Again... maybe its a Canadian things... but I'm not sure how terms like "engine failure" and numbers like $3000 go together?!? My other car is a 2008 smart car. A fellow smart car owner had his engine fail (mind you, he ignored the oil like for the entire duration of a 4000+ km trip! The car is "smart"... the drivers, not necessarily) and I remember him posting his invoice and it was over $12k!! A number of turbo failures in the smart community came with $3000 bills, and that's just the turbo.

Even a minor problem getting fixed at a dealer (where I am anyway) you'd be crazy lucky to walk out with less than a grand on your credit card. Anything major's going to be a heck of a lot more.

Do our mechanics just charge too much? Or Honda rips us off on the parts way more?

Because yeah, if it was a matter of taking on a $3k repair @ a 10% chance then the warranty's really not worth more than $300 + say $80 a year for road side (so total $700). You can be as calculating with the math as you want, for example:

$80 a year for roadside = $400
10% chance of $1000 repair each year = $500
5% chance of a $3000 repair at some point = $150
2% chance of a $8000 repair = $160

Where'd I come up with the numbers? Well, even if I had put a lot of thought into it, it would just be pulled out of thin air using "best guesses"... in this case, I'm just trying to illustrate the thought process. But say that example is "correct"... that means the warranty is "worth" $1210 analytically. So $1500 is not worth the benefit unless I'm willing to say the $390 difference is trivial enough that I'm happy to pay it for "general peace of mind", or whatever.

- Steven

Over $12,000 for a smart car engine?

Hahaha...

Why even think of a Honda and a Smart being in the same reliability/economy category?

Who said I did? I just said that was my other car.

To be fair, the $12k engine was a turbo diesel... a different animal than the gasser entirely. That was a $27k car new.

I would NOT say the smart was particularly reliable. Not horrible... still better than any domestic or Korean car I've ever had... but not inline with any Japanese or other European cars I've had.

- Steven

extended warrenty, or "honda plus" warrenty is what saved me.

back in august my motor went in my 09 sport. the hub on the rad fan let go, sherred a hole in my rad, and seized my motor. the car was under warranty, no problem. however, honda canada does not cover a rental car. for those of you that have a 2nd car, then that fine, but myself, i have the one and only. i faught with honda for 1 whole day while they worked on my car, to get a rental. by the end of the day, i said i had honda plus warranty and they told me i got a rental car free for 5 days, and if the car was not ready in that amount of time, the dealership covers the cost. honda had my car for 2 weeks. i had a 2010 jetta 2.5 for the entire time, free to me.

when i was fighting with honda for the rental car, i was at the dealer ship talking to the managers, the owner, and i even called honda canada, and there was still nothing they would do for me, or "could" do for me, as they put it.

so for me, honda plus warranty saved me, and the next honda i buy, i will be getting it. just all personal experience i guess.

So you got a rental car. Was that worth the cost of the extra warranty? A quick check shows that a week of car rentals is ~$150 around me.

Yeah, it makes for an awfully expensive rental :) But I gotta admit that in the same shoes - when something crapped out that's not your fault - its nice to get the rental for "free".

I've thought about it pretty good, and no matter how I slice it, I can't see the warranty being a good buy afterall. With that said, we're going to get it anyway :)

"WHaaa?" I hear you say. Well, I'm logical and analytical and I do the math on things like this and come to a decision... my wife? not so much. She says she'll feel more comfortable with it... so we get it. Its not worth the argument ;)

- Steven

for the amount of driving i do(or did, since this, the g/f got her own car, so the fit doesn't see half as much kms now), i was driving over 150kms a day. not to mention i had a long weekend in there, and went 400kms away for a funeral, and back.....the extended warranty is worth it to me. i have no worries if anything happens to my car.(except for the suspension).......i'm slammed. lol

Steven, Steven. Oh why did you consult her? It cost you a lot for that next **. :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I'll take it :)

Just to Clarify, My warranty cost just about $1000 (not $1500) and comes out to around 1150 after interest. And to Clarify, unless something happens that I am directly responsible for, the warranty covers it. Powertrain, Brakes, suspension, electrical/ECM, Stereo, Heating/Cooling. If we go by the numbers I had from my ridgeline (and cut them down a little bit for the Fit), a replacement Caliper, rotors, & Brake pads would be north of $500. I had my Ridegline fortunately have this issue under warranty. It could happen on the fit. Towing to the nearest Honda dealer can add a bit more, Rental Car, Food, Lodging, etc... (or Ridgeline issue happened 300 miles from home, fortunately only 30 min from the in-laws house). There is a $50 deductable that I'd have to fork over but if I have to replace an engine or the brake system, I'll cough it up.

