This may be more a Honda question, but has anybody gotten extended warranty prices from Dealer? Any idea what their actual cost is for five year, six year?
Thanks.

I price two.

7 years/100,000 miles was $1,500
7 Years/70,000 miles was $1,100

I did not get any because I never had problems with a Honda that gets regular maintenance which I do diligently.

One note I never heard of before. These all came with locking in the hourly labor rate for any work done that is not covered (IE maintenance). So in 2006 you are paying 2003 hourly labor. Not bad.

I have only had one car that needed major work after the warranty was up, and that was on my Isuzu Trooper II. It needed a valve job at about 55,000 miles.

That happend to be the only vehicle that I got the extended service contract on. :D

Somehow I had a feeling I was going to need it. The truck lasted 15 years all and all, so I got my money's worth

Thanks. I guess I just worry about something so new even though Honda has a great rep. I don't mind paying, but I hate paying too much.
(Okay, I lied, I do mind paying!)

If it helps, Honda has always been super about not coming out with a car till they could do it right. The passport was built by Isuzu because Honda needed something to enter into the SUV market. Once they could do their own, they stopped selling the passport.

Also Honda has been great with issues on their cars and trucks. If there was something that was an issue, they have in the past extended the warranty.

szacherau,
Was there a deductible with either plan you mentioned?
Thanks.

I did not bother with an extended warranty and you can always get it later too, if you change your mind.. but to me it is unneccessary.. i had a prelude for over 10years my integra is over 7 years old... and the only things needed on them were eventually a tire change, brakes, oil changes, wipers.. and the occassional need for gas..

really fantastic vehicles, extended warranty, you have 3 years for the most part you can reconsider in a year or two if you feel it is necessary, i don't recommend the investment!

Sideshow Bob - Sorry I do not recall a deductible but that does not mean there was not one.

Like GYPSYTDA I passed on the extended because I have had such great long term experience with Honda. My 93 Civic Si has 160,000 and has not required any repairs, just normal maintenance. I sold it to a friend about one year ago and it is still purring along.

I can't say that with the Ford, GM and Chrysler cars I and my family have owned, but in their defense only my brother still buys Chrysler so perhaps the problems I have seen are of past designs. I follow Consumer Reports to see how car manufactures records stack up.

Thanks to all for info.

Hi,

Just got a new Element today (Manual, DX --- bare Element).

The Element is still at the dealership, it needed inspection and AC. We are working on the financing.

Our credit union is offering us 4.99% The dealer offered 3.49% but then told us we -had- to get the 100K mile warranty.

So with the dealer we end up at $387 month. With the credit union, we are at $347 month (5 year loan).

The dealer's warranty is set up so that if you do not use the warranty, you get $2,200 back at the end of either 5 years or 100k miles. If you use it, you forfeit the warranty cash back. The savings between $387-$347=$40x60months = $2400.

Anyways. I was wondering if anybody is under a 100k warranty or has any advice.

Thanks
Keith

PS: I would be in heaven if the Element had a hybrid engine. In the end I settled on its utility advantages over the gas and environmental savings I could have gotten from a hybrid.

Kavetter,

Well, I can't tell you what to do, but I can throw out a few thoughts.

On the plus side for the Honda, they make great cars. I don't know anyone who has taken the extended warranty with any Honda they have ever bought. That would cover hondas going back to the late 70's early 80's.

Honda does not usually come out with a car till they have worked out all the bugs and made sure it is up to Honda's standards.

Honda in the past has also been real good in dealing with problems. They have on their own extended warranties on models with potential across the board issues.

On the down side, I once got the extended warranty, and on that car I needed it. It was not a Honda.

This is the 1st year that Honda has made the Element. That means that if they have a design flaw, this is the model year that they will find it.

The Element comes with 3 year 36,000 bumper to bumper coverage. Chances are if something is going to go wrong it will be during that time. However, if it is something major, it may cost you more than the potential savings.

Ask yourself this question, do you buy the extended waranty on your TV at home? How about your stereo? Why or why not? Yes, the Element is more expensive, but the same theory. You either buy them, or you don't.

I know that really did not help, but gives you more to think about.

In my experience with Honda, if they discover a "design flaw," they will fix your car or honor an extended warranty for a longer period of miles. Case in point: my 2001 Accord. The transmission has been ruled a "problem" with these cars (mine was replaced under the 36000 warranty), and Honda sent us a letter stating that all 2001 Accords' transmissions are now backed by a 100,000 mile warranty. This is the kind of service you should expect from American Honda.

So in my opinion, NO, you don't need to buy a 2200 dollar warranty. Hope this makes the decision easier.

I went back and forth on the warranty, in the end, decided not to get it. Dealer actually came down under $700 for 7 years, 75000 miles. Everybody that I know that has a Honda raves about their reliability. I figure if I change my mind, I'll buy one later.
Concerning financing, I picked up mine Thursday and took Honda's 2.99% financing. I thought it was nationwide, but maybe it's just on the East Coast.
Good luck with yours. You have to decide what you are comfortable with.
I love mine, even though it is now covered with snow.

It's a Honda - don't need it. many moons ago i bought a nissan w/extended warranty never used it. When I traded it in, I got back 65 bucks after spending over $1000 for it to get lower interest rate - NEVER AGAIN!!

Thanx for the advice... I ended up -not- getting the 100k warranty.

Keith

HONDACARE EXTENDED WARRANTY

We have been selling Honda Care Warranties on the S2000 site and after vjoining this site I have noticed that there have been questions as to how much they cost. These numbers represent a substantial discount. If there are any questions I can answer please e-mail me.

2003 Honda Element


$50 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $445, 5yrs/60k mi = $505, 5yrs/75k mi = $575, 5yrs/100k mi = $660,
6yrs/75k mi = $610, 6yrs/100k mi= $730, 7yrs/75k mi= $650, 7yrs/100k mi=$835.

$0 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $470, 5yrs/60k mi = $545, 5yrs/75k mi = $635, 5yrs/100k mi = $720,
6yrs/75k mi = $665, 6yrs/100k mi= $785, 7yrs/75k mi= $715, 7yrs/100k mi=$900.

Eligibility;
Up to 24 months or 24,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first. No surcharge.

Up to 36 months or 36,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $60 dollar surcharge.

Up to 42 months or 42,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $160 dollar surcharge.

If anyone wants a quote for any other Honda models please contact me.
And remember, NO sales tax no matter what state you are from.




Jeff or Gina
Balise Honda
1371 Riverdale Rd
West Springfield, MA
413-788-4097
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS
e-mail hffej@charter.net

hi...i might get an extended warranty on my E once it comes in....i have never purchased one before , and was wondering if some owners might post what you paid for yours....or what you think is fair....please be specific...thanks !!

I got the extended warranty for my EX. It is the MAP policy (6 yrs, 75,000 mi) and I purchased it for $1751. I have never had an extended before but I am going to keep my wagon for a while.

Also, I was able to negotiate a 3% interest rate on a 5 year loan with purchase of the vehicle. They got this rate from Chase Bank. Good luck!!

6 Year/100,000 miles for $1200. Worth it for piece of mind, especially on a first year car.

-jdef

Hello,

I just purchased my Honda Element last week and I love it. I opted to go for the extended warranty on the vehicle but I'm having second thoughts about it. Does anyone recommend or oppose buying the extended warranty? I usually oppose buying them, which is why I'm on the fence. Of course Honda automatically offers a 3yr 36,000 mile limited warranty.

Any opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Major Element

i would recommend that you check with your insurance agency. they might offer something as well. geico offered me a better/longer warranty for about 1/3 the cost of the honda dealer.

shawn

If you think that you ll have the car for quite a while,or if you have a contract for a long time ,I would recomend it...At this point, the labor rates are around $65-70 per Hr. Just take in consideration ,for example an A/C compressor (if you got one model with A/C) if it needs replacement ,you are looking at some high figures.(I could come exactly with figures if needed). On top of that that is MANUFACTURER S warranty ,and not an after market coverage(You must make sure that you are talking about HONDA CARE when you get it) and it has no deductibiles.On top of that there is a service contract honored at any licenced Honda dealer in the country. You should be able to get it around $ 1250 for 7yr/1ook or less for less time or mileage. Good luck.

We bought the 7 year/100,000 mile warranty....for a couple of reasons....first and foremost is that we plan on keeping this car for at least 10 years (we tend to keep all of our cars for at least this long!) plus the other major reason that we bought the warranty is that after speaking to my brother who has owned many cars (everything from a 66 Mustang to Infinities to Aucras and Hondas) he suggested that in a normal situation he wouldn't be inclined to buy an exteneded warranty on a Honda Product (due to their outstanding track record, etc) that he would however be inclined on the E since it is the first model year and their is no maintence history (like their is with the civic for example)

Keep in mind this is just my two cents....I love my E, and I want to have it for many many years....so for us it was the right decision to buy the extended warranty....we didn't go with Honda Care though....it was like $1,600....our dealer actually roecommended another Warranty (the sencond largest insurer in the country) the name is escaping me right now....but it was $1,200 and rated #1 in customer satisfaction, while Honda Care was ranked 5th.

Diane :)

Does somebody know if there is any disadvantage to buying the Honda Extended Care Warranty from a 3rd party, i.e. not the dealer that you purchased the vehicle from or not a dealer located anywhere near where you live.

I think that once you purchase the warranty, it is honored at all Honda dealerships. Is this true? If it is, can dealers give preferential treatment to those who purchase the warranty from them? I know that I can obtain a warrantly for well below what my dealer quoted me, but I am concerned that I would have difficulty getting the car serviced at my local dealer if I did that. I'm assuming that Honda might have something to say about that.

If anybody has any experience with this, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Kizzz

I bought a Honda Extended Care Warranty on a used car that I purchased at a Honda Dealer (the car was a Chevy...not a Honda) Soon after I moved to Chicago from Philadelphia and never had a problem using my extended warranty....I think over the course of the warranty I used it at 5 or 6 different dealers and never had a problem.

I know that isn't your exact question....but hope the information helps!

Diane :)

[quote:7c54d29a54="Kizzz"]Does somebody know if there is any disadvantage to buying the Honda Extended Care Warranty from a 3rd party, i.e. not the dealer that you purchased the vehicle from or not a dealer located anywhere near where you live.

I think that once you purchase the warranty, it is honored at all Honda dealerships. Is this true? If it is, can dealers give preferential treatment to those who purchase the warranty from them? I know that I can obtain a warrantly for well below what my dealer quoted me, but I am concerned that I would have difficulty getting the car serviced at my local dealer if I did that. I'm assuming that Honda might have something to say about that.

If anybody has any experience with this, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
-Kizzz[/quote:7c54d29a54]

As long as it is a true Honda Care Warranty it is good at any Honda dealer. When you say 3rd party, that usually means a 3rd party warranty disguised to be a Honda Care Warranty. With the price difference from an aftermarket company and Honda, you will save yourself a great deal of headache by buying the Honda Care. You can buy the Honda Care Warranty from any Honda dealer (doesn't have to be your original dealer).

I was wondering if anybody has purchased an extended Honda Warranty through Hondawarranty.com. I paid $1,399 for a 7 year, 100, 000 mile zero deductable on a 2003 Element EX 4WD. However, I can get the same policy through Hondawarranty.com for $1,000. Any business transactions out there with Hondawarranty.com, and if so, were you satisified? :?:

As for purchasing an Element in Alaska they don't budge off the MSRP...supply and demand up here. Supply is limited and demand is growing!

There's a Honda dealer that has posted good prices in a few posts. You could also buy from them.
Here's one of the threads:
http://www.elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=4770&highlight=hondacare#4770

You could also see if your dealer will match their price to prevent you from cancelling.

Wow--The power of the Internet...can save folks lots of $$$. Thanks for the info. Anybody out there bought one of these extended warranties through the Internet?

I just got my 5spd awd EX SOP a month ago. I purchaed the extended warranty offered by 1Source. It is $900 for 10yr/100,000 mi fully transferable or refundable. It also has a clause to replace up to three windshield over the life of the contract. Given the history with the windshields this may give my auto insurance a break. I have had their policy on two other viehicles: a '98 Neon and my wifes new VW Cabrio. Both have had a claims and were paid promptly and without hassles.

1sourceautowarranty.com

I sprung for the 7 yr./100,000 mile warranty when I purchased my Element on May 12, but I have not received anything confirming my coverage (other than the original carbon copy). Is there a packet that you get in the mail, with a warranty card and some explanation of how to use the Cross Country service for Roadside Assistance and Travel planning?

If there is, how long did it take you to get it?

Thanks for any help with this.

there is indeed. it took between 1 and 2 weeks i believe, to receive my packet.

it includes the 2 cards, your policy, and a handy window sticker :)

if it's been 2 weeks already, i'd give your sales manager a call to see what's up.

Does anyone know what the cost of a 7 yr/100,000 mile extended warranty is. And is that a negotiable number (I assume so since it is sold by the dealer). Is there an 'invoice' price to the warranty?

Thanks

I'm not sure of the invoice, but the best price I've seen is $900. There was a dealer who had a couple of posts who will sell to you at the price.

Thanks for the info. Found the post I'll call them if I can't get my dealer down to $900 or less. Also found out I can get it at Hondawarranty.com for about a grand. It will interesting to see what price the dealer offers it to me at.

I also sprung for the 7 year 100K warranty. My packet got to me in 10 days. The Honda Care sticker is nice info to have visible right at my left shoulder, but I don't like the way it looks from the outside. The clear part is cloudy. Other than that, since I've driven every vehicle I've ever owned from new until it dropped, I'm very much at ease having the warranty.

Thanks for the info! I talked to my Honda Dealer Friday night and they are supposed to find out what's going on. I will post a follow-up when I get this resolved.

I just talked to these people today. These outstanding prices are still good.

Another advantage is that, if you are from another state than Massachusetts, you do not pay sales tax.

Of course you will remember to send that in to your state to make up for that, Right?


[quote:849945ddff="hffej"]HONDACARE EXTENDED WARRANTY

We have been selling Honda Care Warranties on the S2000 site and after vjoining this site I have noticed that there have been questions as to how much they cost. These numbers represent a substantial discount. If there are any questions I can answer please e-mail me.

2003 Honda Element


$50 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $445, 5yrs/60k mi = $505, 5yrs/75k mi = $575, 5yrs/100k mi = $660,
6yrs/75k mi = $610, 6yrs/100k mi= $730, 7yrs/75k mi= $650, 7yrs/100k mi=$835.

$0 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $470, 5yrs/60k mi = $545, 5yrs/75k mi = $635, 5yrs/100k mi = $720,
6yrs/75k mi = $665, 6yrs/100k mi= $785, 7yrs/75k mi= $715, 7yrs/100k mi=$900.

Eligibility;
Up to 24 months or 24,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first. No surcharge.

