Grunty

Tell that to my 550 that had 4 rims bent and two tires broken by potholes in one winter. I suspect the value of these contracts is highly location dependent.

midcont

My contract is from IAS and I negociated it to $1300 while signing the contract with the finance guy. The dealer does his back and forth with the sales manager and woulden't go below $1500 to which I said no thanks. They want to sell it and will try to the last minute.
As it is I've had the car six months and used it just last week for a rear 20" tire. That was over $500 right there. I'm sure it will pay for itself over the course of the three year lease.

My prior car was a MB E63. I paid $1k for that policy at the time and went through at least five tires plus cosmetic repair. The policy was worth it alone for the one time my wife drove the car and curbed the wheel. I didn't even have to get mad at her.

This time out it was only a leak. It was probably repairable but I have fresh rubber and won't have to replace this tire from wear that much sooner.

For guys outside of NYC to say its a crazy policy to have...that's like me telling somebody in Kansas that they're crazy to have tornado insurance as I've never needed it here.

freeman

In the first 4000 miles I had my 2013 991, I put bolts through the sidewall of two left rears. The second was on the day before labor day and it took me 8 days to get a replacement tire. I will be getting the Porsche Plan when it becomes available in June.

Archimedes

But you can't buy 'tornado' insurance in Kansas, just like you can't really buy usable earthquake insurance here in California. Insurance companies only sell policies that make THEM money. If these tire contracts were not making the underwriting companies (and the dealers shilling them) a healthy profit, they wouldn't sell them. And the margins are big, even at the 'discounted' price people think they negotiate.

As far as your experiences specifically, remember, the plural of anecdote is not data.

GSIRM3

Yep, I always figured that anything the dealer pushes as hard as they do these different add-on packages, must be very good for them and not so good for me. I have purchased 4, 911's in the past seven years. I don't want to jinx myself by saying this, but I have only had to replace one tire because of road hazard damage. If I had bought the wheel/tire insurance on all four cars, I would have spent at least $6,000 based on an average cost of $1,500/policy. Some are even more expensive. Instead I have spent a little less then $500 for one tire, including installation.

midcont

Perhaps this is the case, but in certain areas and if you drive enough miles, the policy makes sense. From my experience, the policy cost me probably 1/3 what it would have cost to repair/replace tires and rims, not to mention the replacements extend the time before you need a new tire from wear. In 39k miles I paid for one worn tire to be replaced.
As a side benefit, when the car was in for rim repair, I'm driving a loaner.

Bacura

Like all insurance policies......Lousy for those that don't use them and great for those that do.

popspin

Hello Arch;
Yes, that's the way insurance companies work; they sell products they know will statistically provide them with a profit based on the law of large numbers. So they expect to pay a certain amount out in claims but will be left with enough dollars from what they charge to make a profit. They don't expect to pay $0 out in claims. So, in effect, those owners who live in less risky areas are helping to subsidize those of us who live more risky areas. If the company was only able to sell the agreements in areas where a lot of claims occurred they wouldn't be in business.
Whether or not you will be that person that gets claims paid doesn't really matter to the company. They know, selling the coverage nationally, that agreements sold in some parts of the country develop more claims than other parts of the country. Thats why we are reading such divergent views on the value of the agreements.
Have you noticed that those of us from the northeast part of the country have many stories about how the agreement worked out well for them while others from areas without the extremes of winter such as CA or NC, say the agreements aren't worth it? Do you notice that the areas where the members tell you they got their value from the agreements have real winter conditions which make the roads a dangerous place where you can't simply drive around pothles because they are everywhere?? You really need to experience what happens to the roads in some parts of the country over the course of four seasons before deciding that the agreement won't work out for some of us. (as I noted earlier in the thread, my current agreement paid for 5 tires and 1 wheel over the past 30 months).
Of course, this applies more to cars used as daily drivers year round. If my car were to be garaged all winter I would be less inclined to buy the agreement. But for a car used daily 12 months a year the exposure to road hazards is way higher.
You are lucky to live where you do!
popspin

Archimedes

Popspin, I agree 100 percent, but having seen the financials of both many insurance companies and also of a number of auto dealers, I can tell you that the margin earned on things like extended warranties is much higher than what one would expect a normal 'insurance' return to be. The margins on these products is huge, even with layers of commissions often involved. If these contracts were being priced in a market as efficient as property and casualty insurance, I would agree with you. But they're not. They're priced in a highly illiquid market that is often driven by FUD, fear, uncertainty and doubt. For the average buyer, these contracts make bad financial sense. Of course, if you're blowing tires regularly, I guess I'd buy one too.

But these companies aren't stupid, and if they were losing money in a region like the northeast, they wouldn't subsidize it with buyers out west. They would simply stop selling the policies in the northeast. I'll repeat, the plural of anecdote is not data. The data must be that they are making fat margins on these contracts, and that means a lot of people are buying them and having zero claims, regardless of the experiences of a few people on the internet.

