Another (but different!) extended warranty question

From phones to cars, the (lack of) value/wisdom of extended warrantees are well know. That said, if someone finds its value in peace of mind, I don't beat them up about it.
Agreed - but if they ask for an opinion, as the OP did, we should give it....
 
From phones to cars, the (lack of) value/wisdom of extended warrantees are well know. That said, if someone finds its value in peace of mind, I don't beat them up about it.
I don't beat them up either, but it seems a false peace to me, even after the purchase. To me it sets up a tension, that should something go wrong, I know I'll need to fight the warranty to get them to stand up to it, second guess if I've fulfilled the requirements, and jump through the hoops to get the benefit.

In that infotainment screen scenario, perhaps there's a salvage part for $200 that could be self-installed.

What if the car gets totaled, do you get a refund? What if your circumstances change and you get rid of the car next year. Or there's a global pandemic and you barely drive for a couple of years.
 
I don't beat them up either, but it seems a false peace to me, even after the purchase. To me it sets up a tension, that should something go wrong, I know I'll need to fight the warranty to get them to stand up to it, second guess if I've fulfilled the requirements, and jump through the hoops to get the benefit.

In that infotainment screen scenario, perhaps there's a salvage part for $200 that could be self-installed.

What if the car gets totaled, do you get a refund? What if your circumstances change and you get rid of the car next year. Or there's a global pandemic and you barely drive for a couple of years.
ext warranties can be cancelled for a prorated refund
 
replacing the infotainment screen out of warranty costs just under $1k
Been on this website for north of 5 years. Ask me how many times I have seen someone that needed an entire new Head Unit? That's a tiny number. 3, maybe 4. One of those was self inflicted. Fact is, as I said earlier, if the infotainment system is going to crash and burn due to a warranty related item, it will in the first FEW months. It most certainly will in the first 12 months. There ARE NO MOVING PARTS. Things without moving parts tend not to last for some time. Someone mentioned phones... its exactly the same. If your phone is going to fail due to a manufacturing defect, the odds are dramatically in the companies favor that it will happen in that first year.
But I get it... people are nervous when they hear replacement cost for a head unit is $1,000. . . this is what they bank on. But if it comforts you... do what you must.
 
Been on this website for north of 5 years. Ask me how many times I have seen someone that needed an entire new Head Unit? That's a tiny number. 3, maybe 4. One of those was self inflicted. Fact is, as I said earlier, if the infotainment system is going to crash and burn due to a warranty related item, it will in the first FEW months. It most certainly will in the first 12 months. There ARE NO MOVING PARTS. Things without moving parts tend not to last for some time. Someone mentioned phones... its exactly the same. If your phone is going to fail due to a manufacturing defect, the odds are dramatically in the companies favor that it will happen in that first year.
But I get it... people are nervous when they hear replacement cost for a head unit is $1,000. . . this is what they bank on. But if it comforts you... do what you must.
With my electronics they most certainly have a lot higher chances of failure as they age. TV's. computers, cell phones. They all get flaky as they age in my experience. I still wouldn't buy an extended warranty as you never know when this happen. I have a 2006 BMW. Mine has been pretty good but so far but many folks report lots of electronics issues in theirs over time (radios, amps and GM5 modules for interior electronics which also have no moving parts...)
 
Obviously everything has a higher percentage of breaking as it gets older. Everything has an MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) rating.

But facts: things without moving parts tend to last a very very long time because of the very fact they do not have moving parts. An old hard driver with spinning platters inside is going to fail, no question 99% of the time much sooner then an SSD that was put into service on the same date.

This is why warranties work for the warranty provider. Your Mazda infotainment system will either die in the first 3 years because of a manufacturing defect OR it will fail well beyond the 5-7 year mark most extended warranties will cover. That sweet spot in the middle is what these companies make money on.
 
My CX-5 is now 9 years old and has 114k miles on it.

Extended warranty would have been a complete waste of money on me, literally nothing of major consequence has broken. Lock actuators maybe, but doubt that would be covered.

Honestly, its very rare you come out on top with these things. Unobtanium somehow seems to, but he is an exception to the rule :p.
 
Make you a deal. Give me the money and I'll cover what goes wrong, plus, at the end of the term I'll give you 5% back.
 
The OP hasn't been back to the site in about a week and a half.
 
That said, if you do want one shop around, they can usually be sold for about half of what they are first offered to you
Yup, even by phone, call anywhere and ask for the for the Chief Scam Officer, uh, I mean, Finance manager
 
2019 Signature,At purchase was offered 7 year/100k warranty.Dealer start price was 2,100 negotiated to 1,350.This is a comprehensive plan by Zurich.No deductible at selling dealer,$100 elsewhere.On the Signature if you have a LED adaptive headlight failure the whole unit needs to be replaced.Also the folding sideview mirrors were of slight concern.Spoke to Zurich and was assured these items plus all electronics in and out were covered,which the printed contract confirms.Peace of mind,only you can decide..
 
On the Signature if you have a LED adaptive headlight failure the whole unit needs to be replaced.
Look around the forum and see how common that is. It's not. Not even a little bit. In fact, I don't recall even one that WASN'T part of the 2016 headlight fiasco that turned into a recall.
 
Look around the forum and see how common that is. It's not. Not even a little bit. In fact, I don't recall even one that WASN'T part of the 2016 headlight fiasco that turned into a recall.
I think OP just listing one of the many expensive what ifs and that's why the warranty was purchased for the peace of mind.
 
2019 Signature,At purchase was offered 7 year/100k warranty.Dealer start price was 2,100 negotiated to 1,350.This is a comprehensive plan by Zurich.No deductible at selling dealer,$100 elsewhere.On the Signature if you have a LED adaptive headlight failure the whole unit needs to be replaced.Also the folding sideview mirrors were of slight concern.Spoke to Zurich and was assured these items plus all electronics in and out were covered,which the printed contract confirms.Peace of mind,only you can decide..
The fact that you shaved off $750 of their profit, and they still made money, speaks volumes.
 
The fact that you shaved off $750 of their profit, and they still made money, speaks volumes.
The profit margin of ext warranty is at least 50% (I bought one for a '05 Prius at nearly 50% off, genuine Toyota 7yr/100k). Thus, the invoice should be about $1050. The dealer still made $300 from that deal.

That said, $1350 is not a bad deal.
 
Actually it's closer to 100% - 200% markup. On a $2,000 warranty they numbers are that they will spend about $400 in payout on covered repairs. I can't think of any covered repair that I would have needed in 40 years of Japanese car ownership that would come close to the cost of the warranty, let alone the $10,000 in warranty cost over those 40 years and numerous cars. YMMV
 
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