For those who have purchased new cars, did you also purchase extended warranties and/or maintenance plans?

I almost never take any of those “deals.” I loathe all that bullshit when you sit down with the finance people, and it’s part of why I hate buying cars.

He looked baffled either because he truly believes what he is selling and thinks in a monthly payment way for everything in his own life (like the mortgage brokers who bought ridiculous mortgages even for themselves and lost their homes in the economic downturn). Or, he gets a commission or lots if pressure to sell that stuff and he was just playing you with his look on his face. Either way don’t give a damn for a second what some shark in a dealership says or what look he has in his face. I almost always feel exhausted and nearly abused buying a car. I hate it.

Just when you think you’re done with the haggling and decision making they bring it on again in the finance room.

I, too, never take the deal. The car’s warranty will cover it anything bad for the first 50k? 100k? miles. If there was going to be a failure it would likely show up way before then.
Here’s a simple rule of thumb. The dealer is in business to make money for the dealer, not you. To make money the dealer must take money from you. Your goal is to minimize how much you let go.
Sure, some people might get “lucky” and have a payment that is covered by the warranty. But most don’t. That is why the dealers price them the way they do. You might be better off putting that money in the lottery. At least you know there’s a ~35% rate of return there.

As a side note I have a rule for time sensitive “Deals”. Any time someone says they need to know now I always give them the same answer: “I need to check and will get back with you.” If they push and say they really need the answer now, I say: “No. I am not interested.” Period.

Mine automatically came with a five year bumper-to-bumper warranty. That includes free oil changes and a warranty on all lubricated parts or something like that. I’m not sure because I haven’t had to use it yet.

The only thing I added was a five year warranty on my tires and rims. This I have used to replace a busted tire. Getting a dealer tire for free was nice, and getting that warranty didn’t add much to the price of the vehicle.

I was offered other warranties (interior, etc), but I declined because it bumped up the monthly payment to more than I was willing to pay. If I had kids, I may have sprung for the warranty of the interior. Melted crayons and all that.

My last two cars were bought new. One in 2005 was bought with an extended warranty, still have the car with 186,000 miles. The extended warranty covered three separate events that totaled twice the cost of the warranty. The second car I bought new in 2011. The extended warranty was bought from another dealer in another state on the internet but was a factory warranty. It has paid for itself with a front PTU (power-takeoff unit) rebuild at 65,000 miles, just after 60,000 mile original warranty ended.

You can buy the extended warranty up to the time or mileage limits of the original warranty. I got reminders from the factory twice a year to extend the warranties. See if you get a better price on the internet from another dealer that sells your car.

I don’t take the additional warranty. I kind of figure if they feel it is that necessary for me to have the additional protection, maybe I just need to look at something that is better put together in the first place.

I never take the extended warranty. I just bought a car and it was ridiculous how the salesman and then the finance manager tried to strong arm me into it. The finance manager acted like I was crazy. She said EVERYONE takes one of the warranties. I said if everyone jumped off the bridge, I wouldn’t.
I have owned several cars in my life and have never needed an extended warranty.
One of those financial advisors on TV says to never purchase extra warranies on anything, that it’s a waste of money 9 times out of 10.

I never take the additional warranty, I drive Hondas and have never needed it. The one exception, when I wish I had had the extended, was with my last American car, which broke down and stranded me while traveling on a Sunday night in Queens…100 miles after the standard warranty had expired.
It was a moment of great cliche.

I had salesman-type friend go with me to buy my first car. We made 3 visits to the lot and the first two were just to look interested and then leave. He had this wole process of getting the best deal and talking them down and getting the most out of them.. That sort of stuff is fine but it’s just not my cup of potatoes.

I’d rather see a sticker price and say yes or no – haggling seems like a rude, unnecessary, goblin in the middle.

All that said, I’ve never bought a new car. I paid 8k for the one I currently drive. I’ve seen friends buy 30k cars that go down for the count with all the fancy features and whatnot. The math just doesn’t add up for me. I can buy 4 – 8k level cars that will last me damn near the rest of my life – whereas they only got 1 car with the same money. Then again, luxury isn’t something I require.

by the way, don’t mind the missing H’s, my keyboard she no likey to workey on that key sometimes

What is the standard warranty?

On the vehicle I purchased, 3 years or 36,000 miles, whichever comes first, and 60,000 miles on the power train.

I bought both for my Nissan. It’s probably more money than I needed to pay, but I like having the extra coverage.

When the wife and I bought a new Chrysler a few years ago we took the lifetime bumper-to-bumper warranty they offered. That’ll pay for itself the first time there’s engine or transmission problems.

@canidmajor My family and I drive Hondas too. I love them, but they are far from infallable. On the Odyssey I currently drive, both the sliding electronic doors have broken 3–4 times, plus we did a transmission rebuild at 100,000 – very common issues with this particular vehicle. The lifetime extended warranty probably wouldv’e been worth its money.

The wife and I did buy the extended warranty on our pickups and we did end up needing it,lucky thing the cost of that fix was exactly what we paid for the extra warranty so I guess we broke even.

I paid cash for the last new car that I bought (a stripped down 2007 Ford Ranger pickup for $12K). I think that I presented to them like I’m a weak pushover as they would not let up the pressure on me to buy the extended warranty. I was already tiered of waiting over 2 hours to buy the truck (they said that they were very busy). Also I was irritated because I had an appointment and thought that it would be a quick transaction. They double teamed me (one of them was a nice guy and the other one was a real ass) and didn’t seem to understand the word “no” to buying any extras. Something in me snapped as I said that they can keep the truck and started to walk out . Then the head honcho talked to me and calmed me down. It was such a royally painful experience that I hope that I never buy another car again. So I take very good care of my 2007 Ranger with less than 50K miles on the drivetrain.

@wildpotato: I appreciate that you guys are putting the odds in my favor, but I’m sorry you’re having those issues. :-)

Compare lottery return on investment rates with Extended warranty return on investment rates.
“The State Lottery Law allows up to 40% of ticket sales receipts to be used for the payment of prizes in the LOTTO game, or any variation of that game, such as Sweet Million. Up to 50% of ticket sales receipts may be used for prizes in the Mega Millions, Take 5, Numbers, Win 4, and Pick 10 games. Quick Draw pays out up to 60% of ticket sales receipts as prizes, and Instant Games have a 65% prize payout, with no more than three games per year paying up to 75% of ticket sales receipts as prizes. The law also allows the use of unclaimed prizes to supplement the prize structures of all the games, which enables the Lottery to return 57 cents of every dollar to players as prizes in draw games and instant games.” Source NYS State

“Extended service contracts for automobiles produce big profits for the dealers that sell them and the extended service contract companies that back them. On a contract for which you pay $1,000, the average payout for claims might be less than $250, with the rest going to administrative costs and profit.” Source

So the NY Lottery is a better deal at 40–75% return than an extended warranty at 25% return.

Sure, there will be some winners in the Extended warranty game but there will be more winners in the NYS lottery game. There are far more losers than winners in either game.

Your best deal is to save the money you would pay for the warranty and keep it for maintenance and repairs. That is 100%.