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Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford Taurus vs Chevrolet Impala

863 messages,  Last post on Aug 12, 2009 at 4:34 PM

You are in the Hyundai Azera Forum.

What is this discussion about? Hyundai Azera, Toyota Avalon, Ford Five Hundred, Chevrolet Impala, Ford Taurus, Car Comparisons, Sedan

Messages Page 51 of 87

#497 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [captain2] by djm2

Nov 06, 2006 (4:58 pm)

Replying to: captain2 (Nov 06, 2006 3:29 pm)
Captain2:
   I own a 2003 Honda Accord four cylinder automatic with a 7 year 100,000 mile Honda Care extended warranty. I do a lot of driving all over the United States! My vehicle presently has 83,000 miles. To date, the Honda Care Extended Warranty has put in $3,000.00 + worth of repairs. The warranty at the time of purchase was $895.00! I think this was a "GREAT Investment"! ---- What do you think? ---- Best regards. ---- Dwayne

#498 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [djm2] by snakeweasel

Nov 06, 2006 (6:32 pm)

Replying to: djm2 (Nov 06, 2006 4:58 pm)
My vehicle presently has 83,000 miles. To date, the Honda Care Extended Warranty has put in $3,000.00 + worth of repairs.
 
I hate to say this but I wouldn't be bragging about that.

#499 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [snakeweasel] by floridabob1

Nov 07, 2006 (3:09 am)

Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 06, 2006 6:32 pm)
Sometimes,bad things happen to good people.
One never knows what might go wrong with a car, and the extended warranty gives peace of mind with limited down side.

#500 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [snakeweasel] by djm2

Nov 07, 2006 (5:38 am)

Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 06, 2006 6:32 pm)
snakeweasel:
    What is your point? I had nothing to do with the quality of the component parts that failed! (AC compressor, Cat Converter, Window regulator assembly, Radio display, Motor mounts. ---etc). ---- The vehicle is serviced at the dealer every 3,000 miles. Please explain your position!------Best regards. ---- Dwayne

#501 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [floridabob1] by snakeweasel

Nov 07, 2006 (7:41 am)

Replying to: floridabob1 (Nov 07, 2006 3:09 am)
One never knows what might go wrong with a car, and the extended warranty gives peace of mind with limited down side.
 
While it gives peace of mind to some I have found that in most instances an extended warranty is good money down the drain. With most cars you would be better off putting the money for the warranty in an interest bearing account and using it for any repairs.
 
But my comment was on the Honda Accord with 83K miles needing at least $3K worth of warranty work.

#502 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [djm2] by snakeweasel

Nov 07, 2006 (7:44 am)

Replying to: djm2 (Nov 07, 2006 5:38 am)
My point is your Honda (supposively the most reliable car made) with only 83K miles on the clock has racked up at least $3k in warranty repairs. If that was my car it would be gone by now and I would be posting about it on the worst car I ever owned forum.

#503 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [djm2] by captain2

Nov 07, 2006 (7:49 am)

Replying to: djm2 (Nov 06, 2006 4:58 pm)
sorry to hear that you have had so much trouble with your Accord, very unusual to have 3 grand of repairs on any car in only 80k, never mind a Honda. In your particular case certainly money well spent.
My point is if the average Honda required that $3 grand to keep it running for 100k than the warranty price would be well over that $3000, not the $895 you paid. We all have horror stories, and there is some value to peace of mind and some protection from those saboteurs otherwise known as 'mechanics'.
My last 6 cars incidentally [3] Nissans, and [3] Suburbans total mileage - about 900,000 - total repairs $1200 for a tranny rebuild on one of the Chevys, and another coupla hundred for an alternator. My Avalon with only 40k yet to be back in the shop except for an oil leak TSB.

