SocRL

I recently purchased an '06 RL tech and because of all the technology and the fact that I intend to keep the car for at least 8 years I added the 8 yr./120 K mi. plan. It includes the tire and wheel protection which will theoretically save me a lot of money if I have problems with the PAX wheels and tires. The total cost of the warranty was around $2500.

From reading this thread it appears that there are cheaper 8yr/120K warranties from other dealers, but do these include the tire and wheel protection?

I just received my warranty contract and I see that you can cancel a vehicle service contract within 60 days and get a full refund, but if you do can you then buy a cheaper one (e.g., $500-1000) without any problems down the road from Acura Care?

Thanks.

miner

As I mentioned previously, I have had problems with after-market warranties. The extra 2-300$ I spend for AcuraCare is peace of mind to me. I too plan on keeping the RL for 6-7 yrs and +120000 miles. Not only did I get the tire and wheel pkg but also door ding repair. The F&I guy told me that curbing the wheels is not covered, so if you do get rash it is due to hitting road debris, OK?

GoHawks

Is it an aftermarket warranty or Acura Care. The dealer initially quoted me $3,000 for a 7yr/100K mile warranty. I initially negotiated it down to $1,700, and ultimately down to just over $1,000.

shrykhar

Bump for an answer -- I'm in the same boat. Anyone think this thread would have more coverage in the general forums?

SocRL

It is an Acura Care warranty; 8yrs./120,000K mile.

Say I cancel my current "expensive" AC warranty; can I pick up an Acura Care extended warranty in a year or so when I know about how many miles I am driving per year?

I am totally new to the extended warranty game.

GoHawks

I think if you have to purchase it before you hit 6K miles.

backfire

You can buy a extended warranty anytime up until till the regular warranty is to expire either months or mileage which ever comes first

GoHawks

True, but different price point then.

Jaysmith2000

Sooner will save you some bucks....

backfire

I have a hard time saying you saved money when they have yours$$$$$ for 4 years and you have nothing more than what you already had. I prefer to wait and see

wstr75

Here's an opposing viewpoint:
Over the years I've bought several extended warranties. I've only had one to significantly pay out and, while it covered the repair, it was a "the big print giveth, and the fine print taketh away" result. They did replace the transmission but not with a rebuilt or new transmission, but rather with a transmission from a junk yard car. The car was a Lincoln and the extended warranty was from alleged national company. I had some other events where the warranty should have paid out, but the hassle factor got in the way. It's a personality thing as it is hard for me to get down in the trenches and argue point-by-point through a multi-step process. Besides, as stated below, I've come to the conclusion that instead of saving me money, extended warranties are actually costing me real money.

As our folks told us, there is no such thing as a free lunch. You have to think the extended warranty companies have done their homework regarding likelihood of payouts, so maybe we don't need extended warranties and should just take our chances. Lets say we are looking at a $1450 warranty. At 8% reinvested, that $1450 is worth $2131 at the end of year 5 (If you have Neuronbob's investing acumen, that $1450 is worth considerably more! - Neuron, please take that as a complement.) If we have $1600 of warrantable car repairs during our ownership, we are ahead investment-wise. If we have $2500, we are under water, but only by $369, which is not the end of the world. Granted, our cars are full of electronics, but if it they were all that trouble-prone, AcuraCare would be charging considerably higher rates.

I've spent thousands of dollars getting cars repaired and thousands of dollars on extended warranties. I don't think I will be getting the extended warranties in the future. As Yoda would say, "Buck naked warranty-wise, that I am".
wstr

lland

Before I bought the RL, I only bought one extended warranty in my life. For some reason, got talked into a $100 warranty on a treadmill years back. Never used it, never needed it. I can't think of anything I needed to have fixed where an extended warranty would have helped. For the most part, if it can't be inexpensively repaired it will be replaced.

Not so easy for a car though. If something breaks, you can't just throw it away and while I never bought an extended warranty for a car before, I did buy one for the RL. The simple reason is that I figure with all of the systems and electronics, any repair has the potential to be "major" (expense wise) and I am more comfortable with the warranty. When I picked up the car (new), the CMBS system broke on the way out of the dealer's lot. It took almost a week to fix (mostly waiting through a holiday weekend for parts) and I'm sure if I were paying for it, it would have easily covered the cost of my extended warranty. It's all about comfort levels and I am more comfortable with the coverage.

I did buy the AcuraCare warranty though Tim at HondaAcura World. My dealer wanted significantly more for a non-Acura product.

LL

miner

In my opinion Acura dealers should not be selling a non-Acura warranty. I will stand by my opinion that aftermarket warranties are a gamble - if company will still be in business when warranty is needed. I have had some bad experiences in the past.

lland

I ageree 100%. When I bought my MDX, they offered the Acura warranty (I didn't buy it) and now they offer an aftermarket. Just for chits & giggles, I took home a copy of the paperwork so I could see what was covered (knowing that I could alwyas buy the AcureCare warranty from Curry or HondaAcura World).

