When is it worth purchasing an extended warranty on a used vehicle?

Is it ever worth purchasing an extended warranty on a used vehicle
that is relatively reliable (toyota, honda, etc.)?

 

No.

 

Maybe IF you have the option in the 3rd year - by then you'll know IF you
need it - otherwise I agree

 

I bought my 'Toyota Certified Used Vehicle' from Lithia Toyota in
Medford, Oregon. I also (first car buying experience, give me a
break..) was conned, er, talked into buying the 'extended warranty'
offered by Lithia.

Like a moron -- I bought it.

Since I drove a lot -- and it was a miles/years thing -- I went past
the piles in a pretty short amount of time. That was $2k down the
drain pretty fast.

The few issues I did have with the car, I caused myself by using way
to much injector cleaning thinking I was doing a good thing when I
wasn't. Also, since Lithia seems to employ morons in the service
department, it took them '10 hours' to diagnose and thankfully, that
10 hours x 95.00/hr was covered under the warranty and the replacement
of the cracked/dirty injector was as well. They told me that I should
feel thankful I had the warranty because had I not, I guess they
really thought I would have paid $1000 just to DIAGNOSE a bad
injector. Ray O can chime in but that just seems absurd....

In an ideal world, a dealer wouldn't possibly think $1000 to diagnose
a vehicle is sane -- but Lithia can and does.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it. I wish I hadn't purchased it on
mine.

(2002 Toyota Corolla, CE purchased with 62,000 miles -- 144k strong
today!)

 

If the vehicle has a lot of bells and whistles it might be worth
considering an extended warranty.

My last car was a Ford and the warranty just about paid for itself in
repairs.

I just purchased a Honda with Navigation and a few other options. I did get
the extended warranty, but I debate every day if it was worth the extra cost
because of Honda reliability.

However, the 99 Accord I had purchased used had the ECM fail and the
warranty paid for it.

Consumer Reports usually votes against them.
Is it ever worth purchasing an extended warranty on a used vehicle
that is relatively reliable (toyota, honda, etc.)?

 

trailer wrote:

======================

WOW, you should have run out and bought a lottery ticket. A failed HONDA
ECM is about the rarest event on the planet. About the only way to wreck
one is from arc welding on the chassis or the windshield leaking water
through it for a while / total immersion.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/faq_ii.html#changeecu

'Curly'

 

The last warranty I bought was a Nissan Stanza. Waste of money, never
used it.

Ron

 

Lithia told me the ECU was thousands if it went bad. That convinced
me it might be worth it.

I've found ones for my 1ZZFE automatic for $50 on eBay that claim
they've been tested and work fine.

 

The last warranty I bought was a Nissan Stanza. Waste of money, never
used it.

Ron

Have you used any of your life insurance policies yet??--waste of $$$ I
guess.

 

If you're buying a car and getting a Ceritfied Pre-Owned Toyota (has to be
CERTIFIED) the warranty is free...

 

Keep in mind that if you don't use the warranty, it might be refundable.
Never used this though.
Is it ever worth purchasing an extended warranty on a used vehicle
that is relatively reliable (toyota, honda, etc.)?

 

I actually did that about 15 years ago at a Honda dealer in Atlanta. I ended
up selling the car after about 2-3 years (it was too small for a growing
family) and the dealer gave me a full refund.

I have purchased several cars from them since-- and sent friends and
neighbors. Best $700 they ever spent!

 

The way I see it, buying an extended warranty is betting that you made a
poor decision on the reliability of the vehicle.
Tomes <-- who does not buy these things and has come out ahead as a result

 

I bought a Honda extended warranty because it was refundable.
The catch is that it is refunded after the expiration in years, not miles,
and only to the original owner, so they probably don't pay out very often.

I figured the real cost of the warranty was the interest on $1320 for 7
years.

Then I had a $200 repair that would be covered under the warranty. darn.
I paid for that, to keep the refund alive.

 

It is rarely worth purchasing an extended warranty on a used vehicle. Put
the cost of the extended warranty into a separate bank account and draw from
it for repairs to the car if necessary.

 

I bought my 'Toyota Certified Used Vehicle' from Lithia Toyota in
Medford, Oregon. I also (first car buying experience, give me a
break..) was conned, er, talked into buying the 'extended warranty'
offered by Lithia.

Like a moron -- I bought it.

Since I drove a lot -- and it was a miles/years thing -- I went past
the piles in a pretty short amount of time. That was $2k down the
drain pretty fast.

The few issues I did have with the car, I caused myself by using way
to much injector cleaning thinking I was doing a good thing when I
wasn't. Also, since Lithia seems to employ morons in the service
department, it took them '10 hours' to diagnose and thankfully, that
10 hours x 95.00/hr was covered under the warranty and the replacement
of the cracked/dirty injector was as well. They told me that I should
feel thankful I had the warranty because had I not, I guess they
really thought I would have paid $1000 just to DIAGNOSE a bad
injector. Ray O can chime in but that just seems absurd....

In an ideal world, a dealer wouldn't possibly think $1000 to diagnose
a vehicle is sane -- but Lithia can and does.

Anyway, I wouldn't recommend it. I wish I hadn't purchased it on
mine.

(2002 Toyota Corolla, CE purchased with 62,000 miles -- 144k strong
today!)

**************
The problems you encountered is one of the reasons I tell people to lay off
the injector cleaner there is a drivability problem that might be caused by
dirty injectors.

What kind of symptoms did you experience?

And yes, 10 hours diagnosis time seems ridiculous. Since flat rate time
includes diagnosis and testing, they should have only charged you for the
flat rate time to diagnose and change the injectors.

Flat rate time is a double-edged sword. A shop may come out ahead with the
majority of the vehicles they work on, but they should eat the extra labor
in those few cases where they can't beat the flat rate time. If they want
to charge extra when they can't beat flat rate, then a fair shop should give
a credit or discount if they do beat flat rate time.

 

<snipped>

Lithia told me the ECU was thousands if it went bad. That convinced
me it might be worth it.

I've found ones for my 1ZZFE automatic for $50 on eBay that claim
they've been tested and work fine.

*******
New ECU's do cost thousands if they go bad, but they rarely go bad. I think
the failure rate is something like 1 or 2 per million vehicles. The
replacement rate on ECU's is much higher because the technicians can't find
something else wrong.

 

I once had an ignition problem that I thought was due to a bad output
transister on an acura integra ECU. I had tested the coil and replaced the
ignitor. I pulled ECU and removed its cover and sat in awe at
the quality of it's construction. I decided to look elsewhere and the problem
turned out to be the coil that ohmed out as perfect. An O'Scope on the signal
from ECU to Ignitor showed a good signal.

 

Probably not worth the cost. The vast majority of these insurance
policies (they're really not warranties, but insurance policies)

Possibly. However, if the repairs that were covered by a TSB, the
repairs might have been done free or at a reduced cost. Plus, you might
have had the repairs done more cheaply by a private garage.

That because the people who sell the insurance pay out so little on
them. The vast majority of the money that you pay is for profit for the
dealer and profit for the insurance company that sells the warranty.
Plus, if your car gets wrecked, the insurance is lost.

These insurance plans are usually a waste of money.

Jeff

 

I purchased a Honda 8 year 120k extended warranty with zero deductible for
my 2006 Odyssey. It cost about a grand. For one thing the van has a ton of
bells and whistles. For the other, it is likely that I will sell it in year
7 and being able to sell it with a 1 year warranty should make it very easy
to sell privately.