3rd party warranty, worth it???s
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
2008 ml 350
3rd party warranty, worth it???s
are 3rd party warranty service worth it? my warranty just expired and i am undecided whether i should get one. if so any suggestions to which company. Thanks
Super Member
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 556
Likes: 4
2011 C300 4matic, 2015 Porsche Macan S, 2006 R500 (sold)
Worth every penny. Paid $2600 for my extended warranty on my R500 and had filled over 11K on claim after 3 years so far. Just have another problem with my airmatic and it is going to cost another 2K.
Don't have any good suggestion on the company since mine is from Chrysler that is no longer cover either the ML or R-class. Good luck to you.
Don't have any good suggestion on the company since mine is from Chrysler that is no longer cover either the ML or R-class. Good luck to you.
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 205
Likes: 3
From: Denver / southern AZ
'11 ML350
that's a pretty general question...obviously depends on the company itself, and specifically what is and what is not covered.
I had a 3rd party warranty on my '99 ML430. I did reasonable due diligence on the company and it appeared fine. It covered a few things for a couple of years, then they went belly up. This wasn't a small company either, thousands of customers were hurt by this. Mismanagement/fraud took the company down. I was like hundreds of other clients who were left hanging at the time they went bankrupt - vehicle in the garage with hundreds/thousands of dollars of repairs needed. I ended up having to pay for my own repairs.
WORST PART--- read your warranty CAREFULLY. Some include a statement that the company is authorized to provide their own replacement parts (read salvage) instead of new factory parts. Example: my A/C compressor when out and the company send my dealer a compressor they obtained out of a "junk yard".
I had a 3rd party warranty on my '99 ML430. I did reasonable due diligence on the company and it appeared fine. It covered a few things for a couple of years, then they went belly up. This wasn't a small company either, thousands of customers were hurt by this. Mismanagement/fraud took the company down. I was like hundreds of other clients who were left hanging at the time they went bankrupt - vehicle in the garage with hundreds/thousands of dollars of repairs needed. I ended up having to pay for my own repairs.
WORST PART--- read your warranty CAREFULLY. Some include a statement that the company is authorized to provide their own replacement parts (read salvage) instead of new factory parts. Example: my A/C compressor when out and the company send my dealer a compressor they obtained out of a "junk yard".
Member
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 205
Likes: 3
From: Denver / southern AZ
'11 ML350
since you let your initial factory warranty expire you are disqualified from being able to get a factory backed extended warranty. This is the most reliable option, but not necessarily the cheapest - in other words, 3rd party warranties are your only option.
Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 205
Likes: 21
From: Florida & North Carolina
2008 ML320CDI 4Matic, 2006 C350
I had researched quite a few third party companies and had narrowed it down to one. Then I asked the owner of my independent MB service company what his opinion was. He told me they do not accept any third party warranty work! Seems as they have been burned through the years.
Additionally, he told me that as long as the vehicle is well maintained (which I follow), any repairs needed will more than likely amount to less than what the cost of the warranty is. This excludes normal maintenance work.
Having owned six MB vehicles over the last 20 years (most miles on one was 91,000), I have not spent $4,000 (amount of third party warranty) over the six years of the covered period on repairs on any one vehicle. Again, excluding normal maintenance.
Others have had to do repair work over and above their cost of the third party warranty coverage during the covered period.
You'll just need to do what makes sense for your situation. I decided against it for me.
Additionally, he told me that as long as the vehicle is well maintained (which I follow), any repairs needed will more than likely amount to less than what the cost of the warranty is. This excludes normal maintenance work.
Having owned six MB vehicles over the last 20 years (most miles on one was 91,000), I have not spent $4,000 (amount of third party warranty) over the six years of the covered period on repairs on any one vehicle. Again, excluding normal maintenance.
Others have had to do repair work over and above their cost of the third party warranty coverage during the covered period.
You'll just need to do what makes sense for your situation. I decided against it for me.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Sep 2008
Posts: 3,076
Likes: 28
From: Seattle, WA
99 ML430, 01 CLK55, 07 R63, 15 E63 Wagon
I bought my third party warranty straight through my dealer so I knew they had good experiences with them and that my coverage would be honored. Mine is from National Warranty Corp. and I've already made one claim and plan to do another on Monday. The warranty was $3-4k (don't remember exactly) and covers my car for an additional 4 years and or 50,000 miles. I definitely forsee the warranty paying itself more than 1X over in the next 4 years as I know these cars are expensive to maintain and that things do tend to break (from my own experience).
