aftermarket extended warranties

Your engine is warranted to 100,000 miles. Parts of the truck are emission, so that warranty is longer than the factory. I'd suggest the extended factory warranty, stay away from the aftermarket outfit's.. Don't jump at the first price they quote, there is plenty of room to negotiate.

Roy

Crap - absolute crap. IMO, the only thing worth it's price is the factory service contract. Shop around online - you can find a 7/100 Maximum Care contract for about 40-45% off of the retail price. When I bought my '03, my dealer offered me his price on the contract. I showed him where I could buy it cheaper, and they price-matched (making something is better than nothing).

The contract has almost paid for itself, as I had an AC evaporator leak on me a few months ago (out of the 3/36 standard warranty). That would have been about $1,500. One more incident, even minor, and it'll pay for itself entirely.

There are a ton of electronic systems in the newer trucks - many of which you can't fix yourself.

Sure - buying one is a gamble, and some will say take the money you'd use to buy the service contract and stick it in the bank as an emergency repair fund. Me? I say you're buying an expensive vehicle - factor in an additional 3-5% for complete peace of mind.

IMO they only sell you an extended warranty because the seller makes money from it. They compare the cost of all the claims against the money they collect from all the contracts and in the end they show a profit. It's similar to insurance but without governing laws and an insurance commissionar to oversee those laws. I _never_ buy extended warranties for any product.

So if it weren't the law, you wouldn't have auto insurance, either?

Well, you must have a bunch of money. Unless of course, you don't keep your products beyond the original warrenty. My samsung dlp widescreen 1 month out of warranty goes on it's ass. Guy comes out and say's yup it's broken, gonna cost $1,500 for a new whatever the hell it is (looked impressive as hell). Anyway in the past 6 months they have put 2 more into the set. Do the math. Oh, the xtended warranty was $250.00. Money well spent imo.

To me a extended warranty is like insurance, you hope you never need it but are damn glad you have it when you do. Sure an extended warranty on something under $1,000 I'd probably walk away from. But a truck that is worth in the area of 30-40+K. If I plan on keeping it beyond the makers warranty, sure. One thing to remember the DC extended warranty does not have to be purchased at the time of sale, I believe you can buy it any time during the initial warrenty, although it may cost a little more. So, you have some time to make up your mind.

Roy

At the time of closing, the Dodge guys did bring it up. The 100K warranty was just over $3,000. To their credit, they didn't push it on me, only mentioned it. I'm guessing it's because of the new A-hole my wife ripped them for the crappy stunt they pulled during negotiations.

Anyway, in my online search, it looks like the same warranty can be had for about $1,200, through a Dodge dealer up north. I think I'll give the original dealer the option of matching it.

As far as extended warranties go, I generally pass on them. They may work, but I find the hassle of dealing with the warranty companies not worth it. I just go out and buy another. But when I look at the potential cost of repair of a truck I fully intend to drive over the

100K mark, I think it's worth it. Hopefully I won't be one of those nightmare cases I've heard about, but with my luck, I'm buying the warranty.

So far I'm very happy with the truck.

bb

It has been my experience that the only reason ANY company makes a product or offers a service is because they make money from it

They compare the cost of all the claims against the money they

Yes, profit is wonderful. Without profit we wouldn't have the marvelous choices and variety of products to choose from.

It's

that is a pretty limitted viewpoint. first, you are absolutely right that the companies that sell extended warranties do so to make a profit. did you think they should do it because you are a good guy and they wanted to do a favor for a good guy? look, the only reason dodge makes trucks is to make money. what's the problem with that? evertime extended warranties are brought up, that is the biggest complaint. how stupid can that be? for crying out loud folks, what isn't built for a profit (well.......ok........maybe the government).

as for extended warranties, everyone has an opinion on it. for me, i consider the cost of the extended warranty against what i have to lose if the particular piece breaks. i don't buy extended warranties for most electronics because most electronics are now throwaways. if they break, you are better off getting a new one. but if its a real expensive thing i would consider it depending on what the warranty would cost. i bought an extended warranty for my rv. the cost of the five year warranty was less than what one appliance would cost if it broke. gives me a little peice of mind i guess.

i think the most important thing is to buy it from a good company. you would be surprised at the number of companies that come and go in the extended warranty field. it won;t do you any good if the company you bought the warranty from goes out of business.

I've not had a problem when useing my dc extended warranty. Just like Iwas useing the original except for a deductable.

Roy

Sure I would, and health insurance and life insurance. The laws I was refering to were the ones the insurance companies are subject to, not the ones that the insured are subject to. I have no problem paying insurance premiums when I may never make a claim - after all insurance covers unforeseen events. As far as I know there are no regulations covering those who write extended warranties other than the laws that govern contracts. The chances of something failing that is covered by the extended warranty is very small otherwise they wouldn't offer it.

I'm not opposed to anyone making as much profit as they can. I just think that extended warranties are for suckers (with the possible exception of Roy's wide screen TV as mentioned in a previous post). I have noticed several times when I'm shopping for a large ticket item the salesman will say something like "this is a great product...lasts forever" then when it's time to put the money down they say "I strongly suggest the extended warranty." Huh? If its so good why do I need to pay more for a warranty that you said it wouldn't need? Furthermore, I remember a report about a large electronics retail chain who taught their sales people to really push the extended warranties because that's were they make most of their money.

IMO most modern car and truck manufacter's build very reilable stuff.

How much money could you have made by investing that $1500 in the stock market over 3 years? If you had placed it in a Dow Jones Industrial Average index fund it would be worth about $2000 buy now. An S&P 500 index fund would be worth about $2200. The stock market goes up and down, but over the long run it always goes up.

Yes they do, but anything mechanical can (and does!) fail. Being in the industry, I see service contracts "pay off" on a daily basis. As I said, I work in the industry and can fix most anything myself and get a substantial discount on parts, but I still have service contracts on every vehicle that I own. The peace of mind in worth it to me.

Mike

I respect your opinion and experience (which in this case is much greater than mine). I never would have used an extended warranty on any product for which it was offered to me. Maybe I've been lucky (though I don't much believe in luck). What kind of vehicles to you work on that you see extended warranties "pay off" on a daily basis? I want to avoid those manufactures.

What model was that TV?

OK DUDE!

we get it. you don't believe in extended warranties. quit beating a dead horse.

your last 6 posts all said the same thing.

It is a samsung 61" dlp hd tv. I believe the model # is HLN617WX Kinda hard to see without shifting a bunch of stuff around.

Roy