The_Judge

Here's a link to the Consumer Reports article on extended warranties for new automobiles, which they label "an expensive gamble":

https://www.consumerreports.org/exte...ensive-gamble/

Here's the text (note especially the penultimate paragraph):

Extended Car Warranties: An Expensive Gamble

The majority of buyers never use the coverage

Looking for an easy way to save hundreds on your next new car and simplify the buying process at the same time? Skip the extended warranty. The dealer will probably try hard to sell you one, telling horror stories about the thousands of dollars it can cost to replace an engine or transmission. But the odds are you’ll never need the coverage, and even if you do, the money you’ll save in repairs won’t come close to what you paid for the added warranty.

A recent Consumer Reports survey found that 55 percent of owners who purchased an extended warranty hadn’t used it for repairs during the lifetime of the policy, even though the median price paid for the coverage was just over $1,200. And, on average, those who did use it spent hundreds more for the coverage than they saved in repair costs.

Among survey participants who used their policy, the median out-of-pocket savings on repairs covered by extended warranties for all brands was $837. Based on a $1,214 average initial cost, that works out to a net loss of more than $375. Factoring those who didn’t use their policy, the median savings was zero. And that may have something to do with why satisfaction with auto*mobile extended warranties is among the lower rated of all products and services surveyed by Consumer Reports, and why only about a quarter of respondents said they would definitely get it again.

Conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center in late 2013, the survey included responses from more than 12,000 Consumer Reports subscribers who purchased an extended warranty. The survey covers vehicles built during model years 2006 to 2010. We targeted those years to focus on vehicles that are typically no longer covered by a traditional three-year new-car factory warranty.

rbrylaw

That's nice. I don't really care what Consumer Reports has to say about this subject. I buy ELW's because I can and want to. Everyone else should make their own decision.

JTK44

Whoa Rod!

This is a forum to help not rant!


Your prior posts on transferring the unused portion of your extended warranty are helpful. Let's get more of that - helpful information!

A lot of people use Consumer Reports as an aid in guiding them on decisions.

Do not take it personally.

rbrylaw

Wasn't trying to be mean. Honest. When someone however, posts an authoritative post saying something is a bad investment, it does push my buttons. And I personally don't put much credence into CU. Perhaps that's me, but I don't use them as a very reliable source anymore.

JTK44

Rod:

The post is "Thoughts on extended warranty". Obviously Courthaven wanted opinions and experience. Consumer Reports is a source that many find reliable. It is based on user's experience - in fact thousands of user's experience.

Your experience may be different and obviously some of the experiences in the survey were similar to yours - but the majority were not.

But surely if someone or some organization disagrees with your "investment" which "pushes your buttons", then perhaps as Shakespeare said ""The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

rbrylaw

Fair enough. My apologies to The_Judge if they thought I was being critical of them posting the CU comments. I've said all really I need to say on this subject anyway.

Ps: Perhaps "thou doth protest too much methinks" might have been a 'nicer' reference.........

The discussion can continue now and I'll bow out of this thread.

MBenz777

These being said (the above messages) I have only on thing to say about my personal experience;

The MB warranty expired in August 2017
Around May 2018 I signed up for an Extended Warranty and paid for it approx. $6,000
The extended warranty is going to be for the next 5 years or up to 150,000 whichever comes first.

As of today, 6 months into the EW, I had 2 repair jobs already which were in a total of approx $5,900 and covered 100% by the EW.

So, at this point I'm almost breaking even and I have left 4.5 years of warranty or about 90,000 miles.

Everyone can do the math and say EW is a good thing or EW is a bad thing...I, for one, I'm happy that I got the EW.

nycebo

I love Consumer Reports and find their reviews and advice to be very helpful. However, like all things, it's just advice and it's important for consumers to do the math themselves (something CR always recommends).

While they do recommend 'against' extended warranties in general, they do offer the following (and along the lines of Rod's thinking):

Wasted Money?

According to our survey, only about half of those who purchased an extended warranty for a used car from model year 2000 or later actually filed a claim over the past five years. That’s a lot of money spent for peace of mind. But most of those who filed repair claims wound up relying on their extended warranty multiple times.

About 30 percent of used-car purchasers who had owned their car for a year or less and purchased an extended warranty to cover it needed to use that warranty in the first year of ownership.

