I just purchased a 1998 crv w/ 16000 mi. -the dealer wants to sell us
an extended warranty -4 yrs or 48000 miles full coverage from honda -
it will cost about $50.00 per mo. and if not used the cash will be
refunded at the end of term - my Question ? "is it worth it" thanks
for a reply

I'd have to agree that an extended warranty can come in handy - AC is a weak
point, in my experience. Partially just because of the location of the
condensor... I've spent quite a bit of money on fixing Honda AC systems so
when I bought my latest one I got the extended warranty.

It's good to 100K and besides the AC coverage, I'm thinking that CV joints
usually go by then as well. As long as you can show good maintenance done
on the vehicle and the CV's go, that should be a covered repair under the
warranty.

Also, not everyone knows this but you can negotiate the price of the
extended contract. I believe dealer cost is about $700-800 depending on the
vehicle covered. If they're charging you a $1,000 or more, it's time to
dicker.

Hope this helps,
Ellen Emerson
http://www.HondaBeat.com

PS - are you anywhere near Vermont? My friends at Shearer Honda have a huge
selection of CRVs to choose from... over 20 last time I talked with the GM



< Original Message >
I am glad I did, my 98 just had the ac basically explode, the cost to get
cars of any type worked on in this day and age is sky high. My extended
warranty just paid for itself and then some! $1400 to fix the ac. Mine was
less than 2000 miles outside the factory warranty.

<<
I would not bother getting the extended warranty. Hondas are extremely
reliable. If anything is going to go wrong, it will most likely happen
during the regular warranty period. Instead, use the approx. $1,000.00
for an upgraded sound system (you are also better off getting that at an
audio shop, rather than from the dealership, for value for the money)
>>

O.K. I'll chime in. It's been my experience that extended warranties are
always a bad idea. Take the money you would have spent on an extended
warranty and put it in a savings account and I can almost guaranty that you
won't ever spend that much on your Honda in repairs. You see it's an
insurance policy and Honda isn't going to charge you less than they expect
to pay out in claims. So save the money and keep the difference in the end.

Any salesperson at the dealer itself will tell you this if they have any
integrity. The business manager usually tries to stick you with the
warranty.
Greg

I have owned both Toyota's and Honda's. Is it just me, or do the Honda
repair bays always seem to be empty? I could not say the same thing for
Toyota's.
Greg

I think you are right about the repair bays - I have never had any
problem booking in my Honda for maintenance at a time suitable to me,
and they have never kept me waiting past the expected finish time. Ever.
I have an extremely good dealership to deal with here in Saskatoon. They
have instilled my faith in integrity, honesty, and true caring about the
customer.

When I bought my CRV almost 2 yrs ago, it came with a 3yr/60K warranty
anyway. I have had absolutely no reason to return to the dealer with any
repairs whatsoever. Not even any minor rattles etc that are so common with
new vehicles. I would therefore be reluctant to enter any extended warranty
contract. But servicing costs are horrendous. Just having had the 40K
service done at a cost of $A580. I don't know how that relates to your
costs in US, but I find that fairly expensive in any mans country. But they
tell me that it is comparable with other 4WD. Not having had a 4WD before,
I guess you have to take their word for it. They tell me that the
maintenance costs on a Jeep Cherokee are far more expensive though. The
work bays in our dealership here are never empty and one usually has to
book well in advance to secure a scheduled service. They then need the
vehicle for all day and sometimes over the night to complete the next day.
But they generally supply a courtesy car at a nominal fee which presents
little problems. As for the tyre pressure I generally run mine at around
the 36psi anyway. Roads are reasonably good conditions so the rough ride is
not a problem. When fuel now costs around $1 a litre, you have to be
conservative any way you can.

Take that $50/month and open a money market account at your bank. Keep
adding the 50 every month and if your v breaks, use that money. If not,
you've invested an awful lot of money with 4 years interest behind it.

Eric

>

I bought the extended warranty too. I went all out when I bought my car last year. I wanted my car to last, that's why I went for the rust proofing and the extended warranty. I got the 7 year extended warranty with road side assistance. Now that I think about it, I'm not too sure I would buy it. Before I was thinking that I would keep the car forever, now I believe I would trade it in by the end of the manufacturer's warranty. I'm just happy that the dealer gave me a deal on the warranty. If anything big breaks, i'll be happy I bought the extended warranty. Chi

Didn't get it .. but our family did get the rustproofing. My mom was thinking of getting it done elsewhere but we didn't want to get the underside dirty before the rustproofing was applied so we just go it done at the dealer. I guess our family figured the extended warranty wasn't worth the price. As well, we were relying on the Acura/Honda name to ensure that there was a lot of quality and reliability built into the vehicle.

Regarding broken A/C. Most A/Cs die because of lack of use. You need to run your compressors at least once for 10 mintues every other week (even in the winter) to keep things in good shape. In our cars when you put it on defog, it automagically turns on the A/C; partially because of this reason, but also because the AC will help remove moister. Now on Extended Warantee. For $200/yr, you can think of it as an extra insurance for your car. That way at least you know you're not going to have any unscheduled expenses.

how much is the extended warranty that they are offering?

Extended warranty cost vary from dealer to dealer, and if you've never owned a Honda product, then you wouldn't realize that putting an extended warranty on a Honda product (i.e. an Acura TL) is like bringing your own sand to the beach - pointless.<br><br>I've only had a few (less than 5) "out of warranty" failures in the ownership of 7 Hondas and 5 Acuras with cumulative mileage of more than 650,000 miles, and average mileage before trade-in of 66,000. Now, I do have an exceptional dealer to work with (Pauly Honda and Pauly Acura, both in north suburban Chicago) who takes great care of me, but my two biggest out of warranty failures - a final drive seal on my 1992 Accord, and an antilock pump on my 1995 Accord - we're both covered 100% by Honda. The drive seal failure occured at 39 months and 55,000 miles after delivery, and the antilock pump occured at 42 months and 49,000 miles after delivery. Both cars had 36 months/36,000 mile warranties.<br><br>I wouldn't bother - you're just giving money away. Instead overspend on maintenance - change the oil every 3000 mile or 3 months as if your life depends on it, and buy every dealer service stop (7500, 15000, 22500, 30000, etc.). If you do, your Acura/Honda will run forever.