echere88

"not obvious to me, but certainly sounds like its not in the US" -- OP here, I must have lousy English ......FYI I am in SoCal

stubenhocker

A new discovery huh? A insurance policy that benefits the purchaser not the seller!
I don't think so. If I can't afford the basic costs associated with a car then I wouldn't own the car!
What's next grocery insurance?

porschestrabeturbo

All of the policies are different -- its whatever your dealer chooses to offer. Some policies go as far as to specify how much tread you have to have on the tire to be eligible -- others cover everything, including aftermarket wheels. Just check the exclusions before you buy it to make sure it has what you need.

Maxy

I wonder that, too, but maybe the pool includes a number of vehicles where claims are much less likely.

Another question, though: does curb rash count as wheel damage?

echere88

My policy does not cover curb rash damage. I did some research. It looks like most of the policy does not include curb rash.

Jlangmd

It is an extended warrantee. By definition it is a bad deal. Yes, some people will be okay with it, and get their money's worth, but this is a money maker for the seller. They profit by selling these things, because they pay out less than they take in. Simple math. Anecdotally, someone may replace 3 or 4 tires and believe it to have been a good investment, but the next 7 or 8 people will never use the warrantee and have simply wasted their money.

The money I have saved by not purchasing the extended warrantee on any car, or tire I have bought (and I ask the dealer each time I go in, whether this would have been covered under the extended warrantee) would be enough to buy a new compact car by now.

I turn down all of these for big screen tv's, amplifiers, and even the extended warrantee that best buy offers on a stupid wireless mouse.

Never looked back.

Carrera GT

I tend to agree ... it's in the "paint protection" end of the spectrum along with extended warranties on TVs and washing machines ... according to Consumer Reports anyway.

But the tire thing is relatively cheap at $600 -- wreck one tire and you're break-even. Wreck two tires and you're ahead. I counted back my wrecked and punctured tires to 2000. Three (one on the Cayenne Turbo ... ouch! ... and two on the Prius "long life" tires which cost about $60 each ...) I put sticky performance tires on the prius ... cost us maybe 1 or 2 mph ... anyway, so with few fails, I kept the $999 (they charge more for wider tires and wheels) in my pocket. Had they brought that down to $600, I might have bought it just because it would be below the radar, but $1000 seems like a lot to pay for a $500 tire. Not forgetting labor and costs to mount and balance. Of course, if the paired tire on the other side of the car is nearing the end of its life, you'll want to pull it off and pair up new tires. I guess you could "donate" the worn tire to the Rennlist community.

Frino

$800 for five year tire/wheel coverage. Purchased from P-dealer.

Caughtacab911

I chose to add the 5-year wheel/tire policy when I bought my 05 C2S cab last year. It was $795. A few weeks ago I was backing into a driveway at night to make a u-turn. I misjudged the turn-in spot by a foot and rubbed the right rear wheel on the curb, causing minor rash (1/2 inch) but also a 1-in crack in the sidewall just above it. Ouch! The tire was a 19-in P-zero, only 2 months old with maybe 3K miles. Fine print on the warranty says "no sidewall damage is covered", presumably aimed at guys like me who have been known to rub up against curbs on occasion. Despite this exclusion, my dealer was able to put in the claim and get it pre-approved, then mounted and balanced a new tire at no cost to me. A $620 claim was put in for that service and they did all the paperwork. By my reckoning, I'm almost even all things considered, and if anything happens again in the next 4 years I'll be ahead of the game.

I also never buy extended warranties on anything (as earlier posters said), but in this case I was persuaded by the high cost of tires and wheels ($1K each). I'm glad I got it.

Gene

Edgy01

Curbs in New England can be quite aggressive,--they're made of solid granite, to hold up against years of snowplow abuse. I heard a story about a guy who lost two tires in about a second when impatient and he went around a car held up by traffic to make a turn. He clipped the granite curbs on the right and lost both right tires simultaneously. Here they are as "art" in my yard in California,--I dragged them all the way across the USA.

Maxy

All these posts about insurance being a winning proposition only for the insurer (but not the insuree)... I'm not so certain. What about AIG?

Some things are just too hard to predict and consequently value. Case in point is human life span. In fact, there are investment schemes that arbitrage the inequality between what a life insurance company may predict for a given individual versus what an annuity might cost. I know some people who have used this to turn elderly relatives into cash cows.

ATX

Didn't buy it on my 07', had it for a little over 2 years with no issues (flats, rim dmg, etc.). Just bought it on my 09', figured that the odds were in my favor now. Cost was $695 if I am remembering correctly.

Kevin123

Dealer offered it to me when I bought the vehicle $995 tires only, $1295 tires & rims.

Said it was a one time offer and could not be bought later. I asked for info (pamplet) on the warrenty and they couldn't give me anything. Said it was for as long as I owned the vehicle and would cover anything, for as many tires as I damaged.

This sounded too good to be true plus the pressure of purchase it now with no written info, so I declined it.

Tried to purchase it the next day after reading this forum and was told no, they would not sell it to me. They still weren't able to tell me what was not covered or provide anything in writing.

Minok

Advertising or offering for sale an insurance policy against a loss, without a written policy available... thats got to be a violation of the state's insurance laws.

Mussl Kar

$500.00 for 4 years. Covers tires pro rated for wear, wheels repair and wheel replacement up to $1000.00 per wheel, $4000.00 total for the term. United Auto Club, guessing it is owned by Penske/United Auto Group. Just used it for a front wheel that took a whack on 495 where construction was going on. Wifey was driving and did not even notice the bump. We tried to get compensation from the construction company but ended up in a huge run around. That was when I remembered getting the insurance. Wife had to shell out $1200.00 and is now waiting for a check. Dealer charged her full retail for the wheel, I could have got it from Suncoast for $740.00. Funny thing is that even though the rim had a fat lip where it was bent, there was no sign at all of tire damage. Tire held air fine and she ran 4 autocross events with it before replacing the wheel.