Vehicle warranty - lifetime

mjk

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Hello,

I was looking online for local Ram trucks last night. I came upon a '17 Express with the Hemi in it. I was intrigued by the following, but figure it is full of loopholes:


*INCLUDES A LIFETIME UNLIMITED MILEAGE $0 DEDUCTIBLE WARRANTY*,


Commentary on this being truthful, are appreciated. Never have had an extended warranty before.

Thank you.

Should include that it is being sold by a large chain new-car dealership, located in MN.
 
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If it works like the dealerships in my area which offer that sort of warranty, the catch is that all vehicle service/maintenance has to be done by the selling dealer's service department.
 
Originally Posted by opus1
If it works like the dealerships in my area which offer that sort of warranty, the catch is that all vehicle service/maintenance has to be done by the selling dealer's service department.



That is something I thought might be a catch. Thank you for the head's up.
 
The one that I saw, required 3000 mile oil changes, trans fluid, differential fluid and radiator fluid at 24K,at inflated dealership prices. It was power train only, if when you ac quits, your dime. Touchscreen dies, too bad so sad.
 
I have that.

Its "lifetime" or " Million mile" I don't recall which at this second.

got it for "free" with the Subaru purchase.

I read the contract one afternoon when I was bored
smile.gif


Its an actual service contract provided by a separate insurer.

On ours, the Dealer does NOT have to do the maintenance.

But book maintenance has to be done to schedule.

But - here is the catch - It Doesn't cover gradual "wear out"

Like Gradual loss of compression due to NORMAL wear, or normal wear out of parts.

Good luck arguing that to your benefit when something goes south at 115K miles!
 
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I dont see that going in favor of the customer......ever.

Side note: 115k miles on a subaru naturally aspirated is nothing. How would they judge normal wear......they wouldnt, its all going to be diagnosed as normal wear or customer driving habits.
 
As what other have mentioned, you have to do all of the maintenance at that dealership. Even services that you wouldn't normally do(or as often). And this lifetime warranty only pertains to that dealership. If you have a warranty issue and you're out on the road, out of town/state, no other dealer will cover that repair. So you'd better hope you're in the town/city that you bought the vehicle from.
 
I I didn't say that !

Mine requires just standard book maintenance - and anyone can do it.
Just keep receipts or notes.

IDK what the OP dealer is offering

HE has to get a contract and read it.

We don't have mental telepathy or Omniscience on this forum

At least I don't think we do ......
 
Originally Posted by mjk
Hello,

I was looking online for local Ram trucks last night. I came upon a '17 Express with the Hemi in it. I was intrigued by the following, but figure it is full of loopholes:


*INCLUDES A LIFETIME UNLIMITED MILEAGE $0 DEDUCTIBLE WARRANTY*,


Commentary on this being truthful, are appreciated. Never have had an extended warranty before.

Thank you.

Should include that it is being sold by a large chain new-car dealership, located in MN.


If it is a warranty through Fiat Chrysler, it is good to go, in my experience. I have a lifetime warranty on my 08 Jeep Wrangler and they've taken good care of me. They did one major transmission repair at around 75k miles, IIRC, and then at 116k they replaced the entire transmission due to a rattle and popping occasionally out of gear. They were great to deal with each time and they even gave me a loaner Jeep for a week. They then installed a factory remanufactured transmission and new clutch, perfectly. (I paid for the clutch, as it was a wear item, but they discounted the labor since the transmission was being dropped anyway.) They installed and adjusted it all perfectly, on the first try. They also fixed a seeping upper oil pan gasket. Sure, there's fine print, but I haven't run into an issue with it. The warranty was an incentive when I purchased the Jeep in the fall of 2007, new. The warranty ends when the cost of a repair exceeds the wholesale resale value of the Jeep. I'm still a bit away from that, as it is a 4 door Rubicon in perfect shape.