The coverage looked good but required a $50 payment (unless the repair was at my dealer) and in most cases, required me to get preauthorization for the repair, pay for it, and request a reimbursement. I did a quick search of the carrier's name (can't remember who it was) and saw plenty of horror stories of people not getting paid for what they believed were covered repairs. The AcuraCare warranty is good at any dealer and they are paid directly.

I thought it a bit odd that an Acura dealer would sell an aftermarket warranty, even pushing it as a better one.

LL

GoHawks

I used to agree with you, but I recently went through a situation where I was thankful for purchasing an extended warranty.

In 2004 I purchased a brand new Toyota Land Cruiser. I also purchased a 100K mile warranty as well for $1,400.

As a point of reference, Toyota's warranty is 3yr/36k mile bumper-bumper, 4yr/50K powertrain.

At 40K miles the nav touchscreen died. As a result, I couldn't use the climate control, audio, rear backup camera, etc.

There was a TSB stating that it was a known issue and a redesigned unit was required. The new part cost $5,000!!! I saw the invoice that the dealer paid. It's inconceivable that I would have had to pay that much if I hadn't purchased the warranty. Now since it was a known issue, I may have been able to get some goodwill since I was only 4K miles out of warranty, but I think it's safe to say I would have had to pay something out of pocket. Additionally, jest several months ago the headunit required replacement due to a bluetooth problem. The head unit costs over $800.

Needless to say I go my money's worth out of my $4k investment, and I still have about 45K miles left on the warranty.

I only paid about $1K for my 7yr/100K mile warranty. I think it's a safe gamble that if something were to go wrong outside of the warranty, it isn't going to take much to hit $1,000.

gdevine

The price of repairs for anything on a vehicle has gone through the roof. I now have a crown vicki in the garage to have the fuel pump replaced at a cost of $657. For a stupid "cheap to repair" Ford product.

I had a Q45 with an extended warranty they paid out over 10 thousand. I also had and still have a Audi A6. The extended warranty company hated my guts on this one (another 10K or more).

So I have invested about $2600 in two extended warranties and have had a return of at least $20K from those warranties. That is why I have just dropped another $1300 into the Acura. I figure 2 repairs for any minor little problem and I got my money back.

Of course my luck and my cases are extreme. I would probably make a good cooler in a casino.

FromTLtoRL

At 70K mikes, our 2001 Acura MDX needed a new transmission. Fortunately for us, out of goodwill from Acura, they covered everything except that there is no warranty on this re-built tranny. According to them, since I opted not to pay a penny, they cannot extend the warranty. Oh well...that's for another discussion in the MDX board.

They offered goodwill because it is a known problem. There's a ton of MDX's out there, so I'm sure they got enough complaints.

We all know the RL population is a lot smaller than the MDX's and TL's. So if something goes wrong, they will probably say it is an isolated case. So most likely no goodwill, etc. to offer.

Hence, I bought the ext warranty. Plus I intend to keep the RL for a long time.

Chas2

You and me both! Chose to get the extended warranty through hondacuraworld. The only two other extended warranties I have gotten are on a big screen HDTV and my wife got a GE one on a GE washer. Let's see, guy has been out 4 times on the HD TV, removing circuit boards and soldering in new components. The washer broke so many times that GE actually offered and delivered a new washer to us after three years.

I know what you mean on the Q45. Many years ago, a friend of ours had a Q45a (1st gen) and promptly sold it after seeing the repair bill on another Q45a during a routine service...$10K for active suspension computer and related components. I was tempted to buy it from her, less than 50K miles for $10K obo. She was just afraid it might break, which is what we are all afraid of these days.

My dad has an 2001 MDX with 55K miles on it, which he was going to sell to us cheap. No problems that we know of, and yet I look on mdx.org and see all the tranny related problems and that scared me off!

007TL-S

I heard you can purchase an extended warranty contract before the original expires, I'll have to look in to it!

Chas2

Yes you can.

Take a look at

http://hondacuraworld.com/

and see the various flavors, but the common thread is less than 6K mileage on a 2005 or newer...Other sites may offer other, but I never really researched except for a new car.

bpotter16

Sterling Acura in Austin/TX, ask for Bruce. No additional hidden fees, just the Acura Care warranty for $1585.

123456SPEED

I'm in Austin, but what are the particulars of your car? year, mileage?
I had warranty work done there recently and checked a little box on the work order that said,
'May we contact you about extended warranties?'