Up to 36 months or 36,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $60 dollar surcharge.

Up to 42 months or 42,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $160 dollar surcharge.

If anyone wants a quote for any other Honda models please contact me.
And remember, NO sales tax no matter what state you are from.




Jeff or Gina
Balise Honda
1371 Riverdale Rd
West Springfield, MA
413-788-4097
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS
e-mail hffej@charter.net[/quote:849945ddff]

I have seen web sites offering extended Honda Warranties on the Element at discount prices in the USA. Does anyone know of a source for these warranties in Canada rather than paying full price at a dealership?

You can only get a True Honda warranty thru a Honda dealer in canada.

Hey everyone. On monday I pick up my 2003 ELement in Sunset Orange pearl ..4wd auto w/ the side airbags. I fell in love with it when I saw it at the NYC auto show as i guess a concept vehicle in 2002. If it wasn't for my current car a 1993 Bonneville breaking down on me with a bad transmission..I'd still be an admirerer. I used the internet quote system on the Honda.com site and agreed on $20122 + $250 for the side airbags +tax/tags.

Originally i was going to buy a Certified dealer demo Eternal blue for the same price w/out the side bags and w/ the certified warranty of 4yr/48k bumper to bumper and the 7yr/100k powertrain. It was one of their promotion cars used in some golf event in Vegas? Long story short the dealer (Martin Main Line Honda in Ardmore, PA) wasn't able to get the car but the Sunset orange w/ the side bags became avail today. The dealer said for an extra $449 they would give me the extra warranty 4/48 b to b and 7yr 100k and also the special certified finance rate of 4.9% as opposed to 5.9. Is it worth it? Any ideas comments etc?

That sounds like a competitive price to me, but make sure it's a genuine HONDA warranty and not a third party deal which is amost NEVER honored if you have a problem. You have until your regular HONDA warranty runs out to get the extended warranty so there is no pressure whatsoever to buy the extended warranty now if you are the least bit uncomfortable.

yelapa

From what the salesperson told me she said the car would be certified ( as in certified pre-owned?) even though the car is brand new. Either way I'll find out the details monday when i pick up the car. I ended up w/ a better rate with E Loan.com for 3.99% for 60mos. Anyone have any experience with them?

The wty you were quoted -- 4/48 and 7/100 sounds like a good price to me...as yelapa mentioned, IF it's Honda wty. As far as needing it or not, I skipped the wty on mine. Things that go wrong with a car -- to show it might be worthy of wty, imho, happen in the first year or two. So I'd just wait and see if yours if a lemon or in your case, a sweet, juicy ORANGE! :)

Steve

Hey everyone picked up my new SOP EXS 4wd Auto yesterday. I love it!!!!

My out the door price was $21416.76 (tax/tags/airbags/ext. warranty). The ext. warranty was a Honda warranty and 4yr/48 bumper to bumper and 7yr/100k powertrain. When I brought in the paperwork for E-Loan.com for the 3.99% rate they came back w/ a rate of 3.64% from Honda financial. So I went w/ the honda financing and I'm happy .

Today I took the car to Circuit City for an alarm/keyless entry. Martin Main Line Honda wanted $300 for the keyless entry alone. I ended up paying $190 installed for an Audiovox keyless entry/alarm. So far so good only a 3 hour wait and I was out the door.

I will post pics of the car soon. This site has helped me alot in my purchase and I'm glad its around as a resource and forum. Thanks everyone.

I Spoked with my Sale today again..
If we purchased the extened warranty without using it on the extened period.
we will get half of the money refund.....
this sounds good for me ..
I m think of getting the plus extened warranty 7yr /160000km for $1350
which mean 4 extra years for my E on most of the coverage.
give me some idea ..should I go for it??
have to be purchase within 60 day after the picked up date.

Hi everyone..
I Bought my SOP EXS 4wd July 8th, w/ 17 miles on the odometer. My saleswoman said for an extra $449 they would extend the 3yr/36 mos warranties to 4yr/48k bumper to bumper and 7yr/100k powertrain and that it would now be a Certified Honda. Anyways long story short was going over the paperwork and it doesn't say anywhere that i bought this extended coverage and when I asked the dealer they said it would show up when the car is in for servicing..... DOES THIS SOUND FISHY OR?????

Definitely stinks like fish...Somewhere in your contract it should indicate that you paid an extra $449 for something though. If it doesn't, you probably didn't pay for it, but you also probably didn't get it. I'll bet if you try to buy it as an add on, it'll cost you $800. Don't buy it if it's more than $449!

The Genuine Honda Warranty I had to sign actually said Honda all over it.

Today I called and left a message to the dealer I bought my Element from with no response. I ended up calling Honda Care itself. They said I do have the extended warranty and they will be sending me a card and a warranty booklet. What the dealer did was Certify my car as Certified Pre-owned even though I did buy it brand new w/ 17miles. But for the extra $449 my car is covered for 4yrs/48k bumper to bumper and 7yrs/100k powertrain. Whew what a relief....!!!

what is the best type of extended waranty to get and where should I get it ??

thanks

theo1759@aol.com

I just purchased a Hondacare policy which compares quite favorably with most third party exclusionary policies through the folks listed below. They were still honoring the prices which they posted on this site quite a while back. These prices are fantastic. While I am not ordinarily inclined to purchase these kinds of warranties, the idea of 7 yr/75K coverage for $100 per year was too good to resist.


Here's a reprint of their original post:

Originally posted by hffej
HONDACARE EXTENDED WARRANTY

We have been selling Honda Care Warranties on the S2000 site and after vjoining this site I have noticed that there have been questions as to how much they cost. These numbers represent a substantial discount. If there are any questions I can answer please e-mail me.

2003 Honda Element


$50 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $445, 5yrs/60k mi = $505, 5yrs/75k mi = $575, 5yrs/100k mi = $660,
6yrs/75k mi = $610, 6yrs/100k mi= $730, 7yrs/75k mi= $650, 7yrs/100k mi=$835.

$0 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $470, 5yrs/60k mi = $545, 5yrs/75k mi = $635, 5yrs/100k mi = $720,
6yrs/75k mi = $665, 6yrs/100k mi= $785, 7yrs/75k mi= $715, 7yrs/100k mi=$900.

Eligibility;
Up to 24 months or 24,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first. No surcharge.

Up to 36 months or 36,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $60 dollar surcharge.

Up to 42 months or 42,000 miles from original registration date, whichever comes first, there is a $160 dollar surcharge.

If anyone wants a quote for any other Honda models please contact me.
And remember, NO sales tax no matter what state you are from.




Jeff or Gina
Balise Honda
1371 Riverdale Rd
West Springfield, MA
413-788-4097
NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS
e-mail hffej@charter.net

[quote:a21ae291be="Dax"]I just purchased a Hondacare policy which compares quite favorably with most third party exclusionary policies through the folks listed below. They were still honoring the prices which they posted on this site quite a while back. These prices are fantastic. While I am not ordinarily inclined to purchase these kinds of warranties, the idea of 7 yr/75K coverage for $100 per year was too good to resist.
[...]
2003 Honda Element


$50 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $445, 5yrs/60k mi = $505, 5yrs/75k mi = $575, 5yrs/100k mi = $660,
6yrs/75k mi = $610, 6yrs/100k mi= $730, 7yrs/75k mi= $650, 7yrs/100k mi=$835.

$0 Deductible Policy;
4yrs/60k mi = $470, 5yrs/60k mi = $545, 5yrs/75k mi = $635, 5yrs/100k mi = $720,
6yrs/75k mi = $665, 6yrs/100k mi= $785, 7yrs/75k mi= $715, 7yrs/100k mi=$900.

[/quote:a21ae291be]

This seems to be about half the going rate of the offer at the dealership where I bought my Element. This is the exact same warranty? No catch?

-brendan

For our GG Element we went with the Honda Care package: 7 yr / 100K for a greatly reduced price from our dealer.

For our other non-honda car, we went with warranty gold on the net. Sadly they are in default situation at this point so we wasted close to $1k.

Be careful, but you can't hardly miss with the Honda package. Obviously we love our GG element.

Yes, it is quite genuine. I was somewhat skeptical at first as well. However, I received my warranty, documentation, and cards directly from Hondacare (and I called to verify) and everything seems very much in order.

All in all, we're very happy!

Dax

I am about to buy a new Element and I am not sure if I should get the extended warranty. I really don't want to spend the extra money. So who has it and who does not? What made you decide?

Naw, it's not worth it. I bought two Hondas this year and didn't get it for either. They're Hondas after all. If you really need the added security, Linus, get the warranty online. Read this before buying: www.carbuyingtips.com They have some decent warranty companies that the dealer will honor.

I was stupid enough to buy three extended warranties for three new cars over the years. All three were never used, and thus a waste of money. So economically, and I believe Consumer Reports agrees with this, they are a bad investment. However, if having one makes you sleep better then go for it.

I think having that $1,000 - $1,500 in the bank for REAL emergencies is a much better idea.

I opted not to purchase the E.W. when I bought my E. In fact, I got zero pressure from my dealer to do so. I'll wait until there is a month remaining on the current warranty if there are issues with the E I'll purchase it then.

I wasn't going to but my other half, who is making the other half of the car payments, felt it was a good idea. Kinda like insurance, I have been paying that for 5 years without using it... until I rolled my CR-V. :oops:
It also means that I can shop around for service, as I am not tied to the dealer for the extra warranty they offer. (I suppose I was always free to do this but it didn’t seem prudent with my last car, which was my first new car.)
And that if I do sell my car with in the seven years, what is left on the warranty will raise the resale value.

Anyway as has been mentioned it is a matter of personal preference. If it makes you feel better in your gut, go for it. Otherwise I am sure you can think of lots of good things to spend that $1,500 on.
8)

[quote:6fa85ddc8d=" "]I opted not to purchase the E.W. when I bought my E. In fact, I got zero pressure from my dealer to do so. I'll wait until there is a month remaining on the current warranty if there are issues with the E I'll purchase it then.[/quote:6fa85ddc8d]

The only problems with that approach (as I understand it) are that A) the extended warranty will cost more then, and B) you'll have to pay for it in a lump sum as opposed to adding it to the purchase price and making a slightly higher monthly payment.

I didn't get the extended warranty because, as someone else pointed out, it's a Honda. Their reliability is among the highest in the industry, so I'm banking on the fact that the Element ought to run essentially trouble-free for AT LEAST 70,000 mi, making the extended warranty unnecessary.

It might cost more then, only if the standard price goes up. In fact, elsewhere on the board, there's a link to a company selling Honda's Official Extended Warranty for sub-$1000 right now.

As long as your car is within the standard warranty period and properly maintained, you can add it.

-brendan

I decided to get the Extended Warranty. I am very happy I did due to the way my E will be driven.

In the manual, high stress is defined as trips less than 5 miles daily. This is me, and then some.

I live on the top of Potrero Hill and work at the bottom. My commute is less than 1 mile, and it consists of all downhill (hard braking) to work, and all uphill, from work.

In addition, I would say that basic driving around San Francisco would be considered more than normal stress on the car.

I went with an unusual, but practical solution for my needs. I got the 84 month/50,000 mile warranty. It only added $19 to my payment. I have averaged 3500 miles/year in the last 3 years, so I the mileage is not an issue, it is the longevity.

my 2 cents.

-eric

I wasn't going to purchase the EW but when I was haggling with the dealer over the price he threw it in for free. I think that it would have cost 1500 dollars. Seems like a decent extended warranty, Six years 75,000 miles bumper to bumper coverage..
I haven't needed it yet, but being that this is the first year of production for the element, you never know

I would never buy an extended warrenty on a Honda. A waste of money. A chrysler, GM, or Ford, now that is another story.

Like most everything this is personal preference. Normally I do not buy extended warranties but I did in this case for a couple of reasons. The 7yr, 100,000 mi. warranty negotiated separately at $850($15.50 extra per month for total cost of $930 pd over 5 yrs). I will in a year turn the E over to my son who will be a new driver. While I will see that E is properly maintained I know that with his inexperience (and being a teenager) he will be hard on the vehicle thereby increasing chances for problems down the road. Plan A is for him to drive the E through the remainder of high school and take to college and the E would be covered during this time. Plan B is that it can't hurt resale value if I sell in 2-5 yrs.

Personal preference, plain and simple.

Me, I did my research and like others have mentioned, this is a Honda. The Element engine and trasmission is borrowed from the proven CRV. I owned a 88 CRX Si that had 330,000+ miles; it could have gone further too but a drunk driver rammed into it while it was parked in front of my parents' house while I was away on vacation. Reliability is hardly ever a question with Hondas.

I purchased my car through my credit union and Autoland and they did offer me an extended warranty for only $550. The great thing about it is that I don't have to purchase the warranty now, I have until the car hits 10K. I told myself that if the car didn't have any issues and didn't give me any bad vibes then I'd pass on the E.W. Almost 6K on my E and so far so great, not one issue, nada. I'll probably take my E into a dealer at 9,500 miles for the routine 10K service, if all goes well and no problems are found then I will keep my $550 in my pocket.

I got the EW for the towing and rental car coverage. Normally i carry it on my insurance but i told them the price of the insurance over 5 years and they beat that price by 200 dollars, I think around 450 or something.

I think my towing and rental car insurance option is $6 a year. Fizzy, you need to move off the wacky east coast!

Hey im only 24 with three motorcycles, and element, and a sprots car. Mybe i just sound like a risk lol.

Thanks everyone! When I finally bought my E I decided to not go with the EW. I can always pick it up later if i really think I need it. In the end it is a Honda after all.

this was the first E-warrenty i've purchased and what closed the deal for me was that if you don't use it - you get your money back at end of term!

I had one of those get-all-your-money-back deals but ended up trading in the car one year before the warranty five-year period was up! So only get a prorata back!

Oh the humanity!

If you really want one, your insurance company probably offers one. My insurance is with Geico and when I got the quote for my new Element, they offered it for $39 for each 6 months.

Extended warranties are sold like insurance,and your dealer is probably reselling a warranty created by a company that specializes in them. They are a high margin item. Sometimes the companies that create the warranties go out of business or nobody will honor them. They also consider a lot of the more common problems like clutches and brakes to be "wear" items that are not covered. Ask a lot of questions!

$1000 or $1500 can be a lot of money to cover you from when the warranty ends to when the extended warranty ends, and can have a deductable, too.

I haven't picked it up from the dealer yet, but (if I recall correctly) the regular warranty is 3 years or 36,000 miles and my dealer increases that to 5 years 50,000 if you do your maintenance there, so there is much left for an extended warranty to cover.

best,

I got the extended warranty, with Honda Cares (7 yrs. 75,000) for $900, down from $1500 originally. I already used it to fix a flat tire and they were at my house in 15 minutes. The driver said to never get rid of the Honda Care service as he also works for AAA and Honda Care gets trucks out much, much faster than AAA. I can also get "trip tiks" and other benefits so I can now cancel my preferred AAA membership that was about 85.00 a year.