#504 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [snakeweasel] by bobw3

Nov 07, 2006 (8:02 am)

Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 04, 2006 9:29 pm)
I've had a couple of cars that received black circles in CR for reliability (1991 Ford Escort and 1999 Mercury Cougar) and I put a lot of miles on both of them (180K on Escort and 125K on Cougar). Since I put a lot of highway miles on the cars, they were "easy" miles, and the Escort was trouble-free until about 110K miles when I had to replace an alternater and water pump, and the Cougar gave me more problems (alternator at 70k miles, 110k miles and 120k miles, AC compressor at 115k miles), but in either case an extended warranty would have been a waste of $$ since the repairs (except for one alternator replacement) all occured at over 100k miles.
 
I would say that for those who drive a lot of highway miles not to bother with an extended warranty (unless you're really suspicious about the reliability) because of the improved quality of cars. I actually did buy an extended warranty for my Ford Freestyle because I'm suspicious of the new CVT transmission, plus this car gets a lot of suburb driving versus all highway. I'm buying a Honda Fit to replace my Cougar and I'm definitely not bothering with an extended warranty.
 
On the question of getting rid of cars once they reach 100K miles. That's fine, but in the long run more expensive. For example you buy a car for $25K and after 4 years and 100k miles it's paid off. If you trade it in and buy a new car, you're lucky to get $5K for the car because of the mileage, so now you're financing another $20K for 4 years. So in reality you're paying $5000 per year every year by trading in your 4yr old 100k mile car. Even if you put in $1000 per year in repairs, you're still better off than making your constant $5000/year in car payments. Especially with Hondas and Toyotas. Their reliability is really good and you could keep the car 10 years and $200k miles and only have to put in a few thousand over the lifetime on the car in repairs, which sure beats $5000/year in constant car payments.
 
Extended warranties are really just another way for a company to make money. You buy a TV, cellphone, toaster, new home, or whatever, and there will be the offer of an extended warranty to play on your fears of the unexpected huge repair cost, but like the previous poster indicated, the fact that companies are making huge profits on extended warranties mean that they don't pay out nearly as much as they bring in.

#505 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [bobw3] by snakeweasel

Nov 07, 2006 (8:25 am)

Replying to: bobw3 (Nov 07, 2006 8:02 am)
I've had a couple of cars that received ....
 
First off I don't trust CR any further than I can throw a bull elephant. That being said in all the cars I have had (including those that had bad reliability ratings from CR) non of them would have used an extended warranty. And I have driven some of those cars rather hard.
 
On the question of getting rid of cars once they reach 100K miles. That's fine, but in the long run more expensive. For example you buy a car for $25K and after 4 years and 100k miles it's paid off. If you trade it in and buy a new car, you're lucky to get $5K for the car because of the mileage, so now you're financing another $20K for 4 years.
 
They typical driver will take 80 months ( six and two thirds years) to get to the 100K mark. This means that they can save up those monthly payments for an additional downpayment. Say you buy that $25K car with a 10% downpayment and pay off the loan in 5 years saving the payment for the next 20 months. When it comes time to trade in you have close to $10K saved and the $5K as a trade in. Now suppose the new car is $32.5K ($25K adjusted at an inflation rate of 4% per year) you can now buy the car at the same payments but at a loan term of one year less.
 
But of course keeping the car longer makes even better financial sense.

#506 of 863 Re: Hyundai Azera vs Toyota Avalon vs Ford 500 vs Chevrolet Impala [snakeweasel] by bobw3

Nov 07, 2006 (8:40 am)

Replying to: snakeweasel (Nov 07, 2006 8:25 am)
I was trying to be conservative, but in the long run, it's always cheaper to keep the used car then keep buying new, but at some point (especially if you have a real dog), all the trips to the dealer and the uncertainity of when and where the next breakdown will occur will get people to buy a new car sooner. Or when needs change and/or there are improvements in safety. Even if I had a 15 year old car running great, I doubt if it had all of the new saftey features of a modern car, so at some point there are reasons other than cost for getting a new car.

Messages Page 51 of 87

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