New Car Advice re: Extended Warranty, etc.

[Pexster]

We're getting a new Honda Civic Hybrid, and of course the dealership is pushing their extended warranty. Normally, I view these as nothing but a profit center for the dealer, but with the hybrid cars being somewhat new, am not as sure as I might have been. Any ideas?

Also, they're pushing this thing for the windshield called DiamonFusion, which supposedly protects the glass from a lot of normal grit damage, reduces glare, etc. I haven't yet found out what this costs, and at first thought it was "snake oil" but I see that the company has military contracts for this stuff. It's actually passed tests on tanks and other vehicles. Anyone heard of it and/or had any experience with it?

[CMonster]

There is a huge amount of electronics in cars these days, especially true for hybrids. From bottom to top they are new kind of animal; from wheel sensors and regenerative braking modules to engine controls and monitoring systems, there is just a whole world of things to go wrong.

Conventional wisdom would say that if a Honda or Toyota lasts the 3 years of a typical warranty period then it will last 10, but it's a brave new world where a single sensor or labor diagnostics to trace a problem circuit can cost hundreds of dollars... do you want to take that chance?

On the other hand it can be a "pay me now or pay me later" and it may be cheapter to "pay later" - and who knows, in three years you may trade the vehicle in for a new hydrogen fuel cell jobbie or some such thing.

Perhaps you can get the extended warranty for half price if you make them think the deal is contingent upon it - and be sure to find out if the battery is covered.

Windshield treatment: Never tried the stuff but I have eaten more than a couple of winshields due to rocks - you'll be all right though, cause all the rocks and pebbles always gravitate toward my cars.

I don't know about the Honda Hybrid but we have tested some completely electric Toyota RAV4s and they have a special conductive windshield to repel the dust that electric vehicles may attract (it was a problem with the RAV4). Interestingly enough, if it got cracked from top to bottom the cars wouldn't run... if replaced with a standard glass they wouldn't run either.

[johnnycombat]

What kind of warranty does it come with? My bet is what ever it comes with will cover you from it being a lemon, anything extra proably isn't worth the cost 99% of the time.

[no1_vern]

Pexter, unless its for the electronics, or the mechanical (motor, drivetrane, etc..) parts, I think you should skip it. IF it includes replacement of electronics/mechanics above and beyond the usual warranty then it MAY be worth the money. MAKE SURE you read the fineprint carefully, remember what they promise you in the large print they take away in the small print.

[digby0668]

Be very careful about buying an extended warranty. Many times by the time you need it, the company that wrote the policy is out of buisness. Make sure that the warranty is backed up by your dealership or the manufacturer, otherwise all you are most likely buying a very expensive piece of paper. This exact situation happened to my parents and in-laws. I warned my in-laws about what happened to my parents before they bought the policy, but they thought it would be OK because they bought from the dealership when they bought their car. When they needed $2,000 worth of transmission work last November, the same dealership that sold them the car and warranty said that the warranty company went out of business and they would not honor it.


About the windshield, a lot of states require that auto insurance cover windshield replacement with a low deductible or no deductible. Find out before you buy.

[Pexster]

OK, we went ahead with the DiamonFusion thing, but skipped the extended warranty. They wanted almost $2k for it, and my position is that most issues will pop up within the 3 year, 36k period.

Thanks for all the input!

[MTAtech]

There are two questions 1) Should you get an extended warranty at all?
2)If yes, who to you buy it from?

Consumer Reports Magazine does not recommend buying an extended warranty unless the car is particularly trouble-prone. Most basic warranties are sufficient, covering at least three years or 36,000 miles.

If you decide to get one anyway, my experience is that the dealer is the worst place to buy it. They are selling it at full markup.

You can do a search on extended warranties and find a reputable source.

I found theses:
http://www.geico.com/auto/safety/mbi.htm

[aldtech]

I bought an extended warranty on my Chrysler Town & Country and have both regretted it and thanked it.

The regret stems from the fact that it was a dealer extended warranty, not a factory one which meant that I had to deal with the dealership I bought it from instead of one more convenient. Yes, I bought a car from a dealership that was more than an hour away instead of one from a more local dealership (<$). Along with this warranty I got a free rental but I had to go to them in order to get it instead of someone more local to me.

The positive side was that because I extended from the traditional 3 Year/36 K mile warranty to a 5 year/75K I was able to get my transmission covered when it went at 72K. That was worth the extra $500.

Lessoned learned is if you do get the extended warranty, make sure that it is a manufacturer warranty and that you can go to any dealership to have it honored. Read the fine print.

ALD