I was so impressed with how they've honored that warranty on the 08 Jeep that I purchased a lifetime warranty for my 2018. The difference is that the 08 has no deductible but only covers the powertrain. The 2018 covers everything except wear items, but has a $200 deductible, which is the level I selected. I figured expensive electronics could cost upwards of $1500 to replace, if necessary. I can swallow $200 bucks if something major needs fixed way down the road. The great thing is that after 30k miles and over 2 years, the new Jeep has been trouble free. It did have a recall on the steering dampener, but I had put an aftermarket dampener in, so that was moot. I also had to have the radio reprogrammed to add a feature. It now has a recall on the clutch, but I think mine is fine, so it'll just require an inspection. I hope I never use the warranty, but it is nice to have it, as I'll keep this sucker as long as possible. I still have the 08, and it is going strong at 140k miles.
 
Originally Posted by ARCOgraphite
I have that.

Its "lifetime" or " Million mile" I don't recall which at this second.

got it for "free" with the Subaru purchase.

I read the contract one afternoon when I was bored
smile.gif


Its an actual service contract provided by a separate insurer.

On ours, the Dealer does NOT have to do the maintenance.

But book maintenance has to be done to schedule.

But - here is the catch - It Doesn't cover gradual "wear out"

Like Gradual loss of compression due to NORMAL wear, or normal wear out of parts.

Good luck arguing that to your benefit when something goes south at 115K miles!



I have a similar warranty to this. The maintenance can be done by anyone. And thus far not even a maintenance receipt has been asked to be provided by either the manufacturer or extended warranty company. Honestly when judging my personal experience along with family and friends and warranty claims I don't believe when members state warranty work was denied. Some signs indisputable neglect or abuse must be a factor.
 
Mopar used to offer a killer lifetime warranty, covering everything except

"Maintenance Services and items used in such services
• Catalytic Converter and Particulate Filter
• Glass, Plastic Lenses and Light Bulbs
• Body and Paint items (including Soft Trim)
• Snowplows, Winches and Trailer Hitches
• Wear items (such as Tires, Manual Clutch Assembly, Brake Pads, Shoes, Rotors, Drums, Belts and Wipers)"

They have since dropped the lifetime option, maximum option is now 8 year/125k miles or 7 years unlimited mileage.

As for the dealer options, I've found them to be full of loop holes.
 
It's got to be better than Ford's (original) warranty, I can't get them to fix issues when they're OBVIOUS! My opinion on these is generally equivalent to the odds of winning at the casino-they're generally going to be tough to get them to pay off (aftermarket warranties).
 
#1- The warranty is not transferable to the next owner. They know that you'll probably trade the car in within 5-7 years, no matter how good the "lifetime" warranty is, because that's what most people do. So it's really not a "lifetime" warranty, it's more of a "5-7 year/whenever the buyer decides to trade it in" warranty. And you'll likely trade it in when it's roughly 10 years old and has roughly 100k miles on it and it's probably still very reliable (in other words, you'll probably never have to make a warranty claim during your ownership). In fact, the manufacturer warranty would apply for most of that period. So even if something did go wrong with the truck, the dealer would just make the manufacturer pay for it under the manufacturer's warranty.

#2- As others have said, you'll have to get all maintenance done at that dealer, and you'll probably have to follow THEIR maintenance schedule, not the manufacturer's. They might tell you to change the oil every 3k miles, regardless of what the manufacturer's recommended interval is. They might say you need a power steering fluid flush every 20k miles, even if the manufacturer doesn't mention it EVER being necessary at any mileage! They can make up whatever maintenance schedule they want. And they know you'll pay for every unnecessary service to keep that warranty intact, even though you'll most likely trade it in way before the truck is old/unreliable enough to take advantage of it.

#3- Even if you DO keep the truck long enough to take advantage of the warranty, they'll have already made so much money off of selling unnecessary services to you (see #2) that it more than pays for the warranty claims. They might even have a clause in the warranty that says if a repair cost exceeds the value of the truck, they'll just "total" the truck like an insurance company would. It's cheaper for them to hand over $1-2k to buy the truck from you (thus ending the "lifetime" warranty) than to continue paying thousands in warranty claims to keep it on the road.
 
