Back-n-Black

I'm a little confused about the warranty on my 2001 C2 Cab which approaching 3 years. It currently has 17,500 miles on it and it's a daily driver. The Warranty & Customer Infomation booklet says 4 years/50,000 miles. The last time I was in at the dealer the asst. service manager (a good guy) mentioned in passing that I might start looking into an extended warranty.

When's the time to buy an extended warranty? Do some warranty items expire after 3 years?

The dealership is offering plans from Warrantech Automotive of Florida (who I was told they've used for years).

Comments please.

Thanks.

Eric - Plug Guy

You're fine. You have FOUR years or 50K miles, whichever comes first. If you want an extended warranty, buy one about 2 months before the factory warranty expires.

But do your homework. Many of us (me included) got screwed by Warranty Gold.

OH997

You might ask your dealer if it is possible to get a Porsche Certified extended warranty.

996garage

Definitely buy the extended warranty before your current warranty expires. Some 3rd party warranty companies won't cover you if your factory warranty has expired, while others just charge more or require a grace period.

Try to get a porsche certified extended warranty over a 3rd party one. If that's not possible, then remember that Warrantech is just one of many 3rd party extended warranty companies out there. I had a bad experience with Warrantech, but I had more of a special situation. There are a lot of other companies that offer more parts coverage than Warrantech with lower prices.

ZeeZee

But time it right - your extended warranty starts the date you sign the papers, so buy it as late as possible without letting yours expire.

Best bet is to look at the Porsche Extended Warranty Program, ask your service tech...

SteveJ

Please explain regarding the Porsche extended warranty. I am one person that is holding off even looking at a 996 because of the RMS issue that has been covered here at length. I was under the impression that Porsche did not offer a manufacturer sponsored extended warranty. Please tell me that I'm wrong.

Steve

Firewired

Been doing a lot of research on just this issue. I have been told by the several dealers I have contacted that you can only get the extended Porsche warranty at the time of purchase. I have been seriously considering www.warrantydirect.com, They are not the cheapest, but they offer many benefits the others don't, pay the dealer directly and have been around for 25 years.

SorTurbo

i thought extended warranties were always covered starting at 0 miles and 0 years so for example, if you have a car that is 1 year old with 10,000 miles and purchase a 4 year/50,000 warranty on it, it will only be covered for 3 years or 40,000 miles whichever is first. If this is true wouldn't it be wiser to get a "good" warratny earlier so that some claims that Porsche may deny may be paid by the extended warranty? (not 100% sure that O am right about the extended warranty terms )

Kevin M.

Also Porsche has a new method of taking care of RMS problems or other major items right after the factory warranty expires.. They will cover 75% and you take care the remaining.. Just spoke with the Service Manager today about that.. It took affect January 1

OH997

Porsche does offer an extended warranty. I just bought a 99 c4 and had the car certified prior to purchase. The cost of the warranty is $1595 and covers the car an additional 2 years and up to 100,000 miles.

yeldogt

Porsche extended warranty -- they extend the original warranty for two additional years up to 100k. It all goes back to the 'in service date'. They started this factory program in summer of 03.

It works like the other factory programs - The extended warranty does not cover all the parts of the car -- it does cover all of the major parts that one would worry about. There is a list you can get from a dealer.

The one interesting thing about what Porsche does -- It allows a dealer to place a car into the program even if the original warranty has expired. Some others allow this, most I have looked at do not have this. So you could buy a 5 year old car from a dealer and get a 2 year up to 100k mile factory warranty.

I think that they had to do this -- with everyone else doing it their whole line would suffer without it. This will help to hold up values in the long run-plus the dealers get real value added to the cars they sell.

01 C4 Cab NYC

FWIR, the extended warranty (2 additional years or 100k miles) is only available if the car is a Porsche certified pre-owned car. That said, I have yet to hear of a dealership certifying someone's car for them. They only do it when they have a used car they are trying to sell. So I am not sure that if you already own you car, this is an option.
I'd love to be wrong on this one, would be great if we could all take our car's down to the local dealership when the warranty is almost up, have them do the whatever-point inspection, and get another 2 yrs or up to 100,000 miles....porsche...are you listening?

Firewired

I asked several dealers just that question, and none of them would put the Porsche warranty on the car if they were not trying to sell it. I offered to pay them an "additional fee" just to try and make it more enticing and not one dealer would bit.

That is why I started looking at these other warranties. The one I am looking at is bumper to bumper and provides roadside assistance with towing, rental car up to $30 a day. The warranties do get more expensive the longer you have your car, and so I was seriously considering getting it now, even if all I ever used was the car rental coverage, and off chance of needing to be flat bedded prior to my Porsche Warranty running out at 50K.

yeldogt

Am I missing something! why would you get an extended warranty while the Porsche new car warranty is still inforce! It was my understanding that you purchase an aftermarken one just as the factory warranty ends.

The Certified coverage from Porsche comes with roadside assistance and towing to a dealer. It is a very good program!

I was told by more than one dealer that there has been talk of you being able to purchase an extended warranty from a dealer for the car you own --as the factory one is ending.

That would be great and would add even more value to a preowned car if you can sell it with some form of warranty.

jwilkinsjr

The extended warranty industry has recently made changes in their programs with regard to when the coverage starts. In the past, most extended warranty companies had coverages that went back to the in-service date. This was applicable only when the vehicle was still under factory warranty. An example would be a 2002 Porsche placed in service on February 25, 2002. If the vehicle had 20,000 miles on the odometer and you purchased 5 yr / 75,000 mile coverage today (Feb 25,2004), you really are buying 3 years and 50,000 miles worth of coverage.

The recent changes by some warranty companies place New Vehicle Coverage in categories based on mileage (0 to 19,999, 20,000 to 39,999, 40,000 to 49,999) and they price the coverage accordingly. The more miles, the higher the cost. The vehicle must still be under factory coverage. The term component of the coverage starts when you buy the policy and the mileage component applies to the total odometer reading. Using the example above, if you purchased a 4 yr / 75,000 mile policy, you would be covered until Feb 25, 2008 or until the odometer read 75,000 miles.

Once the manufacturers warranty has expired you can buy a "Used Car" warranty. These policies typically are for a period certain (12mos-12,000 miles, 24mos-24,000 miles, etc) and start both term and mileage the day you purchase the policy. These policies typically cover less components than the "New Vehicle" extended warranties I described above.

In my opinion, you are better off buying an extended warranty while the car is still covered by the manufacturer because you will get better terms and better coverage for less money.

If you are positive that you will keep the car past the factory warranty, I would buy the warranty sooner rather than later assuming you can realize a price advantage. In addition, I would also look into buying coverage that may be well past what you would truly need because the extended warranty is transferable to the next owner. This would be a great help in selling the car for a premium.

Last but not least, make sure you are buying from a quality company that is backed by an A+ insurance company. There are lots of horror stories out there about companies that have gone bust. Other questions should include where the coverage is honored, who gets reimbursed (you or the repair facility), factory or aftermarket parts, labor reimbursement guidelines.

If you have any more questions, PM me and I can give you some more details.