service contract?

[jtaylor]

30,400 miles and going in for ball joints and track bar on Friday. I had it in last week to get the window fixed, and had them check the front end. Kinda suprised me when the service manager told me, said it's pretty common on 2500 diesel 4X4s. In the BS session before I went home, he and the parts guy told me that if I planned on keeping the truck for a long time, a service contract would be something to think about. I know these guys aren't trying to hose me, I've known almost everybody at this very small dealer for about as long as I can remember. And this is my first Dodge. We didn't get into much detail, probably will on Friday. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[VicR]

I bet this one gets a lot of responses, so I'll throw my thoughts in. I bought the diesel wrap that extends my truck's service contract to 5/ 100 (with a $100 deductable). I paid 1/2 plus $50 of the list MSRP price that ChryCo sells them for. Just like the truck and parts, the pricing is set by the dealer and there are some dealers that will deal on the policy. You can buy the Chrysler policy from any Chrysler dealer.



But, something to keep in mind, the contract is only as good as the dealer you will go to do get work done. A service contract won't make a bad dealer treat you any better.



-Vic

 

[John Berger]

Vic, that is so true. The biggest complaint I have is with dealer's who don't want to "waste" their time with me and my truck because I bought the truck at another dealer. That one perplexes me and I have fallen prey to that mentality two times to many. That's why I go 45 miles out of my way to the dealer where I bought the truck. The convenience of having a local Chrysler dealer, whom I have bought vehicles off of before, just not this truck, was definitely not intended to be in the cards for me. They pretty much told me to pack sand. But that's OK, they'll never get my money again.

 

[bighammer]

Wow, ball joints and track bar at 30k. There are things I miss about living down that way, (Riga) but the bad pavement (Toledo and Ann Arbor esp. ) beating up my truck and car are not one of them.



A dealer is convenient because they can deal with the warranty and recall issues. The service contract is a way to keep you coming there. Sort of money in the bank to them. It's a numbers thing. I would look over what exactly is covered and what is not. The fine print has a way of excluding a whole lot of stuff that they know will fail.

 

[Pit Bull]

Been there done that with the service contract. Keep your money. The track bar is not covered. Had a rear wheel seal go out. It was covered but it did not cover the rear brakes that were messed up from the seal leak. I had $50. 00 deductable and could of had the seal fixed at a local shop for $50. 00, so the extended warranty is worthless. I don't know what year truck you have but the engine in all of our trucks is covered for 5 year or 100K miles and my drive train is covered for 70K miles and everything else is covered for 36/36. If you read the fine print on these extended warranties most of the stuff is not covered. My extended warranty it was a DC. Cost me $1600 for the $50 deductable. It would not of been cost effective a $400.

 

[krs]

Something else to consider... . http://www.autowarrantyandmore.com/warranty_gold.jsp.



There is a 60 day 'grace' period during which a buyer of warrantygold can change mind and receive a full refund, and also a 30 day wait after purchase before any claim would be paid.



Lots of different programs and apparently they pay off like a slot machine.



The owner can have the repair done wherever he/she choses, including in Canada .



I'm in the initial 60 day period , have read all of their info thoroughly and will call in a few days to discuss many things mostly to do with oil and modifications. Depending what they say I may well cancel and am confident that they will refund if I do.

 

[John Berger]

When I bought my truck, Chrysler was offering rebates for purchasers who also ran a small business. The offer was for a toolbox and some other stuff, or an extended drive train warranty out to 5/100 for $300. 00, with a $100 deductible. I jumped at the warranty. It paid off big time when I had to have the entire axle housing replaced. Paying such a low price for an extended warranty is the exception rather than the rule. Where I lose out is with things like the lift pump repair. It's much more practical for me to spend the $130 on the pump and do it myself in less than 45 minutes than it is to drive 45 miles each way, take time off of work and still pay $100. 00 towards the deductible. The big repairs are what warranties are really all about, because the deductible is a cheap price to pay relative to purchasing a major component of the drive train or fuel system. I tend to believe that warranties aren't worth the typical price that is paid, especially with the service one tends to get these days.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by John Berger



. It's much more practical for me to spend the $130 on the pump and do it myself in less than 45 minutes than it is to drive 45 miles each way, take time off of work and still pay $100. 00 towards the deductible.

John I had my lift pump replaced on my 2000 and it took 45 minutes from the time I got to the dealer until I was driving away with a new lift pump. It was covered under the factory 5 year 100K warranty so there was no charge to me. I can understand time being a cost factor to you since you work. I'm retired so my time is not worth much on a per hour basis



PS at what mileage did your rear axle fail? That problem alone took care of the cost of a extended warranty. I would buy one for $300. 00.

 

[John Berger]

Pit Bull, the pinion seal started leaking right around 30K miles. I had 4 seals replaced between then and 56K when they finally replaced the axle housing. I got my three hundred dollars worth on that one. If I were retired, I would probably let the dealer do the lift pump replacement as well.

 

[Herman8r]

jtaylor--I agree with John--the cost of the policy is worth it. I too had the rear axle replaced due to the same seal problem--axle housing was grooved by a defective seal. Because I had the extended warranty it cost me $100. 00. Well worth it IMHO.

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by Herman8r

jtaylor--I agree with John--the cost of the policy is worth it. I too had the rear axle replaced due to the same seal problem--axle housing was grooved by a defective seal. Because I had the extended warranty it cost me $100. 00. Well worth it IMHO.

I know on my new truck 2002 I have a 7/70 drive train warranty wouldn't that cover the axle and seal problem? The only thing a 5/100 extended warranty would do is cover you for another 30K miles. That makes that additional 30K miles real expensive at $1200 - $1800 dollars. JMHO

 

[Pit Bull]

Originally posted by John Berger

Pit Bull, the pinion seal started leaking right around 30K miles. I had 4 seals replaced between then and 56K when they finally replaced the axle housing.

So John if you had a 2002 that came with the 7/70 drivetrain warranty you would of been covered for this under the manufactures warranty. Still can't beat your $300 price. I would of bought one if offered

 

[Herman8r]

Pit Bull- DC may have changed the limits of coverage on their policy's since I purchased mine. Like Jtaylor- I had 30k miles on my truck & decided to purchased the extended warranty. I went for the bumper to bumper coverage with $100. 00 deductible. This gave me another 74K miles of warranty on the entire vehicle.

This paid off in the long run. The dealer even paid 1/2 the cost of upgrading to a DDT TRANS when I wasted the TC on my trans. (This was due to the HP upgrades & weak trans setup). So maybe to depends on the dealer, the type of policy, & how much the truck has been modified. If Jtaylor went with the 100k bumper to bumper policy it will give him another 60k+ miles of warranty---I think.