Is the extended warranty worth it?

[Carletonguy]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and I am becoming a new Mazda 3 owner in 2 days. Question for you guys as the post title: extra $1050 for 2 years/40000KM extended warranty, should I get it?

I used to have a "made in Japan" honda civic, it was pretty much trouble free in the first 5 years/100000KM. Does Mazda 3 have the same kind of reliability? Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Rotus8]

Hi everyone, I am new to this forum and I am becoming a new Mazda 3 owner in 2 days. Question for you guys as the post title: extra $1050 for 2 years/40000KM extended warranty, should I get it?

I used to have a "made in Japan" honda civic, it was pretty much trouble free in the first 5 years/100000KM. Does Mazda 3 have the same kind of reliability? Please let me know what you think. Thanks!

Mazda 3 is rated very high for reliability. Extended warranty is almost certainly a bad deal. It does give peace of mind, but is generally not a good financial investment. Put it in the bank. It is an especially bad deal if it adds to your finance principal as that adds another 30% or so to the cost.

 

[Ryz]

I recommend extended warranties on cars that have performance mods from the factory. The turbo alone could make it worth it.

 

[SwampAss]

They make money on extended warranties. Evidentially, a lot of money. They try to sell them hard.

I've bought them for previous cars and always ended up feeling like a big dummy afterwards. $1000 plus for what ended up to be nothing.

 

[Rotus8]

I recommend extended warranties on cars that have performance mods from the factory. The turbo alone could make it worth it.

If you read the OP, he said nothing about a speed, which would make little difference anyway.

 

[Falconx84]

in short.... I would say no

In sales, (electronics) I used to make 5% off the product and 12% off the warranty. And for the hundreds of warranties I sold, I may have seen 10-15 people actually use it, and most of the repairs were less than the cost of the warranty

 

[Craighjr]

I don't know, as a tech I sure cursed the extended warranty car. The warranty has sure screwed me more than once.

 

[ecniemann]

in short.... I would say no

In sales, (electronics) I used to make 5% off the product and 12% off the warranty. And for the hundreds of warranties I sold, I may have seen 10-15 people actually use it, and most of the repairs were less than the cost of the warranty

+1 on that. Plus they have all sorts of loopholes for why certain items are not covered. There are studies on electronics that show if a failure is going to occur, it will occur either immediately (ie. while under warranty), or toward the end of useful life of the item. Now a car obviously has mechanical parts as well, but again, I believe the "flaws" work themselves out quickly, and anything else that breaks is usually owner applied "wear and tear", interpret that however you want.

 

[Rotus8]

I was offered an EW with the condition that if I made no claims I get the original price back at the end of the period. I was imagining some problem that might be covered but having to decide whether to claim or not. Made my head hurt.

 

[jhowey]

I'd say if you can get one for like 700$ for 7 years 100,000 miles with the gurantee of your money back at the end if you make no claims go for it. I personally did not because out of all the cars that come through our dealer I have seen like 15 over the course of 4 years where the EW ends up losing money on the overall deal. Cars these days are made to go the distance, and if you modify the EW will void your warranty just as quick as regular warranty. Im with the majority, it is peace of mind that you are that one out of 100 cars that become troublesome. But odds are your not.

 

[Craighjr]

You guys just dont get it. From a mechanics pov I can assure you if you don't work on the car, you can not go wrong with the warranty. Better yet if you don't make a claim now you get the cash back also. If you only keep the car for 45-50k miles then your barely out of warranty its a risk management game. If your in the long haul 100k under warranty you will most deffinatly use it.

 

[Akaveli]

No its not worth it. Yes it sounds good right before you buy the car but honestly ask yourself, how long do you plan on owning this car? 2, 3, 4 years? If you plan on owning your car pass that length of time, you could always extend your warranty once it is about to expire. What is the current factory warranty? 3 years or 36k miles? Do you plan on modding your car? If so, Mazda can easily cancel the warranty or the extended warranty you paid extra for, if they see you have been tampering with the car.... intake, headers exhaust...etc.etc. Not saying that can but its just more fuel for them to give you a hard time when it comes to warranty work being done.

 

[Yamaha72]

No its not worth it. Yes it sounds good right before you buy the car but honestly ask yourself, how long do you plan on owning this car? 2, 3, 4 years? If you plan on owning your car pass that length of time, you could always extend your warranty once it is about to expire. What is the current factory warranty? 3 years or 36k miles? Do you plan on modding your car? If so, Mazda can easily cancel the warranty or the extended warranty you paid extra for, if they see you have been tampering with the car.... intake, headers exhaust...etc.etc. Not saying then can but its just more fuel for them to give you a hard time when it comes to warranty work being done.

Here is where the MAZDASPEED accesories come in to play.... Adding cool parts while still keeping your warranty intact.(drinks)

 

[Falconx84]

^^^ but who stops at an intake, CBE and springs?

 

[jhowey]

Most EW's are not bump to bump unless you pay out the ass for them. Also the Mazda Powertrain Warranty is 5 years 60k. Bump to bum is 3 36.

 

[Kshaw5]

You don't have to buy the extended warranty at the time of purchase, in many cases you have until last 1000k miles or 6 monthes or so of the standard warranty to decide to extend it. Ask the dealer, also many extended warrantys have a deductible and do not cover "everything". Check the exclusions and ask about the deductible.

 

[akajoker]

If you don't mind, a little advice for when I wished I had bought the warranty. 93 Ford Ranger - bought the warranty and drove it 193,000 miles and never needed it.

2003 Mini Cooper S(supercharger) no warranty - $3000 for rebuilt motor (rod bearing blew out and aluminum head cracked. Supercharger bearings went out $1100 for a rebuilt from BMW. MCS had CAI/CBE/Reduced Supercharger pully.

The MCS only had 64,000 miles when the engine went and 76,000 when the supercharger toasted.

Ya I should have bought the warranty for $800 bucks from my credit union.

As for my new MS3, I paid $799 for the top of the line warranty with a $100 deductible and it covers everything to include the sirius radio and ANY MAZDASPEED part I have the dealer install.

Sorry for the long post

 

[Cx7Girl]

ew are a risk. there are different types of ew, different levels you can purchase. ew are good if you are looking for big repairs like a water pump or a transmission replacement. most of them do not cover any sensors, or fluids. some don't even cover coils, like if you throw a misfire cel code, which with Mazdas can be a common occurance. if you plan on keeping the car after the maufacture warranty, which for all 2007 models and newer is only 3/36 (previous models years were 4/50), you might consider it.

 

[MS38449]

ew are a risk. there are different types of ew, different levels you can purchase. ew are good if you are looking for big repairs like a water pump or a transmission replacement. most of them do not cover any sensors, or fluids. some don't even cover coils, like if you throw a misfire cel code, which with Mazdas can be a common occurance. if you plan on keeping the car after the maufacture warranty, which for all 2007 models and newer is only 3/36 (previous models years were 4/50), you might consider it.

Yiup, I agree, If I can't make it break by 36000 it aint gonna break (hee hee hee) I hope
Gzzz my MSP had every major part under the hood replaced, Engine, TB, Tranny, Diff. Not under the hood, KW Stereo, Sub.

When it was replaced it had about 43000

 

[Ryz]

Yiup, I agree, If I can't make it break by 36000 it aint gonna break (hee hee hee) I hope

Yeah, that's the way to think. An older part has less chance of breaking then a newer part? On my last car I paid 1,200 for the x and they paid out over 2,300 in repairs, doesn't sound like to bad a deal to me.