Honda Extended Warranty Worth Buying?

I’m hoping to buy a lease-return Honda with 32,000 miles. Our family has owned 4 other Hondas and we’ve had few mechanical problems with them. The dealer is offering a 100,000 mile bumper to bumper warranty for $1700. With the labor costs so high, I’m wondering if I should bite the bullet and get this warranty. Your ideas or advice? Thanks, Jane

Howdy Jane,

I concur with you that Honda’s are very reliable and tend to not require much non scheduled maintenance or repair. What I look for more than anything else, is the place of manufacturer and assembly which is indicated by the first letter in the VIN number either on a sticker on the driver door or on the driver corner on the dashboard.

I see MUCH fewer breakdowns and repairs with vehicles made in Japan, which the first letter in the VIN indicates “J”. It may sound crazy, be we have been studying Japanese vehicles in my shop for a few years and I strongly believe that vehicles made in Japan last longer, have few break downs and command a higher resale price than cars made in the U.S which the first letter in the VIN indicates with a “1”. So if you don’t have a “J”, it might be beneficial for you to look around for one and ask the dealership if they have one or will get one soon.

With that being said, I would not purchase the extended warranty and would rather take that money and invest in a mutual fund which you establish just for unexpected auto repairs. If you need the money, you can get to it but if you don’t need the money hopefully it will have made you money in interest over the years. Only use this money for unexpected costly breakdowns!

I am not real keen on extended warranty contracts to begin with; they just don’t really seem to cover the repairs that seem to actually happen most. $1700 could be spend on a down payment of a newer vehicle, or placed in a mutual fund and will probably do more for protection than the contract will.

Make sense?

Blessings,

Austin Davis