I found that Porsche offers an extended warranty called the Porsche Vehicle Service Protection plan that brings your coverage from 4 years/50,000 miles to a total of 10 years/100,000 miles. It seems that Porsche offers two plans: one called the Powertrain Plan and the other the Platinum Plan. I know most people say that extended warranties are a waste of money and it's better to bank the money on the front end, invest it and use it as needed but I guess depending on the make, sometimes buying these plans are a "necessity" rather than an option such as if you plan to buy and own a BMW long term as I know from personal experience. I've never owned a Porsche so I really don't know what I'm getting into so I'm looking at all options.

Just posting this here because the GT4 and Spyder are speciality cars within the Cayman and Boxster range and so their bits and pieces are going to cost more than the general run-of-the-mill variants. I know these plans don't cover consumable items like tires, brakes, etc and considering that these models don't have all of the electronic features as the regular variants like memory seating, active cruise control, lane keep assist, etc it seems that the main item of possible concern would be the powertrain, especially the engine since it's bespoke to the GT4/Spyder/GTS models and they're new and produced in relatively low volume. Does anybody know how much each of these plans cost?

 

The platinum plans were in the $3500-$4000 range when my car was coming to the end of its warranty (for a 991.1 GT3). The difference between 2, 3, or 4 years was only a couple hundred dollars for each additional year. I did a 2-year on a 981 Spyder too, and it was about the same within a couple hundred as the GT3. Mileage on both vehicles were well under 50k miles. I think the only semi-reasonable rationale to purchase an extended warranty during the initial vehicle purchase is to lock in pricing (eg to protect against the warranties going up in price). However, anecdotally speaking, I haven't personally observed a sharp increase in prices. When you consider the other things you can do with that money in the first 47 months you own the car, especially if the warranty price gets rolled into a loan on the car, you're not saving much of anything. The F&I folks may try to sell you hard on doing it now, but as long as you purchase before the original warranty runs out, you're good to go.

P.S. I didn't see a poll option for "I bought one... 4 years after I bought the car." I assumed from context you're specifically asking about purchasing an extended warranty at time of purchasing the car.

 

Thanks for the info. Have you actually had to make any claims?

 

I had one minor issue with an oil filter that started leaking around the seal. It was in and fixed ASAP; no cost other than my time to take it in.

Keep in mind that the plantinum plan is the exact same warranty as the original warranty. So, anything that was covered during the initial 48 months will be covered the same during the extended warranty. It is definitely the best plan in terms of coverage; it's not like some of the 3rd party ones with deductibles and other hoops to jump through. Nor do you have to worry that this delear or that dealer's hasn't dealt with that warranty company. If you move, or are on a road trip or something, you can go to any Porsche delear, and the car will be treated the exact same in year 5 as it was in year 1. You can also get a prorated balance of the warranty paid back if/when you sell the vehicle if the extetended warranty time period isn't up (which is what I did). I'm not sure how the math on that works if you sold the car before the initial 4 years. Im guessing you'd get the "full" vale back, but maybe not the sales tax on it (and of course not any interest you paid if rolled into the loan).

 

Also, for additional reference, and as a bit of a "contrast and compare": I paid around ~$3200 for a 3-year extended warranty on my Macan, that was through a 3rd party, that came with a $250 deductible. I had a claim due to a broken diverter valve, and the dealer spent about as much time having to document and "prove" to the warranty company why the repair cost what it cost, as they did actually performing the repair.

 

If I may ask, was the $3500-$4000 solid or were you able to negotiate? If you negotiated, did you have a baseline you started with as a reference and went up from there or did you negotiate down such as saying you want them to come down starting at 40%?

 

Speaking to the above statements:

1. Porsches are consistently at the top end of reliability for almost any automaker (not just among Germans / Luxury). No, the maintenance items are not cheap, but as for unexpected maintenance you're going to be way above average in that department.
2. The "bits and pieces" for the 718 cayman are actually either stolen from the base 718 (Entire body / interior), GT3 (front suspension), or other standard parts. Yes, the engine is bespoke but it's also going to be slapped in the GTS 4.0 ("standard" model range). Yes, the parts can be expensive, but you're not getting up-charged because they're for a GT4 vs a regular 718. The only "unique to GT4/Spyder" parts would be the rear suspension, front bumper, and underbody aero. The Spyder specifically would have the rear decklid / top.

 

That price is after negotiation. However their dealer may have set it as their base price. MSRP is 5-7k depending on length. See my thread here: https://rennlist.com/forums/718-gt4-...-warranty.html

40% would be a maximum figure you’d get off and not a starting point unless the dealer owes you. Doesn’t hurt to try though!

 

I didn't attempt to negotiate, as the pricing was literally being pulled from the VSP system (and I was looking over the F&I guy's shoulder, having him try different scenarios). But like all things in life "everything's negotiable", so I'm sure there's *some* wiggle room. The price was more or less in line with what I was expecting (~1200/year), so I didn't feel a need to press the issue.

 

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but there isn't just "some" wiggle room. Extended warranties are marked up by 80-100%. Meaning the cost to the dealer is 50-60% of what you see in the VSP system. So if the warranty is 5k, they paid somewhere around 2500-3k for it. Everything else is dealer profit.

That having been said, it's not always about the last dollar saved. The relationship building and loyalty goes rewarded at dealers who aren't unscrupulous. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours and all that. Plus of course there is perceived value. These cars are expensive and if anything goes wrong, it's not a $500 fix. Peace of mind is worth it.

 

Good to know for the future! I had a price range in mind, and they were within that range, so I didn't really put much thought into negotiating the price down. In my case, I was also purchasing at the end of my existing warranty. So, that could be an argument for buying it at the initial car purchase, as the dealer knows it's more likely you won't need the extended warranty, and thus getting any additional dollars out of you is a bonus (and might be willing to give it to you at less, but guaranteed, profit). Whereas if you're about to run out of warranty, the delear has more leverage because now you "need" the warranty.

 

Good comments above.

I’ll just toss out I plan on adding an extended to my GT 4 purchase this September, especially if I can easily roll the extended to my next purchase.

 

You can't roll it but you will get a prorated refund for the remaining amount. Note that the proation starts 1 month after you purchase. For an 8 year warranty, if you buy it day 1, and turn your car in year 4, you only get half the balance back and will have basically wasted your money because you would have still been under factory warranty.

 

Thanks @blackholescion . Good info. Will definitely weigh costs of picking up at purchase versus at a later point in time/miles.

 

Interstate thread, I am considering the extended warranty as well...