Honda Extended Warranties Pricing and Info

3776 messages,  Last post on May 17, 2013 at 4:53 AM

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What is this discussion about? Honda Odyssey, Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Honda Element, Honda Pilot, Honda S2000, Car Warranties

#3767 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [kipk] by jaxs1

May 15, 2013 (9:23 pm)

Replying to: kipk (May 15, 2013 7:26 am)
The service advisor will usually lie and exaggerate the cost of items they are replacing. The reason for that is just what you are doing here now repeating the dollar amounts he quoted. You tell your fiends how smart it is to buy an extended warranty, plus you buy another on the next car. They have nothing to lose since you can't verify anything and don't really care to shop around since you are not paying.
It is really unlikely Hondacare reimbursed them $3000 or anywhere near that to replace an a/c compressor regardless of what he told you.
If I had that bad experience of $3000 to fix items failing shortly after the 3 year warranty expired, I would not reward the car company with buying both a second car made by them and an extended warranty. I would move on to another brand.
You can come out ahead in the short term if you happen to be one of the small percentage of people who do have significant work done that is covered by the extended warranty on one particular vehicle. However, if you were to buy an extended warranty on every single Honda or other car you buy over many years and add up the total cost you spend on the service contracts minus what is really covered, there is not much chance that you will not spent way more than you get back.
If you buy 10 cars and average $1500 per car for the extended warranties, you have spent $15,000. Not too likely you will get a high percentage of that money back in covered repairs. If you spend $1500 on coverage for one car, there is a chance you might come out ahead on that one particular car. Same as if you go to Vegas once and win big. If you go back 10 times and keep betting, you will not come out ahead.

#3768 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [jaxs1] by karhill1

May 16, 2013 (4:24 am)

Replying to: jaxs1 (May 15, 2013 9:23 pm)
As you indicated, an extended service contract is almost always a losing bet.
 
Sure there will always be someone who will post how far ahead they ended up with their extended service contract. However, for every person who came out ahead there are scores of folks who did not come out ahead and who lost money.
 
The likelyhood of one individual winning this bet is actually quite small.
 
Anyone considering such a contract should research before they buy. Use the internet and learn the games dealer's play to sell their extended service contracts and other over priced and useless F&I products.
 
I just bought a new vehicle. A special sales person arrived before I entered the F&I box. Is this a new dealer tactic to remove some of the seeling from the F&I box? This person spent nearly twenty minutes trying to sell paint and fabric protection. The price was never mentioned until the end. The price was $695. Insane, I have been driving for forty years, raised three kids and never once had a paint or fabric issue I could not resolve myself.
 
The dealer's F&I sales expert, also called the F&I manager, is trained to use a customer's fear of the unknown, future repair costs, to sell the service contract at a high price. Often times these sales people have a box of props which they proudly present to the car buyer. These props are designed to frighten the customer. The fact is those items the F&I person so proudly presents rarely, if ever, fail. Almost never within the period covered by the extended service contract.
 
Fear is never a reason to act and is certainly never a reason to spend thousands on an extended service contract.
 
There is a reason financial experts almost always advise against purchasing an extended service contract or any F&I product for that matter. People would be wise to heed that advice.

#3769 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [jaxs1] by kipk

May 16, 2013 (6:20 am)

Replying to: jaxs1 (May 15, 2013 9:23 pm)
jaxs1,
There was more than just the AC compressor to consider. Hoses, evaporator, and everything the Freon flows through were replaced. When a dealership does work on a vehicle they don't charge "Cost" for parts. They charge retail! Plus the labor which exceeds $100 per hour and anything else they can throw in.
 
2 hoses=$400, compressor=$585, condenser=$397, 2 filters=$57, Possibly 2 heater cores= nearly $600 for both. Several hours labor at over $100 per.
I don't know if all these parts were involved or maybe these plus more.
 
Then add in the car rental for several days while parts are being ordered and installed.
 
Really makes no difference what Honda paid the dealership to do the work. What it cost, or would have cost, me is my only concern. For the sake of discussion, say the charges would have been half the "Lie" you think the service writer quoted. I'm still $600 ahead.
 
In this instance the EW I paid in the neighborhood of $900 for was a bargain.
Effectively that repair cost me $900. And saved ME a lot more than that.
You might do well to check prices on various repairs yourself.
 
When the electrical problem occurred and the car was in the shop for over a week, involving several sensors, several other electrical components and a new computer, the EW also took care of that. So now this was paid for with an EW that was effectively free, because it was already paid for with the above repairs.
 
