On Extended Car Warranties

On Extended Car Warranties

If you’re bantering around in your mind as to whether to go for an extended auto warranty, you’ll know doubt have questions… questions worth researching, asking and getting the answers to.

O.K… let’s get the really obvious out of the way first.

How long does the car warranty last? But, beyond that… what’s the time limit of the contract and how far does it go beyond the the original warranty with the car?

Of course, you want to the mileage limit to the warranty as well. Even most extended warranties won’t go beyond 100,000 miles.

That’s the basic stuff to know… or ask if you don’t.

The meat of the questions are involved in what exactly is covered. Are repairs included? If so, which ones? And probably more importantly, you need to know what is NOT covered. Parts that break are certainly different than parts that wear out… with extended car warranties it’s very important to know which is covered and which is not.

Deductibles are also a biggie with extended warranties on your car. A deductible is the amount of the repair that you’ll be responsible for before the warranty coverage kicks in. The higher deductible you are willing to risk, the lower the cost of the extended car warranty.

Another point of interest with the deductible that you’ll want to know is whether the deductible is per repair or per visit? This can really make a BIG difference. In others words if you have a $250 deductible… if your extended coverage is per repair and you take your car in and there are 3 separate repairs needed on your car… you’ll be on the hook for $750 bucks. If your deductible is per visit… $250.

Another very important question to get the answer to is - who does the repairs? Or… who is allowed to do the repairs in order for the warranty to cover the actual work? As a rule of thumb, the manufacturer backed extended car warranty is usually good at dealers around the country… a dealer warranty is usually good at the dealership itself… if you’re considering an aftermarket or third party extended warranty, you’ll want to make sure where you have to have any warranty work done.

How does the bill get paid?

Do you pay and get reimbursed… or does the warranty company pay? Also, is there any type of tedious authorization process involved.

What type, if any, scheduled maintenance is required on your end?

And finally, can the extended car warranty be canceled?

Some can be canceled within a certain period, some can be canceled with fees, and others cannot be canceled.

Be sure to do due diligence on the company that is behind your extended warranty and how long they’ve been around, how many customer complaints there have been.

Hypermiling or New Car Payments - What is The Cost?

Gas prices these days… to say the least have gotten our attention. Well… okay… a gross understatement.

Aside from the rising costs of everything in our lives that oil prices have been rapidly pushing upward lately, let’s take a look at a popular term these days called “hypermiling.”

Squeezing better gas mileage out of your car by modifying your driving habits isn’t anything new… it’s just that up until a few months ago gas prices although high, hadn’t really slapped us across our collective faces. Now they have… and currently there’s no upside in sight.

Even today as it was back in the 70’s with the oil embargo, national interstate speed limits of 55 miles per hour (yes, I got a few tickets under that useless program), and lines at the gas stations; the tactics of hypermiling and squeezing more mileage out of your car hasn’t really changed. But with a whole new generation of drivers that weren’t yet around to experience the 70’s (when gas jumped to over $0.75 per gallon) these driving techniques have resurfaced and are indeed a hot topic.

Before I get into some of these hypermiling driving tips and habits that will help save you some cheese, I’d like to share with you for the sake of cranial stimulation so numbers to take a look at.

This though occurred to me as I watch all the 0% financing being offered these days by the various car dealers… and as I drive by my local dealers and see the growing inventories of SUV’s and lower gas mileage vehicles beginning to pile up for the used car managers of the world.

If you’re having panic attacks about the price of gas these days and are seriously considering taking the plunge on these tempting new beauties… perhaps a look at the actual numbers would be helpful.

Car buying of any kind is an exercise in mental gymnastics to be sure. If you’ve taken the a moment or two to jog through my website, you no doubt know that I’m really about the numbers and the research. I like and teach that if you take the time to put together some solid numbers you can eliminate much of the emotion and drastically reduce stepping in it when you buy a car.

So let’s take a look and gas prices, mileage, and how they relate to a possible new car payment.

Let’s say for the sake of easy math and brevity that you currently don’t have any car payments left on your car. That’s the good news… and maybe better than you even think.

But, like all of us… these gas prices are getting on your nerves and in your wallet, and you’re thinking about stepping up to a more fuel efficient car.

Okay here’s the numbers on our scenario give a 15,000 mile per year driver.

