Who purchased an extended warranty?

[mriley]

There has been some recent discussions on extended warranties and I am wondering if I'm in the minority for not purchasing one?

How many of you purchased the extended warranties and how many passed knowing how dependable Honda's are?

To help keep the numbers accurate, if you are leasing or rotate through cars every 3 years, please don't respond to the poll.

Thank you

[jlee2070]

I purchased the Honda Care Warranty mainly because the dealer offered a full money back deal should I end up NOT using the warranty. However, if I do use it for whatever reason, the deal is off...

Yes, Honda's are reliable but stuff happens and 7 years at 16K per year will put well over 100K miles on it...

[enzie54]

We purchased the Hondacare warranty for our used 03' and have used it. Had an actuator replaced, the heat shield fixed, and a "minor" coolant leak repaired all for a single $100 deduct.

We also cancelled our AAA membership. Hondacare is essentially the same...roadside assistance, lockout assistance, battery jump, etc.

Hope we never have to use it again but we're glad we purchased it.

[enzie54]

Finally figured out how to use signature...

[jestmaty]

Bought it.......

7yr/100k with $50 deductible.....

+/- $1100

I am dividing my driving between the Pilot and my 240SX (Nissan) to keep mileage down as to get the full 7 yrs. Basically, I need to drive 1200 miles per month for 84 months to get all 7 yrs.

I tow a heavy boat a lot during the summer and have concerns about powertrain issues. The closest lake to me is about 70miles away. That is 140 round trip in 100 degree weather.

And, I keep cars a looonngg time. Just got rid of my 91' CRX after driving off the showroom floor when brand new.

[jl_ss]

Bought the 5yr/100k/$0 ded extended warranty for about $750 for three reasons: 1) Honda/Acura still hadn't proven that they were past there tranny problems when we were purchasing in 2005, 2) Between 40K and 140K, our 1999 CRV needed about $2.5k worth of parts/labor that Honda would not pay for under goodwill, and 3) our MDX had numerous quality problems.

[chuck_tempe]

i didn't buy the extended warranty for my '05 pilot. when i bought the warranty for my '04 element, i asked specifically if the warranty was 100% refundable even if i was to trade the vehicle in (if i was to get a newer vehicle - pilot) and the salesperson - and financial/loan processor, and they BOTH said yes.

the element was purchased from HONDA CARS OF MESA and traded in for the pilot from TEMPE HONDA.

the salesmen's closer from TEMPE HONDA used to work for HONDA CARS OF MESA.

later, when i asked for my refund, honda PRORATED my warranty. HONDA CARS OF MESA scammed me out of my 100% they promised.

i have purchased 2 vehicles from them and 3 from TEMPE HONDA and i don't think i will return to either dealerships for anything other than warranty work.

that's a shame since there are good salesmen in both places but what they tell you(or taught in their sales training) and what the dealership backs up are two different things.

i don't expect this honda to be problematic but if it does, it's time to sell.

[mriley]

I spent some time the other day at my local dealership where I have worked with one specific service advisor. He's taken care of any little problems that have come up, went above and beyond when I had a vibration issue and even helped by mother-in-law with her Accord.

She had a noise coming from the trans-axle area. Come to find out, he stated that Honda has a problem with 2000-2001 Accord and Odyssey transmitions. He stated that he gets one in almost every day and Honda just replaces it. We didn't purchase the Accord from them but they had no problem doing $3,000 worth of warranty work.

I state this because talking to him about the extended warranty; I'm at 33k on the Pilot and have been thinking about purchasing one, he mentioned that he has not seen 2004 - 2006 Pilots in house for any major repair. This is a high volume place and if a problem was out there, he would know. He also stated that they have seen a few 2003 Pilots in for trans. problems but only a few in 4 years. Then he looked at me and said.."Do you know how many Pilots are out there?"

Knowing this, we talked about how an extended warranty is an insurance policy. The issuer is hedging that they will only pay out 60% of the selling price in repairs. (They need to make a profit...) So, if a new vehicle extended warranty is about $800, they are hedging that after the first 36k they will average only $480 in repairs for the next 64k miles.

To me, this tells me that the Pilot and Honda's in general, should not have a major problem. And if they do, as seen with the Accord and Odyssey, Honda will take care of it. (Ok, maybe after several thousand complaints but they will take care of a known problem, so don't flame me on this one.) When looking at the pilot, I also looked at a Jeep but when they said the extended warranty was $2,600, I knew it was a vehicle destined for time in the shop.

