extended warranty?

[Bill_L]

Are these a waste of money? I figure they are if you plan to Bomb at all but I thought I would check with some people here.



I had one on my 01 1500 that I traded in on my new ride and the dealer wanted to roll it over to the new truck. I figure I am better off to cash it out and run with the money.



Any opinions?



Thanks



Bill

 

[LSMITH]

Bill, I bought one at 35800 miles, because I needed it. I have gotten way more than my money back out of it, but I have had a ton of trouble with my truck. If I bought a new truck I would get it again, but the guys that have had relatively trouble free trucks will tell you that it is a huge waste of money. I guess it boils down to your luck in what kind of truck you got, if you got a "good one" you will not need the warranty. Being able to go get things fixed that you don't have the time to fix for $50 is nice too. I use it mainly for the parts and do the labor myself, I found a dealer that will do that for me recently and the quality of the work that is done on my truck has gone way up. If you do not have a dealer that you trust to fix your truck or to give you the parts to do the work yourself you might as well just cash in the warranty. My story, hope it helps.

 

[Idaho Native]

Bill,



Bought one with my pickup when it was brand new. It just paid for itself... instrument cluster went gunny bag at 40 months and 40K miles... my cost would have been well over a $1000... cost me $50 deductible.



This probably falls in the "urban legend" category, but I saw somewhere in another thread that the extended warranty, if it isn't provided by Daimler Chrysler, isn't as picky about bombing. Take a look at my signature... the dealer didn't even bat an eye or ask any questions.



Loren

 

[Bill_L]

I need to take a look at the paperwork and see if it is with DC or someone else.



That is a real good point about a third party company being a little more Bomb friendly.

If that is the case then it might be worth keeping otherwise and bombing that I do will make it almost useless.

 

[Cobra]

Bill

I don't like the extended warranties. My policy is save the money. If the truck is bad I'll know that by the time the factory warranty is up and then the truck will be in another persons garage. If is has been good I'll keep it. Should I have a major repair after the warranty I still have the money that I saved from the extented warranty and then I can decide to keep the truck or unload it.

 

[rrl989]

Warranty Crap shoot

I did not have the extended warranty. At 60K, The $49 thrust bearing spun in the add-on Overdrive unit. Diagnosted it myself with the DC service manual and wrote it on the repair order when I dropped it off at my 5 screw dearler. I was totally shocked when I had to pay them almost $1,800. Just because you do not have a problem under 36K, doesn't mean you won't have one later. Skip the Leather and buy the warranty. Also, figure out what they charge to replace the fuel level sending unit 2-3x ? It seems that at GM, I always got the cost up front, with DC Star service it seems to be an opened ended Bill $$$$$$, "well it depends, still looking at it, its up on the lift, the mechanic s taking apart your transfer case now, I told you I would call when we find the problem... ... ... ... ... ... ... .....





Ron

 

[Cobra]

my biggest problem with extended warranties is that the time runs out before I put enough miles on the vehicle. Then when I get to 60K miles and the $49 thrust bearing goes out I still pay the $1800 out of my pocket.

 

[Dr.Kayak]

I cashed mine in

I paied over $2k for a DC extended warranity. This was the first price they offered me. Aperently they can be talked down on the price. I posted on TDR and was advised I paied too much. Cashed it in for a $50 fee and put the money in the bank. No regrets. I hate having the dealer work on my truck. I have had nothing but bad experiences with my previous Dakota.

 

[Fish]

First of all the "extended warranty" from Chrysler is NOT A WARRANTY! It's a service contract and it specifically excludes any modifications from the stock condition. On the 98 the contract started at 36000 and supposedly went to 100,000. The basic warranty is constrained by the magnusson/moss act but the contract is signed by you agreeing not to modify the truck. If you modify it and an inspector sees it. It's history. This is personal experience. The only thing that can work in your favor is a friendly service manager who will turn a blind eye and not call in the inspectors. If you will modify, forget the service contract with Chrysler.



Warren

 

[SteveH]

Hi,

I've never heard of "inspectors" coming to DC dealerships and inspecting vehicles they suspect of bombing. Where do these inspectors live and who hires them? Many problems do not manifest themselves until the 36k basic warranty has expired. I have had MANY trips that only cost me $50 when the total bill would have been in the thousands. If I did not have an extended warranty, DC would not be in the process of getting me a new vehicle because they cannot fix the problem with my 1 ton now. Some claim to be their own warranty station. This is well and good. If you had my arthritis in your hands you wouldn't crow quite so much about everyone being able to do their own warranty work. We happen to have a really good 5 Star dealership in Billings, MT. My 2 cents worth, get the extended warranty.

Steve H.