What do you all think of the Honda Plus protection plans? It can extend the Honda 3yr 60000Km warranty to 7yrs 160000km. Covers all the same stuff as the standard warranty just longer.

It's a $1400 option at my dealership. Kind of expensive but is it worth it for piece of mind if something goes on the vehicle?

What do you all think of the Honda Plus protection plans? It can extend the Honda 3yr 60000Km warranty to 7yrs 160000km. Covers all the same stuff as the standard warranty just longer.

It's a $1400 option at my dealership. Kind of expensive but is it worth it for piece of mind if something goes on the vehicle?

Is that $1400US or $1400Cdn? Ah, right, Honda-Plus is their Canadian offering.

Ok, I'm about to go after this question as if I (in the US) were asking it, but mostly because I'm curious for myself. Note that I'm recommending this *approach* for you, not the exact information I found, since it's different for the US.

My understanding from earlier threads is that the US version, Honda Care, with similar contract terms lists at $1500US, but can be had for about ~$800-900 or so. For example, I did a search for Honda-Care (the dash is important) on google. The 3rd link brought up:

http://www.curryhondacare.com/

I input my car's data and it came back with an offer of $1075 for 7y/100000m/$0 deductable or $1010 for 7y/100000m/$50 deductable.

I've heard of slightly better prices, but that's ~70% of what my dealer wanted to charge so it sounds good. Plus, it seems to cover the need for something like AAA as well.

According to the site, Honda Care (in the US) gives:

Comprehensive Component Coverage:
Drivetrain - Electronics - Chassis - Heating/Cooling - Genuine Honda Dealer-Installed Options

o 24-hour roadside assistance
o Towing
o Lock-out service
o Battery jump-start
o Tire change
o Fuel delivery

CONCIERGE EMERGENCY SERVICE
o Urgent message relay
o Emergency cash advance
o Emergency airline tickets
o 24-hour weather information
o Special emergency assistance
o Insurance claim assistance
o Auto glass replacement referral
o Shipment of personal replacement items

Looking at the coverage:

http://www.curryhondacare.com/cov.cfm

It appears that Honda Care covers everything except for things that are meant to wear out and/or things that might be effected by the environment (paint, glass, weatherstripping, paneling, etc.), other related complaints (noises) and a few others items. Oh well, was hoping beyond hope for glass coverage. :)

Try some google searches for Honda-Plus to see if you can find a better deal online. If so, print it out and bring it in, your dealer might match/beat it...

insomiacally yours,
-brendan

PS - "Auto glass replacement REFERRAL????" ouch. :)

Heh. I just got email from that site indicating if I purchased the warranty before 2/28, I could take another $90 off. Nice.

Hmmm.

-brendan

So what are you saying Brendan? A good thing or not?

Seems like a good idea despite the price. This is my first new car and I obviously don't want to get take but I've also owned a lot of vehicles in the past, 2 of which needed major repairs but of course I never owned a vehicle that wasn't at least 10 years old. :shock:

So what are you saying Brendan? A good thing or not?

Oh. Ahem. :)

Summary: it's a good thing but shop around for the best price, you don't have to get it through your dealer.

Ok. Can't help commenting more, though...

Just make sure you get the certified Honda Plus warranty/plan and not a 3rd party one.

As I said in my previous post, I'd use the net to look around for people selling it at discount, to see if you can get it for $1200Cdn or less (guessing).

Note that (at least in the US, probably in Canada) you can always add on the warranty anytime before before the original 3/60000km warranty expires - the price will likely be very similar in 2 years. However, getting it earlier gives you access to the roadside assistance and other perks earlier.

It seems to me if you're likely to pay for something like Allstate Motor Club and/or AAA (or whatever the Canadian version is) anyway, getting the Honda Plus/Care warranty makes a lot more sense since those features are rolled into it already.

Arguments against:

Other people have said: hey it's a honda, it's unlikely to have problems. That's a valid point. On the other hand part of what that >$1000Cdn you're paying is for peace of mind during years 4-7 and when driving out of town any year.

And finally: if you total the car substantially before the 7 years/160000km expire, you've thrown the warranty away.

...

So, if you're a good defensive driver (and not very unlucky), and concerned about getting stranded or early wear on covered parts, it's for you. :)

-brendan

PS - oh and finally, I believe the warranty is transferrable if you sell the car. Might be a good selling point if you end up having to sell it in the years before it expires.

Waste of money. All extended warranties are a waste of money. Better to "self insure" for future problems, which are likely not to happen anyway.

Life is full of risks, some you insure for, most you don't. This is one that is not worth the cost.

I did opt for Honda Canada's extended warranty. I think the dealer dropped the price to just over $1200. It was the roadside assistance that sealed the deal for me. I figure a CAA membership would cost me approx $100 per year for the 7 years offered under Honda Plus. This only left approx $500 for peace of mind for the first seven years of owning my first new car. As for adding it on later, I think the rules are diifferent in Canada. I was told that Honda Plus could only be added within 60 days of taking delivery.

Does anyone know any deals out there for extended warranty on my 5 months old, 3000miles Element ex 4wd. So far I couldn't get anything less than $900 for 6 yrs, 100000K with Hondacare. Please advise

$900 seems about right for internet-sales of the 7 years, 100,000 miles with low/no deductable. Not sure if other people have seen it offerred lower...

-brendan

Could you please give me the website where you find this deal. Thanks

A waste of money, but if it makes you sleep better at night. Remember, it's a Honda!

Does Edmunds.com mention something about buying extended warranties and what to look for in them?

:shock: Slug

[quote:7f3942dcd2=" "]A waste of money, but if it makes you sleep better at night. Remember, it's a Honda![/quote:7f3942dcd2]

ditto.. i never had to ever use an warranty period on a honda.. my prelude was 10 years old when i replaced it..and never needed anything that would be warranty related (just oil changes, tires, brakes and belts)

My integra is 8 years old, and same case there..

extended warranties are a waste of money.. i gotta see what i can find on those.. hang on a sec, let me see if i can find something quickly..

ok here is the edmunds info:
http://edmunds.com/advice/warranties/articles/47681/article.html?tid=edmunds.a.landing.warranty..2.*

if you must go with one, they do differ so what might be cheaper might be for a reason.. so do think on these topics: (from edmunds)

In essence, an extended warranty is an insurance policy on your vehicle, a safeguard against expensive, unforeseen repairs. The term extended warranty is actually a misnomer, since, in the strictest sense of the word, these aren't warranties at all. Like warranties, they cover repairs and/or regular maintenance for an agreed-upon period of time. True warranties, though, are included in the price of the product; extended warranties are really service contracts, since they cost extra and are sold separately.

Look at what your included vehicle warranty covers, don't pay twice for the same thing.(time frame & items)
Look at the reliability record of your vehicle (NOTE: this is a honda which is rated no less the better then average for reliability!)
Take a good look at the underwriter of the company.. will they actually pay? Some are famous for not paying!
Fully investigate a policy's deductible before signing on the dotted line. Consider not only its amount, but also whether it's per visit or per repair
Look at where repairs can be done, they may restrict where you can take your vehicle to be covered.
Does the contract cover breakdown as well as wear and tear? Sometimes it may only cover parts but not the service, etc..
Some require you pay, and they will eventually pay you back, after you submit the claim.
Good luck with whichever choice you make!

Oh, and whatever you do: don't buy a 3rd party extended warranty. Buy the Honda one.

-brendan

And if you want to buy a Honda Care warranty over the internet, check out www.currahondacare.com. They are currently offering a 7yr, 75k mi., $0 deductible warranty for the Element for $890.

They also run specials for $90 off that price as well.

Oops! That should have been www.curryhondacare.com

Although I'm sure down in Georgia (where one of their dealerships is based) they DO pronounce it Curra' Honda ;-)

[quote:3787483dad=" "]And if you want to buy a Honda Care warranty over the internet, check out www.currahondacare.com. They are currently offering a 7yr, 75k mi., $0 deductible warranty for the Element for $890.

They also run specials for $90 off that price as well.[/quote:3787483dad]

And remember, that includes services similar to AAA (do your own comparison though, it's not exactly the same) for all 7 years or 75k miles.

-brendan

I've had both a Civic and an Accord over the years, and am going to pull the trigger on an E - perhaps this week. In all cases, I think the warranty is a waste of money purely from a reliability perspective and I didn't have one on my other Hondas. But I'll probably get one on the E via the web. I just sold an Audi A4 that had an Audi-backed Certified extended warranty, and it made it much easier to sell in that people are apprehensive to drop close to 20K for a used car out of the paper. If you keep the E for 10 years, then don't bother, but I would be far more interested in buying a 6 year old, 90K mile E that had a warranty compared to one that didn't. Its peace of mind, a roadside assistance service ($50/year AAA), and it can't hurt resale if you ever think you'll sell the E privately in the next 7 years. So I doubt you spend $900 between years 3 and 7 on maintenance, but its not a bad call given the other benefits.

When I was picking up my E last Friday, I was offered a 7yr - 100,000 mile ext warranty for $950 or so. I declined. Should I want to purchase it, is it something that may be purchased after some time has passed? Is it doscounted anywhere? How many have purchased such a warranty? Thanks!

Tom

That is not a bad price for the extended warranty. Mine was offered for $1,150.00.

Yes, you can buy the warranty anytime, the implication is that the more time you let pass or the more miles you put in your vehicle, the higher is going to be the quote. in http://www.curryhondacare.com/ there is a simple application that calculates and quotes how much you would pay depending of these factors. This website is not the official Honda Care service, is just another dealership re-selling warranty

Following is a copy of e-mails I received from a Honda Dealer offering the 7 year-100,000 mi NO DEDUCTIBLE for $900.00



> 7 years 100,000 miles NO DEDUCTIBLE is $ 900.

Jeff
>
> From: "Glenn Noblin" <gnoblin1@midsouth.rr.com>
> Date: 2004/03/09 Tue AM 06:25:01 GMT
> To: <hffej@charter.net>
> Subject: Re: Re:
>
> My original message requested your price for Honda Care Extended Warranty--7
> years 100,000 miles NO DEDUCTIBLE. Yes I am enjoying my Element, hanks.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <hffej@charter.net>
> To: "Glenn Noblin" <gnoblin1@midsouth.rr.com>
> Sent: Monday, March 08, 2004 6:52 PM
> Subject: Re:
>
>
> >
> > > Hi Glenn,
> > Let me know if I can help. I hope you are enjoying your new Element.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Jeff
> > > From: "Glenn Noblin" <gnoblin1@midsouth.rr.com>
> > > Date: 2004/03/02 Tue AM 03:03:36 GMT
> > > To: <hffej@charter.net>
> > >
> > > Addendum to previous message. I found your post on the Honda Element
> Owners forum.
> > >
> > > Glenn Noblin
> > >
> >
>
>

Just a general recommendation:

Try to obfuscate any email addresses you post to public forums. Like it or not, spammers cast a wide net (pun!) on the net looking for valid email addresses.

For example, if I were to post my email address I'd post it as:

b-r-e-n-d-a-n---at---b-r-e-n-d-a-n---period---o-r-g

(remove all dashes and substitutes for the obvious bits)

Or something similar.

-brendan

Extended warranties are a waste of money. When was the last time you spent $1,000 or more repairing your car? I did once on a 1986 Isuzu Turbo Diesel that burned a main bearing out. No extended warranty on that one but I did have extended warranties on 3 other cars and never used them. So my odds are not in favor of them.

I've used ext warranties on most my recent cars. Remember you don't have use the entire thing ($900-$1000) all at once! Over a 7 year period it would be very possible to have several components go bad (let's say a fuel pump, a starter, and some suspension problem for instance). All the components and especially the service hours could easily recoup your money. It's not a sure bet, ofcourse.
But it also really helps when selling the car within the 7 years.

Don M.

Extended warranties are a waste of money. When was the last time you spent $1,000 or more repairing your car?
...not sure myself, but FWIW, when I was looking for my Element, one dealer offered a 100,000 mile/unlimited time warranty. I countered with: "Instead of the 100k warranty, how about an accessory or two?" He said: "Sorry, can't do that." Hmm... if it's worth something, then a couple of accessories should have been ok, huh? Or am I wrong... I often am. :?
I do need to get out more. :)



8)

You also get roadside assistance which has some value. Does that kick in at the end of the warranty, or is the roadside assistance available for the full 7 years/100,000?

With the reputed reliability of Honda we are, of course talking something totally different. Maybe you wouldn't have the frequency of trouble with them but, I can attest that over the course of the time that I have owned my current car, 14yrs / 80,000 miles, I have EASILLY dumped several grand on bad brakes, broken brake cables twice, power stearing pump twice, transmission ($1,500 alone at about 30,000 miles) Air Conditioning repairs about 3 times, Fuel Injectors were 800+ for 6 and possibly again now, Water Pump, replacement of half of my cooling system due to corrosion of pipes, Oil Leakes 2 times, My alloy wheels got yellow spots a week before my warrantee ran out Chevy replaced a couple of them free. Had that happened a week later we could be talking another few hundred. and it goes on and on and on. Much of that was inside of about 10 years. Of course, some of the brake stuff and I don't know what else might not have been covered by an extended warrantee. I do know though that in the first 7 years that I owned my car I would have easilly tallied up $900 worth of covered repairs. Seems after I hit the end of my warrentee at, I think it was 30,000 miles, every time I took my car in for something it was a $600 to $800 bill. Of course, now it is getting worse and worse. Hopefully I can have an E by end of next week.

Incidentally, I am thinking more of 7/75,000. I figure, based on the amount of driving I do, I probably wouldn't hit 100,000 in 7 years. I understand it is whatever comes first so I will probably not even hit 75,000 before I hit 7 years. Figuring that I am at 80,000 on my 14 year old car now. I was told that is an option to save a little. Also, unless I am wrong, you have some time after you buy your car to decide on it. If the salesman can give me the right price on it I might take it. Othewise I will look around a little. It was relayed to me, I don't know how good the advice is, if you do go for an extended warrantee, go for the manufacturer one. Some of the third party warrantees are a scam and the hassles you have to go through to file a claim or get work approved isn't worth it???? .

WmAS1960 (Bill)

Okay, I will change my extreme position on extended warranties (i.e., they're a waste of money) for those buying General Motors products.

YES! You must have the longest, most extensive extended warranty you can find if you are buying a GM product. Preferrably several warranties! And for good measure, buy more than one of the cars or trucks at the same time for a backup.

However, if you're buying a Honda, it's a waste of money.

BTW, a 100,000 extended warranty is actually a 64,000 mile extended warranty as you get the first 36,000 for free.

