I just bought a Chrysler 200 and a town and country. I am looking into purchasing a lifetime warranty for both. Where is the best place to buy a warranty? The dealer charges an arm and a leg during the car sale process. Has anyone had any luck finding the lifetime warranty at or around $2000?

 

These things aren't "Warranties". They are pre-paid service plans. In other words, the seller of the warranty is betting that he will make money by taking your money up front and promising to fix your car later. People don't sell these things to lose money.

Stick the money in a savings account and never use it except for major repairs such as would be covered by the service plan after all the deductibles, co-pays and non-covered items are considered. Chances are you'll be money ahead. The more cars you do this with, the better your odds. If a huge repair comes along that would wipe out your fund, scrap the car and use the unspent fund toward a down payment on a replacement vehicle.

 

Normally I would agree with dcotter0579 when it comes to most service contracts of any kind. However when it comes to automobiles, because of my job, I look at cars differently.

Yes, the contract holder is betting your car will not break down. Your betting that sometime during the contract life, your car will break sown. Chances are it will.

I am an indépendant contractor that does service contract inspections. These contract suppliers send me and those like me out to shops and dealerships to verify mechanical failures. The repair costs today are astronomical. $5k to replace a turbo on a Chevy truck. $3k for a transaxle. More and more components are assembly replacement and not local level rebuildable. So, taking your $2k and putting it into a savings account is good advice, if you have a catastrophic repair you will be looking for additional funds to pay for the repair. With a contract, there is a minor deductible.

If you do decide to purchase am extended service contract, do your homework. Get a policy that offers the longest coverage period. Sorry, a lifetime policy is nonexistent. Check with some of the local repair facilities and find out which contract companies are customer friendly. Compare prices for what coverages they offer. Make an informed decision.

Me personally, TV's washers - driers are cheap to replace. Automotive stuff is not.

Good luck on your decision!

 

"You're betting that sometime during the contract life, your car will break down. Chances are it will."

Actually, chances are it won't. That's why these companies can make money selling these service contracts. THK, your experience with this is somewhat skewed. Your job requires you to actually go out and see the catastrophes that occasionally occur. What you don't see are the hundreds of people whose cars don't have problems but who have each paid thousands for the service contract which they never use. Nor do you have any contact with the thousands of people who don't buy the contracts and also don't have need of them.

That's not to say these contracts don't have value. If you sleep a little better at night knowing you have this coverage, then it's probably a good buy for you. Actually, the automotive policies are probably cheaper than the appliance contracts, which can run up to 25% of the price of the product, which seems to me like an admission that the store has very little faith in the quality of the products it sells. I agree with everything else in the post about reading up on these things and knowing exactly what it is you are buying and what is covered and what isn't.