Hi guys! I just bought a 04 Durango SLT with 35,000 miles. I am lucky enough to have the dealership give me the remainder of a 8 year 80,000 powertrain warranty. I dont pick up the vehicle till wednesday the 21st. the dealership is trying to sell me a full extended warranty for another 1,000. Seeing as how I already went over my budget I cant really aford to drop another grand?At the same time is seems pretty reasonable for that extra piece of mind. Do you guys see value in getting the additional coverage? They were really pouring on the sales pitch telling me how this will cover the electrical, seals, gaskets, etc..... I dont know, I think as long as I already have the engine coveredI should be alright. Any thoughts guys? I would love to hear the opinion of you guys that have owned these durangosand what you would do.
Thank You Very Much!!!!

 

When we bought our 04 durango, we did get the bumper to bumper warranty up to 100,000 miles. This will cover anything other than brakes, tires and a few other "wear" items.

I am glad we got it because 2 weeks after we bought it, a CD broke in the cd player. Everything, including rental car, was free.

Now, I do know for a fact that you can hagle on prices of the extended warranty price and you can always go back to the dealer in the future to purchase one. however if you go back after ~38,000 miles, the price goes up.

If possible, I would haggle down $500 and see what happens. Good luck and let us know what happens.

 

Thank you very much for the info aka_Chewy. I will definately try to get the price down. If I could get them to drop it then I would get it. Ill let you know how it goes when I goto pick it up.
Thanks again!

 

Lots of recalls on the 04s so make sure you get all the updates. Most critical is the fire-in-the-dash problem. Here is a list of the recalls: http://www.durangoclub.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=31

I'd talk them down to $750 on the warranty. Be preparred to say 'no' and when they know you are going to say no, you'll get a better deal than the $1000. They pay less than $500 on that themselves plus they get the warranty services. You didn't say what the extra warranty was covering/how long.

IndyDurango

 

the extended warranty would be the remainder of 8 years or 80,000. So basically it would be 5 year, 45,000 for me. The guy gave me the impression that it would be a bumper to bumper. He kept stressing to me that it will cover the "electrical" telling me that replacing the electrical system will cost you twice what I can give you this warranty for. If you crack a hose or a gasket, we cover it. He gave me a twenty minutedeal about how he had to go to Chicago and take training courses for two weeks to become an"expert" on this warranty offer?? This is a different salesman than the one who actually sold me the durango. this guy said his title was the finace manager? My guess is he must make a heafty commision by getting people to buy into this extended warranty because the guy who sold me the vehicle didnt have anything to say about the extra warranty. IfI can talk them down I would like to get it. The thing is, a guy at work told me if the electrical system was going to fail it would probably already happend? I dont know, I sure cant afford another 1,000 dollars but at the same time I would be kicking myself in the butt if i dont get it and something happend? thanksfor your input Indy!!I reallylike this forum, cant get betteropinions than from actual owners that arent trying to work an angle on me!
thanks again.

 

Madtown:
I assume this waranty is the DC backed warranty which should be called Added Care Plus, or Maximum Care. I am curious to see how this comes out. Since your Durango is an 04, it has a 7/70 powertrain warranty on top of the basic 3/36 standard.
To me, this says that the dealer is not giving you very much unless the warranty you end up with is a bumper to bumper or similar.

My experience has been many times they want you to think you are getting a warranty extension that is inclusivelike the original 3/36, but in reality will only cover major internalissues with engine, trans, or front/rear axles.

The Maximum care is very close to bumper to bumper, while the added care is more like a powertrain warranty with electonics, A/C and some suspension parts added on.

Sometimes you get your money back out of the warranties, and sometimes not. I bought a $1250 policy on my 1995 Taurus SHO, and got back almost $5k from it in repairs. My 01 D is a different story. That policy cost $1650, and so far I have had 1 repair for $308 so they are ahead of the game.

IMO, if you are going to hang on to the vehicle for a while, the warranty is a good thing. If not, then some say you might just put some bucks aside in case something goes kablooey.

Just my 02 on the deal. Don

 

I believe they are offering the added care? I just know he kept telling me how it covers the powertrain without me having to pay for it again and would include the "electrical" which as I said he kept stressing! Here is an added twist to the story. I had a test drive scheduled for another 04 at a dealership about 30 minutes away. After I bought this one locallyIe-mailed and told him that I had purchased one already but thanks for the help. He sent me the following response today:


>From: "dearthbg" <dearthbg@tds.net>
>To: "John Moschel" <johnmoschel@hotmail.com>
>Subject: Re: 2004 Dodge Durango
>Date: Sat, 17 Mar 2007 09:09:59 -0500
>
>Hi John,Thank You for checking at Dearth Motors.We have great deals on oil
>change coupons that you can use at any Chrysler,Dodge or Jeep store and if
>you ever need any extended warranty we only sell original DaimlerChrysler
>contracts at $100 over our cost.We'll do our best to help in any way.Call or
>email me anytime.Thanks and good luck with the Durango.Brian
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "John Moschel" <johnmoschel@hotmail.com>
>To: <dearthbg@tds.net>
>Sent: Thursday, March 15, 2007 9:15 PM
>Subject: Re: 2004 Dodge Durango
>
>
> > Im sorry, I actually found a local one here in madison. Thank you for all
> > your help.
> > John
> >
> >
As you can see he says they can sell me an extended warranty for only $100over cost? I guess any dealer can sell you this warranty even if theydidnt sell me the vehicle? And why would he be so willing to help me if he is only going to make $100 bucks? I wonder what he is charging? I will contact him and let you guysknow.

 

Madtown:
Sounds like what they were offering would have been close or equivalent to the added care. You are correct that any DC dealer can sell you a DC backed service contract. When you get the chance, go to eservicecontracts.com and compare the price they offer. Please note that I an not endorsing this seller in any way, but they are a DC dealer offering DC backed warranties for sale online. You can plug your vehicle info, and find what they would sell the package for and them compare it to what local folks are telling you.

My wifes 05 Grand Caravan also has the factory 7/70 powertrain warranty which allows them to give you a break on any waranty you would buy due to the existing coverage. There is also a choice of $100, $50, or $0 deductible which affects the final price.

One more thought, I think the powertrain 7/70 only applies to the 1st and 2nd owner, and to get it transferred to the second owner costs you $150 which must be done within 30 days of purchase.

Hope this helps. Don

 

Don-
yes, that is good info and I will check it and let you know. That is interesting about the $150 transfer fee. I will be the second owner but the dealership didnt mention anything about a transfer fee? I will have to be sure and ask them about it.
Thanks again.
John

 

Just wanted to give you guys the update. I wound up not getting the extended warranty from the dealership that i bought the durango from. I tried to talk them down but they refused to go below the 950.00 that they quoted me. They said they were already discounting it from the 1050-1350 list price?? From what I have learned since,there might have been some truth to that as I have seen them listed at over 1000? I still have that other dealer e-mailing me trying to sell me the warranty. Here is the e-mail that he sent me today:

Hi John,The best warranty that covers over 5000 items would be $1050 for 80k
and $1600 for 100k.The added care plus plan which covers 800 items would be
$590 for 80k and $1075 for 100k.These are original DaimlerChrysler
warranties good at any Dodge,Chrysler or Jeep store nation wide.Thanks
Again.Brian
----- Original Message -----
Maybe the one for $590 would be worth it. Do any of you know where I would be able to see the list of items covered by these different versions of extended warranties. Like I said he sent this to me today so I assume I still have time to purchase?
Thanks guys!!