We just got our Elly at Lehigh Valley Honda in Allentown, PA. We got the Extended warranty of 6years/100k miles. It was around $850. Here's the good part. If we don't use it, we get our money back. So there is a gamble involved. If it needs something and the bill is $300, do we pay it or put on the warranty? If we don't use it, they just have our money for 6 years, making interest.

Whatever the case, I thought it was a different twist on the warranty part.

my 2¢ on the extended warranty question is: it's a waste of money, UNLESS you are CERTAIN you will be keeping your vehicle for longer than three years or 36k miles. i never do, so i never buy one. i know they make the argument that it adds to the resale value, but i'm sorry, NOT a thousand bucks worth.

since technology is always advancing, new models are always coming to market and existing models are always being improved, i would rather drive something new or improved (like an E with a V6!) within or by the three year mark.

We plan on keeping the Element long term. Also, if we do sell, it's transferable. I also think if we sell the car, we can cancel prematurely, and it will be pro-rated.

joeb: some of us like to lose the car payment for a bit. ;)

Good point made if you trade often and don't intend to keep for more than 3 years or 36,000 miles.

I wrote another post earlier but it got truncated. Tried to edit it but couldn't get it to go through. I deleted it and gave up.

Basically one point I tried to make though was that first people need to decide if they will be puting time on the car or mileage. If mileage it might be worth while to get the warantee or even go as much as 100,000. I know some people who, in short periods of times, have to put lots of miles on their cars. Like friends in Wisconsin who have to go 20 miles to get to a mall or 45 miles each way to work or for a good night out. I am lucky on the other hand that there is a lot of public transportation here and If I want to go to museums or theaters or clubs in the city I can take the train and be there in 35 minutes with all the stops. I don't have to drive it. I have 3 major malls within about 3 to 5 miles from me and I only need to go a few miles for most of my photo or video jobs. I might have to go 45 miles to the Riverboats or about 100 miles when I do a trip to Wisconsin. Thus I figure I won't go through 75,000 miles in 7 years. Right now have a 14 year old car with only 80,000 miles on it. Based on the last car, I figure I probably will keep the car for 5 or 7 years but figure I can save by getting a warantee for 7/75,000. I believe that is one HONDA warantee option. Never know though.

If you don't plan to drive 36,000 miles or keep a car for 3 years I agree, it probably doesn't mean much to buy the warantee. I agree, you probably won't get the original cost back on your trade.

You could, as I understand wait till just before you roll 36,000 or 3 years to buy the warantee. I think someone said the price goes up though. For some, I suppose it could make sense to wait.


WmAS1960 (Bill)

$900 for a 7 year, 1000,000 mi, No Deductable Honda Care Warranty at:

hffej@charter.net

When I pick up my Element on Saturday from the dealers, I will need to make a decision on an extended warranty.

Unlike buying a vehicle, there is very little opportunity to compare prices and terms. So I turn to your experences.

Here are my questions:

1. Does it pay to buy a extended warranty at time of purchase?

2. What terms and deductables do you recommend? Have you pruchased?

3. What should I expect to pay? I don't want to get taken on the warranty after negotiating the price of the car.

Your experiences and suggestions, as always, are welcomed.

Thanks

There are really 2 camps on extended warranty; those who believe its a huge waste of money, and those who like the peace of mind and predictability of their repair costs. Both have valid points. So, assuming you are the type that wants the warranty, you need not worry about making the decision when you buy. Several Honda dealers sell Hondcare warranties at any time during the 3 year/36,000 mile period, so if your dealer throws out a quote and wants a decision right away before you have time for research, I would simply pass. If you want to get a ballpark idea on aftermarket prices, look at something like http://www.curryhondacare.com . I have not yet purchased a warranty, not do I have any experience with Curry, but I've seen their name mentioned so I bookmarked the site.

When I bought my E, the dealer offered me a "great deal" on an extended 3rd party warranty and, naturally, that great deal was only good for the few moments I was in the paperwork phase of the deal. I passed, but later did some web searches for the company he was pushing. Nothing besides a somewhat unrelated link to the parent company, and that certainly did not inspire a great deal of confidence. I found it odd that my dealer didn't say a thing about Hondacare; obviously the kickback/incentive from the company they were pushing were too good to offer the Honda product.

So, for what its worth, I would only consider a Hondacare quote from your dealer that was better than the Curry Honda quote. While there is a premium associated with buying the warranty in years 2 and 3, you have the whole first year to make up your mind, rather than succumbing to the dealer's well-rehearsed warranty pitch.

Have fun with your new E!

Mike

I bought the 7 year, 100,000 mile Honda Care warranty after a dealer met my price ($1K).

If 7 years or 100,000 miles pass without using the warranty, I'll be happy I had such a trouble-free car and think of the $250/year as insurance. If you don't have an accident, you don't get your auto insurance premium back, right? But all it takes is one transmission failure (for example) at 99,000 miles, which certainly =could= happen, even on a Honda, and the warranty will have paid for itself. It helps me sleep easier.

Oh, and the warranty is transferable when you sell the car, but I plan to keep my E for a long time and wouldn't have purchased the contract otherwise.

Something to consider if you use GEICO insurance (other insurance companies may offer this too, but I am not positive).

GEICO offers on new cars a warranty that you pay for as you go. For the E, I am paying $32 extra for each 6 month renewal period. Some features:

- $50 deductible on glass replacement (nice!)

- $0 deductible if glass can be repaired vs. replaced (I used this 5 times on my truck and saved $55 a pop - cannot see the cracks after repair. GEICO arranges everything. Any crack smaller then a dollar bill can be repaired while keeping the glass integrity intact.)

- Just about everything an extended warranty would cover except with a $200 deductible.

- Towing and road services similar to AAA.

- You can cancel at anytime but cannot restart it after cancelling.

- You must cancel at 7 years or 100,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Try and get it with the purchase of the car. Hold your ground and see if they will meet your price on it. Sometimes, depending on the dealer, you can get them to add it in to get you to buy the car. They won't give it to you for free but they might come down a bit on it. Maybe one reason that my dealer didn't come down as much as I would have liked was that I may have telegraphed that I would buy the car without it. Their price on the car was pretty good before I asked if they could work the warrantee in.

Otherwise, don't think that you have to get it at the time of purchase. You have time to get it later although at certain points the price might go up. Say you wait 3 years and it is right before the base warrantee expires they might have a higher price for it. So, sooner is better but immediate is not necessary, if that makes sense.

I went with 7/75,000 because with my past car owning experiences I have had a car for 7 years before I ever put 75,000 miles on it. My 90 Chevy Lumina for instance, that I am now getting rid of. 13.5 years and 80,000 miles on it. So, there is no value, for me and the driving I do, to go to 100,000 miles. In my case I just consider that I am getting a 7 year warrantee. When I tried to get the warrantee with the car, they wouldn't come down enough. Their next response was to go 6/65,000(?), does that sound right? I figured that for the small amount of savings and the fact that their price there would still not meet my budget, that such a warrantee and the additional coverage wouldn't have been worth the money. I knew that I could get the 7/75,000 on the internet at Curry Honda Care for about $835, still less than the quote for the 6/65,000, so I passed on the 900 something that they wanted for the 7/75,000.

When I went back to pick up the car and sign the papers the business manager saw the notes on the quotes about the warrantee and asked where that stood. I told them that the price that they were firm on would blow my budget by over $300 so I was going to pass on it. He did another calculation and suggested that he would split the difference with me and came down another, little more than $150. Now being less than I knew I could get it for elsewhere and only killing the budget by about $125 I went ahead and agreed to that.

Some have said that they could have gotten better by waiting or that my negotiating skills might have been week. That there is a lot of profit in there for the dealer and that I should have been able to get them to come down a little more. I just figured that I was getting a good deal for the car to begin with, Maybe as much as $300 under invoice, (hard to really know because the sale was a lump sum and there were accessories and labor involved in it.), so, I could afford to go a little more there. I didn't loose any sleep over it.

I looked at the Curry Honda site out of curiosity. To get the pricing page for a warranty, one enters an e-mail address so they can send promotional info to you (not recommended for your main e-mail account). Anyway, I just received an e-mail from Curry with a promotional code for $90 off until 7/31. The code is 34549. Using this discount, it looks like a 7/100K zero deductible could be purchased for $1025 and a $50 deductible for $955. I won't be taking advantage of the offer now, but I have the suspicion there is a new offer made available as soon as the old one expires.

My opinion, and also that of Consumer Reports I believe, is: A Big Fat Waste of Money.

The 3yr/36,000 will cover all the initial breaking-in things rather nicely, so that's not a problem and it's free.

So then it's an issue of what will happen in the additional period (4 years/64,000 miles)? My guess is probably nothing. This is a Honda and not a Chevy, for starts. So you're buying insurance to cover the very small chance that repairs costings more than $1,000 or so will be incurred.

I had three extended warranties over the years and never used one of them, and two of the vehicles were kept for eight years. I did get $150 back on the last $1,200 warranty when I sold the car after four years! Yippee!

Of course, for those who like to over-insure with third parties, rather than self-insure, then go for it and sleep well at night. I came to the conclusion after my experiences and Consumer Reports. that high-deductible insurance is for major disasters, like your house burning down or you needing a new heart, and car repairs are not in those categories.

And, just like individual horror stories of someone buying non-deductible car insurance then getting totalled the next day are the exception, so is a story of a widow on social security needing to buy a $4000 transmission in a four-year old car. All very interesting but not revelant as it doesn't tell us what is happening to the entire group of tranmission owners, and without that information buying extended warranty insurance is just an expensive crap shoot.

Life is full of risk, and we can buy insurance for some of that risk, or not.

My opinion, and also that of Consumer Reports I believe, is: A Big Fat Waste of Money.
I agree with that one too!

[quote]My opinion, and also that of Consumer Reports I believe, is: A Big Fat Waste of Money.
I agree with that one too![/quote:6c9e3679a5]

I'll "third" that motion...or notion...especially with a Honda.

In forty years of car ownership, I've never had a car that would have benefited from an extended warranty. Either the standard warranty has covered the problem, the out of pocket costs were less than the cost of the warranty, or the problem occurrred well after 100k miles. If you still think you MUST have an extended warranty, only go with official Honda coverage. If I were you, I wouldn't touch an extended warranty from an unknown third party (Acme Extend-a-Care; Wishful Warranty Co., LLC; etc.). Who knows if they'll even be around in a couple of years, let alone provide the coverage you thought you had.

I have never owned a HONDA before so I don't know what will happen down the road. Big Foot might be right with the issue of HONDA vs. Chevy. That I don't know though.

I took my previous experience into consideration though. I think everyone needs to think a little about certain things before they dive into an Extended Warrantee. First as was mentioned by Bald Eagle, I would only go with the HONDA warrantee. That is what I got. HONDA Care 7/75,000. No Deductable. Along with this warrantee there are certain Auto Club type features that might come in handy. Like Towing coverage and assistance if you should be stranded somewhere more than a certain distance from home. Loaners for when you have service that is needed. Some of these added expenses can add up over time. Consider going to Enterprise and having to rent a car for 3 or 4 days? That could be a couple hundred there. Anyways, I paid about $820 for the 7/75,000. From my experience I know I will exceed 7 years before 75,000 miles so there wasn't any value in going with the original 100,000 warrantee that they tried to sell me for over $1,000. So, I am looking at 7 years of coverage. What it comes down to me is, even if not for serious major issues, what will it cost me in 4 years, (the difference between 3 years and 7 years), to keep my car on the road. Like I have said in a couple other threads, a power stearing pump or a single AC issue could exceed the $820 in itself, not to mention the cost of renting a car for a day or two for another $100 while I wait to get the car back.

So, you have to be careful not to be taken for too much. Like I have said a few times on this issue, you don't have to buy the warrantee when you buy the car. You can buy up to the end of the standard warrantee. If the dealer won't give you a fair price hold your ground and go without it. Look around and buy later if you decide to. I basically did this. I stood my ground and wouldn't go for the $950(???) 7/75,000 warrantee. It wasn't until they came down at signing that I took the coverage. I probably paid more than I should have but still feel that as flawless as a HONDA might be and the fact that a 3 yr shakedown will reveal most problems, just one incident between 3 and 7 years can pay for the warrantee. That is based on my experiences with how frequently car repairs, in my area, can exceed $800 a pop.

I think it's an individual comfort level, if you could put the money away somewhere and take the interest off it, for most people it would work out best. After all, they don't sell these to lose money or break even. ;)

I used to think these extended warranties were mostly a way for the dealer to make additional profit. But, as in most insurance policies, some owners come out ahead.
Me, I'm very picky about little details. I do notice them and want everything corrected. I suspect that with an extended warranty I'd be fixing things that I would otherwise let go. Every time I thought something might not be exactly correct I'd be back for warranty work. In other words, I think I would be likely to come out ahead in the long run. Plus, I wouldn't have to weight the potential expense of the repair - it's covered, just fix it.

If it has an automatic transmission, get an extended warranty (technically speaking, "service contract"). And then if you do, only purchase the genuine, factory-issued warranty (Honda Care in our case), and shop online for the best price. You do not have to buy the official factory extended service plan from the dealer you bought the vehicle from.

I used to swear that extended warranties were an egregious waste of money. However, my first (and last!) automatic transmission vehicle always had me on the edge of whether the transmission was going to die, or not. I didn't get the extended warranty, and eventually came to the conclusion that I didn't want to be holding the bag for a $3000+ repair bill when it shot craps at 65K.

Anyway, even with Honda, auto trannies are the #1 "major" failure item under 100K miles. Like the others said, it's mostly insurance and peace of mind, but blowing a transmission without a warranty to pay for it will make for a very bad day.

:(

blowing a transmission without a warranty to pay for it will make for a very bad day.

Grant it my experience was with another DOMESTIC brand of car but that in itself is the main reason I went with the extended warrantee. When I was negotiating for my car I had a budget for a new car of about $23,500. That would be with TTL&Doc and all accessories with installation, extras... etc. I found it hard to find what I wanted in that price. Until I stumbled accross the Element. I added some accessories, (Side Steps, Drivers Armrest, Rear Deflector and Foglights) and got OTD prices around $23,200. I had one that was much lower and went to my dealer and told him that his price was too high and that I had another quote in the "High 22s". He then, without hesitation, came down to $22,800. $100 under the other guy. He emailed me the quote then called me later to confirm that I had received it. In light of the fact that I felt I was getting a good price for a 2004 EXS 4WD with 4AT, I suggested that I might be interested in the Extended Warrantee. If he could work that in under my budget, which he didn't know the bottom line yet, I would take that also. It might have been better if I hadn't disclosed that I was content with the basic price for the car. Had I left the deal more dependant on the price of the warrantee they might have come lower.

