United Car Care?

[Wade Lippman]

Our car has 80,000 miles on it. We have never had anything but a couple trivial repairs on it so far, but expect that will probably change. Accordingly, we are looking at new, somewhat smaller, cars. An extended service plan just came in the mail, through a dealer we had some routine maintenance done at. It gives 5 years or 60,000 miles for $3,000. That seems like a good price, it the company is any good.

Has anyone ever used them? They have an A+ BBB rating; but lots of complaints. The complaints say they will attribute it to a pre-existing condition, or something not covered by the warranty. For instance, they only cover seals when required by covered problems. If the failed seal caused the problem, then it is not covered. Chicken and egg?

The power transfer unit is "permanently" lubricated. Mazda has extended the warranty on it to 90,000 miles, presumably because there have been lots of problems. The repair is $2,000. Will that be a pre-existing condition? I sure don't know. It didn't completely develop prior to the service plan, but it can't be prevented either. I am sure lots of things are like that.

Any opinions, preferably by users, would be appreciated.

[Jim Becker]

Many 3rd party service contracts are fraught with risk and difficult claims, etc. I personally would only buy a manufacturer provided extended service contract. (That's what these are...they are not technically "warrantees" legally, but service contracts, despite what most folks call them including in marketing materials) Many dealers will hawk 3rd party plans first because they make more money on them. Relative to the cost you mention, I have a Mopar MaxCare Lifetime Extended Service Contract on my Grand Cherokee and my cost at a discounted online dealer was $2180 at the time. The same plan currently sells for about $2800 on the street at discount. This plan covers everything except "wear items" such as tires, brake pads/rotors and other consumables and that's for unlimited miles and unlimited time until the ACV of the vehicle is less than a repair cost. $100 deductible. So in my mind, $3000 for a Mazda or similar is a bit expensive. Subraru's Gold plan can be had for well under $2000 for 5 yrs/60k miles as another example.

[Tom Stenzel]

I've never had United but I've had service contracts on several vehicles. The one I came out ahead was my 1989 Ford F-150. The contract people lost a ton of money on it. The vehicle was such steaming pile Ford lost my business to this day.

Besides what Jim mentioned you need to watch for service intervals. The manufacturer might recommend changing the coolant at 100K miles. The contract might say 30K miles or the the cooling system part of the warranty is void. Watch for the gotchas like that. I remember someone trying to sell me a service contract for my Venture that had just about everything in the vehicle voided the day I signed it. Oddly enough I declined his generous offer!

-Tom

[Marshall Harrison]

I don't do 3rd party warrantees after getting burnt years ago. We had an extended warranty on a Ford van. One day I got a letter from them informing me that they had filed bankruptcy and were dropping all existing contracts. They turned our almost the next day and started doing business under a new name but refused to honor the warranty that I had paid for. I swore to never again do an extended warranty like that.

[jared herbert]

my opinion is that unless it is a factory warranty it is completely worthless. Save the money that you would invest in the warranty and put it towards the purchase of another vehicle.

[Bruce Volden]

Run, run, run!
You are money ahead fixing things out of pocket.
I called one of those postcard thingies for extended warranty a few weeks ago--for fun. For about $1600/year I could have "bumper to bumper" coverage.
I told them my "09 Edge has over 200K on it! They put me on hold for a minute and then said I could still have the coverage --- $2800/year.
These extended warranties ALWAYS work best for those selling them.

Bruce

[Carlos Alvarez]

Every vehicle extended warranty I've had has paid for itself. I was probably just unlucky in vehicle choices I guess. But that's what the game is; they don't always favor the seller, but overall they have to, statistically. You're really just betting on whether the vehicle will have more expenses than the cost of the plan.

I have 70-ish days to decide whether to put the Mopar lifetime care plan on my Jeep. It's a proven-reliable platform, so for $3k I'm thinking probably not. Although if I keep it as long as the previous vehicle, it might pay off. Hard to say. Also I'm really not the type to work well within dealer service limitations, and do a lot of my own work. Dealer service is just too slow and restrictive. If I use a shop, I'd rather use an independent that works on a schedule that's closer to mine. So the OEM extended service is less appealing to me.

[Jim Becker]

Carlos, with all the tech these days, quite often the Mopar lifetime contract does pay for itself. Mine has on my JGC and it's the reason I can feel comfortable keeping the vehicle for a few more years while my younger is in college and I'm figuring out this retirement thing. You should be able to get it for under $3K from Ziegler or a few other online dealers who discount. I've not found any limitations related to dealer service, but then again, that's the side of my local dealer that actually is worthy. (I don't like the sales side at all) And I've used it when traveling, too. The contract follows the VIN...

[Bill Jobe]

Stepped on someone else's post.

[Carlos Alvarez]

Yeah, I'm still on the fence, Jim. But after my most recent dealer visit, I'm 51% "no." Not that it's terrible or anything, it's just not a good fit for me. First, both dealers are a little ways. One is ten miles (20-ish minutes) and the other is about 40 minutes. The close one will shuttle me home. The far one is better about same-day in and out, but not all the time. The close one is only fast for oil changes and things like that (they have a deal where you buy FIVE changes for $80 flat, tax included). Both are very busy and just not great at doing things on time. Meanwhile I have a really great indie shop just at the edge of town. Literally the very first business I come to heading into town.

Unfortunately I learned something about the cost of these plans; they go up the longer you wait. If I had purchased it during the first few months, it would have been $2700. Now it's a bit over $3k because they start scaling up the price as you get more time/miles on the vehicle. Weird but true. That's the $100 deductible plan, the $200 plan is $2960.

[Jim Becker]

The break point is 12K/12mos...and then you get hit with an extra hundred or so.

[Lee Schierer]

I've owned 5 Mazdas, three sedans, one truck and a Miata. None have needed extensive maintenance. The first four all had over 120K miles on them in NW PA. I would put the $3,000 in a Certificate of Deposit where you are not likely to use the it and when you sell the car use that money as a down payment on the new car.

[Carlos Alvarez]

I've owned 5 Mazdas, three sedans, one truck and a Miata. None have needed extensive maintenance. The first four all had over 120K miles on them in NW PA. I would put the $3,000 in a Certificate of Deposit where you are not likely to use the it and when you sell the car use that money as a down payment on the new car.

I've had more repairs on a couple of vehicles. Probably because I let them idle too much.

But seriously, one was a known common trans issue ("they all break") and other big one was a major AC repair. In AZ, nobody is shocked when an AC system failure happens.

I've won so far on buying them, but think I'll probably just gamble on the Jeep.

[Carlos Alvarez]

The break point is 12K/12mos...and then you get hit with an extra hundred or so.

The current quotes are several hundred more than the original one. Maybe it goes up every year?

[Wade Lippman]

I've decided to pass.
It was sorta like buying a season pass to ski. It is expensive, but once you do it, skiing is "free". But here I doubt the economics work out.
Thanks.