Buying a used car - Extended warranty used for good or evil

[Streak]

Shopped around and found a spiffy 2007 Mazda 5 Touring (5 speed manual) for a good price with reasonable mileage (93k kms). The dealer had it listed at $11000, but they had an "opening sale" for the new dealership at $10k. Elsewhere I'd seen the same vehicle (usually the non-upgraded sport instead of touring) for 12-13k so it seemed like a great deal.

I made a deposit and started working on the financing. The dealer called me the next day and it sounded suspiciously like my 10k car was now being sold to me for $17k.

I went to meet with him and learned he was trying to sell me FOUR warranty packages worth over $1200 each, plus taxes of course. I listened patiently to the sales pitch and threw away three of the four warranties, but having thoughts about not having any warranty coverage on the car at all.

I looked into the "mechanical failures" package they were offering. It seemed to include a lot, the company has been around for a few years, had a few complaints with the BBB but not too many. However I noted it doesn't include wear and tear and has a deductible, and it's $1800. Personally I feel it's unlikely this car will cost me more than $1800 in repairs in the next year or two. I looked around elsewhere online and I could potentially buy my own warranty which DOES cover wear and tear and has no deductible at all but costs $2400.

Thoughts? Warranty horror stories?

[Darus Grey]

Extended warranties are always...always...a gamble that is not in your favor.

[Acevalefor]

warranty = more cash for the salesman and a negative net for you. It it very rare that repairs will cost more than what you paid for the warranty. If you are concerned about it, put that extra $1200 into an interest bearing account. If and when you need to make repairs, you can pull money from an account that has already made a profit and you haven't lined the pockets of any salesman.

[Isiolia]

You often don't get the coverage from those types of warranties that you think you would.

[Mytiwar]

"That sir is not covered by the warranty you purchased"

[archibaldcrane]

$1800 deductible for a $10k car?

No.

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[Streak]

No, $1800 to buy the warranty for 3.5 years. The deductible remains to be seen but is probably at least $100 per repair. I'm gonna drop the warranty and make the nice saleman cry

They were negotiating hard, offering me 5% interest instead of 7.5% interest if I bought the warranty. But...... spending more than $2000 to save less than $1000 on interest seems like a losing battle.

Math 1 : Cars Sales People 0.

[Melena]

The first car I ever bought was a lease returned 99 Cavalier in 2000. I got the extended warranty since the manufactuer's warranty only had 3k miles on it and I commuted about 40 miles each way for work. About 3 months after I bought the damn thing, my horn stopped working, my cigarette lighter stopped working, and my rear defrost did not work. Took it in, they made an excuse about how a blown fuse caused it and it's not covered, cost me $250. I pick up the car, drive to work, and find out the three things are still not working. Turns out the heating grid melted, the horn cap broke, and the cig lighter kept popping a fuse, refunded me the 250 i paid, and claimed it still wasn't covered and charged me an additional 150 to fix it. When I traded in that piece of shit 3+ years ago, the cig lighter still did not work. Buyer beware on them. If you absolutely feel like you need a warranty, read over the terms with a fine tooth comb. If there's a term you don't like, don't get it.

[archibaldcrane]

No, $1800 to buy the warranty for 3.5 years. The deductible remains to be seen but is probably at least $100 per repair. I'm gonna drop the warranty and make the nice saleman cry

They were negotiating hard, offering me 5% interest instead of 7.5% interest if I bought the warranty. But...... spending more than $2000 to save less than $1000 on interest seems like a losing battle.

Math 1 : Cars Sales People 0.

Before you go back, go to your bank and see what type auto loan you can get there first. Get pre-approved, bring that with you. Tell the car dealer you don't want the warranty, and that you want the car for 9k. Let them believe they are financing it (as they'll think "well 9k is doable, we juat have to fuck him on the financing") - once they agree to the price (you'll probably have to walk out on them and just leave your phone number) - then let them know you've got your loan in place and ask if they can beat it.

Then just follow the numbers closely and you're all set.

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[Skjie]

The point of an extended warranty is to make more money, not help you out. Always remember that.

[Tekki]

I got a Dodge with a "lifetime warranty" on it when I bought it in 08. It was "free" as long as I got an oil change at their dealership. I fucked off that deal about 6 months later. They wanted an oil change about every 60-90 days that cost $40 and about 2-3 times a year they had "routine" maintence packages they required that cost anywhere between $150-$300. After 6 months I relized I spent over $600 in maintenance fees and said fuck it. The worst part was being out of town and needing to hit up my oil change. In order to stay under warranty I had to call a week in advance and they had to point me to the direction of an "authorized" person to change my oil. I also had to keep the records of that oil change close. Any maintenance done outside my dealership had to come with documentation. If I ever had a claim, I had to present all the documentation on top of the dealership slips for the maintenance.