Lady72nRob71

No, this is not spam like I generally relate those words to!
My ladyfriend needs one to put on her Chia, uh - I mean Kia suv...
It is an '05 with 96k miles and we both fear its future reliablily.
She wants to add some kind of service plan for like 40 a month or so.

Anyone have some suggestions with REAL WORLD positive experience?
I am not touching that thing when it breaks or fails emissions.

rustyroger

Most extended warranty plans are poor value, check the small print and you might be surprised at what isn't covered. I worked for a used car dealer who made his profit from finance and breakdown insurance schemes.

Kia make reasonably well put together cars that will give years of good service for 200k miles and more as long as you keep up with maintenance (as will most modern cars).

$480 should cover your annual maintenance bill apart from replacing worn parts, why pay twice?. It's unlikely to have any major faults for several years, of course it's possible, just unlikely.

Why wouldn't you touch it if it goes wrong?, there is nothing special about them that you won't find on a similar spec Chevy or Ford.

Roger.

jaunty75

I agree with Roger. Read the fine print. These extended warranties don't cover wear parts, and, more importantly, they don't cover non-wear parts that failed due to the failure of a wear part. So if something that might be expected to be covered by the warranty fails because something not covered by the warranty failed first and caused the waranteed part to fail, you're out of luck.

Put the $40 per month in the bank and build up a cash reserve for those unexpected repairs. If you're lucky, you'll never need it, and then the money is yours (or hers), not the extended warranty company's, to do whatever you want with, such as buy another vehicle, when the Kia is finally retired.

DeltaPace77

First thing before you spend a dime on a policy, is check with your servicing shop to see if they'll accept it. The best ones are from the manufacturer such as GM, but aren't availible if the cars over 3yr/36K mi. I bought a third party one for a car I got from my dad. When the tranny started acting up, the dealer wouldn't touch the warranty. Took it to AAMCO, and would only cover the cost of a used replacement. Paid another $500 bucks out of my own pocket for a proper rebuild.

gearheads78

I deal with these for a living working in a dealership service department. Most of the manufacture ones are great and a few of the aftermarket ones but most of what you get in the mail are a waste of time. They always have an excuse of not wanting to pay or this or that is not covered. When they do pay they want the cheapest aftermarket parts or even worse used parts.

IMO you will not find a warranty on a high mile KIA that you will come out ahead on.

PS anything that only cost 40 a month will pay nothing.

don71

Rob, I would take that 40 bucks or so a month and put it in an account. Call it your chia account or whatever. 480 bucks a year should take care of most any service it might need. If its not all used, it will sure add up, when....if it needs major repair down the road.

I'm not a fan of warranty plans, I never purchase them. You can do better with your money than any one else can.

OLD SKL 69

I bought a used F-150 a few years ago with an aftermarket warranty. When I ran into a problem, the extended warranty did not want to cover it. So, I would never get one again unless it was from the manufacturer itself.

GTI_Guru

Think about it this way. Buying an aftermarket service plan like that is gambling. And you're betting on your car breaking in a way that they have to cover.

Much like life insurance, you are gambling that you die in order to win. (or your relatives, etc.)

90% of all insurance policies are a scam perpetuated on the public in order to take your money. They wouldn't be in business if they paid out on everything that people expect them to. Read ALL the fine print before contemplating one.

Homeowners insurance and automotive insurance are the only ones you need to have, and mostly because of "acts of God" or "some idiot cost you dearly" or "It's a law" How do you think these became laws? Insurance companies with lobbyists...

2cents

-Jeff

Lady72nRob71

Thanks for the advice, guys...
I think I will tell her to just save it then. 500 a year - that should pay for any upcoming repairs (hopefully none!)
If it gets to be more, hopefully she will get rid of it, especially before the emission stuff starts failing (HIGH $$$).

She bought this thing used last year with 85k miles and got a $39/mo warranty with it (through that dealer). It expired in May but she used it a couple times to fix a tempermental turn signal.
I question its reliability. I can tell it was hit on the left side due to shoddy repair work. The rear left door is very hard to open. The dome light never worked with the doors. The transmission will not downshift, no matter how you slam it to the floor. It rides like a school bus, and has the performance of one once it is out of 1st gear...

I advised her to not get it but she did it anyway. I had found several other better lower mileage cars that would last longer. At least when it does break, I won't be to blame.

Jeff - I agree with how insurance is. I cannot believe how they twist people into thinking they need 5 different types of specialized insurance, when just a regular medical plan is needed.
Or take extra-cost AD&D. My free company life insurance will pay whether I die accidently or purposely! Geez...
Okay, off the collapsing soapbox; back to car warranties....

jaunty75

I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. Not all insurance is bad or a poor buy. There is a big difference between insuring your house or your car versus "insuring" against a repair on a car by purchasing an extended warranty.

There are two purposes of insurance, both legitimate. One is to protect you, the buyer of the insurance, against catastrophic loss. That's why you buy insurance on your house. Sure, you might be the only one harmed if your house burns down, and if you don't want to buy insurance, don't (unless you have a mortgage, in which you will be required to buy insurance because the bank owns the house, not you).

But most people don't have the financial wherewithal to recover from a multi-hundred-thousand dollar loss like that, and so the $500 to $1000 or whatever per year you pay for house insurance is well worth it.

In the case of car insurance, you're protecting both yourself against the loss of a $20,000 or $30,000 thing, especially if you're hit by someone uninsured. But, also, you are protecting others against YOU being at fault in an accident and causing someone tens of thousands of dollars in medical bills. Again, many people don't have that kind of money handy, so they buy insurance to provide it in case they're at fault in an accident.

These extended warranties are entirely different. While you probably wouldn't like it, most people can survive the several hundred dollars, or even the several thousand dollars, it might cost to fix something without having to go to the poorhouse. But that's all these extended warranties are...a form of insurance.

DeltaPace77

Dont think anyone here's saying all insurance is bad, but some of it is. As mentioned earlier, before buying an extended warranty, check with your servicing shop first. I do have GM policies on both my late model cars, and wasn't to bad from Fichtner Chevy in MT. One's an LS7 Vette, and that one could put you in the poor house for a blown motor.

gearheads78

I've only seen one ever as a warrany but it was a $23,000 ticket. That advisor should have bought us all lunch that month. That added about $700.00 to his pay check for catching that phone call.

GTI_Guru

Sorry, should have put as a disclaimer that this is personal opinion based on some real life experience, and I forgot to include medical insurance above. Without that, I would be in the poor house, a wheelchair or not even here anymore!

That's what I get for posting late at night when I should be sleeping!

rustyroger

Third party injury insurance for any road vehicle is compulsory in the UK and I believe in most of the developed world.

If you are at fault and wreck someones car you could be liable for anything up to £ (or $) 1 million if you happen to wreck a Bugatti.

If you injure someone so they need lifelong medical care the bill could run into an 8 figure sum or more.

If your Kia dies completely you are out whatever you paid for it.
I had a Kia Soul rental car last year when I visited the USA, based on that underwhelming driving experience I wouldn't buy one, but then I'm a gearhead, if I just wanted transport it was no better or worse than most other cars for the price.

Roger.

oldzy

Just bought my 2008 yesterday that came off lease. Two things they failed to mention until I was just about to sign the papers after I opted for an ext. warranty (GMPP) several days prior... one was a $100 deductible on warranty repairs, and the 2nd was a globali.com / nitro feature that I paid for, but was not activated. If I had not added up all the figures incl the globali thing, they would not have activated that acct at all. It is some panel etching thing for theft, and the 'nitro' is tire related (nitrogen).