FlashG

What’s your take on these policies? Are they worth considering?

My credit union has Gap insurance for $210. I think that it’s for 5 years. Is this really necessary for an Acura? I believe that they hold their value higher than average.

The dealer has a 5 year tire and wheel road hazard plan for $320. My old Ex never had a wheel problem in 190,000 miles. Are Acura’s wheels more fragile?

They both offer different types of Extended Protection Plans. I don’t have any figures yet but I believe that they are about $1,500. I use to do my own maintenance but I am 58 and those days are just about over.

waymay1305

If you owe more on the vehicle than what its worth, I think Gap insurance is a good choice. I certainly would get it if you're only paying $ 210 for a 5 year time period. If nothing else, I think it's worth the extra piece of mind. Forget the tire insurance. It sounds like a rip-off.

smoore

If you are leasing in Canada, the standard Acura lease has GAP coverage. However, if you don't have some type of limited depreciation waiver on your auto insurance policy and the car is totalled early in the lease, then you could watch any deposit you put down on the car disappear.

I have never considered GAP coverage on a car loan but it makes sense. If the car loses something like 20% of its value when you first take it off of the lot, then if the car is totalled early in the loan the amount you would recover from your insurance (possibly even with a limited depreciation waiver endorsement) might not be enought to cover your obligations under the loan. However, most car loans are open and this shouldn't be a problem. If the loan is closed, then I would really want to consider this.

I had a 2000 Avalon and managed to destroy a tire within a month of buying the car. Road hazard coverage would have been nice but it would have been similar in price to teh new tire. I have had 5 new cars and this is the only one where such coverage would have mattered. Tires aren't that expensive and I would be inclined to skip this coverage.

I have a 4 year lease and the main warranty in Canad is only 3 years. I got the dealer to throw in the Honda extended warranty for one year to match my lease and it is worth $850 Canadian. It has tire road hazard protection. I replaced my tires with the Michelins so I won't be using that road hazard warranty.

If you dont' have GAP coverage, I would be inclined to get it. I would skip the road hazard warranty. The extended warranty may make sense considering that this is a 1st year car particulary if you plan to keep the car a long time. I would watch who the extended warranty is from. So many of these companies have gone under. Some of them are backed up by insurers and I would want to make sure that is the case before signing on for the warranty.

Oswald Vater

I wouldn't consider leasing a car without GAP insurance. $210 is a good price as mine cost me about twice that. Spaced out over a 5 year loan, it's only about $3.50 a month. But I would pass on the road hazard warranty.

TLGator

Yup, for a lease you should have gap. Nowadays every decent leasing company includes it (including Acura in both US and Canada, eh). You are pretty much always upside down in a lease - that is, by contract you will always have to pay more to terminate the lease than the insurance will pay off. In fact, many states have made gap insurance a mandatory part of lease contracts, which is why most good leasing companies now include it universally.

If you're financing a purchase, however, gap is only useful early in the loan and then only if your car insurance doesn't include something similar. I forget what it's called exactly, depreciation adjustment or something like that. Again, some states require it.

So check with your lease/finance company and your insurance company. Don't buy gap if you're already covered elsewhere.

jjsC5

I've leased four vehicles, and must admit I never even thought about this issue, and nobody tried to sell it to me. As I (think) I understand it, it would only be a factor if the car was a total loss - otherwise your insurance will pay to fix it. Do ya'll really think if the car is a total loss the leasing company will force you to continue to pay it off? I asking this as a serious question, as I really don't know. I assume this is something that happens enough that there are precendents set.

On another note, I don't believe in extended warranties because I think the way you have to look at it is that if you believe in them, you would buy them on everything (computers, cell phones, appliances etc). You either believe in them or you don't. So you have to look at how much money you would spend in a lifetime on extended warranties, then decide if you do have a need for them, would it really cost you more out of pocket than you would pay over a lifetime for the warranties?

KJSmitty

As mentioned, if your financing the entire amount, GAP insurance is a good idea - and $210 is a pretty good price for 5 years. GAP insurance, fills the "gap" between what your insurance will pay and what you still owe on your loan in the event the car is stolen or destroyed (totaled etc) For example: say your car gets stolen 10 months from now. Your payoff is still around $33K but your insurance due to depreciation writes you a check for $30K. Not only are you out of a car but your stuck with paying off the remaining $3K. Gap insurance takes care of this. Now, make sure that your Gap policy is refundable (although prorated) in the event you sell or payoff your loan prior to the full term.