One more note, he stated that if I was going to get an extended warranty, do not go with any other vendors product than the Honda warranty. He has seen numerous problems with other vendor’s products getting denied or they make any warranty work very difficult to get approved. With the Honda extended warranty, it's just a phone call and it's approved.


Looking at the results so far with the poll, I see about 70% purchased the extended warranty and the rest of us have passed. I only hope the 70% purchased them at a reasonable price. From what I have read, people have paid from $800 to $1,500 for the same warranty, depending on dealer markup.


A note to Chuck_Tempe: I have purchased extended warranties for several previous vehicles. Each time, I received refunds because I sold or traded the vehicle in before the time was up and/or before they paid out more in repairs than I paid for the warranty. Did you contact the warranty company directly and state that the dealer is refusing to refund a percentage of the purchase price? Two refunds I received from Toyota warranty and the other was from the Ford dealer but that was because I got rid of the vehicle before the first year. (Ford dealer kept $200 and I got the rest)


Thank you to everyone who helped with this poll. This why we're here, to help one another.

[chuck_tempe]

the warranty i purchased was through the dealership and it was honda motor company's extended warranty and NOT an aftermarket one.

after getting my refund check from honda motor company, i called the dealership's financial guy (a different one from the original one) and he stated clearly that it was prorated.

he said if i was to purchase another vehicle through HONDA CARS OF MESA, then they, THE DEALERSHIP, not HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, would have given me the 100%.

that was b.s., since i asked specifically when i bought my element, about the trade in scenarios.

the fine print DOES state that IT IS a prorated warranty and that i would have to carry out the term of the warranty to get a full refund.

that's NOT what the original finance guy and salesman told me.

i have asked specifically about different scenarios and they said 100% refund to all of them.

it wasn't until HONDA OF TEMPE stated that i had to contact the original dealership, HONDA CARS OF MESA, to cancel the contract.

when i went to HCOMesa to cancel my extended warrany, the financial guy was puzzled why HOTempe didn't fill out the same form there.

i'm not that happy with either HONDA OF TEMPE or HONDA CARS OF MESA.

i'll probably drive out of my way to get warranty work done from a different honda dealer.

both dealerships obviously don't care too much about a returning customer.

[davepilot05]

I got my 6 year 80,000 warranty with $100 deductible for $555. I'm told this was cost. Thanks to this web board, I found a quote for someone online at this price and the dealership matched it.

If you can't get a deal around this price from your local person, I would suggest our site sponsor (no relationship). His costs look to have only $100 profit which is awesome given what most dealerships try to sell it to you at. I would have bought from him if my local guy wouldn't have matched my deal (the quote was legitamate... but I didn't know much about their dealership and would rather have given my business to Hondaacuraworld).

[TheEaglePilot]

I did not buy the warranty ("That's why you buy a Honda," said the wife, "so it doesn't break.")

When I signed the papers, however, I was talked into a service package that was $484 and covered all oil changes, plus diso****s on a lot of other stuff. When I got home, I looked at what kind of service the Pilot actually *needed* (as opposed to what the dealer wants to give you) and I concluded that I was barely going to make back that money if at all.

When I returned to the dealer to drop off the check, I cancelled the package ... before I handed over the check.

Chris

[dj5]

Save your money and don't buy extended warranties, service packages, or protection packages. These are pure profit for the dealers and thats why they push them so hard. Better off putting that money in a money market account drawing interest and pulling out if needed.

[beer4799]

For a very good price. I trust the Pilot mechanically, but, I wanted the warranty for the electronics and windows, etc. Nav is not a one barrel carbuerator that you fix at the kitchen table! One good repair and my $695 will seem like a deal.......Murphys Law being what it is; my first repair will probably be at 102K. I am going to try to run this thing to 200K if it makes sense to do so. I am sure a tranny replacement will be in there somewhere.

[BillG]

Originally posted by chuck_tempe
that's NOT what the original finance guy and salesman told me.

i have asked specifically about different scenarios and they said 100% refund to all of them.

I don't blame you for feeling like you got shafted, but think about it... you took the word of a car salesman & finance guy when it contradicted what was clearly stated in the HondaCare contract.

You can be mad at them about it, but you share some responsibility also.

A prorated refund is a fair deal.

[BillG]

I haven't bought the warranty for my Pilot.

We did buy one for our family Odyssey. The history of transmission problems made it seem like the right decision.

We have young children and almost certainly have quite few years ahead of us driving a minivan. I don't see any reason that we would want to get rid of the Odyssey. I hope to keep it for 10 years.

I haven't made up my mind on the Pilot. I like it, but I'm less certain that this is the vehicle I want to drive for 10 years.