5 Reasons You May Not Need an Extended Warranty on Your Car

It’s not hard to find companies online that want to sell you a car warranty.  And if you have ever dealt with a car dealership you know how forceful they can be in wanting you to buy an extended warranty for your car.  But a warranty is not right for everyone, and here are 5 reasons why you might want to pass on this extra expense.


  by  Fr3d.org 

Reason #1: You only plan to drive your car for a few years.

Any new car is already protected by the manufacturer’s warranty, which varies for every auto maker.  So the only reason you would want to buy an extended warranty is if you plan on driving your car long after the manufacturer warranty expires.  Some people just love driving new cars, and they like to sell them before it starts wearing out.  If this is your situation then you probably don’t need to invest any money in an extra protection plan.

Reason #2: Your car already has a lot of miles on it.

While there are some warranty companies that will protect vehicles with a lot of miles on them, this number rarely ever exceeds 200,000 miles.  There is just too much risk for a company to offer breakdown protection on a vehicle with that many miles.  So if you either have a car with a lot of miles or a car that is older than 12 years, you will not only not need a protection plan, but you will have a hard time finding one that will cover you anyway.

Reason #3: You are buying through a dealership.

Car dealers are notorious for trying to sell you that extra extended warranty on your car, but there are a lot of reasons to avoid buying through them.  They will try to convince you that you MUST have their warranty or your car will not be protected, but the truth is that they get paid a commission on any sale they generate for these warranty companies.  You are better off buying directly yourself and getting quotes from different companies.  You can research sites like http://extendedcarwarrantys.com/ to compare rates from competitive companies that will offer you much better prices than through a dealership anyway.

Reason #4: You do a lot of traveling far from home.

Ok, this is less of a reason and more of a qualifier here.  If you do buy a warranty program through a dealership they will often require you to get any of the repair work done at their shop.  And if you go to any other shop and have work done the warranty will be voided.  But if you travel a lot you can’t just choose where to break down.  There are some really good companies that will cover any repairs on your vehicle and you can go to ANY licensed repair shop in the nation to get the work done.

Reason #5: If the parts on your vehicle are not expensive to repair.

Some cars are more expensive to repair than others.  And some cars also have a better track record than others in terms of reliability.  You need to weigh these options when considering whether or not a warranty is right for you.  If a transmission repair or fuel pump replacement will cause too much financial strain on your budget, you might want to get a few car warranty quotes.  But if you can save enough money in the bank to handle these unforeseen car failures, you will not necessarily need a vehicle protection plan.