SeismicGuy

I am sure this has been discussed back and forth so sorry if this is a dupe. We will be picking up a 2012 TL tomorrow and, based on previous buying experiences from dealers, I am sure there will be relentless pressure to buy an extended warranty. I don't think I ever actually bought one of these from the dealer at time-of-sale but have usually gotten them through my wife's credit union, usually just about the time the factory warranty expired. Those past mechanical breakdown warranties have been pretty good with the only downside being that there was sometimes a slight lag in repair since the dealer had to contact the warranty company to get the okay to repair.

Interesting, the only car where I did not bother getting an extended warranty was our 2000 TL. I guess I would have broken even since, not too long after the factory warranty expired I needed to replace a broken motor mount--ended up more than $500 if I recall.

I did notice that the new TL comes with 4 year/50,000 vehicle and 6 year/70,000 drive train. I would expect the most vulnerable items that could be pricey to fix are all the new whizbang techno things like the nav and hard-drive stuff.

Based on research I have found that the best price for an AcuraCare warranty would be in the $1,000 neighborhood and I could just add this into the payments. The credit union warranty would also be about $1,000 and I could buy this later at pretty much any time. Actually, the cheapest option is from Geico--about $35 every 6 months with a $250 deductible.

So my questions are (1) do most of you go for the Acura warranty during the final paperwork and (2) if you have a warranty did you end up needing it?

Thanks,

Doug

under9hell

My family never had any issue with Japanese car (mostly Toyota and one Honda Accord). I had to use CPO warranty on a 3 series once to fix the window motor, but that was it.
Extended warranty is just like a peace of mind thing, most people won't need it, but if you're the unlucky one, it's worth it.

In my opinion, I'll skip the extended warranty now. Just drive the car for a couple years, you'll know exactly if the car is reliable or not, then it's easier to make the decision. I believe you can still buy AcuraCare later.

Devil Dog 21

I personally got the warranty due to the amount of tech in new cars. The TL uses a spinning HD and they don't last forever in laptops and won't last forever in the car. While the drive itself isn't expensive I'm sure it's not the easiest thing to change out nor do I want to bother with it. I guess I viewed it as $1000 to not worry about anything was worth it considering the tech failures we encounter, ie printers, cell phones, computers.

sarge_in

^ What he said. Too much tech and stuff to go wrong if you will be keeping the car for a while. I read of Bluetooth issues with TL on edmunds needing close to $900 to fix.

I also prefer Acura Care over 3rd party ones, unless you really know how good the other company is when it comes to cover claims. Acura Care provides loaner car as well if required during repairs...not sure of others.

I got warranty for Honda Odyssey couple years back from an online vendor as it was (and still is) the cheapest I could find. This time, the dealer was only $80 more so I got it from him - made it easy to roll its cost into financing.

SeismicGuy

That's what I was expecting to hear--that it really is the tech stuff that could have problems. I guess if the dealer offers a decent price for the warranty we would be more apt to consider.


Doug

Edward'TLS

It's not just the powertrain. There are far too many electronics in our 4G TL, especially the Tech and the Advance.

Extended warranty is like auto insurance. If you ever need the insurance coverage, it will definitely save your pocket big time.

under9hell

you can always buy it later, before the 4 years/50k miles hit. Many things can happen in those 4 years, you may not like the car anymore or want a newer TL

Six Shifter

Never purchased an extended warranty on any of my Acuras ... never needed it. Also, in my case the extra money doesn't really get me all that much more time. Have owned the car for 2 years and 16 days, and it currently has 65,962 miles on the odometer. One really needs to determine if your driving style warrants the expense which may not be recoupable.

lji

To each his own I guess... I bought it for peace of mind reasons... A friend's 07 TL's electronic rearview mirror went out (it no longer dims) right after the warranty expired... peace of mind for after warranty gremlins...

Cap'n Preshoot

There is a narrow window of time during which you can purchase a genuine AccuraCare warranty. I don't recall now what that window of time/mileage is, but it's transferrable if you sell/trade the car and so would be something you could later leverage.

Definitely get it online. The dealership will rape you on it. I paid $1200 (half the retail price) from Bob Loeb at Hyannis Honda in Hyannis, Mass. Go back and look for some of the other Extended warranty threads. You'll find full details. The "refundable" warranty some of the Acura dealerships are offering is a snow job and not the 'real deal' AccuraCare warranty.

There are valid arguments both pro and con, but your new TL has multiple hard drives and multiple computers in it, all of which are extremely expensive to have serviced out of warranty.

Cap'n Preshoot

Here is the thread I was thinking of. Some pretty good material here....
https://acurazine.com/forums/4g-tl-2009-2014-123/%242-400-acura-7-70-extended-warranty-812356/

lji

The time frame to purchase AcuraCare for a new car is 1yr or 6000 miles whichever comes first....

PsychDoc

Just be aware that all extended warranties are (by definition) rip-offs. Some are bigger than others and some will default to "fine print" issues when and if you want to use them. Ultimately the point of any insurance is to protect you against something catastrophic, not something you could easily pay for out of pocket with the money you saved by not buying it. In this sense, buying a homeowners policy makes some sense. While there is a very, very low chance you're going to need it, if you do it will probably be for something catastrophic (fire, flood, etc). Not so for a car. Anecdotal "evidence" aside, keep in mind that the insurer's loss ratio on these policies is probably no more than $0.25 on the dollar so essentially $0.75 of your dollar goes right into the insurer's pocket. Your choice. But from a purely fiscal standpoint you're much better off keeping you money in your pocket.

Mr Marco

It's a suckers bet. Sure something might fail, but chances are that if it does it will cost less than the warranty anyhow.

SAVE YOUR MONEY