Extended Warranty and maintenance - to do or not do?

[dragoncoach]

I actually buy extended warranties for all our computers, our kids' gaming systems and iPods. In our experience, they break down at least once during our ownership and usually when they are out of warranty.

[FunfDreisig]

Originally Posted by Ag4.8

....
I am curious, do posters who favor an extended warranty buy them for other purchases? . . .

Our 2001 X5 was the first and ONLY extended warranty we have ever purchased. Ordinarily we avoid these obvious profit centers for retailers. But after seeing how repair prone our 2001 X5 was in the first four years, we decided to buy an extended warranty a few months prior to the original warranty expired and again when that one expired. In both cases, the covered repairs cost significantly more than the cost of the extended warranties.

I am hoping that our new 2009 35d is far less repair prone. But I'm not holding my breath.

Funf Dreisig

[Blair780]

Originally Posted by Ag4.8

I have never bought an extended warranty and don't plan to with my E70. As a poster said, it is a personal decision. I think there are too many variables to consider before shelling out 6k for something you may need in 3-4 yrs. You may not even have the car then (accident, lemon, etc) and I doubt it adds anything to resale value. I would agree with other posters and at least wait until you are closer to expiration of your current warranty before buying anything.

I am curious, do posters who favor an extended warranty buy them for other purchases? I realize a car is more complex than most things. . .

FWIW: As a rule I don't buy them on anything BUT my BMW's. Having said that, I don't do anything to them myself and for the convenience of, consistency, a loaner car, and general convenience I prefer to stick to the dealership for my service and repair. For that it makes the warranty useful and at $2000 for the diesel we are getting (less for our E46 M3 and other gas powered cars) the maintenance is a no-brainer. One set of pads and rotors during the 50-100k mile range and it's paid for itself.

The BMW warranty and maintenance are pro-rated for total loss of theft or accident. Also, I tend to try to sell them sometimes just prior to the expiration of the extended warranty and maintenance. I do find that this adds to the value of the sale since I can compete with dealers who are selling cars with a 1 month or something similar warranty as the BMW plans transfer. I think a buyer can be inclined to spend a little more money on a car if they know that should something crop up on the way home they can get it fixed. Even when I buy CPO cars I ALWAYS end up finding some thing here or there that wasn't 100% correct to fix after the sale.