[Nicholasgard]

My subaru wrx 2015 will be coming to the end of its 3 year factory maintenance plan and I'm wondering whether I should renew or not? Is it really worth it considering the costs? I don't drive my car like a wally as I have a young family but I do like to have fun when the roads allow. So was considering some extra tuning next year too. Any advice and thoughts please would be appreciated. I'm in South Africa. Not sure if that helps or not.

 

[ChristopherWRX]

The easiest answer to this question is to determine the most expensive repair (new motor, transmission) your car would need and could you afford to pay it out of pocket? If not, seriously consider purchasing an extended warranty. Just make sure you look at the fine print, such as the deductible and what items are excluded from coverage.

A couple other things to consider:

1) How many miles are there on your car?
2) What kind of issues, if any, have you had with your car?
3) Have you had issues with your motor or had any other expensive warranty work done?

For peace of mind, an extended warranty can be a great investment. Just make sure you shop around a little and/or see if the company offering your plan will negotiate the cost.

I'm sure others will offer additional information.

Good luck!

 

[why2kmax]

Maintenence plan and extended warranty are 2 diff things. If extended warranty, Christopherwrx makes very valid points.

Maintenance plans sometimes give you a discount but they are worth it only if you do all your service at the dealer. Basically all you are doing is prepaying for the services for the most part

 

[racer70]

Extended warranties and maintenance programs are among the most profitable products around. So, odds are that you will spend a lot of money and get very little in return.

That said, insurance is to insulate us from risks that might be too expensive for us to bear alone. So ChristopherWRX's post is spot on.

Reading carefully is important, too. I once looked at a warranty for a friend and discovered that all the most likely problems, like electrical issues, were excluded. Basically he was covered for part of the cost if a rod punched through the side of the crankcase but he was not covered for stuff that was likely to happen.

 

[Doctor Jeff]

Look at the anticipated costs and decide if it's worth it for the out-of-pocket money for the extended warranty.

Here's a reference: https://www.edmunds.com/subaru/wrx/2015/cost-to-own/

Personally, just my experience I would estimate $800 per year for maintenance/repairs after year 3 up til about year 6. That would include typical maintenance though. So, if you were going to keep the car for several years, an EW for quite a bit less than that MIGHT be a good bargain.

Just because the dealer makes a profit ON THE WHOLE doesn't mean it's a bad deal. I got an EW when I bought my car for a really low price, and of course we all have car and health insurance, which make a profit for the insurance companies to be sure.

There is a benefit to having peace of mind in case something catastrophic happens. That's actually one of the main reasons I traded in my BMW, which was out of warranty, for a brand new WRX.

 

[racer70]

Nothing wrong with someone making a profit on what they sell, but the very high profits on extended warrantees is really an indicator that the odds of the warranty paying off for the customer are low. It may be worth it to the customer to pay someone else to take the risk but it is an expensive decision.

Profits on conventional insurance, which is highly competitive, are not high. In fact, underwriting profits are sometimes negative, leaving the company to rely on its investments to make its bottom line..

 

[Sasquatch]

Extended warranties and maintenance programs are among the most profitable products around. So, odds are that you will spend a lot of money and get very little in return.

Almost always the case.

 

[mattleegee]

Another option is to trade in for a 2018

 

[jimbobborg]

I did a prepaid maintenance plan on my Ducati motorcycle. It was worth getting, as Ducatis are pretty maintenance intensive and dealers charge more per hour to work on them. I'm getting a maintenance plan on the new WRX I got last week, as it includes all maintenance, including brakes and other wear parts.