Want your Opinions!

I currently drive a 1997 Buick Park Avenue with 114500 miles on it. Mechanically and structurally the vehicle is very sound. I decided that I want to keep this vehicle for awhile so I opted to purchase an extended warranty for it. I contacted US Fidelis and signed up for a plan last night. My coverage - it's a powertrain plus which covers engine, transmission, water pump, etc. as well as some electrical - power windows, ac compressor, etc. Since my car is paid for I thought that paying a small fee for a few months wouldnt be bad. My coverage is for 5 years or 100,000 miles. The total cost of the extended warranty service is 2,000. What do you all think about this? Has anyone ever purchased an extended warranty? Open to all comments!

I appreciate everyone's time!

-DH

with those miles a tran could go bad and you will get your moneys back i think it worth it if you plan on keeping it

Maybe I can’t read but it looks like your paid for service would already be out of warrantee! Or did you mean to say that it would expire at 214K miles?
Granted I am just speculation, but 2 K seams to be a Ton of money to spend on an older car that could be totaled out in as little as 1 day. Although they may replace the break lines that blew at no charge to you….. but are they going to repair or replace the entire car? What if a 16 year old decides to text message instead of stopping behind you at a pretty red light?

In any event if you do a google search of those after market extended warrantees….. They don’t seam to be all that good. Granted only PEE ODE people make posts but seams to be a lack of satisfied customers.

just think of you look around I bet you can find a low milage 97 for what $1K?

When you get the time ask them at what rate per hour do the base repairs on,because they will only pay that amount when the repairs are made and be sure the place that does the repairs will be willing to be payed that,I had a similar program and when the time came for the trans to be overhauled they just didn't pay what the shop wanted because there rate was lower. good luck

Yeah been thinking about it a bit today. To make things clear --- my car has 114000 miles on it and the warranty would cover another 100000 or 5 years - whichever comes first. I need to do some more research. Gotta think a bit.

Thanks all,

DH

When you get the time ask them at what rate per hour do the base repairs on,because they will only pay that amount when the repairs are made and be sure the place that does the repairs will be willing to be payed that,I had a similar program and when the time came for the trans to be overhauled they just didn't pay what the shop wanted because there rate was lower. good luck

I did not even think about that.

Most tranny and a/c people are charging 125 to 175 a hr. Insurance that is paying 59$. Plus I bet you a dime to the dollar that they have limits on the replacement part…. So new original parts, just rebuilt and 90-day parts. After all they know that most people keep a car for 3-5 years on a new one and 3 or less on a used one. If I where them, I would just squeeek that puppy through that time period

I would ask for a copy of the policy before I spent a dime. I bet that they will say sure, and they will send a brochure instead of a policy. Call two weeks later and start asking for money

Odds are, if you maintain your car properly (which is required by the warranty provider) you would never spend 2K on drive train repairs in the next 100K! Think about it, warranties are like insurance, they are in the business to make money, not loose! The consumer is usually the looser!

I had contacted Fidelis about a month ago to cover my Park Avenue (2001 with just under 112K miles on it). They told me they can't do business in Oregon. I don't know if that is a bad sign about Fidelis, but either way, I couldn't get the warranty.

I just paid $650 to have my turn signal switch replaced last month and a few months before, I paid $950 for some electrical gizmo in the ignition system, and would be looking at another few hundred dollars to replace my heated seat, which doesn't heat anymore. I am likely not going to fix the seat because it isn't a necessity, but were it to be covered under warranty, it would surely be getting repaired. It just goes to show how some of these electrical gremlins can wind up costing a bunch of money

When we bought the car, we paid $2K for an extended warranty and the warranty covered over $3K in repairs before it expired. Our Rendezvous that we had required over $4K in repairs that the $2K warranty we bought for it paid for. My Roadmaster was covered and the warranty paid over $3500 in repairs. We've always bought extended warranties and we've always used them (I hope that doesn't speak too poorly about Buick quality).

But in the end, perhaps you would be better served to put aside the $2K or the equivalent payments into a savings account...to be used in case of a needed repair. You can gain a couple of dollars in interest and your money isn't forever lost if, as mentioned in previous posts, some numbskull totals out your car as he's texting his girlfriend.

Good luck!