Warranty options

[RatLabGuy]

'03 P5, only 34,2 on clock. My warranty runs out in April. No problems that I know of, runs like a top.
When I asked the dealer about purchasing a factory warranty extension, I was suprised to be told that they don't do that, but rather ssell a "new" warranty... and on more probing to find that it is esentially a 3rd-party generic warranty, where you pick the sytems you want covered etc, and can even get work done anywhere. I don't see how this is different from buying a warranty from any other 3rd party...?

Is this typical? Can you not just get an extansion on the factory deal? Other auto manufacturers do this.
I'm really not a fan of the 3rd party deals b/c they're full of clauses and loopholes, gambling on what parts will/will not fail, not knowing whether the service provider will indeed honor it, paying up front and getting reimbursements, yada yada.

 

[Tasty]

Waste of money to buy extended warranties. Do some research. You will almost never find a consumer advocate that recommends buying extended warranties on ANYthing. Most of the time they are pure profit for the dealer that sells them, are overpriced, and don't offer very good coverage. You will surely find 4-5 people posting after me that will praise extended warranties, and if they sleep better throwing away a couple extra bucks then that's fine. I for one don't do extended warranties, but I DO believe in doing all my own maintenance and caring well for your vehicles.

 

[JoshP5]

Statistically, you'll spend more money purchasing the warranty than you will save on repairs covered by that warranty. That's how they make money selling warranties.

 

[i12drivemyMP5]

...but I DO believe in doing all my own maintenance and caring well for your vehicles.

Amen

 

[SeminoleMan]

'03 P5, only 34,2 on clock. My warranty runs out in April.

I too have a 03 P5 with 34k and warranty expiration in April. I was actually wondering the same thing. I may go through my credit union to check on the warranty plans through them. I've had no problems thus far either, but it's nice to have something to fall back on in case something goes wrong.

 

[Krkwyt]

I have had the misfortune of buying two extended warranties.

First one was with my '97 TBird, cost $1400 cdn. Kept the car for 7 years, required about ten fixes, (besides usual maintainance), NONE were covered. Did not learn very well that time, and just purchased a 2004 Chrysler 300M about 3 months ago, spent $1400 cdn on extended warranty, and so far the first four items have not been covered. Besides, there is an initial $100 fee for all warranty work as well.

Just purchased 2003 P5 for my wife, did not puchase extended warranty. PTW still good until June 2008. She will not put many kms on before then.

Hope this helps in your decission.

 

[RatLabGuy]

See, this is *exactly* why I was so pissed to find that Mazda does not provide an option of extending the *factory* warranty. Not buying an extra warranty from a 3rd party.
For example, in '99, we bought a '97 Saturn from the dealer. It was in fab shape, but we had both just gotten out of college, and my wife wanted to live out her dream of getting herself a good car now that she had a "real job" and not have to worry about that aspect of life anymore. Fine by me.
In addition to the car, the dealer allowed us to *extend* the *factory* warranty. For a price, of course - I think we chose to take it out to 6 year/75k, was like $900. We took it. Now, statistically, yes, it is garanteed not to be a good deal, that's how they make money. However, when you're broke (I was in grad school), $900 spread over 5 years of payments is easier than eating $600 at once.
Anyhow, in that case it was a good investment. @~52k, the infamous diff pin slipped out and junked the tranny. $2.5k bill. Our cost: $200 deductable.
The difference is, in a factory warranty, everything is covered. There's no not-picking to argue. You don't have this crap of only certain things being so, and having to fight them. They fix everything. My concern = meeting deductable and finding another way to get to work in the meanwhile.

Trust me, I know all about doing your own work, and the value of it. I have not taken a car into a shop in probably 6 years for *anything*, save maybe 3-4 times the wife paid to get her oil changed. I've done CVs, differential replacements, engine rebuilds, tranny replacements, name it. I enjoy it. However we're at a point in life where I'd rather have at least 1 car where I do not have to worry about it, and I'm willing to spend some $$ for this luxury on myself now that $$ is not as tight. If it breaks, not my problem. I'll spend my time on the other 2 vehicles. To me, that is worth something.
The whole point of this is: Is it correct that no Mazda (or Ford?) dealer allows the option to purchase an extension of THEIR warranty. If so, and I still decide to get one, is there any reason at all to buy it from the dealer vs anybody else?

Krkwyt - when you say "PTW" good 'til '08, can you explain please?

 

[Krkwyt]

RatLabGuy: Power Train Warranty, 100,000 kms or June 2008, I have 65,000kms now and my wife does not drive far so time will come first.

 

[RatLabGuy]

RatLabGuy: Power Train Warranty, 100,000 kms or June 2008, I have 65,000kms now and my wife does not drive far so time will come first.

How did you get that? Is that a Canadian option thing?

 

[AlbNYPR5]

Mazda does have a factory extended warranty program. I bought it new when I got my P5 in 2002. I was able to transfer it over to my Tribute when I bought that last January. I think the dealer it trying to divert you into the higher profit lower coverage third party warranty. Here is some more info from Mazda's site:

http://www.mazdausa.com/MusaWeb/displayPage.action?pageParameter=shoppingToolsWarrantyMEPP

'03 P5, only 34,2 on clock. My warranty runs out in April. No problems that I know of, runs like a top.
When I asked the dealer about purchasing a factory warranty extension, I was suprised to be told that they don't do that, but rather ssell a "new" warranty... and on more probing to find that it is esentially a 3rd-party generic warranty, where you pick the sytems you want covered etc, and can even get work done anywhere. I don't see how this is different from buying a warranty from any other 3rd party...?

Is this typical? Can you not just get an extansion on the factory deal? Other auto manufacturers do this.
I'm really not a fan of the 3rd party deals b/c they're full of clauses and loopholes, gambling on what parts will/will not fail, not knowing whether the service provider will indeed honor it, paying up front and getting reimbursements, yada yada.

 

[Krkwyt]

RatLabGuy, yes that was Mazda's Canadian warranty at the time on the Major Components along with 3yrs, 80,000kms comprehensive.
My PTW started on June 2003 and so it's good until June 2008.

Just visited the Mazda site and they now offer some dandy extended warranties on their new cars. Worth a look-see. http://www.mazda.ca/

 

[P-Funk!]

If you had the self-discipline you would open a credit card and not charge anything on it except what you could pay every month (i.e. gas and oil changes). You would then use the card for any 'emergency repairs' (anywhere - not just towed to the nearest dealership) and save the extended warrenty money. my $.02