Extended Warrenty... Anyone buy one?

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skinny2
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Postby skinny2 » Fri Mar 29, 2013 4:36 pm

ThePainClinic wrote:whats an anecdotal story?

I take it you didn't buy an extended warranty...

Ok, now as the post states for those who did buy the extended warranty...your thoughts/ experiences are appreciated!

Utterly amazing.... :roll:
I wasn't replying to your post. Anecdotal stories are these little personal experiences about how people came out ahead with a warranty. It's the opposite of science I believe...you have google I'm sure you can figure out the definition.

What's utterly amazing? That most members here don't like giving their money away?


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eieio
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Postby eieio » Fri Mar 29, 2013 5:06 pm

ThePainClinic wrote:whats an anecdotal story?

I take it you didn't buy an extended warranty...

Ok, now as the post states for those who did buy the extended warranty...your thoughts/ experiences are appreciated!

Utterly amazing.... :roll:
OK everyone, if you didn't buy an extended warranty, be sure you DON"T RESPOND to "ThePainClinic"s thread :roll:
he doesn't like it........
utterly amazing :roll:

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ThePainClinic
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Postby ThePainClinic » Sat Mar 30, 2013 5:54 pm

amazing...

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Zen_master
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Postby Zen_master » Sat Apr 13, 2013 9:16 pm

I did buy one. What I purchasd is something they call a wrap. About two weeks ago I bought a 2011 V8 Pathfinder lease turn-in with ~38k on the odometer so the factory 3 yr / 36k mile warranty had just expired. Being a certified used car it did come with a 7yr / 100k mile power train limited warranty with the 7 yrs starting from the in-service date of October 2010.

Of course at the finance desk I was offered all the standard BS from tire and wheel coverage to gap coverage, etc. The only thing I was remotely interested in was the wrap which basically is a bumper-to-bumper factory warranty much like the original 3yr/36k offered for around $1,200.

For those of you with the V8 you know there is a ton of electrical and creature comforts in these vehicles. Each one in my mind is something that could potentially go wrong from the backup camera and DVD player to heated steering wheel and the navigation / info center. I'm quite sure a failed DVD player or one of the two display screens going out would exceed $1,000 in cost when factoring labor so I said what the heck and posted payment for it rather than adding it to the financed cost.

The wrap is good for the same 7yr/100k from the in-service date of Oct. 2010 so the way I see it I have a virtual bumper-to-bumper warranty for the next four and a half years and over 60k miles of driving. Better believe I plan to drive the PF anywhere and everywhere in that span of time to ensure if anything goes wrong it happens under warranty. Also, if I ever plan to sell it a warrantied vehicle would command a better selling price and the buyer would have the peace of mind knowing anything that was ever wrong with the vehicle had been promptly fixed even if the warranty had recently expired. For $1,200 that seemed reasonable in my mind.

Only thing I didn't like about it is that Nissan makes you purchase the wrap at the point of sale. I asked if I could go home and research reliability and common problems on the PF so I could gauge what sorts of repairs and total gross cost I might be looking at in the next 4-5 years. Unfortunately the answer was no, it must be purchased when signing the paperwork so I hedged my bet and went with the extended warranty.

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Postby turbo4wd » Mon Apr 29, 2013 7:44 pm

I bought my 05' Pathfinder used with just under 36k. I bought a security+ gold preferred for around $13-1500 (forget the exact amount) and I did it for the max amount of time allowed which took me to 2012. I easily came out ahead with repairs on just the parts cost alone - that came out to $23-2500 by itself.. Add in labor and :shock:.

I would buy a service contract on any used vehicle I purchase.. That's just my personal experience.. YMMV..

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ThePainClinic
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Postby ThePainClinic » Mon Apr 29, 2013 8:23 pm

Zen_master wrote:I did buy one. What I purchasd is something they call a wrap. About two weeks ago I bought a 2011 V8 Pathfinder lease turn-in with ~38k on the odometer so the factory 3 yr / 36k mile warranty had just expired. Being a certified used car it did come with a 7yr / 100k mile power train limited warranty with the 7 yrs starting from the in-service date of October 2010.

Of course at the finance desk I was offered all the standard BS from tire and wheel coverage to gap coverage, etc. The only thing I was remotely interested in was the wrap which basically is a bumper-to-bumper factory warranty much like the original 3yr/36k offered for around $1,200.

For those of you with the V8 you know there is a ton of electrical and creature comforts in these vehicles. Each one in my mind is something that could potentially go wrong from the backup camera and DVD player to heated steering wheel and the navigation / info center. I'm quite sure a failed DVD player or one of the two display screens going out would exceed $1,000 in cost when factoring labor so I said what the heck and posted payment for it rather than adding it to the financed cost.

