Should I buy an extended warranty for my Chrysler Sebring convertible 2005?

Question

My car has 3 years and only 15,000 miles. I'm offered to buy a 6 year warranty, up to 60,000 miles for $2515 (it would be like paying $420 per year). There is a $50 deductible for each repair.
My dad, who is a french mechanic, think that because the engine is new, I don't need it. But the representative told me that if the top of the convertible don't work, it would be expensive to repair. My dad never repaired a convertible.
So what should I do?

Answer 1

An extended warranty is like any other type of insurance. You are happy when it is there and you need it, but are screwed if you need it and its not there.

Do you take the risk or not?

Here is a way to look at things: If your car was 99.9% problem free, it would be a good car, right? Well, lets break it down. There are, say, 15000 parts and components in a car. More for some, less for others, based on the complexity of the vehicle(4x4, Convertible, Nav systems, etc).

15000 parts x 99.9% = 14985 good parts, leaving 15 "bad" parts. If you came in for 15 repairs, that would be excessive, wouldnt you think? Yeah, me too, so, lets say half that. 7 repairs in the life of the vehicle, and lets say you paid for those repairs. In my dealership, the average "customer pay" repair order is anywhere between $200 and $500. Times the number of repairs, that could be anywhere between $1400 and $3500 in repairs.

So, say to yourself. Which makes more sense? Paying possibly upto $3500 for repairs, or $2500 for a service contract.

Now, remember, the six years is from the original warranty start date, and the miles is from the original mileage when you bought it, assuming you bought it new. I would recommend the LONGEST you can buy, with the LEAST amoung of miles. If your driving habits stay the same... A 6/60 warranty is way more miles than you need. Ask for a 7yr/50. Still more miles that what you need, but better suits your habits.

And that price seems REALLY high. Are you buying from a dealer, or thru the mail? Are you buying a Chrysler Service Contract, or an independant. I recommend getting only getting the extended contract from the company that built the car. Independants go out of business too quickly, and you are left with nothing. Chryslers contracts are insured thru an independant insurance co. So if Chrysler goes down, your repairs will still be paid for, unless the insurance co goes down.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Well if you look at it one way, it the top won't go down, you can still drive it with the top up. If you think you want the warranty, you better read ALL the fine print of you'll find there's a lot of things that AREN'T covered. By all means don't take the salesman at his word for what it covers. As mentioned, there's big bucks made selling the warranties which are technically, financially and legally an insurance policy. Nothing more and the policy isn't through any manufacturer, it's through an insurance company.

And don't listen to the morons chirp about the poor Chrysler quality, it's really starting to get old and monotonous. And yes, these people ALWAYS know of friend, brother, priest, cousin, gay lover, boxing partner, babysitter, maid, bartender, bag lady, serial killer or total stranger that has had one of whatever car is in question and it was a pile of junk and they spent thousands of dollars and wouldn't have another and it left them on the side of the road and it had no resale value and on and on and on. These people must use a script because it's always the same old cr@p.

Answer 3

If you brought the car new, it should have came with a 7 year 60000 mile warranty from the company. If you purchased the car second hand, the warranty is transferable. I purchased my 300M second hand and the warranty came with it. Good thing because one day the window slipped out of the grove and had to be replaced. It would have cost me $300+ but because of the warranty the work was done for free. If it is not a warranty from Chrysler, I would really go over the terms before I signed up.

Answer 4

I would buy the warranty if you can easily afford it. Even if it never pays for it's self, I feel like you will use it some later on down the line. And it will give you great peace of mind. I bought extended warranty on my 05 van and even though I am a retired Chrysler tech, It gives me a feeling of relief knowing I won't have to pony up 2 grand if by chance the trany or motor decides to go south on me.

Answer 5

If I were you, I'd get the extended warranty. The Chrysler Sebring is notorious for having all kinds of problems it really shouldn't have, and one of them is problems with convertible tops. Believe me, it sounds like a large chunk of money for extra coverage, but it's worth it. A friend of mine who owned a Sebring (and swears he'll never buy one again) had major engine problems AND the motor for his convertible top died not long after the warranty ran out. He ended up spending close to $4,000.00 to get those two things fixed.

Answer 6

Why don't you just take that money and trade in that Sebring for something far more reliable, like a Solara convertible by Toyota ?

Others are correct about the Sebring. It's a trouble prone model, and can be expensive to repair.

As for bikinkawboy's comment about Chrysler's quality, perhaps he ought to take a look at the reliability rating in Consumer Reports and check the number of black (bad) spots vs the red spots (good). It's not a real pretty picture.

Answer 7

Take that money and put it into a good savings account, one with a good interest rate. That way if the worst happens you'll have the money to pay the bill and if it doesn't you'll have a nest egg for something you'd really like to have. Extended warranty's are one of the biggest money makers there are for car dealers. They make more off them than they do by selling cars. They're NEVER a good deal for the buyer.

Answer 8

Sure as hell you better before it started dying on you. Well, you should know by now because I'm sure you've already been to a dealership but warranty paid for repairs.
You should've asked if you should buy chrysler...

Answer 9

na dont buy it nothing like that will happen for atleast 10 years or more so save the money for gas and enjoy the car.

Answer 10

I'd buy it, but you can talk them into a cheaper price.