vector1701

So here is the deal, I am picking up my car tomorrow and the dealer is asking nicely (not being pushy) if I want thier $399 tire and rim warranty where in the next 5 years if anything goes wrong with the tire or rims they will replace for free...includes any tire issues, flats, punctures, etc...Also includes roadside assistance (I know the car includes the Acura TLC).

Thoughts? Worth getting?

Thanks in advance,
Pat

Thorin78

If there is something wrong w/ the tire will they replace it with OEM? or tire of your choosing?

Costco does the same thing for free if you buy your tires from them.

Also do you plan on upgrading/changing your rims in the next 5 years? If so, would they cover that?

Is it refundable if something happens to your car and you have 3 years left on the plan and you can't drive the car any more?

What if the wheels get stolen?

vector1701

Good questions....

1 - They will replace with whatever tire was there before, including tires bought elsewhere

2 - I do plan to get winter tires as the snows and hills around here can get pretty bad (Westchester, NY)

3 & 4, I dont know....

Thorin78

I wasn't offered the option for wheel coverage. However I do belong to Costco, and if I buy my tires from them for the TL, it covers free rotation, balancing, mounting and road hazard warranty for life of the tire. BJs does this as well. Costco also puts in Nitrogen instead of air into the tires. So to me, if I'm replacing my tires with better ones already through Costco, the dealer option just doesn't make sense.

So to me this would only be good if the rims got screwed up badly. There are shops that may be able to buff it out or something. I have a light scratch on my front passenger wheel because the curb was really high and I scratched it. Oh well. I guess if you divide $400 by 5 years, that's only $80 a year. I think my friend said to get his rim buffed out, it cost him $50. So if you decide to scratch your wheel more than once a year, then it's probably worth it.

Also, if you ruin 1 tire, they should replace 2 tires for you instead of just one. Who wants to have to change odd number of tires every 35K miles or something.

my 2cents

mondesi99

Read the fine print on the agreement. It doesn't cover tire or rim damage from hitting a curb and a few other things you may think are covered. Its not as comprehensive as the salesman may make it sound.

CPR

I have an Anthracite '05 TL
My dealer DID NOT even have an extended warranty
I did buy one from Firestone, (Bridgestone), for my EL 42's
$135, for all 4 tires
After 1 month, I used it, after puncturing the RF sidewall, on a jutted curb
Since tires only had 1,000 miles, they pro-rated 1/10 of the cost; $24
Unfortunately, they did a lousy balancing job; & subsequently, I found out the rim was ever so slightly bent.
Moved that tire to the rear, & vice-versa
The warranty paid for itself, just for that one tire
The way they get you, is after you replace a specific tire, it is no longer protected
Only the remaining 3 are now warranteed
Rims are NOT covered at all

R J Poseidon 6

I'm not sure of others, however, if it's the one that 1 buy @ an AutoNation dealership...... it's great & you'll get U'r $s worth.

As far as 'curbing', no, however, pot holes n stuff are & that is where U'll make out.....

Bplayer

Read the fine print carefully to make sure that tire replacement does not include a wear reduction, ie. if you tire is 50% worn they will only pay for half of the cost of a new tire.

If you were in a collision and damaged a tire/rim you would likely claim it under your regular insurance, so this coverage is specifically for road hazzard only. It is expensive insurance especially if your annual mileage is not high.

KJSmitty

If you think it may be worth while talk them down on the price. Like others have mentioned it has a narrow coverage window, IE allot of small print.. It's only good for OEM/style tires etc.. My dealer told me they would cover curb damage no matter what - they just call it a pot hole event.
I took it due to several tire issues I had on my other vehicle, figured it would pay for itself on one tire etc.. Then again, I only paid $199 which is still $50-$100 more than I should have... They wanted $399 originally.

If you plan on swapping tires however, don't take the warranty. Given the fact that they may not honor certain rim damage and the fact you can get tire hazard insurance with new tires its not worth any cost over $100 or so...

A-Spec Guy

I find it hard to believe it covers "rim/wheel rash" or salt damage which is likely to be your problem when you need it. If it does...BUY IT! But I bet in the fine print it doesnt cover it.

EDITED....and I say buy it ONLY if you have upraded 18" rims....dont mess with it for the stock 17"rims/tires.

KJSmitty

Fine print does say curb damage is not covered (your dealer may make it happen either way - mine does).
It's also only for OEM rims/tires.. You could change the tires and still be OK, but they best be the same size/rating etc.

--As mentioned, if you're remotely planning on swapping out the stock rims and/or tires don't bother with the dealer's tire warranty. You can get a much cheaper one from/with your new tire purchase etc..
--If you're sticking with the stock setup and want a tire warranty, talk them down under $200 or walk.

Brettg

What a bunch of nonsense!
The dealers make a lot of money off these maintanance plans, extended warentys, etc, just like when you buy a TV set of a fridge.
The fact they love to sell that crap, and make loads of money on it should warn you.

Say you drive 8000 to 10,000 miles and the tire has a problem, well its mostly shot anyway, time for new and better tires, they wont pay for that, the most
you will get is whatever one mostly worn out tire is worth.

Now if they gladly pay for rim rash, and busted rims from hitting huge pot holes (because you dont care, its covered!), then that might be different, but I bet they wont. They may also charge you loads for anything they dont cover, and/or make you go to their (expensive) place for tires and so on.

I WISH one of my el42's would blow out so I could buy some nice Avons!

Brett

KJSmitty

Just the facts....

--100% coverage for any type of "pot-hole", FOD/foreign object damage etc. as long as it occurred on a paved road. It also pays for balance and re-alignment..
--As mentioned, if you have a willing dealership,, road rash/curb damage "may be" claimed as a pot-hole issue,, thus repaired or replaced at no cost....

--Tires are replaced at no cost, IE are not prorated etc..

As with any contract, read the fine print, understand what you are paying for, then make an educated decision given the agreed upon price.....

mickey3c

I guess it all depends on where you live and the type of driving you do. I live in the northeast and I got it on one of my cars. I typically do not buy these things but 2 years ago the warranty paid for itself. 400 bucks is probably the cost of a rim (I haven't checked). As people say, read the fine print. If you think you will go through at least one rim then it's a wash.

I know people that have bought the warranty and in a year they say they want to get 18s or 19s on the car and I said well there goes that warranty. If you think you will be switching wheels then do not get the warranty.

I have never had the need for a wheel warranty (knock on wood) and the only times where a rim was destroyed was from a huge pot hole and an accident (which was covered on insurance).

elenaran

I got ripped on this - I specifically asked if it covered curbed rims and the lady said yes. Then a a few months later when I curb my rims I read the agreement only to find out it covers almost nothing. Basically rim damage due to a pothole is about the only sort of thing under warranty.

Scribesoft

I actually had my EL-42's replaced by the dealership @ 8,000 miles (under the regular warranty - I didn't buy any extra tire warranty). Of course, I got new el-42's which are worse than the originals, but they were "free" and if I can get past being grouchy about the flatspotting, I just got 8,000 of free tire wear...

jcondon

I stupidly took the tire and wheel protection too. I am not sure what I paid (paperwork is at home) but, think I paid too much too.

You can get stock 17" wheels online pretty cheap. And got about a 14 months or out of the El's. Or just upgrade all 4 wheels to something else.

So I ended up buying all new tires anyway. I could have applied that money to the new tires I recently bought.

I usually do pretty good with NOT buying these things but, got suckered on this one. I still think overall I did fairly well on the price of my car.