Buying today, need some advice

[Lapasion]

Hi there!

I am ready to go get a cred cabrio today. I need some advice about service plans and extended warranties. Are they worthed?


Any one has had serous problems befreo teh 2 year factory warranty expired or after?

[jimvw57]

Since the cars were first brought into the country for the 2008 model year, I don't think you'll find any that have gone over the 24 month period, but there are qute a few with over the 24,000 miles. Very few have had problems past the warranty period. It's up to you but I didn't bother.

[Kermit]

Didn't bother on either one of my cars but I have a problem letting people (mechanics included) mess with my cars. I'm at 31k+ + 16.5+ on my cars for mileage. They've been acceptable for reliability. No serious problems.

[John_H]

What's your tolerance for surprise costs? If you'd prefer to have any non-wear items taken care of with an increase in your out-the-door cost, the plans may work for you.

If you don't mind the occasional hit to your cash flow, on average you should spend less than the plans. But there's that possibility of a big ticket item.

Happily, I haven't heard of anyone blowing their engine or having their transmission drop out of the car since the introduction of the smart from SmartUSA.

The tire plan is separate and some have used the service - they can chime in.

There's a replacement key plan available at least from some Smart Centers. Since the keys are nearly $400 each, you have to ask yourself: have you ever lost a key to a car? That's one "investment" I pondered a bit after I found out about it (long after purchase) but worst I've ever done is misplace a key for a couple months.

You may be well served by getting the minimum deductible on your glass coverage in your insurance, however. There have been more windshields with rock troubles than I've heard of in most cars.

[Lapasion]

Thansk! This is very helpful. I'll keep the plan - just in case- I'll keep you posted. I can alwsy cancel the damm thing!

[jimvw57]

Since they sit a bit lower than most cars, the windshield tends to get the rock hits rather than the front of the hood. My old VW Fox was the same way. I had a record of 4 windshields in 3 weeks time. they told me one more broken windshield and they would total the car. The value of the car was about $2,000 and windshields were just over $650 each. Well worth the extra $5 per year I was paying for glass coverage.

[John_H]

Smarts sit lower than most cars?!

[NukleoN]

I went with a longer warranty covering more miles. Adds a little cost per month (if you're financing) but worth it for some peace of mind and keeping costs down. Also, a two-year warranty seems short to me.

[Mud Pie]

I opted for the 5 year 100,000 mile warranty. Yeah, it added a few bucks a month to my car note, but as a car that has no history in the U.S. (Euro models are not exactly like ours), I wanted coverage as long as possible.

Peace of mind. Will I use it ? To be honest, I hope not !!

[eddie.vandermark]

Unfortunately, I had a really bad experience with another car when purchasing the extended warranty. When the original warranty was up, I had a tail-light harness that went bad, and after several light bulb changes from the dealership, they finally found that it was the harness and the service manager came out and cussed me out telling me that I can't bring the car in for every little thing blah blah blah! So, the only extra coverage I got when I bought Bruno was the GAP coverage, although, I have heard horror stories about that one too.

I will have to look into the extra window coverage from my insurance, especially since I live within 2 miles of a rock quarry (sp).