Extend the Extended Warranty?

[drummersdad]

I have a 2002 Rendezvous CVX and am considering spending another $2k to extend the warranty another three years. Since Aug I have incurred over $2k worth of expenses on A/C work and a new BCM, luckily the extended warranty covered all this. But it expires in next July, and I am bumping up against the 3k wall. Any opinions?

I detest this car...intake manifold gasket, rear differential, A/C, BCM, lousy mileage, you name it, but maintaining it is cheaper than springing for another vehicle.

[TopherS]

Sorry to hear about your problems with your car. It stinks that you may be faced to live with a car you hate. Been there, done that.

We have bought many cars throughout the years and have spent on average $2k for each extended warrant and ALL have paid for themselves with future repairs. We fully believe in extended warranties, because although they cost a lot upfront, you are in the fortunate situation that you can try to budget the upfront expense in when you have the money. The benefit from this is that cars always have a habit of breaking down at the worst time (financially speaking usually) and the extended warranty will at least lessen the financial burden down the road. So if the car breaks down when you don't have much money, say between paydays, you only have to pay the deductible and can forget about the rest...not to mention that most extended warranties also spring for a portion or all of a rental, should you need one...again, another unwanted expense that may make a poor-timed breakdown even worse for your family.

However, if you hate the car that much, do some research and see what options you might have for trading it in. Go to KBB.com and you'll be able to see about how much you can expect to get for your car as a trade-in or how much you can expect to sell your car to a private party. Then you can look to see what used vehicle may be available, requiring only a small amount of cash outlay at trade or after sale of your Rendezvous. My wife and I waited 3 years to find a Rendezvous that was at a price we were willing to spend (the wife just had to have one). After a lot of searching, we found that by trading in our Grand Cherokee, we only had a difference of $2k to outright buy the Rendezvous, plus another $2k for the extended warranty. We walked in with KBB.com printouts for what our trade-in value was on the Jeep and made the offer on the Rendezvous, then were out the door. It made for a lot less haggling (knowing what we could expect to get for the Jeep) and we got the car the wife really wanted. You may find that there is a car out there that you would not detest driving, but may not cost all that much to get into.

But, if you find you are quite sure you're going to keep the Rendezvous, I would definitely get the warranty extended. Like insurance... you hope you never have to use it, but are glad you have it if you do have to use it.

Hope this helps.