Topic: Pilot wins... but do I take the extended warranty and rustproof?

[migelis]

thanks again for all the input of a few days past on my mid-size SUV hunt.....

I went with a 2005 Pilot today (very few left) and actually got one with about $5,000 off msrp + few options added price...  really happy with the deal given my invoice cost estimate and not exactly convinced with managers claim that they made nothing on the car....

extended warranty is $1300 for 6 years or 160km whichever is sooner

and rustproofing is $600 with 10 yr gurrantee

thanks in advance,

[tenpenny]

My gut feeling on the warranty is, why bother?  It's a Honda, right? Exactly what do you think you'll need it for?  I have a 98 Subaru with 260,000 km, and I can't see that I would have saved anything with an extended warranty; same for my wife's Corolla.

But others have told me that my attitude is all wrong, so what the hey.  Apparently there are those who worship at the altar of extended warranties.  I'm sure this thread will spur many comments pro and con.  Do YOU think you need it?  Would you sleep better, knowing you had it?

[dtyc_d2]

Migelis, I guess that depends on where you live and how long do you plan to own the car. If you live in Toronto and plan to drive the car for longer than the original rust and perforation warranty, $600 is a reasonable insurance to me. However, I won't even think about it if I live in Vancouver.

In the past, I think extended warranties are just ways for sales people to rip you off until yesterday. My friend's Acura EL had his driver's side window "fell off" in a sudden (it slipped right into the bottom as the window was fully opened). He took it to the dealer and is charged with $590 to replace the regulator module plus labour. He left the shop with $700+ short in his wallet and painful tears.

Of course, it may be partially caused by his bad habit of forcing open frozen windows during the winter, but bad things happen to good people. BTW, his car's warranty expired less than 6 months when the regulator broke. I would consider extending warranties if I plan to run the vehicle longer than the standard warranty period, just for the peace of mind, and an insurance against unexpected repairs.

My 2 cents.

[ovr50]

Ask the Honda dealer if you can defer your decision on the extended warranty until the end of the regular warranty period (36mos/60K). Most makers let you do this for a small penalty. Toyota does this and it will cost me an extra $200 if I decide to take any of the extended warranties up to the 36/60 point in time. That way you do not pay today for something that 1. may be useless because you sell/trade the vehicle before then or 2. you decide after 3 years of ownership, it's not worth the extra warranty price.

That's what I would do. As to the rustproofing, there's been other discussions on here about that just this past week - find those discussions and you'll have your pros/cons.

Congrats on the new Pilot and remember, the price of free advice on here is we need pictures..

[Craig]

Don't take the dealer's rustproofing.  It's a spray wax that can do more harm than good by plugging drainage holes.

The consensus rustproofing service on these boards is Krown.  Do a search.

[johngenx]

In the past, I think extended warranties are just ways for sales people to rip you off until yesterday. My friend's Acura EL had his driver's side window "fell off" in a sudden (it slipped right into the bottom as the window was fully opened). He took it to the dealer and is charged with $590 to replace the regulator module plus labour. He left the shop with $700+ short in his wallet and painful tears.

Well, if he'd spent $1300 on the warranty, it might have been covered.  AND, he'd still be $600 in arrears.  Except for a few cars, the extended warranty is not worth the cost.  You talks about the "pain" of shelling out $700.  What about the pain involved when shelling out the $1300?  Is that less painful?

The "Expected Value" of the warranty is less than the $1300 price.  Honda expects that the warranty repairs, averaged over their vehicles sold with the warranty, will cost less than $1300 per vehicle.  Now, some will be more, and some will be less.  With a Honda, I would feel pretty "safe" not buying the warranty as I feel that teh standard deviation of their warranty repairs is probably pretty small.  Even if you're on the "higher than average" side, you're probably not going to end up much over that $1300 mark.  With a Mercedes S-Class, if I were buying a used one that was still eligible for warranty, I would buy it.  A Honda Pilot?  Forget it.  We never bought the extended warranty for our Subarus and never regretted it.

[AVToller]

Extended warranty is essentially insurance. You are betting your car will fail, the insurance company is betting it won't. Overall, insurance companies always win, and win big! Now, you may get lucky with life insurance and die young. You may get lucky with an extended warranty and buy a lemon. I won't count on either. You are buying a Honda in part, I suspect, because of their reputation for reliability. That makes your bet is a real longshot. You might be better off using the money to buy lottery tickets. 

Seriously, if you are uncomfortable about the possibility of major non-warranty repairs, do what several members have suggested in the past. Put the $1300 in a safe investment and leave it there to cover possible disaster. The warrantor is betting you will be well ahead of the game if you do.

[Arthur Dent]

Normally I'd say pass on the extended warranty but those Hondas have really lousy reliability with the automatic trannies so might be worth looking into.

[slybry]

Bought an extended warranty on 1997 Acura 1.6 and 2000 Honda Accord at about $1000 bucks each.  Have had nothing major done on either that would offset the cost of the warranties. Would not buy them again.

They interperate warranties in funny ways;
- My leather seat simply split open after 30,000 kms. They called it normal wear and tear and refused to fix it.
- My discs warped and they charged me almost $200 just to turn them. I said if they are under warranty why are they not replaced or turned for free. They said (Get this.....) the discs have to fall apart into pieces to be covered. I have driven for over 30 years and have never seen a disc fall apart.

There is more but too long to explain.


    I fought both of these with Honda and won. But it was a long fight. I rate their warranty service a 3 out of 10.

The other thing the warranty does is kind of force you into dealer service checks which are expensive. After many years I have now completely given up on dealer service. Do not trust them and are too expensive. I now use a local honest mechanic that I have found. Will return to Honda only if a warrantable item fails.

Forget dealer rustproofing go Krown or Rust-Check. I do this every 2nd year and not rust. 1994 Nissan Sentra is like new.

[GabL]

Well, for my Acura back in 1999, I bought the aftermarket extended warranty, which is not offered by Acura itself (I dunno why the dealer didn't offer me Acura's extended warranty). It stated that if I didn't make any claim on that extended warranty, I can get 100% money back after the end of the warranty. I dunno if that is still available, but it maybe something worth buying. Then you can decided if you want to claim the warranty or not. Just like an insurance.

[dedemo]

Forget that extended warranty. First, its a Honda right? and  it's too much expensive. Put the money in a savings account somewhere as protection. Would be surprised to see how much those extented warranties are used for à Honda.

[sterling]

In fact I heard that most Honda shops don't even employ technicians as they are just not needed.