Of course, I've never heard a thing from them.....but when you are not buying anything you are bombarded with sales pitches. You can't...

bpotter16

Sorry for not giving more details, I have an '06 RL with 5K miles.

pimpin-tl

Manufacture warrantys like AcuraCare will never put a used transmission in the car out of a junker. They will put either a new or most likely a refurbed transmission in it.

backfire

Just to give you a example I have a 2003 Acura MDX it presently has 48,500 miles on it. It will be 4 years old in June. I checked the prices and Hondacuraworld seems to be the best price for the Acura care warranty. 48 months or 48,000 miles, with $100 deductable is $1800. I will purchase just before June or just before 50,000 miles to get the most. Hope this helps

nyjohnchan

For those new RL owners, if you have geico insurance, you can get the mechanical breakdown insurance with your car insurance for 7years/100,000 miles. It cost less than 50 bucks every 6 months. But you have to get it before the car reaches 10,000 miles.

krellis

Try Tim McGilvray at Bernardi Honda. Got a price quote on line at :

http://www.hondawarrantyinfo.com/acura/benefits.php

His price was a few hundred dollars less than Dave from Curry Automotive. Same plan, same coverage.

I've never bought an extended warranty before and have never needed one. AWD and Navi on my wife's new RL changed my mind, though.

backfire

INTERESTING THEIR EMAIL SITE DOESNT WORK. I TRIED TO PUT IN MY CAR WHICH IT DOESNT LIST BECAUSE OF 2003 MODEL. THEY SAY TO MANY MILES. NOT TRUE AT OTHER DEALERS......

neuronbob

I'm now at 5800 miles (in only four months! ), so I finally bought an extended warranty. I bought the Acuracare 7 years/100k warranty with $100 deductible from our site vendor, Hondacuraworld, for $1085.

With a technologically advanced car like the RL, I prefer the peace of mind that goes along with an extended warranty. The Acuracare warranty covers the navi and other electronics, and is honored at any Acura dealership, unlike some of the aftermarket warranties, which may not cover the navi and have restrictions on what dealers can be used. I try to stay away from those, and frankly don't think Acura dealers should be selling aftermarket ones as noted above. Just my .

static808

Just picked up an extended warranty from HondaAcuraWorld. Great service,

For example: My car has 29,000 miles, I purchased the 5yr/84K warranty, $0 deductible.

So in reality, my warranty coverage is as follows:

Acura's orginial warranty = 50K
Purchased extended warranty = 5yr/84K when my odo is at 29k, so in essence I have an overlap of 21K from the original warranty.

Here is the math.
50K-29K = 21K left on orginial warranty.
84K warranty - 21K left on orginial = 63K true value of extended warranty.
Overall warranty coverage = 50K + 63K = 113K

I get peace of mind, considering I am going to own this ride for at least 5+ years

Hope the funny math helps some people who are considering.

GoHawks

Again given the prices for the extended warranty, it's a no-brainer if you're going to keep this car past the warranty period. It will not take much to rack up a $1K+ repair bill.

Just the door handles alone cost over $400 each.

static808

Well said. That's my biggest concern, those door handles or some other accessory going bad. Having owned Honda's and Acura's, I probably won't need a repair, but I figure I'll get close to a 100K with the RL so why not make a small investment.

askus

But what if the price was $2400 plus tax for the 5 yr./84K? That's what I'm being quoted in Florida for 05 RL w/23K miles I just brought from a private seller. Still worth it?

I do plan to drive for 5 or so more years and I put between 12-15K miles on it on average per year.

And I hear in Florida, you must buy the extended warranty from a dealer in Florida. Is that correct?

GoHawks

That's ridiculous. You can do better than that. I was originally quoted over $3k by a dealer.

askus

Got that same price from 2 dealers in FL - one in South Florida, one in North.

And told I have to purchase it before car hits 30K miles they both say. And have read on these boards that if you're in Florida, you MUST buy it from a dealer in Florida. Some crazy rule I guess.

Guess I'll try other FL dealers, but does it seem FL is pricier than other regions?

GoHawks

If the law is true, then they're gouging since you're forced to go through a dealer.

Did you check with HondaAcuraworld? I'm sure they could tell you.

lland

Could be...I kind of remember seeing a footnote "not available to residents of Florida" when I was shopping for an extended warranty. If so, it would explain why the price is higher...no competition.

LL

askus

Yep, I just googled AcuraCare Extended Warranty in FL and all sites outside FL say they cannot sell to FL residents and that FL residents must buy from FL dealer.

That stinks. I really want the peace of mind of the warranty, but don't want to spend that much.

miner

Maybe HondaAcuraWorld should have a FL dealer/kiosk for just selling warranties in FL.

askus

If I find a better price at another FL dealer, do I have to go there in person to get the extended warranty or can I do it over the phone?

And when I call around to compare, do some dealers sell warranties other than the official AcuraCare ones from manufacturer? Cause I do not want a third party one.

Thanks!