Miles Driven Per Yr 15,000
Price Per Gallon $4.05
Your Current Miles Per Gallon 17
Yearly Fuel Consumption 882

Annual Cost $3,573.53
Monthly Cost $ 297.79
Weekly Cost $ 68.72
Daily Cost $ 9.79

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Miles Driven Per Yr 15,000
Price Per Gallon $4.05
Your Current Miles Per Gallon 27
Yearly Fuel Consumption 556

Annual Cost $2,250.00
Monthly Cost $ 187.50
Weekly Cost $ 43.27
Daily Cost $ 6.16

Okay… if we do the math in terms of a monthly savings… since that’s the number most people have in mind when they buy a car (and of course, being a student of my site you know that the monthly payment number is NOT to ever be disclosed to the salesperson); you’ll note a savings of about $110.29.

Now… here’s where the 0% financing and all the shiny new deals come in.

If you end up signing the papers on a new car that gets 27mpg over your current car that gets 17mpg and your bottom line financing is $20,000 - your monthly payments would work out to $333.33 per month.

Subtract your monthly fuel savings from your $333.33 per month car payment and your net monthly cash out-flow is still about $223.04 over not having a car payment.

Similarly you sign the papers on the new car for $15,000 the your monthly payment would = $250.00
and for $25,000 you monthly’s would = $416.66.

So, given our first average scenario where do we break even?

At 15k miles per year with a difference of 17 mpg’s versus 27 mpg’s when gas hits $12.00 per gallon you’d effectively be saving a monthly fuel cost of about $326.80 (or roughly that new car payment with 0% financing).

Yes, gas prices infuriate me just as much as anyone… and yes we all should be doing what we can to conserve fuel and adjusting our driving and lifestyles to do so and hypermiling is certainly an area to re-visit…. but the harsh truth is we’re not going to be able ‘conserve’ our way to lower oil prices any time soon. Much more drastic changes will have to unfold. But that’s a whole new topic of discussion and debate.

My purpose here was to just to try to illustrate to you some of the numbers and calculations you should be doing before any type of car buying decision. This was but a small scenario and everyone has their own budgets and family situations… just be true to yourself and look at the numbers.

Oh yeah… on the hypermiling tips… my apologies… I’ll get to them for you next.

Getting the Best New Car Deal

Ah yes, the car buying experience.

Whether it’s working on getting your best new car deal or your best used car deal for that matter.

It’s an event, a project, a day out amongst friends we all enjoy. You just can’t beat it!

The whole car buying experience….. a day of rest and relaxation.

Assuming you’re the type that feeling of confusion, occasional anger, and constant frustration is a source of relaxation for you.

Ok, maybe not… So let’s take a look at what you’ll be up against.

O.K.

Before we jump in and get you started, I want to take a brief moment to tell you what my website is about.

I’m all about helping you buy a car and all the basic pieces of putting together to get the best deal on a vehicle you can for yourself. How to, when to, what to, what not to… and all that.

There are certainly many good car buying advice and research websites out there. But with this website, unlike many of the others, you’ll get information and articles written by someone who spent years in the car business.

I’ve been on the sales floor convincing people to buy. I’ve sat in hundreds of sales meetings both good and the one’s where we were basically told our jobs were on the line this month if we didn’t make our projections.

I’ve managed the finance and insurance department selling not only F&I, but security add on’s, glass etching add on’s, extended warranties, and anything else the dealers saw potential profit on.

Used cars… you bet. Done that too. Primary financing, secondary financing, going to auctions every week to buy inventory. Working wholesalers to get every penny out of car that I could possibly get.

For the purposes of this website I have tried to keep each page as standalone as possible so you can jump around to the various areas of topic and all will still flow and make sense.

So take a look around and come back later… or roll up your sleeves and learn how to save yourself some big bucks on your next car buying excursion.
Are dealers and salespeople in the car business to make a profit and support their families and enjoy the things in life they like to do?

Of course, they are. Aren’t you? Isn’t that why you work hard everyday?

Are there good, honest dealers and ….. well not so good, honest dealers…. well yes. Are there good, car salespeople… and not so good, honest automobile salespeople? Well, of course there are. Doesn’t that seem to be the case no matter who you deal with in life?