Hey guys, I am undecided on what to do about my warranty and would appreciate some opinions/suggestions to help me decide. My 2009 Ram 1500 CC hemi 4x2’s bumper to bumper warranty is 1500 miles away from expiring, but my truck still has the lifetime power train warranty. After three years and 34,500 miles, I have not had any major mechanical issues with my truck. I have experienced the same Recall, RRT and TSB problems that the majority of other 09/10 owners had which have all been resolved. So I am debating on whether I should buy an extended warranty. To add fuel to the fire, this is my last year of payments and I have a long wish list of performance mods I would love to do: gears, lsd, tuner, cai, etc. I have received a couple of extended warranty offers by mail and I know there are several online sites that offer discount extended Chrysler warranties, but don’t know if I should take the plunge. Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

 

The Dodge/Chrysler "Maximum Care" warranty covers more than 5000 items, claiming that "if it's mechanical, it's covered". Your power train warranty covers only the engine, transmission & differential. The Maximum Care warranty also covers almost everything electrical along with your A/C, heater, radiator, power window motors, power seat motors, window channels, remote operated outside mirrors, onboard computers, and many, many more things. However, it's a tad expensive, but you can get it with either a 0, or $50 or $100 deductible which will lower the cost substantially. Buy it online for about $14~1500 bux (for the 7/70 plan) somewhat higher for the 7/100k plan. They also offer a lifetime warranty. Buy it online.

What you have to decide is how prepared are you to handle an unexpected major cost repair that's not a drive train (warranty) issue? There's a good school of thought that says instead of buying the Ext. Warr. to instead take the cost of it and put it in the bank, then draw against it for your "non-covered" breakdowns (not routine maintenance items). Remember too that you must replace the timing belt at 60,000 miles as a maintenance item. That will be a major out of pocket cost that is not covered by any warranty and you must do it at the 60k mile interval else the remainder of any warranties in effect will become void.

An ext'd warranty is also not a true warranty in the literal sense. Rather it is a mechanical breakdown insurance policy, rife with weasel clauses. Any breakdown caused or exacerbated by your own negligence will not be covered. Ext'd warranties are also a gamble, with the odds stacked heavily in favor of the house. So you've got to ask yourself, do you feel lucky?

 

Or just do what i do, trade it in when the warranty is just about up

 

That's why I am hesitant to fork out big bucks, especially since I have a higher short term payment, money is tight right now. I have purchased extended warranties on several new cars in the past, but usually ended up never using them because I would trade in after a couple of years. The only extended warranty that has paid for itself so far is on my wife’s 07 Honda Civic. The engine block cracked at 37K and HondaCare paid for a new short block. Then the A/C crapped out and HondaCare paid for a new compressor assembly. But in my opinion our Ram’s have more durable heavy duty parts compared to my Honda, so one would expect our trucks to last much longer than previous gen trucks. I have read many posts on this forum from owners who have gone well pasted the 75K mark with very few problems. The problems I have seen trend more towards 4x4’s, maybe due to off-road or severe duty situations. Anyway that’s just my two cents.

 

You want to do mods, or keep your warranty. You can't do both. Will you pine for the mods? If so.. Do the mods. F**** the warranty.

 

well its a dodge, and its going to break down, could be today, could have been yesterday, or in 2016. Your best bet too insure against problems is too keep on up the maintance, but that being said, its a mecanical assortment of parts built on a random day with people suffering from random issues.

The only one who out right benifets is the sales person who sells you the contract.

if you want too keep this rig for the rest of your mortal being, than you have too reed the fine prinnt and follow every little maintance up grade from the dodge bible, if you don't, thiers a lot of fine print that will stop you cold from any extended warenty work.

who knows what the next mecanical advancement will bring, all trucks are out dated the day thier made and really not any better than what was built ten years ago, its all abought buying fear of the unkown.

When your truck breaks off warenty, you have so much more freedom than dealing with a dodge dealer, don't get me wrong, I like dodge, but when the warenty is gone, you pay to keep a warenty, or pay to fix it at a non dodge dealer.

 

RGV,


The advice that I would offer is that if you do decide to purchase a service contract is buy from the manufacturer and don't buy more than what you need.

I have talked to many customers who have purchased aftermarket warranties that would either not cover what they said they would or they would not be accepted at their servicing dealer.

As far as not buying more than what you need, I am referring to time and mileage. I see many people who drive 10,000 miles a year buying plans that are 7 years and 100k miles, so at the end of 7 years and the contract expires they paid for 30k miles they have never had the chance to use. On the flip side if you drive 20k miles a year it's the same thing. You will expire your contract after 5 years and have paid for an extra 2 you cannot use. If you drive 20k a year and want coverage to 100k then by a 5/100 plan. Extra time and mileage costs money, and while you may want to add a year or a couple thousand extra miles just in case, do not pay for a bunch of coverage you are never going to use.

 

I'd run far away from aftermarket warranty policies! They have lots of fine print stipulations, high deductibles PER PART..meaning if you blow a head gasket, you'll pay a deductible for the gasket, again for the labor, again for each and every part with no maximum.
PLUS, they generally allow used parts and if they are new, they only do aftermarket parts unless a dealer part is the only item available. That's IF they actually pay out. They are just crap policies.
Ohh, best part...They allow local registered garages to do the services over dealers! In fact, they prefer them to do the services(cheaper).

I'd only reccomend the OEM manufacturers warranty and just think about the deductible as you'll have to pay that everytime you believe you have a problem. I got a $0 deductible bumper-bumper 7yr/100kmi waranty extended for my wifes Subaru, so any noise that we need looked at or anything, we'll never pay a penny if the dealer comes back and says...nothing is wrong!
Now, you'll likely have to pay top dollar for an extended warranty since you waited till you had 35kmi before purchasing. You could have saved several hundred if you purchased the warranty when new. Nature of the beast and atleast you know you'll use it rather than throwing money away if you decided to trade in o a new truck. Read fine print and details. Not all bumper-bumper waranties cover everything the manufacturer 3/36kmi covers. We had to upgrade to get that type of waranty. Its through Subaru and was $1600 just so you have some idea,.

Be very weary of mail order warranties!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I agree, if you're even thinking for a fleeting instant about an E/W that the manufacturer's factory plans are going to provide the best coverage with the fewest number of "weasel clauses".

Chrysler factory plans are available from reputable sources online for slightly more than 1/2 what they cost from the dealer.

It's really all about peace of mind versus what amount you can stand to take a hit on and how long you plan on keeping it. If you're like me, whenever you buy a new car or truck, it's the "forever truck" or "forever car" because I keep them literally until the wheels fall off. My trade-in was a '97 (15 yr-old) Ram 1500 that I'd been spending an average of $1000 a year on the last 5 years to keep it fully opreational, figuring that the annual upkeep was cheaper than a new one. This year the A/C went out for the 4th time and the transmission was slipping and it had a slow oil leak at the rear main seal making it a PITA to keep a mat under it in the garage and never being able to park it in anyone's driveway. I was looking at potentially $4~5000 in repairs & couldn't justify it anymore. CARMAX gave me $2500 for it, so it's their problem now.

Sorry for prattling-on so, but for me an E/W makes more sense than it might for someone else who gets "new truck fever" every 3 to 5 years.