desidon

My porsche dealer is selling me an extended warranty..."X series from CNA National warranty corporation". He wants $4100 for 3 year/36000 miles.
I own a 2002 C4s with 14, 500 miles on it currently.
He says that if I perform the work at the dealership, he can direct bill these guys so that I don't have to go through any claims process.
I need advice. What do y'all think?? Worth it with RMS issues etc for the next 3 years??

DD

UCrazyKid

Price sounds high, I got a 4yr/75,000 mile warranty for an 2002 last year with $0 deductible for $4,500 from www.warrantydirect.com check them out.

lanny

Warranty's are a marked up item thru dealerships so you may be able to get a lower price if you try. You will normally get more help with the dealerships service dept as they work with the warranty company for you a little better when they sell the product- FWIW

himself

My 4/48,000 was only $2500. It was the highest coverage level - or what they called Bumper-to-Bumper, exclusions only. Meaning they paid everything except for what was explicitly written in the exclusions section. I even had my passenger seat motor replaced under warranty

-td

DCP

Warranties are big profit centers for dealers, which means it is ofter less expensive to look elsewhere. But there is another consideration.

I just bought a warranty not from the dealer and when I mentioned what I was considering buying to the service advisor, he assured me that no dealer would accept the coverage. In essence unless I bought the plan the dealer was pitching (at much greater cost), if I wanted to use the dealer, I would need to pay for the repairs and then get reimbursed by the warranty company. I guess it also means I would end up getting things approved for repair.

My attitude is that it is the dealer's loss if I go elsewhere. I suspect that I will find an independent wiling to work with the warranty company.

Riad

Your 2002 only has 14k miles on it, did you ever have any major issues with the car?

I would personally take that $4000 and put it in a CD, I think extended warranties are really not worth it.

BruceP

Seriously +1.

At that price, it just makes no economic sense at all, even based on the most dire probabilities. Either you think a lot is going to go wrong (in which case don't buy the car, it's a lemon) or the difference between four grand and the cost of a new engine, say, is more than you can bear (in which case don't buy the car, you can't afford it).

I got the extended warranty pitch when my Rover's factory warranty ran out. $3200, they wanted, about the cost of a head gasket. Said no. Since then the only warrantyable things that have gone: a throttle plenum heater and a pinion seal, each about $150.

Extended warranties, to me, are very poor value for money.

desidon

No issues yet except for my fuel gauge issue which is still not fixed after multiple recalibrations and a new sending unit . I suspect it is the cluster($1500 approx)
The only advantage of buying it from the dealer is that they direct bill the warranty company and I dont have to go through the hassle of filing a claim.

desidon

Warrant direct does not cover the 2002 911 anymore.

himself

The economic justification is similar to purchasing full coverage car insurance when the law only requires minimal coverage. It's the just in case factor.
I disagree with this assessment. First, most (if not all) of the mechanical parts in a car will eventually fail - and this is no reflection of the car being a lemon. Rather, it's just a matter of time. Everything breaks, and everything dies. The question is, when it happens who will be paying for it. $4000 is steep, but peace of mind is even more expensive. Especially after something breaks.
Again, just because you CAN pay for the repair, doesn't mean you should. It's insurance - so that you don't HAVE TO pay. It is not a reflection of your ability to do so. And being unable (or unwilling) to pay for a catastophic failure (i.e., whole engine) is a reason TO GET the warranty, not to avoid a car.

Also, contrary to the counterexamples, I have used my extended warranty for a number of little things, and the total has added up to more than the purchase price. Keep in mind, that fixing anything on a P-car is automatically more expensive. For example, just replacing my seat motor was around $1500. When I bought the warranty, I contepmlated the things that might need to be replaced (e.g., alternator, starter, sunroof motor, window motor, etc) and the dreaded RMS. I've already recouped the cost of my warranty - and I haven't had to replace any of the parts I thought would go out. (knock on wood). The reason for this is that my warranty covers LOTS of things. Not just plenums and pinion seals.

Lastly, my warranty was priced on car mileage - and NOT car year. A warranty for my 2000 was available in 2006 - so a 2002 should be available in 2008.

-td

BruceP

Appreciate your perspective, but to me it's pretty simple: You're choosing the certainty of paying something now over the possibility of paying more later. With life or liability insurance, this makes more sense because the worst case 'later' scenario is many, many times more expensive than the premium. With extended car warranties, much less so. You're paying the premium either because you believe more will go wrong during the warranty period, or because you fear the cost.

Notwithstanding your experience, if extended warranties paid for themselves for car owners, warranty companies wouldn't sell them. It's casino economics. Meanwhile, over a typical 3 year warranty extension, the opportunity cost of that $4000 at current rates of return in the stock market is pretty close to another grand. Steep.

Now, if you're paying for the warranty because, subjectively, you sleep better and that improved sleep is worth $5,000, then it's certainly not for me to judge. Objectively, I believe they are poor value for most people. Subjectively, it's none of my damn business.

himself

Virtually everyone fears that something will go wrong that isn't covered under their warranty (new car or aftermarket) or that there will be a cost to them. I seriously doubt anyone buys a car and thinks, "I have so much money I don't care if I have to pay myself."

As for the warranty itself, the cost must be commensurate with the peril. Implying that all warranties are in the "bad" category (or objectively bad as you refer to it), is a slight exaggeration. A $4000 3-year warranty is substantially different than a $2500 4-year. It is possible to check the "true cost to own" for any car, and from that you can readily determine what amount you can expect to pay in the next X years. That should serve as a sufficient baseline to make an informed decision.

I don't believe that a buyer should walk blindly into a warranty, but I disagree with the assessment that they should (similarly) blindly walk away. Sure, they're not for everyone. But for those buying 6 year old cars, they may, in fact, be a "better" prospect...

-td

BruceP

Well, actually, I do buy cars like that. Within reason, anyway. For me, a car I can easily afford to own as well as buy is more fun. That's just me. In any case, all of life is a risk, and all warranties are profitably sold on the assumption that most customers won't need them. That doesn't see debatable as far as I can see.

That said, if a) I was already stretching to afford my car, and b) A respectable warranty really was only $2500, I could be tempted, sure. Sleeping is worth something. I just stick to my guns on the notion that buying a warranty is an emotional decision, not a practical one, since probabilities favour never getting your money back.

Not meant to be a blanket condemnation. Just another perspective.

Laura

I am an independent that does work with customers with extended warranties. My customers do not handle the claim, the repair shop does and that is at the request of the warranty company. (All that I have ever dealt with). And the warranty company pays the balance owed by credit card after the customer has paid the deductible and any additional amount not covered by the policy. The only extended warranty that must be taken care of by a Porsche dealership is their own CPO program.

I have seen customer never use thier policy and others have received considerable compensation for reman motors and transmissions. It's like an insurance policy to help out with expenses.

Benjamin Choi

I'd be leery of driving an ultra low mileage 996 Carrera without a warranty. This thing's been sitting around for most of its life and if it is the original engine, I'd be even more anxious about a future RMS bill.

Sure, people here are going to say these cars are so reliable this and that and RMS is no real issue... BS. It doesn't give me peace of mind knowing how common the RMS story is on this very board (do a search).

I'd have no issues buying the warranty through a reputable Porsche dealer local to you. This is what I did and I paid $3500 for 3 yr/48K in Seattle (Barrier Porsche). It's worth the peace of mind (for me).