The wrap is good for the same 7yr/100k from the in-service date of Oct. 2010 so the way I see it I have a virtual bumper-to-bumper warranty for the next four and a half years and over 60k miles of driving. Better believe I plan to drive the PF anywhere and everywhere in that span of time to ensure if anything goes wrong it happens under warranty. Also, if I ever plan to sell it a warrantied vehicle would command a better selling price and the buyer would have the peace of mind knowing anything that was ever wrong with the vehicle had been promptly fixed even if the warranty had recently expired. For $1,200 that seemed reasonable in my mind.

Only thing I didn't like about it is that Nissan makes you purchase the wrap at the point of sale. I asked if I could go home and research reliability and common problems on the PF so I could gauge what sorts of repairs and total gross cost I might be looking at in the next 4-5 years. Unfortunately the answer was no, it must be purchased when signing the paperwork so I hedged my bet and went with the extended warranty.
+1 Couldn't have said it better myself. Resale, if anything.

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Postby 71olds » Sun May 12, 2013 8:57 pm

I just picked up my 2010 Path in service date 10/23/09 with 30k on it.

So my 3y 36 is done & I have 18mo left on the powertrain.

The Pathy is not my daily driver(I have an 08 Audi S4) so I will only put about 7k miles a year on it so I figured even it I got the extended warranty at the end of 7 years I would only have about 50-55k on it so I passed on the warranty.

So far I have had to replace the starter at 30760 miles cost me $109 at autozone & about an hour to install.

I hope I made the right choice. When the Starter went my wife had a fit calling me pleanty four letter words for cheeping out & not buying the warranty.

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Postby skinny2 » Mon May 13, 2013 6:00 am

71olds wrote:
So far I have had to replace the starter at 30760 miles cost me $109 at autozone & about an hour to install.

I hope I made the right choice. When the Starter went my wife had a fit calling me pleanty four letter words for cheeping out & not buying the warranty.
So you just picked this thing up and it needed a starter? That's a very rare repair on a Nissan. If anything you'll probably regret buying such a cheap replacement....I feel those cheap autozone/advance parts are ok for domestics as they're closer to OEM quality, but I wouldn't put them on a Nissan/Honda/etc. The good news is you rarely need those kinds of parts on these. Hope it's not a sign of bigger problems with your rig. Didn't it have some kind of seller warranty? Also, many times a dealer will goodwill a repair that close to the warranty expiration. Hell if a dealer is motivated they can get repairs covered that are LONG out of warranty.

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Postby disallow » Mon May 13, 2013 6:29 am

Actually get a chuckle out of reading this thread. You guys are funny!

"Your an idiot if you don't buy an extended warranty!"

Or conversely

"Your an idiot for buying an extended warranty!"

LOL!

Having been both a warranty buyer and a warranty abstainer, I'd have to say there are a couple factors that should help you make this decision:

1. Aversion to risk - if you are one of those people that just can't tolerate any risk, well, I'd wonder why you are buying a used vehicle in the first place. However, that being said, if you are one of these folks, you should probably buy the extended warranty.

2. Not handy - if you are not handy, or have no time to work on the used vehicle you bought, you should probably spend the cash.

3. Cost of average repair - Remember to evaluate what the cost of an average repair is. If it is $500, and you have a $200 deductible, it would take 4 repairs to make up the cost of a $1200 extended warranty.

Here are some examples from my personal experience:

1. 1998 Civic - I bought this car new, and having come from an old 85 200sx with 300k on it, I went from one extreme to the other, from having to fix my car daily, to having a car that was brand new. I paid $800 for a 7yr/160k km warranty extension from 5yr/100k km. Ignoring the cost of financing this $800 (I was 21 and didn't have $22k lying around), this actually ended up being a good decision. At 160k, I had issues with my clutch, and ended up getting my transmission rebuilt, all at a cost of $100 + the wear part (clutch friction disc).

2. 2005 Pathfinder - declined this coverage, and so far after 5 years I am way ahead of any insurance premium I would have had to pay ($1500 IIRC). But I have done any repairs required myself. And most of these repairs were maintenance in my opinion.

3. 28' Keystone Passport - declined the coverage, It was $2500. I looked at what could possibly go wrong... if the fridge went, ~$800. Leaks can be fixed with goop. Everything else would have to be damaged, and therefore covered by insurance. This was a bad deal.

Another thing to consider is how easy a warranty company is to work with. What do they require to consider your claim? Are you stuck with a certain service shop or chain?

Based on my experience, and what I have read over the years, many of these aftermarket warranties are not worth the paper they are written on, so you are essentially throwing your money out the window. Most of the success people have had is when they actually purchase this coverage directly from the dealer, and it is branded as an actual manufacturer coverage, though usually you will be stuck with having to bring your vehicle in to the dealer instead of a shop of your choice.

