Extended Warranty for Outback Wagon?

[Vincent]

I'm just about ready to put down the cash for the base 2.5i wagon. I'll
need to hold onto it for at least 5 to 8 years and usually average 18K
to 24K miles a year.

I've read about a few cases of leaking head gaskets and clogged egr
valves destroying engines outside of warranty. I'm wondering if an
extended warranty is worthwhile insurance. Any thoughts?

We can't afford another Passat 4Motion (we have an '02 GLS) so the
Outback is our second choice.

For those of you who might suggest aother badge, don't bother. Looked
at everything in the small suv category and none worked for me.

Thanks!

 

[Todd H.]

I'm just about ready to put down the cash for the base 2.5i wagon.

You have 36000 miles to make your warranty decision, regardless of
what the dealer might say to try to reel you in. Just say no thanks
to the dealer because, odds are, they're making profit hand over fist
on the extended warranty price they give you.

When your car is getting near the end of the bumper to bumper
warranty, search groups.google.com on "extended warranty" in this
newsgroup and see how dealers are free to set their own prices on
extended warranty, and how it's very likely that your local dealer
isn't the one that's gonna give you the best price anyway.

http://carbuyingtips.com/ is a good resource too. And make sure
you're not paying too much. Check edmunds.com on your exact vechicle
configuration and find out.

Best Regards,

 

[Joseph Ford]

I just bought an 05 Passat GLS Wagon 1.8T Manual 4Motion (yes, I know
that sounds wierd, but that's what it is) from a dealer new for 22K.
Some near me have a promotion for 5K off Wagons and 4K off Sedans.

Look around and see if its the same for you.

www.westsidevw.com is where I got my car, but www.burnsvillevw.com is
where I found the deal (look under new car specials).

Good luck.
Joe

 

[Joseph Ford]

I just bought an 05 Passat GLS Wagon 1.8T Manual 4Motion (yes, I know
that sounds wierd, but that's what it is) from a dealer new for 22K.
Some near me have a promotion for 5K off Wagons and 4K off Sedans.

Look around and see if its the same for you.

www.westsidevw.com is where I got my car, but www.burnsvillevw.com is
where I found the deal (look under new car specials).

Good luck.
Joe

 

[Matt]

I'm just about ready to put down the cash for the base 2.5i wagon. I'll
need to hold onto it for at least 5 to 8 years and usually average 18K
to 24K miles a year.

I've read about a few cases of leaking head gaskets and clogged egr
valves destroying engines outside of warranty. I'm wondering if an
extended warranty is worthwhile insurance. Any thoughts?

When we got our 2005 Outback, we got the 6 year 100K plus extended
warrantee from Subaru. In our case, it's 30K a year for normal driving.
So, just like you, the standard 3 year 36K warrantee is going to last less
than 2 years. Otherwise, I wouldn't have bothered getting it. What I did
was when negotiating the price of the car with the dealer, they came back
with a price slightly higher than I wanted, but I hadn't talked about the
extended warrantee yet. I asked them to add the warrantee without changing
that price and it would be a deal. I also negotiated on the total price,
not the car price and trade in separately. Both of these caused two things
to happen. First, it was the total price and loan that I cared about and I
got close enough to what I wanted. Second, the dealer could do the
accounting for trade in, car price, and warrantee cost however they wanted
as long as the total price was what I wanted. I didn't need to worry about
sales tax, so that wasn't a consideration.

I'm sure this process got me a cheaper price on the Subaru warrantee than I
would get purchasing it independently. And since I prefer to just go to
the dealer and have them do the paper work, an independent warrantee
(insurance policy) wasn't an option I wanted. This way it actually acts
like a warrantee not the insurance policy that it really is.