Counterpoint:

While any one car may well benefit from an extended warranty, I maintain that extended warranties are a scam and that over the car ownership lifetime of any given individual "self insuring" will more than pay off.

Consider the following points:

• Since I was last suckered into buying an extended warranty on a car I purchased in 1988 (a warranty which didn't even come close to paying for itself), my wife and I have purchased nine new cars.
• An extended warranty was offered to us for each of the aforementioned nine new cars; total price for said warranties (had we purchased them) would have been a bit over $15,000.
• To date, the total of all unscheduled maintenance for the nine cars is about $4,900 for a total savings of over $10,000. Right?
• Wrong! Why? Because the total of unscheduled repairs which would have been covered is less than $1,000; the remainder of said repairs came when the vehicle was well beyond the upper mileage limit for the warranty. Said another way, over $14,000 of that money would have been wasted had I "invested" in the extended warranties.

 

There's the "risk" of something catastrophic (expensive$$$) happenning when the car is outside of the factory warranty. We can each decide based on our own situation.

I don't buy extended warranties either, but we all have to decide:
- I've a decent job & if a car has a $$$ problem I can get money, even tho it might be from my home-equity loan. Some people have to live paycheck-to-paycheck.
- I've done major wrenching on cars during my life and figure I can fix almost anything myself. So I don't need repair $$$ I only need parts $$.

Extended warranties are like the insurance industry. It's a for-profit business. I have auto insurance. I have health insurance. I hope I don't have to get my money's worth from either of those. Auto insurance is required by law. Health insurance... well there's any number of major medical events that can cost more than 10 new automobiles, so ???

 

I have worked for dealerships for 10 yrs and I have seen the extended warranties pay off, all it takes is major failure and it pays for itself if you purchase a honda care extended for 1200 or 1300 dollars over the 8 yrs you really think it doesn't pay? Front wheel bearings both sides easy 400 with labor, struts with wheel alignment 400 so tell me how it doesn't pay, motor blows up or trans goes? Things break and I think its always a good thing to buy extended with all the new gadgets in theses car I think your crazy if you don't buy it. I did with my truck and it paid off and I do this for a living. First of all you as a mechanic do not have all repair manuals,TBS, Tech lines for help, in todays cars there is just to much technology and the cost for scanners and other tools are just to costly to buy for one time use. But for me or my wife its piece of mind when traveling thats if my car breaks down I go to any honda dealer and i'm covered and for what just a few dollars over 96 months. I guess you think your way and i'll think my way, but if your going for the long haul extended is the way to go for me.

 

You missed the point. Yes, an extended warranty may pay off on any one car, however, over the car ownership lifetime of any given individual the chances of an extended warranty paying off enough times to justify the initial expense is virtually zero. Long story short, extended warranties are a scam.

 

And I think your wrong!!! The quality of the parts used today is not what it was 20 years ago you see it in everything you buy from washing machines, dryers, stoves etc..... the quality is just not there everything is throw away these days it doesn't pay to fix it thats why i say extended warranty with a 0 ded and it works and I guess we could go back and forth with all day. Hey by the how has the GTI been to you? My son had one I had to put a fuel pump in it wow the wasn't cheap pump alone was over 300 parts are not cheap.

 

Sorry, I've got to tell you that the odds are decidedly against you being correct. Why? Because if you were correct, the insurance companies providing the warranties would be losing huge amounts of money and they would either discontinue providing such warranties, or they would dramatically raise the price. The fact is, the actuarial data doesn't lie, and said actuarial data says the insurance companies will make money, lots of money, off the suckers who buy the warranties.

 

There's good reasons on both sides of this argument. Someone should take the time to consider the pros and cons, along with their own personal situation. Not everyone will come to the same answer.

Statistically over thousands of cars, the business of extended warranties is profitable for the people who sell the warranties. If that weren't true, there would be no such thing as an extended warranty.

Any one of us will probably own less than 50 cars in our lifetime. That is NOT a statistically significant sample. So you have to make your decision and live with it. Some people WILL make a "profit" from extended warranties.

 

I'm an engineer, I've worked for both automotive manufacturers as well an insurance company which underwrites the "Extended Warranty" programs offered by a number of vehicle manufacturers. Statistically speaking, greater than 99% of folks who buy ten or more new cars over their lifetime and who self-insure, will come out ahead, typically by thousands of dollars.

As I wrote before, over the last nine new cars my wife and I have owned, we're already over ten-thousand dollars of savings compared to what we would have spent had we bought the extended warranties. That number pretty much jives with the actuarial data which I have access to.

 

Well as for me it has paid off on both my Harley's 1994, 2007 and my 04 chey dooley maybe I'm just hard on my toys LOL. This will be the first import I will own hopefully I will waste my money on the extended plan. But I do like to play it safe. Yes I do know they make money on those plans as auto insurance, home and this year i think they are giving back here in NY with sandy. Lots of lost cars and homes up here.

 

Just bought a 2013 LX. coming from a 1999 LX with 136,000 on it. i love the 13' accord. no need for Navi, or any of the other stuff i thought that the LX is just what i needed. bluetooth streaming, and pandora from my IPhone works flawlessly so far. All i have to say is the LX has a lot to offer compared to its compitition. unless you really want all the tech or the V6, the LX or the sport is the way to go.

FYI: the sport has 18" rims which means when its time for new tires its atleast $200 more total for tires then the LX or EX. thats why i didn't get the sport.