OT Subaru owners, extended warranty good value?

[MRB]

Originally Posted by Clancy

Any Subaru owners who wish they had bought it?

^ My wife and I purchased an extended warranty for her "newish" Legacy, but we never needed to use it, fortunately.

I picked up an older Outback, with no extended warranty available, and I'm fine with that.

As long-time Subaru owners, we've found that you absolutely have to stay on top of fluid levels, and use the correct / recommended fluids. Do that, and they're reliable cars. Parts seem to be expensive, IMO.

HTH

[soulspinner]

Buy it after the factory warranty is off if the car is troublesome. If not, dont. Why give them your money for repairs they dont pay for(warrant aftermarket co) until after factory is off? The dealer will be happy to sell it to you after the factory 3/36 and 5/60 powertrain is off.

[martl]

Originally Posted by DRZRM

Thread drift: Is there any way to get a 2" hitch on a VW wagon? Either the Alltrack or the Golf Wagen.

No idea about the hitch, but one should be aware that a Subaru AWD is vastly superior in awd-performance compared to the 4motions Haldex system.
The VWs quality impression is better of course (shows in the interior and in the pricetag). Newer Subarus (as in late 90ies onward) are generally bulletproof in terms of reliability (with a very few exceptions).

So if you don't really rely upon the 4wd capabilities a lot, or expect that very specific driving dynamic of a true awd, the VWs are certainly an option.

The 4motion lets the issue happen (slip) then offers a fix (engage rwd too) - the Subaru AWD doesn't let the problem occur in the first place. As an engineer, i love the latter approach. It solves situations such as leaving a snowed-in parking spot or going up a slightly moist piece of grassland with a "*shrug* what was the problem again?"-attitude i like. Whether it makes any difference for 90% of the users is a different story.

[wc1934]

The price of a small electronic part + the shop labor could approach the cost of the extended warranty.
And, as others have mentioned, negotiate.

[iPaul]

2013 Crosstrek and used my extended warranty about 3 times. Twice for front axel, and an electronic problem that caused all my dash lights to glow. Now seeing faster oil consumption. Car at 111,000 so past the of extended range. This in contrast to my 2006 Baja, 235,000 miles and just now needed catalytic work and some gasket leaking.

Always a tough call but I'm not so sure Subarus of today live up to their past reputation.

[Johnny Alien]

The truth is that you should never base decisions like these on what people on the internet say because a warranty is a "peace of mind" thing more than anything else. My wife just bought a 2017 Outback and we got the warranty because she has massive anxiety about such things. Even if we never use it, it was absolutely worth the few extra bucks a month to make her feel better about things. Of course we bought end of year and got a massive discount on both the car and the warranty so it wasn't a huge deal. The person saying Subaru pushes them hard is correct. Tell them no a few times but make it seem like it's the price that is driving you away. They can and will drop that price significantly. I am not sure what their break point is.

[shovelhd]

Originally Posted by bart998

Definitely shop around. Mechanical breakdown insurance is available from pretty much any dealer or even your bank if you finance through them. But the devil is in the details. Read carefully what is and isn't covered.

Right. Try and find a Subaru dealer that will sell you the Subaru factory warranty without the car. I know there are VW and Honda dealers that do this. You can buy it from them and add your VIN to it or use their price as leverage.

I've never bought a Subaru or an extended warranty on anything, but people have good reasons to.

[teleguy57]

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

The truth is that you should never base decisions like these on what people on the internet say because a warranty is a "peace of mind" thing more than anything else. My wife just bought a 2017 Outback and we got the warranty because she has massive anxiety about such things. Even if we never use it, it was absolutely worth the few extra bucks a month to make her feel better about things. Of course we bought end of year and got a massive discount on both the car and the warranty so it wasn't a huge deal. The person saying Subaru pushes them hard is correct. Tell them no a few times but make it seem like it's the price that is driving you away. They can and will drop that price significantly. I am not sure what their break point is.

Most thoughtful post I've seen on these kinds of discussions. Thank you.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

The truth is that you should never base decisions like these on what people on the internet say because a warranty is a "peace of mind" thing more than anything else. My wife just bought a 2017 Outback and we got the warranty because she has massive anxiety about such things. Even if we never use it, it was absolutely worth the few extra bucks a month to make her feel better about things. Of course we bought end of year and got a massive discount on both the car and the warranty so it wasn't a huge deal. The person saying Subaru pushes them hard is correct. Tell them no a few times but make it seem like it's the price that is driving you away. They can and will drop that price significantly. I am not sure what their break point is.

This..I got an extended warranty on my GSW S 4Motion for this reason. It was not very expensive, even less considering the extra 7 years and 67,000 miles.

It 'may' be my last car and I like the idea that I don't have to worry about $repair$ that 'may' be big bux..

[thirdgenbird]

Originally Posted by martl

Newer Subarus (as in late 90ies onward) are generally bulletproof in terms of reliability (with a very few exceptions).

If you consider the headgaskets general maintenance.

The problem appears to be fixed with the newest engine, but you can shop for Subarus from the mid 2000s by searching the term "head gasket" in Craigslist.

[Bentley]

I have found that if you keep a car they are a good value, also if you put a lot of miles on a car. Never pay retail on an extended warranty, negotiate the price down. Also, lots of third party options that are cheaper than the dealer. My threshold is like $1000.

I've had cars that have been trouble free except for one big fix that ended up paying for the warranty. Obviously, personal preference, no right or wrong answer to this question.

Ray

[alancw3]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

It 'may' be my last car and I like the idea that I don't have to worry about $repair$ that 'may' be big bux..

enough of that kind of talk! seriously at 69 years old i am starting to think the same way as i usually keep my cars for 10+ years.

[efaust_o]

Originally Posted by Johnny Alien

The truth is that you should never base decisions like these on what people on the internet say because a warranty is a "peace of mind" thing more than anything else. I am not sure what their break point is.

I agree, no one knows your situation better than you, but feedback is good....see Outback forum for negotiations others have done...as with previous take w/ a grain of salt...I think I saved $500-$800 on my 2016 by declining first offer...good luck..

[ckamp]

You can also negotiate price of the warranty. I got about 15-20%.

I have owned 3x Subaru's. All three of them I used the extra warranty, only 1 broke-even from the initial cost, the others exceeded the initial cost.


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[batman1425]

I got one at the time of purchase for my VW. It didn't appreciably change our monthly - maybe 35 or 40/mo if I remember right, took the factory 3/36k to 6/100k. Comprehensive coverage exclusive of common wear items. Car hasn't seen many miles (so far on track for only 6k in the first year) so was more interested in the time than the miles.

With the amortization it works out to an extra 2,400 or so over the 6 years. Doesn't take many repairs in that 3-6yr age range to recover - especially with all the fancy and fragile bits in modern vehicles that seem to have short lifespans and are $$$-$$$$ to replace. VW's aren't a hallmark of reliability compared to Subarus though - so likelihood of you winning that bet may be lower. My car has A LOT of expensive electronic junk in it and makes 17psi of boost stock... I'm betting the warranty will save me in the long run.

We did the same for the Wife's rav4. That case was a bit unique - it was an 8yr old car with 23k miles on it when we bought it. The previous owners were an older couple that used it exclusively for a yearly trip from PA to FL and back. We bought the coverage because Toyota's plans are pro-rated on milage and the age of the car kicked it out of the CPO plan, so we got a scorching deal on their top tier extended option which gave us 3 or 4 yrs and up to 100k from the time we bought the plan I think. Already paid for itself when we had a couple spendy sensors go in the first year of ownership.