But two-thirds of drivers needed that additional coverage in years two through five of ownership.

And while the extended-warranty industry has taken a bad rap for not paying claims, 84 percent of used-car buyers who had to use their extended warranty said that all of their claims were honored. And 82 percent of all extended-warranty buyers said they would consider getting one again.

Courthaven

Well, all information possible is definitely helpful for me Initially, I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to buy the warranty, but now seeing people's stories of how much they have paid for past repairs I am considering it and that's very helpful.

It was very tough for me to know what to expect from a repair standpoint from people that I know, so I came to you all. I have had an Infiniti for the past 11 years and haven't had very much aside from maintenance to pay for. Now, I am making my first leap into the Mercedes world for the first time so all info is appreciated..

MBenz777

Regarding my experience, please keep in mind that I was "lucky" enough to need those costly repairs, but there are MB owner who are "unlucky" and go all the way to the end of the Extended Warranty without a single repair needed, only oil changes, brakes and tires, which obviously are not covered

tarsands

I buy the MB extended warranty just before the original warranty expires if I am keeping the car. At that point I'm buying a warranty on a used car and it has been a good investment.

rustybear3

Cr aside ( and I too take their reports with a grain of salt), it all comes down to this: Do you feel lucky....punk?

All kidding aside, it depends on your comfort level of the hundreds of computers and electrical as well as mechanical possible malfunctions down the line in your ownership. For myself, I plan on keeping my car for at least 7 years, so extending it to 7 years was a no brainer for me.

However, if I do change my mind a few years down the line, I can always get a refund from my warranty. Even a simple repair can be thousands of dollars in today's machines. Most of us have spent thousands in options on these cars; why not in warranty protection?

Sure, you can wait...but you're going to probably pay more for that warranty. Like I say; you can always change your mind. They offer a 100% refund if cancelled before your warranty extension begins.

The_Judge

Actually, I do, based on more than 50 years of personal experience. In that time I've owned or leased about 16 cars if memory serves, and I've never had a mechanical repair bill that was more than a grand (other than a couple of engine rebuilds and one tranny rebuild on my old 71 BMW 2002). I have taken good care of my cars, done regular maintenance, and garaged all of them. OTOH, I don't drive as much as many poster on this forum, and I've kept most of my cars for only 3 or 4 years (one exception — my wife is still driving a 1999 C230, so far with no major repairs). Extended warrantee? No thanks. I'm far, far ahead of that game. Of course, as always, YMMV.

rustybear3

You don't have you cars for any lengthy period of time, so of course you wouldn't need an extended warranty. It never applies to you.

The_Judge

That's my point. Being "lucky" is often a matter of choice.

ua549

I totally agree. I've been buying new cars exclusively since 1960. I've have 3 or 4 at a time and keep them between 6 and 10 years. The only $1k or more maintenance experiences I ever had was an air suspension failure on an out of warranty W211 and engine oil seals on a BMW E60. Before I retired 20 years ago I never sold a car with less than 150,000 miles on the odometer. Now I sell them based on age, not miles.

rustybear3

You've taken "lucky" out of the equation, when by choice you buy cars with warranties and keep them 3 or 4 years before they run out. That's a sure thing rather than luck. I agree with you; if I only held onto my cars no more than 4 years, I wouldn't of course bother with a EW.

Myself and others on the other hand, keep our cars past the 4 year mark....in my case up to seven, and I'd rather be protected than take the gamble to be without a warranty on such an expensive car. Lucky in my case would be not taking an EW, and going past 4 years taking a chance of major expense. Nice to have those options....no?

CaptainE

MBenz777

My factory warranty expired August 2017.

In May this year I was close to 50,000 mark so after realizing that I like my car (ML 350 diesel Bluetec) and they do not built SUV diesel anymore I've decided to keep it so I went to the dealership and I signed up for an extension warranty provided by a different company not MB. I think I've mentioned above the name of the EW provider.

CaptainE

MBenz777

Yes, I was in rush yesterday and I didn't go to look for my paperwork, but is Red Shied...
They are a bit slow with reply (send an inspector, etc) but since MB is providing me a loaner I didn't mind that the first repair took 2+ weeks and the second one 1.5 weeks.