Starting to have second thoughts about my signing up for this. The contract 'covers all service expenses' for 72,000 miles. Sort of. Turns out there are dollars limits that are assuredly less than actual and it appears there isn't much on plate for service for that mileage in the first place. I may back out.


Has anyone else signed up for and use one of these extended warranties?

 

I had second thoughts as well after fully reading the warranty that came with the car. I went back to the dealership and got it taken off. One of the main reasons I bought the Honda in the first place was its sterling reputation for reliability.

In the end its up for you to decide if you can take the "gamble" of just having the base coverage. It is another way for dealerships to make easy money off of you, but if it has kept your piece of mind that accounts for something.

 

I bought their service warranty for my Accord back in the day. Zero problems until I hit 170k miles. Then they hit me up for a new ECU. Could have used that money i paid for the warranty i never used for the ECU. Just saying, its a gamble. However the risk is higher when you are past 100k+.

 

Service contracts and extended warranties are always a bad idea.

They are essentially insurance. You should only insure against losses you can't afford to take yourself.

For the first three years, any mechanical failure is covered by the vehicle's warranty. An extended warranty has zero value during this time. It is highly likely that your entire service for this time will be three oil changes. Put the cost of the extended warranty payments in a savings account for these three years and you'll have an emergency fund that is large enough to cover most eventualities.

Up to 100K miles you are not very likely to need any major service. Many cars go 200K without problems. Continue putting the warranty payments in a savings account and you'll have a major down payment for your next car if, which is likely, nothing goes wrong with your current car!

Thinking of it a different way, the money you pay for an extended warranty goes to pay for repairs, administrative costs, the kickback to the finance guy who pressured you into buying it, a lot of people in suits at the warranty company, and for that matter the building in which they work. Wouldn't it be better just to save the money yourself and not have to toss it away if there is no problem with your car?

 

If you want an extended warranty, get your money back and buy one from College Hills Honda, for about half the cost!


College Hills Honda: Honda Care VSC Information, Benefits and Coverage

 

Except for for home, medical and auto liability insurance, I choose to self insure.

From lifehacker:

A few links:

• How to Create Your Own Extended Warranty
• 4 Ways to Beat Extended Warranties - US News

 

It's an extended warranty and service contract, meaning that oil changes and such are covered for 7 years or 72,000 miles. Fine print however looks like they've got dollar limits. With this car apparently needing little in the way of service before 75,000 miles, it's probably a waste. Also, Spreen Honda, the dealer I got it from, puts a lifetime warranty on the powertrain to the original owner.


I've only done an extended warranty once before, on an Acura Integra, and I'm lucky I did. It broke a timing belt and bent every valve....literally in front of a dealer in Roseburg, Or. The warranty paid for itself and then some.

 

I can provide perspective. I was a telephone adjuster for the largest provider of aftermarket service contracts. I also worked in the legal department of the same company. The legal department was the last position I held. You are not buying a warranty. You are buying a service contract. In my opinion, some products are worth it and some are not. One needs to weigh the type of vehicle and typical reliability of the model. How long do you expect to keep the car? Remember the coverage Honda provides for the powertrain, but I doubt that will be a cause for breakdown. For a Honda, if you decide to go with the service contract I recommend a level of coverage that includes air conditioning, in car entertainment, and electronic items including push button start, etc. In my job, the most typical claim denial that I had to defend was for a lack of maintenance, and/or failure to stop the vehicle once a failure occurred, such as driving with a leaking head gasket therefore overheating the engine until the block cracked. It is also important for people to know that if there is any gray area and the company continues to deny the claim, a small claims suit will typically net some sort of settlement because the company needs to send someone from the main office to represent their interests in small claims court. That costs time and money so a settlement is usually reached, unless one is asking the company to pay for an engine when only one oil change occurred in 100K miles.

Not knowing the contract provider and administrator that you purchased it is difficult to say whether you bought a decent product. I can tell you that typically the F&I guy will sell you a piece of crap contract because they make large sums of profit from those. Sounds to me though as you have questions. Go with your gut. If you want a service contract I believe the manufacturer's contract is the way to go. I forgot to also say I worked at a dealership as a service writer for 10 years. The only service contracts that hardly gave us trouble were the manufacturer's contracts.

Also, any performance modifications will result in a claim denial, if the modifications were to a component that failed, such as an engine claim if there are any engine modifications. A radio claim on a vehicle with a modified engine would not result in a denied radio claim, at least in the company I worked for.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer them if I can.

 

It is important for people to know it is not a warranty under US law. The product is not insurance, although the products were originally hatched from a company that dealt in insurance. The company I worked for was the original provider of auto service contracts in the US. It is a service contract. I was in a suit at the product administrator and yes, a lot of money is made on the products and yes the finance guy will sell the piece of crap contracts because the dealership gets a huge kickback. Although our office building was meh in the middle of uptown Chicago. We were moved out of the downtown area to consolidate offices with a life insurance division. It was a rough area and the building had seen its better days. I tend to agree with you that if one maintains a Honda properly the contact is probably not needed. Put 50 bucks a month in savings for car repairs. By the time the Honda warranty expires you'll have savings for any repairs.

 

The new fits use a chain. No more timing belt worries.

 

IMHO a broken timing belt is 90% avoidable if a owner follows closely with the maintenance schedule. Even If it gets broken before the schedule, that usually will be covered in standard warranty.

 

That Acura spent all of its time over 3000rpm, usually 4000. 75mph on the close ration 5 speed manual was nearly 4000rpm.The belt just wore out early. Also, Acura didn't have timing belt replacement on its service schedule then.

 

Wow, thanks for the information!

 

Since the breakage is prematurely, it should be covered under standard powertrain warranty anyways. Although, it's hard to believe that car with timing belts don't have it listed as a serviceable item.

 

Greetings, I'm a new 2015 Honda Fit owner. Love the car so far.

We purchased an extended warranty when we purchased the car. I'm having second thoughts. It says I have 30 days to cancel the Extended Warranty before prorating starts. It's EasyCare, TotalCare. At the time of purchase I was thinking it was an actual Honda Extended warranty. Not so.

Noticed the link to CollegeHillHonda, above. Has anybody ever used them for a Honda extended warranty? I saw some of their videos on YouTube for installing window visors. And was thinking of purchasing some other accessories from them too.

Much appreciate all info!

-------
2015 Fit EX CVT

 

I am not a believer in extended warranties. But you will hear varying opinions on them depending on each individuals experiences. The only extended warranty I have ever purchased was on a treadmill (and that was worth it only because of the fast wearing parts).

 

We purchased the Honda care 6 year 100k mile warranty. I haven't had a chance to go through all of the terms yet though. I'll do so and report back.

 

I'm somewhat puzzled by folks who buy expensive things without first finding out about the thing they're buying.

 

It happens. It was late in the evening, my three year old was beyond tired, it was snowing and we were ready to get home. You have a time period to cancel it and get every dime back. I didn't feel that it was necessary to read every line that night considering the circumstances.

 

Yes, but you also could have not purchased it, read the fine print, and gone back if you wanted to buy it. You could have also researched other service contracts.

If and when you read it you will find out that it is really a bad bet from the buyer's point of view. You lose your money (and its earning power) no matter if the car breaks or not.

Get your money back and put the money you save in another account. By the time the car actually might need work you'll have the funds on hand to pay for the work. If you are lucky and the car doesn't need work you get to keep the money!