theref1234

I received a letter from the local dealer notifying me that the extended warranty on my 2016 E350 with 52K miles is about to expire. Conveniently, Auto Nation offers a "breakdown warranty for my 2016 E350. A 5 year policy covers all malfunctions at about $7300 with a $100 charge per service. The policy also provides for towing to the local dealer if you are on a trip and have a breakdown, a loaner, etc.

Has anyone had any experience with this type of warranty? I think that this is pretty expensive but, on the other hand, my car is loaded with options (like adaptive cruise control, LED adaptive lights, etc.) that would be pretty expensive to repair. I did purchase an extended warranty when I bought the car in 2018 as a CPO and I have used it a bit but not for mechanical issues

What experience have any of the readers here had with this type of coverage? When I bought the extended warranty, I was able to bargain down the cost. Has anyone done that with an extended, extended warranty?

We used to take long drives from Seattle to LA but now rarelly venture beyond Portland so we are not putting a lot of miles on the car (probably less than 10K miles/year) and the odds for a breakdown at a remote location are pretty low. The real risk is having to pay for major repairs. It is likely that I will keep the car at least 5 more years.

KEY08

Just bank that money. I guarantee you the policy will not cover EVERYTHING.

cadetdrivr

^ ^ ^
This.

Besides, they would not sell you this policy if they thought they were gonna pay out more than $7300.

cetialpha5

Last year of the W212. Probably one of the more reliable years and it's been more reliable than the W211. I would just save the money. The $7300 is way too high. I don't think I've spent that much on my W211 in 7 years and that includes tires and rims. You can get AAA plus that will cover 100 miles of towing for around $91 a year. That also includes trip interruption insurance. Lots of auto insurance also include towing for just a few dollars a year. Got lots of expensive options on my car too, pano roofs, keyless go, parktronic, bixenons etc. They're pretty much mostly reliable and I doubt they'll break in the next 5 years unless you actually break them. Only issue I had with the pano was the cracking noise over various ramps, dropped the headliner and tightened the 6 bolts and used loctite, took less than an hour. The headlamps are pretty expensive too, but they come down in price over time and you can always get used/junkyard parts. None of mine have failed yet though and it doesn't seem like the LED headlights have the failure rate of the bixenons.

theref1234

Thanks to everyone for their responses. I had pretty much come to the conclusion that I would take my chances. Then, I dug into the paperwork from the purchase and found the amounts that for the extended warranty and the pre-paid maintenance. Though I have used the former, it was not for large cost repairs. The latter was used at several points on the odometer up to the current 62K (not 52K as I mistyped earlier). I saw some trickery in the numbers and then I read an article called "The Most Dangerous Guy in the Dealership: The Finance Guy". I will do anything to avoid those dudes. I do not think that I will buy an extended warranty again. Also found out that it is not actually a warranty at all. It is an Extended Service Contract with many loopholes that defy logic. And most of them mean "Sorry Charlie".

KEY08

Yep, you have come to the right conclusion!

pierrejoliat

I agree, doesn't seem to make financial sense.I got the extended warranty on my '13 and the dealer did seem go out of their way to take good care of me, but in the end I felt like I broke even.