Extended Warranty? Prepaid Maintenance?

[breadman]

I'll be picking up a Brabus Cabrio in the next month. The dealer sent me information regarding prepaid maintenance, as well as an extended warranty. I'm not too crazy about the prepaid maintenance, as I will be 100 miles away from the dealer and would like to do the oil changes, etc. locally. Does anybody have any thoughts about these two programs?

Joel

[jimvw57]

I would get the first maintenence done at the dealer as it may be a warranty issue if something goes wrong. I do the oil changes myself as they are not that tough to do. All the vehicles I have owned, the warranty has never done me any good. but being a relativly new breed, an extended warranty might not be a bad idea.

[mvaldes]

Unless you have much better roads and less road debris than we do, I'd vote for the wheel and tire warranty. I've already used mine for a bent rim and other posters have described similar experiences. The others really are a personal choice. Like John, I've never had any need for extended warranties that I've bought with other cars. Nonetheless, since this is a new model, I got one for my Smart.

[SuperGeek]

I'm not a gearhead - I'm a tech-head - software guy. I got the extended 5 yr warranty. I've made two claims on the extended warranty on my Ford Exploder, and it's paid for itself. I'm about to make a third claim as soon as I can establish a pattern and repeat the noise on demand.

Prepaid service is not going to help you save any money unless you don't plan ahead. Since it's usually financed, you'd pay more in loans to get the service. Maintenance on a Smart is actually cheap when annualized, especially if you change oil yourself. Mobil 1 in this engine will last a year or 10k-15k miles, so worst case you're looking at $100-200 in a year, depending on dealer. Get it done locally for 30 bucks if you supply filter - don't trust an $8/hr 'oil tech' to find a filter that 'looks right.'

[breadman]

How frequent are the recommended oil changes?

[jwight]

Originally Posted by breadman

How frequent are the recommended oil changes?

Every 10K miles; you'll find all kinds of opinions here on that, plus oil and filters. In the end the service intervals are whatever makes you happy.

[broberts]

The 5 year/50,000 extended warranty for my 2008 smart would have cost $1,800. In other words, I would be betting $1,800.00 that something will go wrong with my car in 50,000 miles that would cost more than $1,800 (plus deductibles) to fix. Often (I have heard) getting a warranty company to pay a claim can be rather difficult. I don't know that from experience, only hear-say.

I decided to underwrite my own warranty: I took $1,800 cash (from the sale of my former ride) and put in the safe in my home. If something goes wrong with the car I'll use the cash to have it repaired (no deductible)! I can then replace the money at $50.00 or $100.00 (whatever I can afford at the time) per month. If nothing goes wrong, the cash is mine to continue my warranty for as long as I own the car ... it is fully transferable to my next car (2011 smart). If something goes wrong that cost more than $1,800 - I lose!


So far with 15,000 miles on the odometer I have had no repairs.

I realize this would not fit everyone bit it works nicely for me. I don’t put it in the bank so as not to confuse it with other savings. I could open a separate account but the interest is (almost) non existent.


Bill

[zily18]

I've had to bring mine in already because the ABS light/sensor was malfunctioning, so I've been considering getting the extended warranty. But I like the idea stated above.

[chieftmc]

Originally Posted by zily18

I've had to bring mine in already because the ABS light/sensor was malfunctioning, so I've been considering getting the extended warranty. But I like the idea stated above.

IF you haven't already purchased the "extended service contract" and want it, you only have a year from the time you purchased your smart to get it from your dealer! Otherwise, you will have to use some "other" 3rd party writer

[forestacademy]

Originally Posted by jimvw57

I would get the first maintenence done at the dealer as it may be a warranty issue if something goes wrong. I do the oil changes myself as they are not that tough to do. All the vehicles I have owned, the warranty has never done me any good. but being a relativly new breed, an extended warranty might not be a bad idea.

I sure hope the waranty on your smart pays off soon . You might just ned it.