vehicle is a 2017 Ram, still no extended warranty.

So let's say an extended warranty cost $1,000 to make the math easy. With five vehicles over 26 years, that would be $5,000 I would have wasted.

Wife has a 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee, same spiel.
Before that was a 2012 Wrangler Sahara. There was a Nissan Pathfinder before that, a Nissan Xterra before that, and a Nissan Altima before that. No extended warranties, and no costly repairs that would have been covered. At this point I'm back to mid 1990's, and I don't know what she had before then, but that's still a 25 year history.
So with those five vehicles, maybe that would be another $5k savings.

At this point, if I had wasted $10,000 for "peace of mind", I wouldn't feel very peaceful!

Everyone forgets all of those wasted ones, and only remembers the ones where it helped them out. It's human nature. If they generally lost money, they wouldn't sell them. So if they generally make money, it means you generally lose money. But if it makes you feel good, go for it.

 

[buddy guy]

I'm going to cancel all my insurance right now!

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[TomB 1269]

It's a gamble..... But with the possibility of an inherent issue of a serious nature in the 5.7 when I do buy mine after its lease is up, I will definitely be purchasing one that will cover the motor for as long as feasible (i.e. price vs time vs coverage).
I had on on my Ford Freestar, but had no issue during it, after it expired I had several.......just the luck.
My 2015 Rav in the driveway I have 100K bumper to bumper for 8 years which will be up in January 2023. I was in for oil change and tech notice very minor wetness on oil pan at rear main. Its under warranty so they change the seal. That was 3 days or so in the shop, labor and rental would have been well over $500, so at least I've gotten 25% of my warranty cost back.......
I am one that likes to be safer than sorry......I see warranties as a way to hedge the bet in my favor. But I also realize that warranty companies have to be winning more than losing or they'd be out of business....

Like the casino, the house wins in the end but a few will walk away with a lot more then they put in...the rest will have a win here and there but will rarely break even.........

In this case I'd rather struggle to break even or lose, vs paying out a hole lot for a repair just to keep making payments on the car / truck.........

 

[Dave2018]

Nope.

It had a price.

And you paid it.

I invested my money in some real estate in Seattle.

Oh crap, wait......

Not sure what your point is.

 

[tidefan1967]

I agree with you, Tidefan. But I also remember back in 1998ish when the F150 was said to have one big flaw by many auto critics. It was built better than it needed to be today. And I bought one & for the 4 years I had it, no problems I can recall.

Roll forward to today. How good are Fords these days? And thats coming from a long term Ford fan. My 2003 Tacoma came from what many consider to be the best generation of Tacos in durability & build quality. Part of the reason they are still so highly value is the 2005 plus 3rd generation were more prone to being of average build quality along with most north American trucks.

They simply & truly "don't build them like they used to".

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I haven't been too thrilled with Ford lately either. Just put battery number three in my wifes 2016 Explorer last week. Luckily for me it was the first one I had to pay for. 44K miles. They definitely don't make batteries like they used too!

I also had a 2003 Taco. I only kept it a short while because it was boring and slow and the gain in mileage wasn't worth the lack of power.

 

[buddy guy]

Lol re the taco. Suprisingly crappy gas mileage with the v6 considering the size (I averaged 17 mpg). The best part of it was reliability. I sold it march 2019 with 225,000 miles on it, missing valance on front end after being backed into, was overdue for a new timing belt (not cheap to replace) hail damage all over, needed new windshield, drivers seat wore out, rusted rear bumper, and yeah that 155 hp felt like less than 100. But I swear it would have still been running even if the rest of the truck fell apart around me! I asked I believe a fair price given desirability and I had a list of over 75 pple in 1/2 hour willing to throw money at me and it wasn't going to be available for 1 month (was in the midst of new truck search at the time). 2nd guy in bought it. Sent me 500 down & a pic of his drivers license unsolicited to show how serious he was, sight unseen. Also signed a letter saying he was prepared to give up his 500 cash if he were to back out.

I wish I had 50 of them to sell!

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[buddy guy]

I haven't been too thrilled with Ford lately either. Just put battery number three in my wifes 2016 Explorer last week. Luckily for me it was the first one I had to pay for. 44K miles. They definitely don't make batteries like they used too!

I also had a 2003 Taco. I only kept it a short while because it was boring and slow and the gain in mileage wasn't worth the lack of power.

In regards to battery, from my motorbike days, the Ram goes on a smart charger from Oct to end of March. I believe in battery conditioning that will keep it going longer. Plus, its fact the remote start systems on these trucks is very sensitive. If the power is drained even a bit the system can error when trying to use the remote start & only correct by manually starting the truck.

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[Richg87]

I buy the extended warranty because of the miles I put on the truck and all the electronics. I also buy for peace of mind. I usually keep my vehicles 10 - 12 years if not longer.

I'm not a fan of all the electronics. I already have enough gadgets. Vehicles today are basically computer networks on wheels. Can be expensive to repair. I'm a simple guy.

 

[RLJ10X]

Regarding the electronic crap, I'm with ya, Rich. I wonder if one of these years, mechanically sound vehicles are going to get totaled because of a bunch of the electronic crap went bad.

I still don't do extended warranties. Period. The odds are against ya.

 

[shackman]

I bought a life time warranty right from Mopar it's the same as there factory not covering paint, trim, upholstery,brakes and normal wear stuff. I also bought the oil change system you get 8 oil and filter changes with synthetic oil the same oil and filter they use in the Hell Cat. That was a deal at $425.00 that way every thing at the dealership on record. I got 69,000 on it and have 2 more oil changes left and i haven't used the warranty yet.

 

[Ed F]

I bought the Mopar extended warranty. I don't drive much either so I went with 8 years, the maximum they will do. If you want it with the least hassle. There is the Mopar presence here on this website. They are:


https://www.ramforum.com/forums/chrysler-warranty-direct.172/


They have their own forum area on this website if you have questions. I'm about 1/2 way paying off the extended warranty. They do zero interest so you just pay it down monthly based on the price you agreed too.

They may quote zero interest but look at the installment contract fee. A rose by any other name....
Y

 

[Ed F]

I'm with ya, Rich. I wonder if one of these years, mechanically sound vehicles are going to get totaled because of a bunch of the electronic crap went bad.

I’ve seen vehicles with almost no damage externally but were totaled because all the air bags deployed.