In conclusion, I don't think people on either side of this issue are inherently idiotic. The only idiots out there are the ones who don't consider all of the facts. I've only covered a handful of the considerations above, what are some other considerations?

t

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Postby doctahjones » Mon May 13, 2013 9:58 am

skinny2 wrote:You can tell anecdotal stories all day long...but these are insurance polcies sold by companies looking to make money. They have done far more research on how to make money on these which means the odds are not in your favor. If it makes you sleep better then go for it. If you think this is a good investment....you probably have better odds than vegas...but that's about it.
i think it really comes down to how (and where) you drive.

if you're a grandma driver and only take it to the store and back, yeah the ins company is totally going to make money off you. and in reality i think most people do drive this way.

however, if you're a very aggressive driver like me then you really push the components of your vehicle i think the warranties are a good deal.

imo if you push a car hard, something is always going to break. if you baby it, then i think your overall chances are alot lower.

so for me and the way i drive (and my particular history) it's a no brainer to get the warranty.

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Postby skinny2 » Mon May 13, 2013 2:00 pm

doctahjones wrote: so for me and the way i drive (and my particular history) it's a no brainer to get the warranty.
Sure the odds are more in your favor if you work your vehicle hard (which is why your warranty likely has commercial use and abuse clauses) but I still don't know if I'd say it's a no-brainer. I run my trucks/suv's hard on road and off (off-road almost daily during the work week) and I've yet to have one that's needed enough repairs to pay for a warranty. I'm at 95k on the this PF and have done nothing besides replace shocks and front sway-bar bushings. Shocks/Struts, bushings, etc. usually aren't covered by these warranties. I've got over 70 trucks in the company fleet and they're used in a harsh environment constantly. The worst things we go through is front end suspension parts but otherwise they hold up quite well through 100k miles. Most of the engines/transmissions still last 150k+ miles.

If it's a real truck...it's going to be able to handle some abuse. Now these new crossover SUV's...they can't handle the abuse at all. I put a Traverse into the fleet a couple years ago and it's been trashed with just occasional off-road use. The Tahoe's/Suburbans hold up great in the same use.

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Postby Sayantsi » Thu Jun 06, 2013 1:26 pm

I got my Pathfinder from CarMax, and when I bought it I bought one of the extended plans - six years and 55k additional mi from date of purchase. It was $1,400 and should last me five years at least, at which point I'll either sell the Pathfinder or not, but it will then be around 10 years old and more fully depreciated.

In one year (10k mi) I've had one problem beyond maintenance - the fuel sensor went bad. The deductible was $150 on what amounted to a $400 repair, so that's $250 back so far.

The way I look at it, if anything big happens (radiator, transmission), the remaining $1,150 I prepaid in the extended warranty would easily save me money. Even another couple minor repairs at $300-400 will save me money in the long run.

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Postby DreamerzCC » Wed Jan 08, 2014 7:24 am

I buy and use them. Makes my CEO, I mean wife sleep better at night. lol
$50 deductible for any issue on both. Warranty up to 100K. Bought mine with 33K(Xterra) and our Pathy with 34K.

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Postby XVTer » Thu Jan 09, 2014 9:43 am

I bought one with my '06 xterra when I bought it new (7yr/100k) and wheeled/beat the snot out of it. I bought it right out of college and the salesman convinced me it was a good idea. By the time I traded it in after 5 years and 99k miles, I had had both the rear axle and front differential replaced as well as half shafts, unit bearings, FSU, and multiple other things like TPMS sensors and transfer case seals. I definitely got my 1500-or-so back for that warranty but it's definitely not the norm.

I bought the warranty for the 2008 Silverado I had and didn't come close to getting my money back - the only major thing that went wrong with that truck was the airbag control module which wasn't under warranty anyway - that made me feel pretty stupid about dropping around 1200 for the extended warranty which didn't cover electrical components over the entire term (fine
Print)

With buying our 2010 pathfinder for my wife's DD I didn't really want to take any chance, especially since I knew about the transmission's 'pink milkshake of death' common on the xterra/fronty/pathy. I also travel a lot for work so it a good piece of mind for me that she won't have much trouble if the pathy craps out on her while I am away.

As it's been said earlier in this post, it's really about how much risk you're willing to take, how you use your rig, and your ability/willingness to do the work yourself

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Postby Werminator » Sat Jan 25, 2014 8:18 am

We just applied one to my 12 Pathy. 17k miles on it now so I am fully covered for the next 83k. With that said, our dealership explained that as long as I can still find the warranty paperwork and haven't used it for anything they will refund the warranty IN FULL... Thats piece of mind in my book. I also asked if they would catch me on stupid crap like a bad lightbulb, would they charge that to my warranty? I was instructed to just pay out of pocket for those little things and leave the warranty in tact in case I catch a bad case of SMOD.


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