MOPAR lifetime warranty

[msmith1199]

I had my Jeep Wrangler (toad) in the shop and the service manager asked me if I’d be interested in buying a lifetime warranty for it. I almost never buy warranties anymore and I was a huge skeptic as I’m sure there must be some catch to this. There is a little bit of a catch and that’s it’s really expensive, but it is basically a bumper to bumper warranty that covers all the normal stuff a warranty covers and it covers it all for as long as you own the vehicle regardless of miles. He told me it would be about $2600 for my Wrangler. I’m thinking about doing it only because there are a lot of expensive things that can break on the wrangler especially when you get into the 100k and up mileage range.

Another catch I found in doing research is this coverage is similar to a regular auto insurance policy in that it is only going to cover up to the value of the vehicle. So if you’ve got 300,000 miles on your Jeep and you’re driving down the road and the tranny and transfer case fall out onto the ground, all they are going to pay is up to the retail blue book value of the vehicle. So if the repair cost is $5000 and the vehicle is worth $3000, they are going to write you a check for $3000 as a total loss and that will basically be the end of your warranty.

Anybody bought this warranty? Any thoughts?

[MetalGator]

msmith1199 wrote:
It’s a Jeep Wrangler. Fun vehicle and I love it, but they tend to have lots of problems. It’s back at the dealer right now for the fourth time and it’s a 2017 model.

Sorry to hear about your problems with your Wrangler. I have 2 Wranglers (2014 JKU and 2015 JK). They don't have a lot of miles on them but we have had zero issues so far. All I have done is change the oil and rotate the tires.

[Thunder_Mountai]

WVJayco wrote:
I had a similar warranty with my 2014 Wrangler. It came with the Wrangler when I purchased it new and was incorporated in the initial cost of the vehicle. The "fine print" problem I had with the warranty was that it required you to go to the dealership or licensed repair shop to take care of every tiny little thing stipulated in the factory owners manual. You could not do any of the work yourself, basically had to be somewhere that keeps computerized records of the work performed, mileage, etc. So basically, if you went 1 mile over or over the time limit of when the owners manual said to rotate the tires or any other little thing, the warranty was void. Another PITA stipulation was that if you got the work done at any place other than the purchasing dealer you had to call a certain phone number and give them all kinds of information about the work, the place you had the work done, mileage, etc. Me being a DIY handy fella I wasn't willing to pay for every little thing that I could easily do myself. Needless to say I purposely voided the warranty and have saved myself a ton of money I'm sure. Basically what Old-Biscuit was trying to warn you about. Hope this helps

You did a good job of explaining the stipulations of these lifetime warranties. We visited a Jeep dealership in Phoenix looking at the new JL Wrangler. Every new Jeep on the lot had big banners on the windshield advertising the lifetime warranty. I requested the warranty brochure and found out about all the details you mentioned above. Just not worth the hassles especially if you do some things yourself.

[Hikerdogs]

msmith1199 wrote:

lryrob9301 wrote:

MetalGator wrote:
I keep all my vehicles at least 8-10 years. On my last 3 vehicles, I purchased the extended warranties. I used the extended warranty once on a truck after the factory warranty ran out. The cost of the fix was way less than what I paid for the extended warranty. The only thing the extended warranty was good for (in my case) was piece of mind but I believe in most cases, it's a waste of money unless your vehicle is very problematic.

X 2 I spent 35 years in the automotive industry and extended warranties are one of the most profitable things a dealer sells. They make as much or more profit on the extended warranty as they do on a new vehicle.

Notice this is not just an extended warranty. I'm very familiar with extended warranties and the pitfalls. This is a "Lifetime" warranty that covers you for as long as you own your car. That means at 15 years old with 500,000 miles on the odometer you still have a complete bumper to bumper warranty on the vehicle. If you're the type of person who drives a car until it will drive no longer, you don't think you could get your money's worth and then some out of this warranty?

I would look very closely at exactly what the "warranty" covers. It may cover things that break, but you should also be sure it covers things that wear out. Most extended warranties do not cover normal wear and tear. That means if the "normal" lifespan of an engine is 200,000 miles before it starts to burn oil excessively it would probably be considered a normal wear item over 200,000 miles and not covered.

[msmith1199]

lryrob9301 wrote:

MetalGator wrote:
I keep all my vehicles at least 8-10 years. On my last 3 vehicles, I purchased the extended warranties. I used the extended warranty once on a truck after the factory warranty ran out. The cost of the fix was way less than what I paid for the extended warranty. The only thing the extended warranty was good for (in my case) was piece of mind but I believe in most cases, it's a waste of money unless your vehicle is very problematic.

X 2 I spent 35 years in the automotive industry and extended warranties are one of the most profitable things a dealer sells. They make as much or more profit on the extended warranty as they do on a new vehicle.

Notice this is not just an extended warranty. I'm very familiar with extended warranties and the pitfalls. This is a "Lifetime" warranty that covers you for as long as you own your car. That means at 15 years old with 500,000 miles on the odometer you still have a complete bumper to bumper warranty on the vehicle. If you're the type of person who drives a car until it will drive no longer, you don't think you could get your money's worth and then some out of this warranty?

