The car comes with a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty that my dealer is offering to extend to 5/100k for an additional $1250. I'm wondering if this is worth it. I've never bought a new car before, nor have I ever had an opportunity to take advantage of a warranty (something broken being covered, I mean).

I am perfectly capable of working a wrench and doing my own maintenance and repairs, but I'm told it's the electronic components that make the warranty worth it. I'm worried now about the touch screen breaking or the push start/smart key system messing up down the line, and that it might fall outside of the factory warranty.

Have they made me paranoid, or is this really something worth considering? I'm working with them now to look at the numbers and make a final call, so thought I'd ask the group here. Thanks!

 

There are a whole bunch of threads on this site about extended warrantees and almost all the postings say the same thing- everybody makes tons of money on the extended warrantees, which means it's a bad deal for the consumer.

 

If all the horror stories they talk about when selling to customers were true, they would have gone bust years ago. They sell the product because they make money (and the dealer makes a killing), and the fact they make money tells you it is a one sided bet. Take the $1,250.00, and stick it in a savings account and "self insure". You can't lose. Or, pay $1,250.00 for a 2year, 64,000 mile warranty, because that is what is left when your Honda warranty expires (and even that assumes you hit 3years and 36,000 miles on the same day).

As for those electronics you mentioned failing, most of the time, if electronics work for a year, they will work for many years without any problems (unless of course you spill water on your phone).

 

Its up to you. Even though I have always done 99% of maintenance/repairs myself on all my vehicles but the big one for me was the fact this is the first year of production for the 3rd Gen AND in a new location. We went for the 10yr/125,000 since we know we will own the car at least that long, plus my wife and I are busy with work (plus a newborn) so it was worth it to me to save on the tinkering time. Don't get me wrong, I love tinkering but just don't have the time anymore.l Plus our dealership is in a very convenient location to us so getting their "rental/loner" car to use when ours is in the shop is worth it to us.

 

I would suggest you say no to everything except the car and the mandatory tax and registration fees.

Listen very carefully to what the Finance Sales guy is telling you, but read every paperwork you get, because even if you said no to something, they might print the paperwork as if you said yes... and try to guilt you by having to reprint it again.

Read every little bit. Don't sign anything related to GAP(might as well get that with your insurance company), extended coverage, windshield protection, credit life insurance or anything.

Your bill should be very simple, ideally.

Sale Price of Vehicle
Allowance for Trade-In (if applicable)
Net Difference
Sales Tax
Documentary Fee
License, Transfer, Title & Reg. Fees, Insp.
Trade-In Payoff (if any)
Full Service Deputy Fee (dunno what the hell this is, sounds like a stupid extra but it's just 5 bucks, I aint gonna fight it)


That should be all you want to see on your invoice.

You want to avoid things like:
GAP INS
Anti-Theft Device(get this after the fact maybe?)
ADded Equipment
Added Services
Extended Service Agreements

 

If you really want a simple "buyers order/bill of sale", arrange financing on your own, and ignore anything that the dealer wants to sell you. GAP with the dealer was $600.00....with my credit union it was 199.00. I put so much down I did not get either, but I could also have checked with my insurance company, as they sell GAP too.

 

The last time this came up this was my response:

When they tell you about all the horrible expensive things that can go wrong with your new car you might try saying "Wow, I didn't know that new Hondas were so unreliable. Maybe i had better reconsider this..." Push your chair back to stand up. Enjoy reaction.

What these "protection plans" are is insurance which is just a nice name for gambling. You're betting that something will go wrong. They're betting that nothing will go wrong. As in any gambling, the house almost always wins.

Another way of thinking of it is that you and a lot of other people are giving packets of money to the insurer. The insurer uses part of that money to pay for whatever repairs are needed on covered cars. They use the rest to pay for the guy who sold you the coverage, his bosses, the plush building they work in, etc. Which is cheaper, paying for repairs yourself or hiring someone else to do it and paying all their expenses too?

The main rule of insurance is that you never insure against risks that you are capable of absorbing yourself. You're buying a new car so for the next three years you have no mechanical risks at all. After three years, the mechanical risks are still low and never really exceed a few thousand dollars, even in a worst case scenario. You'll spend more than that on a "protection plan."

Try this: Determine the amount you would spend on the protection plan. Start a separate bank account and deposit that amount and any monthly instalments that would be required. Pay for repairs from this account. Chances are, you will have money left in the account when the time comes to buy a new car!