You wrote: >"You can come out ahead in the short term if you happen to be one of the small percentage of people who do have significant work done that is covered by the extended warranty on one particular vehicle."
 
Re-read my post. I mentioned 2 vehicles of mine, that the EW paid for itself. And a third one with 88K miles and 5 years old that developed a problem that would have been covered by an 8/100 EW.
 
Yes insurance companies stack the deck. If not, they would go out of business.
 
Regards,
Kip

#3770 of 3776 Re: Where to Buy [jatan] by kipk

May 16, 2013 (6:30 am)

Replying to: jatan (May 15, 2013 11:20 am)
Thanks guys.
 
This time Hyannis had the better price. $885 for "0" deduction and 8yr/100K miles. Sure beats the $1800 the dealer wanted.
 
Actually because I don't drive much and trade cars every 6-7 years , went with the "0"-7/80K for $640
 
Real easy folks to deal with. Bob worked quick and I was approved by HC in just a few minutes.
 
Kip

#3771 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [kipk] by suydam

May 16, 2013 (6:32 am)

Replying to: kipk (May 16, 2013 6:20 am)
CR recommends putting $$ aside for possible repairs rather than buying an extended warranty. I have never bought one. If I had a car that developed that kind of problem I would certainly not buy that brand again. But I think people who buy extended warranties will not be swayed, just as I won't be persuaded to buy one. Two different car owner types.

#3772 of 3776 Re: Where to Buy [kipk] by gmanusmc

May 16, 2013 (7:13 am)

Replying to: kipk (May 16, 2013 6:30 am)
Kip - you did good - I knew you'd get a good price on Hondacare. These people going off on how much a ripoff they are will be the first to complain how their transmission failed at 90k miles and it was $3500 and Honda would not take care of it under warranty. It's a personal decision and if the person making it is content, that's what matters. I put a lot of miles on my civic that is out of warranty now. It's got a cracked control arm bushing that was found by my independent mechanic who maintains my car. It's totally covered by Hondacare and the cost as verified by my mechanic will be about half of what the service contract cost. Even if I do not have another repair, Hondacare will have cost me about 5 bucks a month - I'm happy to pay that for the peace of mind. Today's cars are very complicated and expensive to repair - for those not in favor of Hondacare - that's fine but if you keep your car long enough, there is that chance it might need a costly repair down the road.

#3773 of 3776 Re: Where to Buy [kipk] by jwm40517

May 16, 2013 (10:58 am)

Replying to: kipk (May 16, 2013 6:30 am)
There are many people we have heard from on here about EW's. Some would never have one & others would not be without one.
The important things are when & where to buy if you want one. The F&I office of your selling dealer is not the time or place to buy an EW unless you have done easy to find info on the best prices. There are several Honda dealers that will sell you HondaCare for less than half of what your selling dealer will ask for the same thing.
 
If you just got a great deal on the car purchase you can easily blow the savings by paying $2000 for an EW that you could buy online for $1000 or less.

#3774 of 3776 How I bought my Honda Care extended warranty by hooman2

May 16, 2013 (3:21 pm)

Thought this might help others save a few bucks, and hassle of going into a dealership.
 
I live in SoCal. I emailed 3 pages of Honda dealers listed on the Honda site near me for a quote on my late model Accord. One of the sorriest experiences I've had on trying to spending this much cash.
 
I either didn't get an answer, got a canned automated message about selling me a car, got requests for my phone number or asked me to come into dealership. I had already detailed that I want a quote via email only. Alas, I did receive one quote from a local dealer via email and they were $300-$400 more than what I purchased from Saccucci.
 
Having reviewed threads for other Honda models on Honda Care, I filled out the online forms for Saccucci Honda and Bernardi Honda. Within 5 minutes, they both emailed me a matrix of all the options for me.
 
And within in 5 minutes of that, I made a purchase over the phone. Btw, I just made the purchase, so I have not received the paperwork from Honda.
 
Good luck.
 
Here is the quote from Saccucci:
 
•Vehicles with 12,001 miles up to 24,000 miles on odometer. Please add a $50 surcharge.
•Vehicles with 24,001 miles up to 36,000 miles on odometer. Please add a $100 surcharge.
 
These plans start on contract purchase date(additional time), and 0 miles on odometer.
Example: A G38 plan will expire 3 years from contract purchase date, or when the odometer hits 80,000 miles.
 