Anyways, they had 700 to work with for the 7/100,000 at this point. I suggested that, as I was willing to compromise lower to the 7/75,00 which I really was most interested in. But, if I could come away with more coverage, better. They wouldn't break $1000 for the 100,000 and 900 for the 75,000. I told them NO DEAL. They offered to come down to 6/65,000 but I didn't feal that such low coverage would be worth that money. We finalized the rest of the deal.

When I went back the next day to sign and pick up the car, the Business Manager inquired about the status of the warrantee and I told him that we left it off when it was appearant that it would blow my budget by almost $300. He then did a little math and offered to split the difference with me and came down to a price, I can't remember exactly, but it was lower than the low price on the internet for the 7/75,000. I hesitantly and somewhat reluctantly accepted it, exceeding my budget by only $125. I figured with the rest of the deal I was probably in a reasonable range. I understand they might have come even lower had my negotiation skills been a little better.

In the end, I figure that from my previous experiences, service bills can easilly come to $800 for even some of the smallest things. I have taken my car in for things like the Power Steering pump and had them find one or two other things for a final bill of $800 - $900. My experience at JUST OVER 30,000 miles having the service guy SAY I needed a new transmission cost me $1500. That alone would pay for the warrantee as would something like the Power Steering along with one or two other things on the same bill. Have something happen to your AC and that might pay for the extended warrantee. The key is that you have to make sure that you don't pay too much for the warrantee or buy more warrantee than you will use. In my case my last car got 13.5/80,000. That tells me that I will hit 7 years before I hit 75,000 let alone 100,000. So, why pay $1000 for a 100,000 mile coverage when I might not exceed 75,000 in the same 7 years. I am pretty certain that I will have my Element for the greater part of 7 years if not longer. As good as HONDA might be, I just figure that in a period of 4 years beyond the standard warrantee, you will probably have 3 or 4 visits to your dealer with something wrong. If each one of those service visits costs you $300 - $500 you will probably recoup your warrantee cost.

As for the suggestion of investing your $800 yourself, I would challenge an INDVIDUAL, like us, to find an investment that would allow such a low minimum investment that would return enough money to pay for a major repair after only 3 years. That is when you will need to have the money built up. What makes warrantees work is that a dealer, or HONDA Care is taking $800 to over $1000 a pop from Thousands of car buyers and putting all that money into investments. When you have MILLIONS of dollars on hand you can find the better investments and use the money from people who will never file a claim (junked cars before the warrantee kicks in, cars resold with new owners not knowing of the warrantee....) to pay for claims by those who do have problems.

As for the suggestion of investing your $800 yourself, I would challenge an INDVIDUAL, like us, to find an investment that would allow such a low minimum investment that would return enough money to pay for a major repair after only 3 years. That is when you will need to have the money built up. What makes warrantees work is that a dealer, or HONDA Care is taking $800 to over $1000 a pop from Thousands of car buyers and putting all that money into investments. When you have MILLIONS of dollars on hand you can find the better investments and use the money from people who will never file a claim (junked cars before the warrantee kicks in, cars resold with new owners not knowing of the warrantee....) to pay for claims by those who do have problems.

[quote:8a09ed9b79=" "]As for the suggestion of investing your $800 yourself, I would challenge an INDVIDUAL, like us, to find an investment that would allow such a low minimum investment that would return enough money to pay for a major repair after only 3 years. That is when you will need to have the money built up. What makes warrantees work is that a dealer, or HONDA Care is taking $800 to over $1000 a pop from Thousands of car buyers and putting all that money into investments. When you have MILLIONS of dollars on hand you can find the better investments and use the money from people who will never file a claim (junked cars before the warrantee kicks in, cars resold with new owners not knowing of the warrantee....) to pay for claims by those who do have problems.[/quote:8a09ed9b79]
I've had 2 cars that I didn't need an extended warranty on, and I'm on the 3rd, so you forget the money they would have gotten had I not paid for it (I have a $2000 head start I guess at this point?).

Most people won't take $1000 out of Honda's pocket, it doesn't cost them $1000 to perform what they would charge you a grand for. As for insurance, most of the profits are from people not using the claims, the return on the money held to pay off claims.

As for the $1000, I could do as well as those companies do, using a market index fund over time beats managed money in almost all cases.

Can the extended warranty be purchased any time before the manufacturers warranty expires? When is the best time to purchase one if you so decide. My E is 3 weeks old now with 1,800 miles on it and I'm not even sure if I should get an extended warranty or not.

[quote:94dd6b2f5c=" "]My opinion, and also that of Consumer Reports I believe, is: A Big Fat Waste of Money.

The 3yr/36,000 will cover all the initial breaking-in things rather nicely, so that's not a problem and it's free.

So then it's an issue of what will happen in the additional period (4 years/64,000 miles)? My guess is probably nothing. This is a Honda and not a Chevy, for starts. So you're buying insurance to cover the very small chance that repairs costings more than $1,000 or so will be incurred.

I had three extended warranties over the years and never used one of them, and two of the vehicles were kept for eight years. I did get $150 back on the last $1,200 warranty when I sold the car after four years! Yippee!

Of course, for those who like to over-insure with third parties, rather than self-insure, then go for it and sleep well at night. I came to the conclusion after my experiences and Consumer Reports. that high-deductible insurance is for major disasters, like your house burning down or you needing a new heart, and car repairs are not in those categories.
...[/quote:94dd6b2f5c]

Just remember that the Honda extended warranties include road-side assistance (similar to AAA). If you'd been planning on paying monthly/yearly for such a thing anyway, it makes the honda extended warranty seem a better deal.

-brendan

Was thinking of this exact subject after I bought my Element and the 7/75,000. I have a Shell Oil Company Motor Club that bills me about $4.50 a month. I thought of cancelling that but my brother brought up a question that has had me wait.

Does that roadside assistance with the HONDA Care warrantee apply to any car you are driving or only your HONDA. That would be a consideration before one decides to cancel their AAA or Shell Club etc.

As I understand the Hondacare, it can be purchased at any time prior to the 3 yr/36k expiration, but there is a premium for doing so in years 2 and 3, so its best to buy some time in the first year. The Curry Honda warranty site actually asks you to enter a date range of your car's purchase when calculating warranty costs, so you could enter a couple different dates to see how much that impacts the quote.

[quote:b6123caa9a=" "]As I understand the Hondacare, it can be purchased at any time prior to the 3 yr/36k expiration, but there is a premium for doing so in years 2 and 3, so its best to buy some time in the first year. The Curry Honda warranty site actually asks you to enter a date range of your car's purchase when calculating warranty costs, so you could enter a couple different dates to see how much that impacts the quote.[/quote:b6123caa9a]

Thanks, and I think you are right about the resale of the vehicle. It's easier to sell your vehicle with an extended warranty than if you had none.

Subie, when I was playing around on the Curry warranty site, I entered my e-mail address on their quote form, and they sent me an automated e-mail with a promotional code for a discount - something like $60-$90 off. I need to wait a while to get a warranty as I need to have a new fence installed, so I have no personal experience with Curry, but they seem to be one of the few dealers that offer the product based on my yahoo search. If you go that route, just make sure you try to get the discount. Oh, and a report on how your transaction went would be great!

Thanks, Mike, for the warranty info. I'm not under immediate pressure to decide on the extended warranty yet because my E is only 3 weeks old. I have never purchased an extended warranty on a vehicle before so I am not at all familiar with them or whether they are really needed. I do usually keep a car for a long time, however.(at least 7 years)

Just bought my Sunset Orange Element yesterday after three suburbans. My teenagers love the idea. Question: Does it seem wise to purchase the extended warranty? I know dealers make good money on them, but the element is not proven, or is it? Has anyone had any serious, expensive problems with the element? Also, a body shop man told me to get a Honda with the vin's first digit being a "J" indicating it is assembled in Japan for better quality. Our saleman told us that the elements are not assembled in Japan. They are assembled in Ohio, Mexico, New Zealand, and Canada. Ours is from Ohio. Does anyone have any further info on the assembly quality, concerns, patterns... Japan?? Thank you.

In my humble opinion, Honda Care (aka extended warranty) is not worth it. The Element is far from unproven - most of it comes from old, established Honda components like the Accord and the CRV.

The cost of Honda Care is almost 10% of the cost of an E. Since your E is covered by a 3 year / 36,000 mile warranty already that means the extended warranty doesn't kick in for three years, when the car will be worth a good deal less. That's a heck of a tax, but a tidy windfall for the dealership and Honda.

Besides, I'm hoping that in three years the Element (or equivalent) Hybrid will be out.

-- Bill, who doesn't buy extended warranties.

Thanks, I appreciate the response.

I'm almost certain the E is assembled exclusively in Ohio. If you are interested in a warranty, certain dealers like Curry Honda sell them fairly cheap on the web (around $1k for 7 year). Depending on your plans with the car, it may provide either peace of mind or additional resale. Probably not worth it, but there is something to be said for knowing what your repair expenses will be for budgetary purposes

I haven't heard anyone else here mention this but here goes.

I did purchase the Extended warranty. My dealership had something really
cool though. If I do not use my EXTENDED warranty I will get all the money
I paid for it back. Just as long as I don't activate any of the warranty
after the initial 36,000 I will get my money back at the end of the
7 years.

With a deal like that I figured that I might as well do it just in case I need
some major warranty work done. Is this a honda thing or specific to my
dealership?

I think it is worth it.

A few of my thoughts.... First, the Element is only built in Ohio. I don't look at that as a negative though. As for fit and assembly, I haven't seen anythigng wrong with my Element yet. I am a little over 4000 miles. By contrast with my Chevy, by this time I had about a half a dozen things ranging from a screw in a tire that I guess happened during prep to a bad oil filter adapter and a couple light switches.... No such issues with the Element.

I bought the 7/75000 warrantee. If you decide to go for an Extended warrantee, ONLY go for the HONDA CARE warrantee from HONDA. Also consider what kind of use you will put on your HONDA. Will you be keeping the car for more years than miles or more miles than years. If you go miles, go with 100,000 mile warrantee. If you go years go with the 75,000 miles as the extra mileage won't do you. My current car is 14 years old and only 80,000 miles. So, I figured that I WILL have the car for 7 years but may not drive it 100,000 miles. So, for me, paying $1000 for the 100,000 mile warrante makes NO sense.

Then, it depends on what you pay for the warrantee. Warrantees represent a big profit for the dealer. So, try not to be a victim to this. The way you can do it and make the dealer happy as well is to consider your likelyhood of getting some worth out of it. From my past experience, not with a HONDA though, it isn't hard to get an $800 bill for service. With my Chevy I got that several times over by the time the car was 7 years old or had 75,000 miles on it. Every time I took my car in they seemed to have $800 worth of work. Even a couple of small things that can go wrong can cost almost that much. Have one big thing like some AC work etc and you can get your value back. I figure that in 7 years, even with the HONDA, if I have 3 covered service calls I will probably recoup my $800 that I paid.

The way I looked at it, and I can't remember the exact price, if my dealer would meet the lower price I had found on the internet, LOW $800s, I felt comfortable with that cost. Keep in mind the other benefits that come with the HONDA care warrantee. Travel assistance if you get stranded, loaners if your car is in for service. Roadside Assistance if you have a problem out on the road.... All that will add some value to the warrantee. Some people have said that you don't have to have an auto club along with the HONDA CARE warrantee. I don't know about that as I assume it only applies to the covered HONDA. If you drive a second car you would still need your auto club. But, if your HONDA is your only car than it might make more sense.

Just reading the other responses, there are a couple other thoughts... First, I wouldn't consider the Warrantee as a way to add resale value. I would think that in a market place full of used vehicles buyers will not be considering that your car is more expensive because you have a warrantee still in effect. They will still be, primarily, looking at the better price. Second, while it is true that the extended warrantee doesn't go into effect until after your innitial 3/36,000 warrantee, I would emphasize again, consider your intentions with your Element. Do you plan to keep the car for 3 or 4 years and low miles then trade in for another car? If so you won't get your worth out of the warrantee. On the other hand if you intend to keep your car for over 7 years or 100,000 miles than you might be able to recoup your investment. My feeling was that I intend to keep my car till it dies. That might be another 10, 12, 14 years and probably 80,000 or more miles. In that case, I will be getting full use out of the warrantee and figure that I have a decent likelyhood of having $800 or more of covered service. Again, it all depends on how long you will be keeping your car.

Consumer Reports thinks extended warranties, except for treadmills, are a waste of money. Based on my experience buying two I would agree. One had the "full refund" provision also. I traded that truck in one year early to buy my Element.

But if it makes you sleep better - go for it!

I try to self-insure as much as possible.

[quote:3a929a81f4=" "]Consumer Reports thinks extended warranties, except for treadmills, are a waste of money. Based on my experience buying two I would agree. One had the "full refund" provision also. I traded that truck in one year early to buy my Element.

But if it makes you sleep better - go for it!

I try to self-insure as much as possible.[/quote:3a929a81f4]

You make an excellet point, Bigfoot. I've a beloved neighbor who always buys the extended warranties. Since he's a worry-wart, it does help him sleep at night. And given his aversion to doing things like Reading The Fershlugginer Manual, he probably ends up costing the vendor money with his calls for support.

I think I will self insure. You have all been so helpful. I have been driving the dealership demo until my E comes in tomorrow. I love it, but boy do people love to stare at them. I guess just as I did for a full year. Thanks again.

What is the overall consensus here with the extended warrantee?

The overall concensus I've read is that its a waste of money, but I'm not wholly sure I agree; it really depends on your situation.

In that a warranty is a for profit product, one can assume that maintenance costs between year 3 and 7 (for a 7 year warranty) are less than the cost of the warranty when looking at the whole E population. My family has had 9 Hondas over the years, and the E is my third. My experiences have been commensurate with this assumption; I've spent less on maintenance than a warranty would have cost. So statistically speaking, one can assume that it won't pay for itself.

Cold, hard facts aside, there certainly are benefits. If you keep the E 7 years, you'll know ahead of time what your repair costs will be, which is a valuable budget tool for many. And if you happen to have a major problem, you are way ahead financially (the peace of mind appeal). I sold an Audi outright to buy the E, and it had a few months of warranty left, which made it far easier to sell in that it was a fairly expensive used car. If resale between years 3 and 7 is important, the warranty may differentiate your car from the competition.

I have never used them, but there is a Honda dealer named Curry that sells Hondacare warranties on the web. The 7 year, 100k program was about a grand for the E. At that price, its tempting (most dealers will try to pad that cost). You can buy Hondacare any time before the factory warranty expires, so you don't need to make up your mind right away. It is cheaper in years 1 and 2, but that still gives you a year to consider it. I'm still considering it.