[msmith1199]

MetalGator wrote:
I keep all my vehicles at least 8-10 years. On my last 3 vehicles, I purchased the extended warranties. I used the extended warranty once on a truck after the factory warranty ran out. The cost of the fix was way less than what I paid for the extended warranty. The only thing the extended warranty was good for (in my case) was piece of mind but I believe in most cases, it's a waste of money unless your vehicle is very problematic.

It’s a Jeep Wrangler. Fun vehicle and I love it, but they tend to have lots of problems. It’s back at the dealer right now for the fourth time and it’s a 2017 model.

[Horsedoc]

I bought a 1500 Ram PU last summer. I going over the paperwork I saw that it included a 'lifetime warranty'. When I questioned the salesman and the guy who handles the paperwork I was told this was included in the deal. I was very satisfied with the deal I got. This was the second truck I had bought from these people (first was a Sahara Unlimited Jeep) I just have to keep a record of oil/filter changes and they do the rest. They will do a service when they do a general service and check when they do the oil change etc.
I have been very satisfied thus far. I think there is like 7600 miles on it now and it will be due at 10 thousand.

[lryrob9301]

MetalGator wrote:
I keep all my vehicles at least 8-10 years. On my last 3 vehicles, I purchased the extended warranties. I used the extended warranty once on a truck after the factory warranty ran out. The cost of the fix was way less than what I paid for the extended warranty. The only thing the extended warranty was good for (in my case) was piece of mind but I believe in most cases, it's a waste of money unless your vehicle is very problematic.

X 2 I spent 35 years in the automotive industry and extended warranties are one of the most profitable things a dealer sells. They make as much or more profit on the extended warranty as they do on a new vehicle.

[MetalGator]

I keep all my vehicles at least 8-10 years. On my last 3 vehicles, I purchased the extended warranties. I used the extended warranty once on a truck after the factory warranty ran out. The cost of the fix was way less than what I paid for the extended warranty. The only thing the extended warranty was good for (in my case) was piece of mind but I believe in most cases, it's a waste of money unless your vehicle is very problematic.

[klutchdust]

Consumer reports said :72% of extended warranties are never used. Take the money and self-insure, you will be way ahead.

This and that could fall off, that's hilarious.

[msmith1199]

Hikerdogs wrote:
Personally the "warranty" sounds like a money maker for who ever is selling it. We have a 2004 TJ that's been towed well over 120,000 miles and has another 60,000 on the odometer. In the 14 years we've had it I doubt we've had to put $1,000.00 into it for repairs. About the only repairs it's had are universal joints, a rear differential yoke, and a knob for the heater control. Everything else has been normal maintenance like brakes, tires, shocks, and fluid changes.

Of all the cars we've owned I believe it's been the least expensive to repair and maintain.

But if you had this warranty you can keep driving that Jeep until it falls apart. This warranty is only a good deal for people who keep vehicles a long time. My Jeep is still under Factory warranty and I've had it back at the dealer three times. It was all for the same problem that hopefully they have fixed, but it was a $800 repair.

[Hikerdogs]

Personally the "warranty" sounds like a money maker for who ever is selling it. We have a 2004 TJ that's been towed well over 120,000 miles and has another 60,000 on the odometer. In the 14 years we've had it I doubt we've had to put $1,000.00 into it for repairs. About the only repairs it's had are universal joints, a rear differential yoke, and a knob for the heater control. Everything else has been normal maintenance like brakes, tires, shocks, and fluid changes.

Of all the cars we've owned I believe it's been the least expensive to repair and maintain.

[msmith1199]

lryrob9301 wrote:
This is NOT a warranty, it is an insurance repair policy. They can include what ever stipulations they want.

ALL warranties are insurance policies.

[msmith1199]

WVJayco wrote:
To each his own. I do all my own maintenance and repair work, and as I have found out in the past, much more quality work that I know is done right. At 41 years old I have saved a pile of money over the years. With the forever warranty I had it was almost impossible to not make a small mistake by going over on mileage or time requirements on "required" maintenance that would end up voiding the warranty. Basically, they got all your money, waited to find where you rotated the tires at 5002 miles instead of 5000 miles, void the warranty, and then never have to pay out a dime.

The point that everyone is trying to make is make sure you read the fine print and prepare yourself. Just trying to help and give thoughts. Isn't that what you ask for?

But you're in West Virginia so just travel costs for me to get my Jeep there for you to repair would get quite expensive. Since I'm not a skilled mechanic I either have to pay somebody, or get a good warranty.

[msmith1199]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
Be sure to read the actually contract, not the sales brochure because the two can and often do differ. Read and understand exactly what you are buying. It can be a good deal for people who will keep their vehicle long term. The bulk of their profits are from people who buy the policy and then sell their vehicle before any real repair costs have been paid.

And that is exactly the point. This is only a good deal for the consumer if you keep the vehicle a long time.