When I bought my RS5, I had a chuckle with their finance guy about all the crap they tried to sell. I had bought other cars there and he knew I had no patience for all the song and dance and no interest. He basically told me that the dolts buy all the expensive plans and the only thing that made any sense (if you kept the car) was the prepaid service. Though they make good margin on those two due to the fact that people often sell or trade the car before using it all…

Years ago I was doing financial work for a local dealer network here in Silicon Valley, now a big network. They made over 100% margin just fronting the extended warranties. If they had to pay $3-400 to the warranty company, they would price it at $1,200 and negotiate it down to $800 if someone bargained hard, in rare cases as low as $600. But the average price the customer agreed to was over double what the dealer turned around and paid the underwriter to cover the warranty.

They made similar bank on interest spreads above their finance cost, but that's another shady topic entirely.

Ice9ine

Greetings.

I've purchased Tire and Rim protection on my prior vehicle (Mercedes 550CLS) and my current 991s (20" rims). In both cases, the cost of protection was well worth it. I'm just south of Boston where big potholes are common, especially after last winter. My tires also seem to attract nails and screws. I've had 4 punctures with 3 dented rims on vehicles in the last 4 years, and I'm not an aggressive driver.

Recently, 1 week after I took delivery of my 2012 991s (which was CPOd with a brand new set of Perrelli P0Ns), I picked up a large screw in my right rear tire. I actually heard the puncture occur. When I later checked the car, the tire was flat.

Called the nearest Porsche Dealership, provided a copy of my Tire/Rim insurance, and the car was towed within 30 minutes to the local dealer. They ordered a new Pirelli P0n and it was installed the next day. Total retail/dealer cost of the tire, valve stem, mount, balance, tire disposal, etc would have been $617.43 (not counting Tow if I had to pay for that too). Net cost was $0.

When I picked up the car, I asked if the dealership would ever plug a tire, instead of replace it. They said absolutely not. A Porsche dealer should always replace the tire because 911s are high speed vehicles and a plugged tire is a driving risk. Thus, if you have a tire issue and have it repaired by Porsche, expect a replacement tire or rim and not a quick (cheap) repair.

The Tire/Rim Insurance offered by my Porsche Dealer (Porsche of Nashua - excellent dealership BTW) was $1,385 for 5 year, full Tire/Rim coverage. Unlimited instances and also covers curb damage to the rims/tires. This coverage does not apply to Snow Tires/Snow Rims though. This is an important exclusion to be aware of and I carry some risk there as I have a set of winter tires/rims. Interestingly all my prior tire issues have occurred in Spring/Summer.

So based upon my experience, I feel the coverage will more than pay for itself in 5 years and it provides some peace of mind.

Note: To save some money, I declined Tire/Rim coverage on my wife's Mazda Minivan and regret that. Within a month of purchase, I had a dented right rear rim, which cost me $400 to replace. I've since had other tire issues on that vehicle, which I've paid for out of pocket.

So if your driving conditions are similar to mine, you may want to consider Tire/Rim insurance for your Porsche.

One final comment, if you are driving fast and hit a bad pothole, it's quite possible you may damage the front AND rear tires/rims as both drive over the obstacle. Thus, you may incur a double cost for repairing both wheels.

Hope this was helpful.

Enjoy your Porsche!

991TurboS

I paid $1195 for the 5 year tire/wheel plan on my TTS, and I have gotten two new rear tires off it from screw and nail punctures, and I have not had a flat in the 15 years prior to that. I live in Atlanta, and the roads are not bad here, either.

My Service Advisor told me it is the Pirellis being so sticky that leads to so many punctures, that the fronts kick the screws/nails up and the rears get the punctures. This coincides with the TTS being the first sports car I have owned with Pirelli tires on it, vs Goodyears for most prior cars (Corvettes and Vipers).

So I am even with what I spent on the wheel/ tire plan and still have 3.5 years lof coverage left.

As Bacura said, the Plan is good for you if you use it.

Pcar991

I'm not sure if this is something new Porsche is offering or if it specific to my dealer/city. They call it the VIP package. It coveres unlimited tires/rims for 5 years as well as door dings, paint chips, scrapes AND an annual professional detail. It was a sound 2k. I figured 5 detailing jobs would probably run $1000-$1200 alone. Had a tire replaced and a rim repaired within the 1st year. The rim had a tiny nick in it and so did the sidewall. The refinishing wasn't quite perfect when the wheel came back so it went back a second time. Total time was almost 2 weeks and I had a free loaner for the entire time (also included in the parkade). Completely worth it and I live in Vancouver where the roads are pretty good. Purchasing a Macan for the wife in the not too distant future, will buy this again if it is being offered. It really takes the hassle out of having to deal with a puncture or a curbed rim. Take it in and it comes back as new.

Yard Dog

I know I am all wrong and I feel terrible about it, but I purchased tire protection for my last Porsche and a month in barked a rim and tire at a bank drive through trying to get close enough to reach the ATM. The replacement cost was more than the cost of the insurance which still had two years left on it when I sold the car. I received a pro rata refund on the unused portion of the insurance. Not data, perhaps, but I thought it was a good deal and I am real happy to be part of the plurality.

And Evian is my favorite bottled water with Fiji a close second.