While it is a Honda and much more reliable to own than a Chevy, as I said before it isn't infallible. It's not like I haven't owned a Honda before; Prelude, Civic, 2 integras, Ridgeline, FIT. They've been much better than my parents cars (VW's chryslers, etc..) but still, the peace of mind you get from having not to worry (especially when you have a family to transport around) is worth something.

It's not right for everyone, but for some it is.
~SB

well said.

i thought about not getting it when i was in the room signing paperwork, but i thought, for 1000 bucks more, i don't have to worry about anything. and hey, it came in handy when my motor blew. i'll buy it again on my next honda.

First, you should read the warranty packet that comes with the car. While the basic bumper to bumper warranty is 3 years/60,000km, the powertrain warranty is 5 years/100,000 km, which will cover the most expensive moving bits in your car. Keep that in mind when you weigh the pros and cons of getting the warranty. Ask yourself if you are sure you are going to keep the car that long. Also, be very careful to read the fine print on the extended warranty. There may be stipulations on how often you need to do maintenance, as well as be able to prove that the maintenance was done. That MAY require you to do the maintenance at a Honda dealer.

Basically, an extended warranty is like an insurance policy. They are betting that you won`t need it, while you are betting that you will.

For me, the maintenance at the dealer is a non-issue. It's where I have the work done anyway. 100,000km is nothing. I'll be past that in 3.5 years as I'm at 19K miles (about 32K km) with just over a year on the car. We don't have the extended on the Ridge, as it's at 49K miles and we've had it since Sept of 2005. Not a high mileage vehicle.

As for warranty being insurance. isn't that what all warranty is? The extended is just upping the numbers a bit. For us, it made no sense on the ridgeline but with the FIT, it was the smart decision.

~SB

Of course a warranty is like insurance. Although, frankly, you shouldn't have to pay anything for a warranty :) That is SUPPOSED to be the manufacturer's promise to you regarding quality. When it became something you explicitly paid for... I'm not really sure. So they should be calling it "post warranty break down insurance" or something.

SB - your $1000 figure... that's for the 8 year?


Olyar15... excellent point on the powertrain (5 yr) portion and how it affects the math, thank you.

I paid $895 for the 8y/120k honda care warranty. Had my dealer match the online dealer prices. I did it for the peace of mind, even though I never bought a warranty before. I figure, AAA would cost me $60 or so per year anyway, so it's like getting the warranty for $400 or less. The fit doesn't come with 3 years of road side assistance, or at least not in the US.

This is all personal preference but if you get the online price of the warranty, at least you didn't get ripped off.

I got the 7/70 and I'm sure I'll hit the 7 before the 70!

The human brain is a wonderful machine for rationalizing being taken for a ride.
As I stated earlier, my dealer included a LIFETIME (my lifetime) warranty on my new 2010 sport AT purchased two days ago. I did not ask for this. No extra pricing, additions to the bill of sale, contracts or any other foolishness. Just something that this dealer adds to any car (new or used) that he sells. I'm sure that an extra $100 or so that this cost him was hidden in there somewhere. But there is no time limit to his warranty, other than my death. There is no mileage limit. Oh, yeah. This lifetime warranty also includes roadside assistance. And free annual state inspections. For the remainder of my life.
The purpose of telling you all this is to show that if this one dealer can do this at no perceived additional cost, how much money are you losing by paying some a$$ of a dealer $850 or $1000 or even more for an "extended warranty" that is full of exceptions and small print?
I understand that youth and gullibility go hand in hand. What I don't understand is why.

Same here. We got the 120K for just around $1k and promptly dropped our AAA. I forgot we actually had AAA until you brought it up.

~SB

Wow...

$2,000 for paint protection is a blatant rip-off.

Extended warranty is not worth it. Find a Honda dealer that offers the LIFETIME warranty if you want some peace of mind.

Check this link...
Lifetime Warranty

I'm sure there are dealers that offer this in Canada.

Gawd, it seems the dealership sales crap is still alive and well. I'm not
going through this when I pull the trigger on a new FIT in a few months.
I will not be put through the "wringer"... deal decently or I walk. :D

Lifetime Warranty
 

Hey Paul56,

It seems that in San Marcos you have one of the five Honda dealers in the U.S. offering this warranty. My dealer is also one of them. Being a Texican, I sure that you won't get taken by the shysters.
Like I said, I didn't want ANY extra warranty, but this came with the car and the manager said that it was a good sales promo for them, so there it was. Keep the faith.
I wonder how many of the guys that buy the extended warranty pay for pen-stripes, undercoating, paint sealant and upholstery protection? Good grief.
One time I looked at a new car that had had the gearshift knob stolen. After we arrived at a price for the car the final paperwork showed up with the dealer charging me an extra $35 for putting in a new gearshift knob. I walked, and I didn't answer their phone calls to me either. That dealer is out of business.
If you cannot find an honorable man to do business with, then go where you can find one. They are out there. Life is too short to do otherwise.