Originally Posted by mjk
INCLUDES A LIFETIME UNLIMITED MILEAGE $0 DEDUCTIBLE WARRANTY Commentary on this being truthful, are appreciated. Never have had an extended warranty before.Thank you.
Should include that it is being sold by a large chain new-car dealership, located in MN.




Our local "Jupiter Dodge" offered this. Imagine my neighbors surprise when they declined the warranty for some work a year later. The dealership had changed ownership, but had the same name. Robert was assured his warranty was managed by a third party and he tried to collect, they never paid.

The dealership is now a BMW dealership.

My suggestion is to avoid this warranty completely. If you feel you really need one, purchase a factory extended warranty online, from a discount dealership. You can do this after the purchase sometimes for about 1/2 the price.
 
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Originally Posted by exranger06
#1- The warranty is not transferable to the next owner. They know that you'll probably trade the car in within 5-7 years, no matter how good the "lifetime" warranty is, because that's what most people do. So it's really not a "lifetime" warranty, it's more of a "5-7 year/whenever the buyer decides to trade it in" warranty. And you'll likely trade it in when it's roughly 10 years old and has roughly 100k miles on it and it's probably still very reliable (in other words, you'll probably never have to make a warranty claim during your ownership). In fact, the manufacturer warranty would apply for most of that period. So even if something did go wrong with the truck, the dealer would just make the manufacturer pay for it under the manufacturer's warranty.

#2- As others have said, you'll have to get all maintenance done at that dealer, and you'll probably have to follow THEIR maintenance schedule, not the manufacturer's. They might tell you to change the oil every 3k miles, regardless of what the manufacturer's recommended interval is. They might say you need a power steering fluid flush every 20k miles, even if the manufacturer doesn't mention it EVER being necessary at any mileage! They can make up whatever maintenance schedule they want. And they know you'll pay for every unnecessary service to keep that warranty intact, even though you'll most likely trade it in way before the truck is old/unreliable enough to take advantage of it.

#3- Even if you DO keep the truck long enough to take advantage of the warranty, they'll have already made so much money off of selling unnecessary services to you (see #2) that it more than pays for the warranty claims. They might even have a clause in the warranty that says if a repair cost exceeds the value of the truck, they'll just "total" the truck like an insurance company would. It's cheaper for them to hand over $1-2k to buy the truck from you (thus ending the "lifetime" warranty) than to continue paying thousands in warranty claims to keep it on the road.



I've never experienced this.
 
Originally Posted by mjk
Hello,

I was looking online for local Ram trucks last night. I came upon a '17 Express with the Hemi in it. I was intrigued by the following, but figure it is full of loopholes:


*INCLUDES A LIFETIME UNLIMITED MILEAGE $0 DEDUCTIBLE WARRANTY*,


Commentary on this being truthful, are appreciated. Never have had an extended warranty before.

Thank you.

Should include that it is being sold by a large chain new-car dealership, located in MN.

My local chrysler dealers all do this. As far as I know, its powertrain only, and it is legit. My local honda dealer also does this. Noone I know owns a Chrysler, but they do keep hondas for 10-20 years, and the Honda dealer had been legit, so I presume the Chrysler dealer is, too.
 
The extended warranties are NOT CONTINGENT on you getting service on your vehicle from the dealer. Someone just made that up and its not true. I have the Lifetime Powertrain Warranty on my 2008, 2014 and now my 2020 Camry. They were added as a perk to buy the vehicle. The warranty has a $100 deductible and can be serviced at any Toyota Dealer or authorized facility.
 
In my area, some dealers offered "TIRES for LIFE". But, you had to do all of your maintenance(above & beyond) at that dealership. And then, they would only replace the tire that needed replacing(maybe in pairs) but, the dealers seemed to have discontinued this offer.

And the tires were never the tires that came on the vehicle or even tires that the customer would have chosen. And the dealer would only replace at 2/32nds????? Which is way to low of tread for our climate. So, this didn't work out. Sounds good the the unsuspecting customer but not to the experienced buyer.
 
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