The wheel/tire protection can also be good but you need to consider many variables. First off, I actually took this plan but only paid $199, and that is still tooo much. If you take it tell them $200 (or less) or "no". I took it because I had no intention of changing the rims. The dealer also informed me they would repair any curb damage to the TL rims - something quite common. Things to consider that the policy will be no good for: does it only cover the factory rims? Will it cover different tires, possibly different sizes? What types of "causes" of tire/rim damage will it cover?? Due to the well know crappy Bridgestone tires, you may have been thinking about replacing them shortly after purchase... (If I had thought/known of this) I would save the $320 and apply it toward a better set of tires -and then on the new set pay ~ $25 a tire for the lifetime tire protection package!

Hope this info helps in your decision.

TLGator

Oh, yes. Lots of people got burned by this back when leases starting getting really popular in the mid-80s. Then along came gap insurance, as a separate purchase or separate line item in the lease. Now it's built-in to most leases, which doesn't mean it's free, of course, it just means the leasing company has factored that expense into the lease.

FlashG

Actually I am buying the car not leasing it. Considering what you all have been saying I think the GAP insurance is a good idea.

I have some questions to ask the dealer about the wheel insurance. They told me it wouldn’t address the type of scratches that are common on the TL. I have to ask them about coverage on upgraded wheels. As a matter of fact State Farm might offer a policy rider on this. I think the tire hazard coverage is a good thing but $320 seams a little steep.

No one answered about the Extended Protection Plans. Do you have any thoughts on them?

fast-tl

Extended protection plans can come in handy, but you must be careful of the price you pay for them. Due to my bad credit, I was suckered into the "lender requires it an the cost is $2500" scam. Well, my '00 TL has 86K on it and I've certainly used the AcuraCare extended warranty for things like heated seat repair, SRS repair, but as I see it unles the Navi system goes out, I won't have anywhere near the $2500 in repairs. Keep in mind that trannies in my year range have been prone to going bad, but Acura has extended the warranty on the transmission, so I wouldn't opt for it unless you can get it for less than $1000.

fast-tl

Obviously you also need to factor in the ength of ownership? Will you trade in a few years? Is the waranty price partially refundable at trade time?

FlashG

I like to keep my cars for a long time. My old 92 Accord Ex has over 190,000 miles on it. For the last couple of years I have done my own maintenance. The dealer wanted way to much so I do it myself. However I'm getting older and don't think I want to tackle a car this complex in 5 years when I'm over 60.

smoore

There was a fairly extensive thread on extended warranties. I put in a long post on this topic. The post can be found at http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...619#post765619

automophile

Honda of America includes the gap insurance in their lease program, and probabably in finance for purchases as well.

It is foolish NOT to have it! As mentioned, if your car is totaled 2 minutes after leaving the dealer, YOU MUST PAY the difference between the (used car) replacement value and what you owe the finance company. The newer the car the more the difference. $210 is cheap.

mlewbart

I didn't take the gap on my TL, however I got the dealer to give me the tire insurance for 300 and that works to about $5/mo. My bro hita pothole and bent a rim on his maxima and broke the sidewall of the tire and it cost him close to $600 total. that happened within months of him having the car. I think the $5 mo is worth it with these alloy rims.

BadgerNation

I was almost taken for over $500 on gap insurance. My wife and I were not familiar with gap insurance when we recently picked up our 2004 TL. I asked if I could purchase gap insurance at a later date and two salesmen told me no. So we spent $495 on a five year policy which would amount to $555 with my 4.24% interest rate. I went home and researched gap coverage and found out (not surprising I guess) that yes I could buy gap insurance after I purchased my car. I got it for $29/year with my auto insurere (Liberty Mutual). I also found that for a car that holds its value as well as the TL does you certainly do not need gap for more than 2 years, 3 at the most, certainly not the 5 years they sold me

Needless to say, I promptly cancelled my gap policy that the dealership gave me. What a scam.

Here are two articles I found on the internet.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/aut...insurance1.asp
http://gapinsurance.articleinsider.c...insurance.html

neuronbob

Lease or buy, get gap insurance. I carry it on my auto insurance policy. If the car is totalled, I don't want to be stuck with payments. End of story.