$0 deductible plans
Plan Code G38 G30 G32 G48 G40 G42 G58 G50 G52
Plan Length 36/80k 36/100k 36/120k 48/80k 48/100k 48/120k 60/80k 60/100k 60/120k
Base Price $680 $835 $965 $730 $945 $1,075 $770 $985 $1,115
 
$100 deductible plans
Plan Code F38 F30 F32 F48 F40 F42 F50 F52 F58
Plan Length 36/80k 36/100k 36/120k 48/80k 48/100k 48/120k 60/100k 60/120k 60/80k
Base Price $580 $735 $865 $630 $845 $975 $885 $1,015 $670
 
We do not charge tax on your purchase.
 
Here is the quote from Bernadi Honda:
Available Honda Care Programs - at Can't Be Beat Prices!
$0 Deductible
  
 
3 yrs
80 mi.
$930.00
G38 3 yrs
100 mi.
$1,085.00
G30 3 yrs
120 mi.
$1,215.00
G32 4 yrs
80 mi.
$980.00
G48 4 yrs
100 mi.
$1,195.00
G40 4 yrs
120 mi.
$1,325.00
G42 5 yrs
80 mi.
$1,020.00
G58 5 yrs
100 mi.
$1,235.00
G50 5 yrs
120 mi.
$1,365.00
G52
  
$100 Deductible
  
3 yrs
80 mi.
$830.00
F38 3 yrs
100 mi.
$985.00
F30 3 yrs
120 mi.
$1,115.00
F32 4 yrs
80 mi.
$880.00
F48 4 yrs
100 mi.
$1,095.00
F40 4 yrs
120 mi.
$1,225.00
F42 5 yrs
80 mi.
$920.00
F58 5 yrs
100 mi.
$1,135.00
F50 5 yrs
120 mi.
$1,265.00
F52

#3775 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [kipk] by jaxs1

May 16, 2013 (9:04 pm)

Replying to: kipk (May 16, 2013 6:20 am)
Wow, you have really bad luck since the majority of cars you buy all have problems that make an extended warranty pay for themselves.
They must send all the lemons directly to you or Honda's longterm reliability rankings would be much lower than they are and there would not be so many other people saying they drive 200K+ miles in their Honda's with few repairs.
 
The service writers do make up ridiculous prices. I was quoted about $136 to do a job and when I decided to check the price with some competing dealers because it sounded outrageous for such a simple job that I was thinking of doing myself, they matched the $58 price dealer a few miles away quoted. I probably could have got it done even cheaper at an independant mechanic, but it was not worth the effort to save another $20.
If you do not shop around and accept any price you are quoted a a dealership, you will be overcharged. I'm sure the service writer just pencil whipped maximum prices to reinforce the value of the Hondacare coverage knowing there would be no push back on the price no matter how high it was listed. In fact, the higher the prices were listed, the happier you would be on how much money you are "saving."
 
The extended warranties are not really equivalent to health/home insurance because an illness or accident could cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in hospital bills and would more than payback a lifetime of insurance premiums, plus bankrupt you if you didn't have insurance.

#3776 of 3776 Re: Get Honda Care now or later? [jaxs1] by kipk

May 17, 2013 (4:53 am)

Replying to: jaxs1 (May 16, 2013 9:04 pm)
" Wow, you have really bad luck since the majority of cars you buy all have problems that make an extended warranty pay for themselves."
 
Not particularly bad luck, and not the "Majority" of the nearly 90 cars I've owned during my 72 years on this earth. Over half of them new!
I've owned models from GM, Ford, Chrysler, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Toyota, and VW. Most were before the complicated systems of today and I was able to fix most things that went wrong. But not any more.
EWs weren't necessary until the last 15 years or so.
 
Where do you come up with "Majority"?
 
You say the service writer lied about the $3000 for the AC repairs, to justify to me the cost of the EW. Why would he do that? He/she makes a small commission on repairs and services they "Sell". They make very little, if any, on warranty work.
 
Referring to the AC compressor, Just the parts alone, at the retail price the dealer could charge, exceed $2000. Add in 5-6 hours for the tech to look up the parts, order them and install them, vacuum down the system, and install Freon. Add in a rental car for several days and other various "shop" charges, and I don't have any trouble believing their bill would be near $3000.
 
2 hoses=$400, compressor=$585, condenser=$397, 2 filters=$57, Possibly 2 heater cores= nearly $600 for both. Several hours labor at over $100 per.
 
I don't have any idea how you arrive at your decision, but I respect your right to make it. My decision came from real world experiences.
 
Now, please respect my right.
 
Regards,
Kip
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