 

[rrab1]

extended warranty

I have 5000 left on the 3 year 36000 warranty I'm thinking about going with a company called warranty gold any imput would be helpful and are outside companies that critical about bombing I don't want to get into any :-{} with them Thanks Don

 

[Cobra]

extended warranty

rrab

When you wait till the regular warranty is up, does it cost more to buy the extended warranty or is it the same as when new.

 

[Boost]

Ive bought Ext Service Contracts in the past and my experience has not been to good. It seems they always have a reason not to cover the part in question, like a non covered part failed and took the covered part out or lack of lubrication or wrong lubrication or the moon is in the wrong phase. If it were my money I would stick it in the bank for any future repairs. But if you decide to, remember these ESC are a huge money maker for the dealership and have in the neigborhood of 100%+ markup. The prices are ALWAYS negotiable. I know because I sold them for a dealership for over a year. My 2cents.



Rob

 

[rrab1]

they seem to be more eager to play lets make a deal at the end of the monthOo. And yes the price is more reasonable if thats the right term if you still have original warrenty left on your truck I found this company on this web site about two months ago and the guy's that had it liked it, but I want to use up almost all of my original warrenty first. Don

 

[dseabaugh]

extended warranty

My experience is if you want the vehicle fixed you better go with the dc warranty and search till you find a good dealer where ever that is. I had lots of work done on my truck but the warranty was almost up befor I found a dealer that didn't make matters worse each time they touched it. As for the aftermarket warranties, I bought one on my wifes Cirrus and that was a mistake. I am doing my own repairs because the dealers won't accept it for repairs. They say pay me and you get the money out of them. They quoted my wife $800 to fix a check engine situation that turned out to be a bad fuel line over the fuel tank. It took me 1. 5 hours to pull the fuel tank and replace the line and then disconect the battery to get rid of the code. Dc Extended Maximum Wrap warranty replaced the CD PLAYER, REAREND, springs, shocks, trans, torque converter, steering pump, hub assembley,4 track bars, some of these more than once, some before I got the truck and part after I got the truck and it cost me only $50 / visit and $1700 for the contract. You decide if it was worth it. Half the warranty work would never have had to be done again if I had found a decent dealer earlier which happens to be Gutterman Motors in Cairo Ill. They only have 2 mechanics and it takes me over an hour to get there but they never cheated me once and I never caught them cheating DC either which some of the others did.

Oo.

 

[Fish]

Steve H

I went into the dealer to have work done on my transmission. The dealer took one look at my Exhaust brake and other equipment and called Chrysler about it. They sent the inspector who examined the equipment and reported to Chrysler service contracts who sent me a letter cancelling my contract. I didn't say that all service departments report you, but quite a few will. Everybody needs to know. If you keep it stock, it isn't a problem, but if you put after-market equipment on the truck you could get the same letter I did.



Warren

 

[SteveH]

Hey Fish,

I didn't mean to point you out personally and apologize if this is the way it seems. Other posts in the past have talked about inspectors or such and I honestly want to know who these people are and where they are out of. My truck is bombed somewhat and the dealership knows it. They hot rod my truck every time it is taken for anything. We tried for nearly a year to get some a specialist from DC to come look at it. The closest place for any factory rep type guy is a 10 hour drive away and they surely would not drive that far just to check whether or not I have some modifications. DC used to have 72 customer relation departments throughout the US and each of these had specialists to help troubleshoot problems. (maybe the "inspectors"?) Now there are only 5 of these nationwide so they are pretty thin spread. All my work is still under the extended warranty and not once has anyone balked at any repair because of the modifications. I would still like to know who these inspectors are, their official positions with DC, and where they work out of.

Steve H.

 

[Fish]

Steve H

The dealer in Slidell called Chrysler in New Orleans 30 miles away the inspector was there within 4 hours and the dealer called me to say they were refusing the repair and that Chrysler was cancelling.

You have a stick shift, they wouldn't bother you anyway. It's the auto transmission owners they dump on.



Warren

 

[Chipstien]

If you decide to opt out of the extended warrantee, how do you get that back. Cash or applied to your loan. The trans is the only thing I am worried about and if they give you cash than I spend it on mods for the trans and be happier than a pig in %$#&

 

[Dave MacArthur]

Steve-



I don't think it has to be an "Inspector". When I was at my dealership buying a part I asked the service manager if they could change my tire size in the on board computer so that my speedometer would be accurate. He told me that if I brought my truck in for service, he would have to enter into the D/C computer that I had a "modified" drivetrain (due to 255/85 tires) and that would void ANY drivetrain warranty work in the future. He told me that applies to ANY engine/drivetrain modification that they find. It seems that some service departments look the other way. Be carefull taking your truck to any other dealer because you could get entered into the system! Don't forget, a while ago they were reading our signatures here and denying warranty work based on that.



Dave.