 

You can also order Honda Care from a different dealership than where you buy the car from, or see if your dealership will match the pricing. It doesn't affect where you can have your car serviced. A lot of people order the warranties from Saccucci Honda, I've found Hyannis Honda has slightly better prices on Honda Care for the 15 Fit. They're $560 cheaper than your dealership. Heres all their Honda Care pricing options

Coverage Level $0 Deductible $100 Deductible
3 years/45000 miles $315.00 Not Available
4 years/60000 miles $445.00 Not Available
5 years/60000 miles $455.00 Not Available
5 years/80000 miles $595.00 $490.00
5 years/100000 miles $690.00 $585.00
6 years/80000 miles $605.00 $500.00
6 years/100000 miles $755.00 $650.00
6 years/120000 miles $865.00 $760.00
7 years/80000 miles $640.00 $535.00
7 years/100000 miles $795.00 $690.00
7 years/120000 miles $905.00 $800.00
8 years/100000 miles $885.00 $780.00
8 years/120000 miles $1,000.00 $895.00

 

these numbers are similar to what Folsom Honda in Sacramento California was offering. Is "Honda Care" the same as extended warranty?

 

If you live in Florida, one cannot get the other out of state extended warranty. Written by the florida legislator...thank you so very much

 

After a couple of years, you will be flooded with extended warranty offers, including from almost every manufacturer. Why pay for it now, when you already have Honda coverage? Wait, and if you need it later, you can pick from any number of offers.

 

I think that's a Texas thing. Instead of paying your fees (registration, title, etc) directly to the county assessor-collector, you can pay to a "full service deputy" licence to act for the county. It's a middleman fee, but it's small and probably provides some convenience. Someone on the dealership's staff is a full service deputy, and maybe that saves you a trip to the collector's office.

I don't live in Texas, but if I did, I'd probably pay the $5. I've paid as much as $20 in the past to have the dealership handle the registration, title, and plates, rather than take the time to stand in line at a government motor vehicle office, and it seemed like a reasonable value to me at the time.

 

I put down a deposit for a white EX Manual the other day. If I can get a Honda extended warranty I will probably go for it. Most likely the car will have minimal issues after the standard warranty expires. But, if paying some money up front gives me piece of mind for any potential issues down the road, I'm all for it. I definitely would not purchase any of the third party warranties.

 

Right on! Not only that, the extended warranty = cheaper too, like WAY cheaper than you get it when you first purchase the car NEW!

 

Just consider a Honda dealer 'bumper to bumper' warranty and those third-party ones. They are vastly different in what they cover, the former being much better. From my understanding you can't buy a Honda warranty after your standard warranty expires.

 

I find it amusing that the sales pitch is a two person job, so that the front sales person can tell you how reliable and well built the vehicle is, and the back finance person can tell you an extended warranty is a good idea because there are thousands of moving parts and lots of things go wrong and it is very expensive to fix when they do. This avoids either person seeming dishonest or hypocritical.

My trucker uncle came from a different generation, but he always said if something is faulty, you will know it sooner than later - if a machine performs well for a year it likely will continue to perform well (though a year for him was many more miles).

I'm curious how such warranties are honoured. Of course they don't cover wear and tear, but after 3 years, wouldn't "wear" apply to just about everything? Would the consumer have to prove that a part was a manufacturer's defect (either in construction or design), or would it be assumed that parts should not break? Is there a schedule for how long parts should last (i.e. if brakes need replacing every 10,000km, that would be a defect, but could also be claimed to be wear).

 

I did buy an extended warranty on my Fit. Normally I do not buy them but with shop rates what they are and the cost of parts you could quickly go broke if you don't have one. Granted it is limited chance of using it but should you need it one time it can pay for itself. Back in the 80's I bought a car and decided to purchase the warranty (used car) it cost me about $300, 6 months later the transmission trashed itself, they not only had to repair/replace the tranny but also the torque converter and the radiator due to the amount of metal it circulated throughout the system. The entire bill was over $1400 and it cost me the warranty and a $100. Best money I ever spent.

As with most insurance you hate spending the money on it and hope you don't need it but are betting you will. We all take our chances. A complete engine melt down at 36001 miles could be the difference of $100 or trashing your 2 year old car. JMHO

The cheaper payment won't compare to the cost of repairs

 

If you are getting your Fit with the "new" CVT automatic tranie I would consider the extended drive train coverage. The CVT has been problematic for other companies (like Mini Cooper).

 

This is exactly the sales pitch of the warranty salesmen. Generate doubt and fear of the unknown to sell the product.

Honda has been selling CVT vehicles since 1995 and other manufacturers since the mid-'80s. If CVT technology wasn't reliable they wouldn't still be selling it.

 

Agree!