You’ve been paying on your car for a while now. You hopefully bought that extended warranty. If you’re car is almost 36 months or or about to reach 36,000 miles, now would be a good time to go back to the dealer you bought your car from and see about buying that extended warranty.
If you wait to get the extended warranty, that same warranty could cost over $1,000 more just for exceeding the 3 year or 36,000 miles from the time your car was first purchased. It’s ideal to buy an extended warranty.
But my car has been running like a champ all this time. Why do I want to waste money on a warranty?
Anything could happen. Bad things happen to good people. It doesn’t matter what brand car you have. Let a transmission start slipping. Let the evaporator go out on your HVAC system. Anytime any of these happens, you’ll be crying, “I should have bought the warranty.”
I used to recommend people to never buy an extended warranty. That was then. This is now. Cars are so full of expensive computers. A transmission can cost thousands to replace. I’ve seen transmissions go on vehicles just after 70,000 miles. People usually neglect to get the transmission fluid changed. This is the WORST thing you could ever do. I always recommend putting Amsoil transmission fluid. On most cars, that fluid is good for 100,000 miles between being changed. But each transmission is different, so look up the specifications once you find out which one is compatible. Amsoil doesn’t have a one-size fit all. So be sure to go on their web site and look up the correct transmission fluid that will go on your car. Try to not go past 40,000 miles on transmission fluid. Never trust what a dealer will tell you. It’s in their best interest that your transmission fail. They either get to charge you thousands of dollars for a new transmission, or better yet, they get you to trade your car in, where they will make two more profits. One when they sell you the new car and another when they wholesale your other car. Many times they can make a good $5,000 profit on this transaction. Do you really want that? You don’t. Now go to Amsoil’s site, look up your vehicle and get the appropriate transmission fluid for your car and either bring it to the dealer to have them put it in, or find another shop who has a transmission flushing machine to put it in for you.
Find out how many approximate miles you drive per year. The dealer should have different warranties based on how many miles you want to add, often between 50,000 and 100,000 miles extra. Some dealers will allow you to either put it on a credit card or finance it with a certain percentage down. One dealer I encountered asked for 10% down and let you finance the rest for 18 months, interest-free.
Who do I talk to in order to buy this extended warranty?
It’s usually the F&I guy at the car dealership, not the sales person. So the guy you sat down with in the office that handled the financing and insurance. If he is the same guy you met with when you bought your car and you declined the warranty coverage then, now is the time to get it. Sometimes it doesn’t make sense to buy an extended warranty when you buy the car because you don’t know if you are going to keep it or not. What if 6 months later you find out it’s a lemon? Then if you try to get your money back for the extended warranty when you go to trade the car in, it’s a huge hassle. It’s best to buy the extended warranty right before the factory warranty is almost ready to expire. You’ve had the car long enough to know whether it will suit your needs.
Next we will talk about what do you do once you’re car is almost paid off.