So there is no 100% correct answer; its not a bad product depending on your situation, even though the majority obviously spend less than the warranty cost. I would, however, shy away from most 3rd party warranties, even if they are offered by the dealer. My dealer was pushing one I had never heard of. I declined, but took the company name, googled it, and found nothing. Not exactly reassuring. Stick with Hondacare if you go down that path.

A lot really depends on your circumstances and personality. If you travel a lot on business and rely upon your car for your living, or if you're the type who lies awake at night worrying that a horrendously expensive mechanical failure might befall your vehicle the moment the odometer clicks over 36000, HondaCare might be for you.

For me, it wasn't worth it.

1. We can get to our jobs via public transportation and still have our old car.

2. If Honda had a hybrid model, I'd seriously consider buying it. I'm guessing they will have a hybrid Element or equivalent in three to five years. I doubt I'll be keeping my E for the full seven year period.

3. Honda is betting that I will not incur expenses anywhere near what the warrantee costs. They know the car better than me. Why bet against the house?

That said, I don't believe HondaCare is a rip-off. If you think you might benefit from it, remember that the price of HondaCare, just like the price of the car, is negotiable.

-- Bill

My feelings about extended warranties have been the same as the previous writers' until this purchase. This is my first Honda but I know the brands reputation and was not going to consider an extended warranty.

My dealer convinced me otherwise.

The great thing about the Honda warranty, I learned, is that it is refundable (including tax) if you don't make a claim. True you will lose the interest that $1700 would earn but I thought that this was a clever way of selling people like me who would not otherwise buy an extended warranty.

Anyway it did sell me.

Never heard about that. I bought the warranty because the price of fixing a vehicle is outrageous. If anything goes wrong, with all the electrical doo-dads, other things, I expect to have it fixed gratis. I opted for the 7-year, 70,000 too.

I hope never to have to use my extended warranty Dogbox - that's why we went with Honda. I hope you won't have to use yours either - :)

Just curious how many E owners got an extended warranty, and why or why not.

My husband and I are still considering one for around $1000 (7 year/ 100,000 mile). These extended warranties have come in very
useful for our previous cars, but all were "non-Honda" cars. We plan to keep the "E" for at least 7 years hopefully.

I know these warranties are a "peace of mind" thing, but I'm curious about how people feel about them.

Thank you!! :lol:
-City_Girl
(Yes, I did a search and got some error, so please don't respond if you have already, or if responding would just make you unhappy).

My wife and I had the same qualms - it's a Honda so we shouldn't need an extended warranty right?

It was the refundable option that sold us (if you don't make a claim, you know about that?)- Honda gets the interest on our money but I figure that was worth the peace of mind given that, like you, we plan to keep the car for a while.

Yup... I bought the extended warranty, but not because I was worried about the vehicle. I purchased the warranty because this is my first "off the showroom floor, brand spankin' new" car. I just wanted to get all the bells and whistles so I would know that I was being well taken care of.

Although these warranties give "peace of mind" to the owners, there are alternatives that would cost less $$$. Check out AAA's advice on these:

http://www.aaa-calif.com/WESTWAYS/0101/OVERDRIVE.ASP

Considering the E's proven engine & drive train, you're looking at the "possible" break downs past the 3/36K mark.

Am I the only one who has been told about the refundable nature of the Honda warranty? Is it not the case that if you do not make a claim on the extended warrranty you can get a refund of the entire cost?

If I have been mislead about this I would like to know.

...four weeks ago -without even knowing what i bought, now i'm canceling -without penalty or any other fees involved within 60 days -i might go and buy a similar but cheaper product though from someplace else sooner or later, i'll have to see about that...

'thought it was pretty cheap and an aweful trick of the dealership to 'sell' the warranty without really telling me about it (and i guess i was just not focussed enough to realize then, eager to get outta there asap)

but what can you expect from Ali Baba and the Fourty Thieves in Queens, NY... ;-)

I asked my Honda Dealer about a refundable warranty (if we never use it, we get our money back). He said this was done at the Dealer's discretion and my dealer did not offer this.
:cry:
-City-Girl

Hello, I am looking for feedback on purchasing an extended warranty from Warranty Direct. I lve in FL. and Curry Honda does not sell an extended warranty to FL. residents and the dealerships are asking about $1700. for the 7 year 100,000 mile warranty. I intend to keep the Element as long as possible (7-8) years and I have a 60 mile round trip commute daily. I have decided I want the peice of mind of a warranty. Has anyone on the board used Warranty Direct? I would appreciate any help or advice (feedback) on this matter. Thanks, Happy New Year!!1

Only warranty advice I learned the hard way is that the weasel words "internally lubricated parts" and no mention of gaskets (like in "head gaskets") are bad news. Check the policy. I lost a head gasket on a Cummins diesel and it pretty well screwed the engine.

The extended warranty company (not yours but name withheld until law suit gets finished) refuses to pay the repairs. They said the failure was not caused by an 'internally lubricated part.' We're talking serious bucks, like over $8K.

I think that the Honda extended warranty might include gaskets so maybe it's not so bad.

What you say makes little sense; it sounds (to me) like some manner of scare tactic. Honda Care applies in all 50 states; it does not matter where you bought it. There are other Honda dealers who will sell the extended warranty at a discount. Search for "Honda Care" on the site and you should find a mention of one of these.

Re. Warranty Direct. Don't do it. 3rd-party "extended warranties" (technically? "service contracts") are worth just about the paper they are printed on. They are chock-full of exclusions and weasel words intended to make it practically impossible to collect for anything major.

For example: quietly hiding in the fine print in most of these is a requirement for oil changes to occur at an interval more frequent than the manufacturer's maintenance plan. So you faithfully follow the owner's manual, something goes "boom", and you suddenly discover that the "warranty" mandated 2000-mile oil change intervals (or something like that). And your claim is denied, which was the plan all along.

Don't waste your time or money. If it isn't Honda Care - with Honda's logo right there on the contract - it is for all intents a scheme primarily designed to separate you from your money.

I feel that extended warranties are a waste of money. They are nothing but high cost profit markups for dealers and 3rd parties. Honda has a good warranty to begin with, and the Element is suppose to be reliable. Save your money!

Well, hondacare and acuracare are really good, if it's worth it to you, then spend the money for a warranty.

Well actually I did buy a 2004 Element EX 2 days ago, and while in the office, they hit me with a 6 year/60,000 additional coverage offer. I took it, and now I'm having second thoughts. My baby was screaming and the sales person came in on his day off, I was really rushed when I signed it.

1. Do I need it? I live in Brooklyn and only use the car once a week to drive
upstate 2 hrs away. When I am upstate I will do some day trips in the radius of 1 or 2 hours away, but again that's only when I'm upstate.

2. Even if I am doing some medium driving, Its a Honda! Do you think it can go over 6 years without $1000 worth of maintenance in those extra 3 years?

2. If I don't need it, will they refund the money to my credit card?

i'm a bit - :confused:

Spencer,

First of all, welcome to EOC!! :)

Second, you are absolutely right... it's a HONDA after all! :) I fully expect that mine will last 250K without any major problems, which is the main reason I bought a Honda. Having said that, I bought a 75K extended warranty, but I regret it (dang high pressure sales tactics!!). If the opportunity were available, I would get the money back if I were you. However, if you have already signed the darned contract you might have a tough time cancelling the agreement unless your dealer is on the up and up.

One more tip that I learned the hard way many years ago... don't bring the little ones when buying a car... salesmen LOVE to play on your emotions, and kids add a keg of gunpowder to the fire! But then, I guess you probably realize this. :)

Hope that helps!

LEGO

I am not an attorney, but I think that NY has a 3 day cooling off period for these kind of service contracts. It should be in the fine print you have. If so you can cancel within 3 days--I don't know if Sunday or holidays count.

For more notorious vehicles the extended warranty is worth it.

Take that thousand bucks and put it into an education account for your baby.

I understand that Hondas are good reliable vehicles and that extended warrantees are generally not necessary. I have had my Element now for about 8 months and almost 9000 miles. I have yet to have anything go wrong on it. I had several small things go wrong in half the mileage on my Chevy that I got before this. That said, I recall some of the things that happened after the 30,000 mile period of the Chevrolet warrantee and how every time I took it in for some of the smallest things I would have to pay about $800 to fix 2 or 3 problems. So, I figured, for my own piece of mind, if I got the 7/75,000 warrantee and they would offer it to me for around $800 or whatever Curry Honda Care was selling the coverage for, it was a reasonable deal. Especially since the coverage includes loaners and certain services common with auto clubs like stranded motorist coverage, towing and so forth.

Now, my Chevy only has 80,000 miles on it and it is 15 years old. From the 30,000 point to the 75,000 mile point I had to repair a transmission, several brake problems, water pump, 2 power stearing pumps and countless other items. All totaled I figure I, easilly, put about another 3 or 4 grand into all the problems that it had. Figure even a minor percentage of that on a Honda, I figure the $800 something investment will probably pay back.

When I first went in to get my car I felt I was getting an incredible deal. Since I was well under my budget on the Element, with all the accessories I had ordered, I thought I would offer the dealer the opportunity to add the warrantee. My total budget was 23,500 with Taxes Title, License and Documentation Fee. I had about $700 to play with for the Warrantee. I asked them to tell me what a 7/75,000 warrantee would cost. They originally wanted about 1200 for it. I told them that would blow the budget and he came down to about 1000. I told him again that it wouldn't work so he offered me the 6/65,000 for about 900. Nope, I told him again and agreed to the price without the warrantee. When going to pick up the car and sign the papers the business manager again asked about how the warrantee stood. I told him about the innability to get to the budget with it and he asked how far off they were. I told him about 300 over my total budget and he agreed to split the difference. I am using rounded figures here but in the end it came down to a little less than the Curry price and blew my budget by only $150. I got the warrantee for around (estimated) $850.

Perhaps you can go in, if there is a cooling period, and renegotiate it or cancel it. If so, you can then shop around and see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. You don't need to get the warrantee where you buy the car. Also, you don't need to get it when you buy the car. You can get it any time during the original warrantee period. As it was explained to me, if you wait, there are certain points where the pricing will increase along the way. It does benefit you, therefore, to buy sooner rather than later but you have plenty of time.

I opted for the extended warranty. For me the thing that sealed the deal was because my wife & I purchased two Hondas (a CRV & an Element) the dealer explained that both plans would be for the price of one. As part of this dealers incentive for buying two vehicles from them. Also I fiquire that even though Honda's are great cars, there are always things that will go wrong, regardless of the make of vehicle. So here is hoping it pays off. Also I know from past experience that if you trade-in a vehicle or sell it, that has the extended warranty that you can cancel the contract and they will refund the unused portion of it, I did this on my 2003 Toyota Matrix that was traded in on these cars that i have now. I just got back a nice check for $763.00 from Toyota last week. I will probably do the same again when i trade in my Element next year.

I took the 6/60 coverage as well. I fully intend to have the car longer than that and, having been through a number of repairs with my Forester, wanted the peace of mind. It added a total of $15 a month to my payment, which around here is the price of a movie admission and a medium popcorn.

I fully intend to have the car longer than that

While it might have been touched on in one of the linked threads, that is something that people should really consider when thinking about the warrantee. I don't read about it much in these topics so I will touch on it again.

I do recall someone mentioning how it improves resale value if there is warrantee in effect. While it might bolster the value some since it is transferable, and make a car more desirable among other available cars, I don't know that it will add more value to the car, monitarily. That is, while your car might be more desirable, I have heard that many buyers won't want to actually pay more for it.

So, as I have read many times before, if you plan to trade up or on with your car, or sell it before or when it approaches the original warrantee, buying the extended warrantee might not generate the return on investment that you spent. In other words, if you payed $800 for your extended warrantee and you sell your car at 24,000 miles, will you actually expect to get an additional $800 in a trade or sale to another person? You probably won't. Also, I think this is where, as some point out, if you take your $800 and put it into a CD for 3 years or so, (averaging about 10,000 miles a year), you will probably earn more return on it than if you buy the extended warrantee, expecting it to improve the value of your used car.

This is why I did opt for my warrantee. Based on my past experience with a Chevy Lumina, which has nowhere near the reputation for dependancy than the Honda, I figured that I will exceed the original warrantee on the Element, several times over. My lumina is now 15 years old and has 80,000 miles. I figure I will, hopefully, have the Element for at least that long. or for that many miles. I am at 8 months now and a little over 8,000 miles. If I keep the car for 8 or 10 years and use up the full 75,000 miles on it, I figure that I will get back that much in service needs and it would have been a reasonable cost.

I got the extended warrantee based on the money back clause if you don't use it.

If something cheap breaks and it's no longer under the basic warrantee, fix it yourself.
If it's a pricey fix, get your money's worth from the extended warrantee.

It's a no lose situation. :grin:

If extended warranties really saved customers money (on average) then the manufacturers/ warranty companies would ultimately lose money, if this happened they would either stop selling warranties or go out of business. The reason people buy Hondas is because they suffer few defects
and usually only require maintenance which isnt a warranty issue (brakes,clutch, other wear items). If you have a Chevy it might be a good idea but when I worked at a dealership I saw alot of extended warranty claims turned down for one reason or another.If buying a warranty gives you piece of mind then it might be worth it to you but keep in mind a fortune is made off those things that is why they always try to sell them so hard. Nothing is sold to be nice or to do you a favor, everything is sold to make profit, its the ONLY way to stay in business.
If you must buy one only buy one from Honda (triple check), you know they will still be in business if anything comes up.
As far as increasing trade in value, you will often hear this from salesmen as a set up for a later attempt to sell you a warranty which often pays them a bonus larger than the car sale itself. Think about it, if extended warranties save customers so much money why would dealers push them so hard? I have never purchased a warranty on anything (cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, TVs, stereos, microwave ovens,etc.) and as a result was able to buy my Element with cash from the money I saved. Like I said you dont have a Chevy you have a Honda.

Stupid Question:
6year/60k means exactly what?
on top of or including the manufacturing warranty.
When would this warranty run-out if bought today?
2011, 96k miles?
2014, 96k miles?

At the time of purchase I got an extended warranty of "6yr, 100k mi." for $981.
I just got my warranty booklet in the mail for it and it lists as follows:
Effective Date: 12/18/2004
Expiration Date: 12/17/2010
Expiration Mileage: 100,000
...but...doesnt the 6yrs go On-Top-Of the regular warranty of 3 years?
Shouldnt the Expiration Date be: 12/17/2013? :confused:
...otherwise that would be about 21k miles per year.
Did I get screwed? :-x
The Honda Care contract says I have 60 days to cancel.

Yes, six years is from the day of purchase, not six years in addition to the factory warranty. And it's not an "extended warranty", it is a service contract, where you have subscribed to a form of pre-paid insurance that covers the cost of repair for most (but not all) mechanical failures after the factory warranty has expired.

