Honda Car Forum

On Tue, 11 May 2004 15:08:59 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"
<elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:

>That YOU didn't get anything back on it for THAT car is an accounting
>argument only. You got peace of mind, right? You got the ability to
>walk in and drop off the keys and have anything handled at no extra cost
>to you, even catastrophic things. Is the ability to do so not worth
>anything to you?

Well, there's a co-pay...

On 11 May 2004 09:25:21 -0700, kevin_sargent@hotmail.com (Kevin
Sargent) wrote:

>On a personal note, I foolishly took the extended warranty on my 96
>Integra - which I purchased from a dealer secondhand in 1998 - and
>wasted my money. I had two relatively minor repairs done over the 7
>years / 100K miles and did not even come close to justifying the cost
>($945 for warranty vs $600 of work).

Umm... I'd say that's pretty close. Think about odds of having the
numbers match much more tightly then that.

> Then why do you pay for car insurance? You never get that back, either.
> It's just money down the drain....
>
> Oh, you say. But car insurance is for "what-if".

a) its the law, in many places
b) so you wont lose any assets, if sued (rightfully or wrongfully). people
have had the nerve to rear-end other people, then sue them claiming that
they were "backed into" and suffered injuries.

> Then I ask again: why pay for car insurance?

law. especially if youre financing.

>Why carry homeowner's
> insurance?

cant get a mortgage without it.

>They're the same thing. You don't get anything back from
> them, either.

and if you own your house and car outright, you can get by with the minimum
insurance required, if any. and if you have the funds to do repairs or
replace the car or house if destroyed, fine.

if you take care of your honda, it should last a good long time without any
warranty work. the first 3 years are covered, no charge. wanna pay $1000 to
feel warm n fuzzy for 2 more years? go ahead. id rather take the $1000 and
feel warm and fuzzy on a nice vacation.

"dizzy" <dizzy@nospam.invalid> wrote in message
news:udm2a0d6v5aaldbs6jb1v7kaeu9to3n551@4ax.com...
> On 11 May 2004 09:25:21 -0700, kevin_sargent@hotmail.com (Kevin
> Sargent) wrote:
>
> >On a personal note, I foolishly took the extended warranty on my 96
> >Integra - which I purchased from a dealer secondhand in 1998 - and
> >wasted my money. I had two relatively minor repairs done over the 7
> >years / 100K miles and did not even come close to justifying the cost
> >($945 for warranty vs $600 of work).
>
> Umm... I'd say that's pretty close. Think about odds of having the
> numbers match much more tightly then that.

and almost $400 of that inflated cost was a friggin antenna. an easy DIY job
worth about $30.

so he paid $945 and got $200 back. almost like playing roulette

On Tue, 11 May 2004 15:08:59 -0400, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"
<elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote:

>In article <f2c0c21.0405110825.2e9d0891@posting.google.com> ,
> kevin_sargent@hotmail.com (Kevin Sargent) wrote:
>
>> On a personal note, I foolishly took the extended warranty on my 96
>> Integra - which I purchased from a dealer secondhand in 1998 - and
>> wasted my money. I had two relatively minor repairs done over the 7
>> years / 100K miles and did not even come close to justifying the cost
>> ($945 for warranty vs $600 of work).
>
>Then why do you pay for car insurance? You never get that back, either.
>It's just money down the drain....
>
>Oh, you say. But car insurance is for "what-if".
>
>Well, an extended warranty is nothing but insurance. It's no different
>than car insurance, or homeowner's insurance, or renter's insurance, or
>whatever.
>
>That YOU didn't get anything back on it for THAT car is an accounting
>argument only. You got peace of mind, right? You got the ability to
>walk in and drop off the keys and have anything handled at no extra cost
>to you, even catastrophic things. Is the ability to do so not worth
>anything to you?
>
>Then I ask again: why pay for car insurance? Why carry homeowner's
>insurance? They're the same thing. You don't get anything back from
>them, either.

You are correct that the extended warranty is essentially insurance.
However, the best financial advice when considering insurance is to
think 'comprehensive' and 'catastrophic.' Extended warranties can be
(but aren't necessarily) fairly comprehensive. But are these repairs
catastrophic? You might possibly have $4K in repairs, $3K after you
apply the money you saved by not buying the extended warranty. That
is going to be painful but if it is catastrophic, you probably can't
afford the car in the first place.

Compare that to a car accident where you could total your brand new
car and/or face $250K (or more) in personal injury claims. That
sounds catastrophic to most people.