If you're not sure, go ahead and exercise the cancellation clause. I haven't read the fine print on Honda Care, but you may also still be able to cancel for a full refund (or minus an administrative fee) up to the end of coverage of the regular 3/36 factory warranty. Conversely, I believe that if you change your mind, you have the same period to buy the extended coverage.

Honda Care is one of the best of these service contracts I have seen, since it seems to be administered as if it was in fact an "extended warranty". Other service contracts - even some that are factory-sponsored - put the onus on the vehicle owner to prove that all the I's were dotted, etc., as far as scheduled maintenances, any deviation being an "out" for voiding the contract/"warranty".

I've never bought an automotive service contract because I used to administer industrial equipment service contracts. I know where to find the sneak-arounds and the catch clauses, and it's not pretty. :-|

I don't know the answer to this but my pessamism would tell me to make sure, if you are so interested, that you can re-contract for a HONDA Care warrantee after canceling this one. I use the word warrantee here since that is what they call it. The warrantee that you are talking of is an EXTENSION of the 3 yr to a 6 yr, as was mentioned. Not an extension of 6 additional years. 100,000 miles would seem to me excessive for those 6 years.

My understanding, unless you do a lot of driving of long distances, is that the average owner goes about 10,000 miles a year. Thus why the standard warrantees are 3/30,000, 6/60,000 and 7/70,000. Asside from those, they do have higher mileages for those who drive more. 6/100,000 miles seems odd to me. Right now, I have had my Element for about 8 months and I just turned 9,000. So, I am driving a little more than average.

I got the 7/75,000 warrantee. My dealer wanted over $1000 for the 7/100 which I had originally inquired about. (WAY TOO MUCH) I figured. Especially since my last car has gone 15 years and only 80,000. I did a little research and found that I could get it (7/75) online cheaper. You don't have to get the warrantee at the time of purchase and you don't have to get it from your dealer. You can get it any time up to the expiration of the original warrantee but the cost might increase as you get closer to termination of the standard warrantee. I negotiated with my dealer and since I was getting a good deal on the car, which was less than I had budgeted from my research, I thought I would offer the dealer the opportunity to add it on. He wouldn't come down to the price I knew I could get it for, ($830???), and wanted a little more than you mentioned. In my case, that was 7/75 not 6/100. I told him that it was a budget buster and declined. At that point they offered me the 6/60,000 for about what you mentioned and told me they were firm. Again I declined figuring that 6 years and 60,000 just wasn't worth it.

When I went in to sign the papers for the car the sales manager asked where I stood on the warrantee. I told him that they couldn't fit it into my budget. After a little number crunching and discussion of my position and budget he split the difference on the cost and I got it for about what I could have on the net.

Maybe, what I would try and do is go to the dealer and tell of your change of mind. That after looking into it and thinking, you think you want to cancel the warrantee. That it looks odd to you. See if the dealer will change it to the 7/75,000 and lower the price. Otherwise you intend to cancel it. See what happens.

Before going in check out Curry Honda Care and see what the price is there. I think that is where we found the better price. Note that your dealer, probably, will not match the internet price but see how close he will go before you cancel it.

If worse comes to worse and you can recontract later, you can cancel the one you have and pick up another online.

wmas1960 - Good advice!, I will do that on Monday

Its a service contract that reflects the total age/mileage of the vehicle. 60 years, 60K from today. In other words, 24,000 miles beyond your factory warranty.

The price of these is hugely variable. In my view, if you decide upon a service contract, I would go for the 7 year, 100K variety. It isn't much more money, and provides a fair amount of time and mileage.

The Hondacare warranty can be purchased any time before your original warranty expires, with a surcharge in the 3rd year, so there is no need to make a quick decision. While I have no experience with them, Curry Honda sells the Hondacare on the web for what appears to be a good price. The 6 year, 75K plan is 870 published price, and it looks like they'll e-mail you a promotion code for a discount.

Oftentimes, you can also get an extended warranty through your automotive insurance company and it is a lot cheaper.

I took the 5/60K and paid about $650. Just wanted to make sure any major repairs were taken care of through the end of paying for the car period.

Please search for a topic before creating a new thread. This issue been discussed at great length. I disagree with Dan on this. With new people coming into the forum all the time its always good to re-discuss items like this.

My opinion and that of Consumer Reports: they're a waste of money. You bought an extra 24,000 miles and 3 years of coverage and it is unlikely you will ever use it. Honda's are very reliable and owners should "self-insure" for future repairs, IMHO.

Welcome to the Element world and the forum!

IMy opinion and that of Consumer Reports: they're a waste of money. You bought an extra 24,000 miles and 3 years of coverage and it is unlikely you will ever use it. Honda's are very reliable and owners should "self-insure" for future repairs, IMHO.



I agree. Most likely there is either something that was defective from the factory and will show up right away, during the normal warranty or it will break from age after 100k miles much later.

Finally, the $600 to $1100 not spent on the warranty would pay to fix a serious problem if it did happen, so multiple serious problems during the extended period would need to be expected before it would be worthwhile to buy it. And if you are your own insurer, there are no exclusions or denied coverage or deductible.

Good luck,

That was the point of my post...some people want to discuss this.
I have a lot of respect for many who post on this sight-they have a lot more knowledge than I do-but I don't understand why some try to stop a perfectly
legit thread because they don't feel like talking about it. Have some issues been beat to death? Sure. Some of us, however, would like to hear the opinions of others.

J.

Well, I can see the point that Dan has when threads are created unneccesarily. However, it really is too bad that us senior members don't have a bit more patience at times.

It really bothers me that anytime a topic is discussed you'll either get criticized for resurrecting an old thread, or you'll get criticized for starting a new thread for an existing topic.

But hey, at least you didn't start a new thread about cracked windshields!! :)

LEGO

No one said the topic shouldn't be discussed. Just pick up an existing thread! If you don't find the answer you're looking for, or you have something to contribute, add to the thread instead of starting a new one from scratch.

As soon as a new post is appended to an old thread, that thread jumps to the top of the forum; it also appears when you click the "new posts" link. That way, all the information, opinions, wisdom, etc., that was already present in the old thread is revived and made available, instead of going to waste.

To insist on reinventing the wheel is to disregard the work of those wheel-inventors who came before. It just doesn't make sense.

I just bought my E here in Houston, at Russell and Smith, two days ago and got the 70000 mile factory warranty for $995.00 and paid $295 for winshield protection. It sounds like I got a good price for them reading this.
Love the E, no complaints yet ;-)
:)

:grin:
I've got to side with BigFoot when it comes to extended warranties...it's generally a scam. That being said, I opted for the Honda Plus package on my 2003 FWD 5spd E. Portland St. Honda in Dartmouth NS offerred the package for $953.00. Works out to an extra $7.00/payment (60 months paid bi-weekely). I know I'm going to have this vehicle for a long time so I figured why not protect it a bit longer. The package covers everything Brendan had listed in Honda Care...and really...it's an extra 7 bills a payment. Worth it I think. :)

I input my car's data and it came back with an offer of $1075 for 7y/100000m/$0 deductable or $1010 for 7y/100000m/$50 deductable.


Hey Mr. Allknowingandmasterfulmoderator....
Not to nit-pick or anything but it's deductible.

Oh wait, we're talking Canadian here....never mind.
:lol:

Hi everybody. I posted a little while ago about buying the extended warranty, should I or shouldn't I? Well, I decided to do it. But, check it out, the dealer I bought my E from, wanted $100 more and was offering 25,000 mi. LESS than another dealer! My dealer wanted $1395 for 75,000 mi.. The dealer my wife bought her E from (yeah, we're a two E family!) would give me 100,000 for $1295. I guess you can shop this and negotiate this just like anything else. I plan on keeping my E as long as possible, maybe even pay it off!, so for me, I look at it as peace of mind, and, the extension should cover me for most of the loan term. Take it EEE-ZEEE. See ya.

Do different dealerships offer different prices.....We are @ 27K and would like to extend our warranty to 80K or so....Is this a good idea? Any advice is very much appreciated!

No personal experience, but take a look at http://www.curryhondacare.com . Its a Hondacare warranty, and the prices seem to be below what I see reported in various posts.

i didn't get one because honda cars are reliable..you don't really need one unless something freakish happens

I plan on having mine long enough that I may be able to use it. My 9 year old daughter may inherit the E at 16 (don't want to think that far ahead).

we got the Extended warranty mostly because of the don't use it n git ure money back deal. I wasn't aware this was a "dealer" thing. I have had a few used cars we bought extended warranties on and used them every time. One transmission rebuild and a a feul system thing dont really remember what it was other than a crappy LHS (= Lemon Hunk oSh!t) We intend on keeping the E forever, till the wheels sieze. I bought an 85 Accord with 200,000 miles on it. we have put 5k on it and that thing screams. it has its quirkes but i mean it 20 freakin yrs old. if i can get that out the E than it is definately worth it. I fi dont need the warranty come 7 years from now, ill take the refund run down to the local body shop get a fresh new all over paint job with it (at least a down payment) and have a brand new fresh L'E'ase on life!
you can only hope that the newer hondas work and last as good and long as the old hondas but you never know, one hung over, pissed off, emotionally distraught assembly puts the hooter valve in backwards and it can end up in your driveway! 1000 bucks is cheap ins. these days, get the warranty yuor spending 20+ grand whats another 1000 bucks IMO :-D

Had to buy the extendened warranty. I laughed at my wife when she bought it 15 years ago on a POS Dodge Carravan. Then we are on annual trip to Maine, head gaskets go on the damn thing, and the extendented warranty saves the trip in Hamburg NY. She co-signs, no EW, no sale.

I got one for mine. Like mentioned earlier, it's refundable if it isn't used.

I got one.... I was a negotiating maniac at that dealership. haggled the price to 300 over invoice, haggled my trade in to above bluebook, haggled the interest down, and even haggled the extended waranty from $1200 down to $600.

5 hrs in the dealership but it was worth it.

Nope, didn't get it. This is my 6th Honda (granted, some were purchased used for the kids with well over 100k on them at purchase) but at 100k, Hondas are just getting broken in! I've never had a major repair on any of them and frankly didn't feel I'd get much out of the warranty.

Maybe if they offered a 250,000 mile extended warranty...?? :-D

I indeed purchased the extended warranty for my E. Hopefully i will never need it. Funny someone should mention you wouldn't need it because its a "honda". Just found a 1/2 inch puddle of water in my 2004 accord in the passenger rear floorboard. HHHMMM Door is leaking from under the speaker and traveling down the doorjam to the floor :-x

It is still under factory warranty, but could you imagine the cost if it was out of warranty?? I must say though, HONDA is taking good care of me!! Might help that i own 4 of them :grin:

Can the extended warranty be purchased any time before the manufacturers warranty expires? When is the best time to purchase one if you so decide. My E is 3 weeks old now with 1,800 miles on it and I'm not even sure if I should get an extended warranty or not.

GEICO has "MBI", Mechanical Breakdown Insurance". Same coverage as most extended warantee packages, except it has a $250 deductable. The great thing about it is, it only costs me $35 a year! Check the GEICO website for details. I have it on all 3 of my vehicles.

I didn't want one, bit the wife did. Bought HondaCare at the dealership.

$750.00 for 5yr.,100,000-------All prices are negotiable, he wanted $1150.00

{$50.00 ded.}.

I got the 7yr 100 000km plan. I do intend to keep this vehicle for the 7years unless I win lottery. If that happens :) I plan to upgrade to a Porsche Cayenne. I am rough on my vehicles so I think this plan is best suited for me.

I just wish my vehicle arrives soon. :-x I've been waiting for a month now and just be told I have three more weeks to wait .My E is coming straight from the production line. Good thing about it I was told I could pick an accessory for free for the delay. I feel like a little kid in a candy store. :)

Jett,

Get the Fog lights!!!.....Everything else is relatively easy to install :-D

I also purchased the extended warranty.....never know if or when you may need it?!!??!!

I ended up getting the extended warranty which bumps me up to Comprehensive coverage until 160,000km. I have never had the extended warranty before for any of my Hondas, but the dealer had it worked out to an extra $3.00 CDN per payment. I thought how could I refuse; my intention is to have my E for a quite a long time.
Read the small print: My Service manager (also an E owner by the way) told me that once you get into Extended warranty coverage, you end up having to pay a deductable everytime the warranty applies; i.e: non-wearable parts wear or break. It's not a huge deductable, but what the hell, why am I paying for an extended warranty, if I have to end up paying to use warranty I've already paid for?

yes, cost me 700.00 us and it has 5yr/100,000 mile coverage. I dont think i will need it but its nice to have just in case.

I bought Hondacare for $1000 (7 yr. 100K). No deductible. I figure that with the electronic doo dads and crappy roads we have around my city something will break that even the Honda engineers can't predict. I did not know about any refunds though. I need to read up on it. I wouldn't think that dealer discretion would enter into it. Either Honda does it or doesn't.

Remember that we drive a Honda; not a Fiat. I believe that additional extended warranties are of little if any value and I wouldn't ever waste my money on one. This ranks right up there with "special interior and exterior protection coatings" which are no more than a very expensive wax job.

This ranks right up there with "special interior and exterior protection coatings" which are no more than a very expensive wax job.

Except that the very expensive wax job is NOT refundable unlike my extended warranty.

I didn't get the warranty. I personally don't think I'll need it. Plus, if you buy it with the car it gets wrapped up into your loan. You end up paying more for it because it's now financed. Instead of paying $1000 (or more) for the warranty, put it in a savings account as an emergency fund and let it earn some interest. IF something breaks later, you'll have the money to pay for it anyway.

I did not plan to purchase the extended warranty, in fact I said no 3 different times. My dealer kept making the 7 yr plan sweeter by cutting the price. Started over $1200, ended at $940 and with the 1.9% financing the warranty worked out to just under the interest for the 5yr loan.
Peace of mind and a bargain.
HC

$900 for a 7 year, 1000,000 mi, No Deductable Honda Care Warranty at:

hffej@charter.net


Thanks for the email info. Just bought 7yrs/100,000miles w/ no deductible for $900. I have had my E for 23 months so I didn't have to paid the surcharge. They were awesome to deal with.

A waste of money, but if it makes you sleep better at night. Remember, it's a Honda!

I agree. An extended warranty is just an insurance policy. The mark-up is HUGE. More than likely, even if you use it, your repair isn't going to exceed $900, unless you let the dealer rape you.

I didn't get the warranty. The last truck I had did have the warranty, but It was only good if the problem was caused by a covered part(SOP for a warranty) . It took an extra week to find out if a covered part caused the problem. (1 day to know that that A/T need to be replaced + 5 days to find the cause + 5 days to complete and test =11 days) NOW if the problem was NOT caused by a covered part the total repair(3000) would cost an extra 400 (to find the cause). I had a 50/50 chance that it would be covered. Bottom line it needed to be fixed. Does that sound like peice of mind to you. Now I have a credit card with a 5000 limit @ 9.0%apr that I only use for MAJOR problems IF i have any. Just my 2 cents.

I didn't get the extended warranty, was i supposed too. I thought I bought a Honda. I would have if i bought aChevy, Ford or a Dodge.

No, I did not get the Extended Warranty. If the Ellie did not come with any warranty, and a 3yr/36,000 mile one was offered for very cheap, I still wouldn't get it.

It's a Honda. 'nuff said. I don't need to buy peace-of-mind for $1000...

My 94 Accord has 230,000 miles on it. Trips to the mechanic in 11 years: oil change, brakes, tires, timing belt. That's it!

We got the extended warranty for 7 yr/ 160k. It's our first Honda and we are wanting to keep it for a looooong time ! The E is too valuable for the accessability it provides for my wife (She is an above knee amputee and uses a wheelchair and/or crutches) So the warranty gives us peace of mind knowing that when the original 3/60 is done we are still covered. we will be camping and travelling with this unit alot so to be broken down(I know I know IT'S A HONDA !!! LOL! ) in another province or even in the US we can get repairs without hassle and spending BIG$ to get on our way.

I did not get the warranty either.

However, the only unpleasant part of buying the Element was when the sales manager tried to make me feel stupid for not doing so. after 15 minutes of me telling him why I thought I didn't need it, he gave up, and wrote "Refused Extended Coverage" on my paperwork, and looked like he had just lost his first extended warranty signing.

The only time I have ever bought extended coverage was on my last car, a '99 Windstar. I just broke even on using the coverage, right before I traded it in on the Element.

Otherwise, I have always refused extended coverage, and I always tell the salesperson the same thing... "I am perfectly willing to risk having a problem, and pay out of pocket, because I figure that with all the extended warranties I have refused, and never had a problem, I have come out ahead already." Shuts them up pretty quick.

A car is a different story, but dependability is the main reason I traded the van in for the Element. I shouldn't need the extended warranty. If I have problems later, I can live with it.

Waste of money.

Insurance companies, via the car dealers and other sources, don't offer these policies because they expect to breakeven or lose money, they do it because they make a lot of money because the number of claims of any size are very small. On a Honda they are probably microscopic.

The refund concept is good IF you meet the holding period for the car. What if you just gots to have that new Element with a Turbo Diesel Hybrid that comes out in three years? You're outa luck on that full refund.

Consumer Reports don't recommend extended warranties (except on hybrids, I think), and I'm with them on this one.

Save your money. Self-insure on everything you can and you'll come out ahead in life.

When I looked at the results before voting I saw that there were 54 yes, 54 no....soooooo, I guess I get to be the tiebreaker (at least for now), ......gosh the excitement is just killing me.

BTW, I did get the warranty. I usually always do as I put quite a few miles on my car and usually try to get a 5 year/120K deal.

And Delzcar, getting a warranty has paid off how many times?

Waste of money....
The refund concept is good IF you meet the holding period for the car. What if you just gots to have that new Element with a Turbo Diesel Hybrid that comes out in three years? You're outa luck on that full refund....Save your money. Self-insure on everything you can and you'll come out ahead in life.

If you REALLY want to save money, do your research and buy a car that you want to keep for at least 10 years. That's what I did before purchasing the E. A refundable extended warranty is good self-insurance in this case.

We did buy the extended warranty for our '03 Element. We traded our '02 Accord for the E . . . the fact that 80% of the cost of the Accord's extended warranty was credited to the Element's warranty did it for me.

Cheers!

C.

We did buy the extended warranty for our '03 Element. We traded our '02 Accord for the E . . . the fact that 80% of the cost of the Accord's extended warranty was credited to the Element's warranty did it for me.

Cheers!

C.
In general an extended warrantee is a waste of money{GM, Ford and Chrysler cars excluded}, however my wife's piece of mind is not.

I bought one for around $1100 from the dealer. Is it possible to cancel it and buy it again from Curry?

I bought one for around $1100 from the dealer. Is it possible to cancel it and buy it again from Curry?
You should have just flushed $1100 down the drain. It would have been quicker and less painful.

I bought one for around $1100 from the dealer. Is it possible to cancel it and buy it again from Curry?

I've cancelled a Honda Care warranty before. Depending on how long you've had it or whether you have any claims against it, will determine how much of the $1100 you get back. Call up either Honda Care or check with the dealer you bought it from to get exact instructions on what you need to do.

Whether some of you think it's a waste of money or not...you'll spend that $900 anyways when your water pump goes out, and possibly your head gasket needs replacing in the future...it's bound to happen with a Honda...especially since both happened to my '91 Accord and my '92 Accord when they both had about 90k miles on them...I look at it as simply a now or later type deal...and believe me, if I have it now, I'm spending it now vs. not knowing if I'll have it down the road to pay for it out of pocket...just peace of mind for me I guess....things do happen, and stranger things have happened with Hondas from time to time. :)

Dave.

With the extended warranty, the company is betting that you won't use it and you're betting that you will. They go strictly by the numbers, and they pay people to study those numbers, and wouldn't stay in business if they were wrong very often. With all the cars being manufactured, a few are bound to have some problems, and hopefully not many E's fall into that category. The fine print listing exclusions and inclusions is really where the warranty pays off for the companies - not what the salesperson says. A lot of horror stories out there from people trying to collect. Like most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Just curious how many E owners got an extended warranty, and why or why not.
Thank you!! :lol:
-City_Girl

Yes, we extended the warranty out to 100K miles on our '05 Element. Why? My wife likes the peace of mind. I am pursuaded to go for the extended warranty in new models for which there is little or no data on reliability out to 100K miles (a strategy that really paid off for us when we bought in the first model year of the Ford Windstar minivan, which I'm happy to say was upgraded with an '02 Odyssey). Today, there probably are a few Elements getting out to the 100K range, but not many. Moreover, Honda is known to have thrown the Element project together in record time, which might cause it to have a few more glitches than the Civic workhorse--at least until all the wrinkles get ironed out. Frankly, I'm hoping not to collect on the warranty because truly there is nothing better than a vehicle that runs right all the time. You need experience the pain in the butt of having an extended warranty really "pay off" in order to appreciate how great it is to "lose your shirt" on an unused warranty.:)

Why is there such a big price difference in extended warranties? I'm looking at the 7yr/75k hondacare. If the hondacare coverage is the same, why does one dealer offer it at $1100+, and another at $890?

Because they are thieves. Go for the cheapest one. An extended warranty is an extended warranty.

I keep hearing about dealers that offer a full refund if you don't use the warranty. Where can I find one of those dealers? Full refund if not used would make it a win-win situation.

i'm debating on getting the 100k warranty on an E with 10k miles. opinions?

I personally think an extended warranty is a waste of money on a Honda. The few things likely to fail are "wear" items not covered by the warranty. My dealer really pushed this on me. I told them, "this is my third Honda, and I've never had problems with the previous cars, are you telling me that this one is less reliable?" They didn't have a good answer for that. Extended warranties are big money-makers for dealerships........ especially Honda dealerships.

If your dealer offers the refund option (full refund if you don't use it) it may be a good bet. Without the refund, however, I also think it may be a waste of money given the E has tried and tested components from other vehicles in Honda's stable.

Chances are you will probably never really need it... BUT

It does give additional piece of mind and makes your ownership cost a bit more predictable. The amount of miles you drive should also be considered. I drive about 20 to 22 thousand miles a year so I felt it was a god thing for me.

I purchased an 05 EX two months ago and yes I purchased the warranty. Hope I never need it.

Good luck.

HUTMO

My dealer's financial guy also started to do his song and dance on all the various warranty options. I went along with it for a bit, mostly because my wife was with me and I didn't want to make her feel awkward. Eventually, though, I finally said, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, and I know you are just doing your job, but I don't want to hear anything else about any kind of warranty, roadside assistance, rustproofing or anything. We want to sign the loan and purchase papers and leave." He continued to push the warranty, as if he just could not modify his script. It really bugged me, and I just closed my eyes and pretended to sleep as he went through the rest of his shpeal.

When Honda called me for the post-purchase survey, I told them I was a first time Honda buyer, the sales guy was great, I love my new car, and my one complaint was the warranty push.

A warranty is nothing more than an insurance policy. Honda probably doesn't even underwrite them, but does probably get a cut of the huge profits. If anything seriously goes wrong after the warranty policy (like an engine fryiing for no reason after 50,000 miles of good care), I'd be inclined to sue Honda if it didn't stand behind its product and replace it for free (yes, I'd ask them to do that first, and my guess is they'd probably do it). I
had a VW Jetta which had some kind of major problem with the bearings or joint or something on one of the front tires. It was a $600 repair. The Jetta had less than 50,000 miles on it. The VW dealer agreed to do the repair for free and only charged me for a front-end alignment. I bought two new VWs after that, because I didn't have to complain. I asked the guy if this was unusual. He said that kind of thing almost never happened on a car with less than 100,000 miles. I asked him to consider whether that might mean there was something defective. He said, basically, "yeah, you'd have to think so." Without further conversation, he agreed to have his dealership service department do it for free.

So, as long as my new Honda gets basically the kind of reliability that one would expect from a Honda, I'll be satisfied if I get a big repair bill down the road. On the other hand, that seems unlikely, given Honda's outstanding reputation. In fact, I am so impressed with my E so far (more impressed than with any other new car I've purchased--this is my seventh so far, including my wife's cars since we've been married) as long as Honda has vehicles that meet my needs, I may be buying Honda's from here on out.

the whole warranty thing is not just only with cars these days. Worse than the warranty guy at a dealership, is the computer sales guy. You buy a $1200 computer and the ask you to buy a $300 warranty with it! W.T.F.
anyway, it seems to the new way to make money for some retailers.

sorry this was a little off topic.

thanks for the input. i signed the loan a day ago, so i am going to call them and try and get it removed, or ask about the refund thing. i got the car for 16k, and they want 1770 to insure it! defiantely high for honda's rep. and if the cars, are so great, why is the warranty so high? i figure most things that will go, small electronic thingys, will go before 35k. the chances of anything else going out in the next 65 k are pretty slim. the only things i could do would involve the suspension, which i am sure isn't covered. i am careful about fluid changes and all that. anyone have computer isssues? that is the only thing that worries me.

i also had a VW just before this, and my wife was with me for the warranty pitch. going past the 50k warranty on it was too scary. don't buy VW, even if it is a TDi and gets 50mpg!

Hey Everyone,

Has anybody purchased Honda Care Warranties online at either
www.jayhondacare.com
www.curryhondacare.com or
www.griffithhondacare.com?

I just bought my E used a few days ago, and it had 35000 miles on it. So I would like to extend the warranty. The prices are great online, but a local Honda dealer quoted me $1700 for the same thing. The only concern I have is that these are not scam websites, and that they do in fact sell legitimate Honda Care Warranties. Thank you

Rich

I should mention that the jayhondacare website has the best price so I'm interested in that one the most. $740 for a 5 year 100,000 mile and a $50 deductable. Is it to good to be true?

I purchased an extended warranty from AAA--5 years/100k.
Price was $1800, zero deductible.
Can take it to any ASA certified shop, although I will definitely be taking it to the Honda Dealership for any work (since the coverage is the same).
I had 30,000 miles when I purchased, have to wait 30 days AND 1,000 miles before the AAA coverage kicks in.

This coverage is billed as better than the Honda original Factory (3yrs/36k miles). I did find some cheaper coverage, but the extra few bucks are worth the (hopefully) peace of mind of dealing with AAA.

Hope that helps

Welcome to the EOC koyote321. Lot of friendly folks here happy to answer your questions. Still, it's worth using the search tool at the top of each page to discover existing coversations Input on questions about warranty and 4WD will be easily found, and you can then add to the ongoing discussion.:)

Golly. There's a lot of price variability on warranty extensions. My Honda dealer extended our E 4WD automatic out to 100K for $1000. Same terms as the factory warranty. Usually, these warranties are not a good deal, but the E is just now getting a few vehicles out to 100K. Nobody really knows would hold up.

I've been doing some price shopping for an extended warranty, and have found that www.hondacuraworld.com has the lowest prices, so far. $690 for the 5yr/100k with $50 deductible, $750 for the same w/ $0 deductible. I'm personally looking at the 7yr/75k with $0 deductible for $745.

Well I ended up checking the registrars for jayhondacare.com and everything checked out, as far as the domain registration matching the address and phone number of the dealership. So I went ahead and purchased it online. However the actual transaction is not done online, so I am waiting to hear from someone. It's been two days with no word. I did call today and the guy in finance I talked to said the lady that handles it will be in Saturday (7-9-05) So I'll hopefully find out tomorrow. After the fact I discovered www.hondawarrantyinfo.com which is Bernardi Honda in MA. The quote I got was:

5 years/100,000 miles warranty: ($50 deductible = $775.00) OR ($0 deductible = $835.00)

If nothing pans out at Jay Honda then I'll try there next. I'll keep ya posted.

Well I got a call from Jay Honda this morning from the lady that handles the orders. She had some days off becuase she was working during the 4th of July and apologized for taking a few days to get in touch. She also said she was processing the application, charging my account today (which they did) and said Honda will follow up in a week or two with a booklet. So supposedly scheduled oil changes are free with a Honda Care Warranty and I should be do for one by the time I get my booklet. I guess that will be the final test. :)

We bought our 05 E on 6/25/05. Based on some posts here, I checked out and ended up buying the 7yr/75k warranty from Curry Honda for $825--a LOT cheaper than I could have gotten it locally. These aren't scam websites, they're Honda dealers offering the legitimate Hondacare warranty.

I wasn't saying they were scams... I was just checking it out to make sure they weren't scam sites before I dropped $800. So far so good.

I've got a 2003 "E", 25000+ miles. I'm thinking about getting an extended warranty, and it seems the price is like anything else from a dealership: all over the place.

I know I don't have to buy from the local guy, so who's good to go to? What would be fair for a three year extension?

http://www.jayhondacare.com/
http://www.curryhondacare.com/

i also just bought an '03 and inquired about an extended warrenty (Napelton honda in rockford il)...they offer a 3 year full warrenty (like the one offered new) for about $1500...also, as long as i get my scheduled oil changes there, they will buy back the warrenty in full if i never use it ($100 one time deductable)...so thats cool...i have about 6mo left on the original warrenty, so it is something to think about

I bought mine from jayhondacare.com 5yr 100,000 mile with $50 deductable for $800. I just got all my info from Honda today. I bought my E used with 35,000 miles on it so I had to act quick. But that was the cheapist I could find.

For anyone who has signed up via jayhondacare.com? How long did it take for them to contact you after you submitted your info on the site?

MikeyG