$2,905 3 year Unlimited pre-owned Service Contract

[Thebarnman]

Just wondering, what is the best forum to post a question about Chrysler's "Unlimited Pre-owned" Service Contract.


I've been reading many posts about Extended warranty contracts and 2nd party service contracts and there dose not seem to be much talk about Chrysler's "Unlimited Pre-owned" service contract.


Thanks!

[300maximilien]

how about here : Dealer Service Feedback and Questions

[Thebarnman]

I deliver Pizzas with my 2004 300M Special and in the last two years, put over 25,000 miles on my car (half of that is pizza deliveries.)

Oh, and as you see from my signature, I LOVE going to the drive-in with this car! I go there once a week!

Recently, I've been working less and driving the car less...so I may only put about 15,000 to 18,000 miles on the car per year in the next few years.

The car was given to me by my family shortly after my mom passed away. Upon delivery of the car to my AZ home in the summer of 2008, this ORIGINALLY FROM MICHIGAN vehicle only had 23,109 miles on it where it sat mostly in a garage. Currently it has over 75,000 miles.

Even so, when I recently took the car in for an alignment, I was told there was some rust they had to clean off so they could proceed with the alignment. I don't see any rust on the car, so it must be very minimal and in a area/areas I'll never see.

Except for new tires, breaks and pads and some regular maintenance, I have not had to put any money into the car...till now. In less than a month, I've put in just over $1000 replacing a 02 sensor and getting the Air Conditioner fixed. The problem with the AC was simply a "Blend Door Actuator" (located behind the dash) and a few other minor things. Most of the cost was the labor getting behind the dash.

Anyway, while at the Airpark Dodge Chrysler in Scottsdale, I ran into the service warranty manager. She asked about my car and suggested a Service Contract. Because of the hard miles I put on the car (pizza deliveries,) she suggested I purchase the three year unlimited mileage Service Contract. 10% down ($290.50) and $217.88 a month...(no interest fees) with a $100 deductible for repairs. I can even put about $1000 down and bring those payments down to little more than $100 a month.

I told her I wanted to research this. So I started (by the service warranty manager's advise) by talking with my service advisor who said that my timing belt WILL need replacement at about 90,000 miles. He said my transmission WILL go out at about 100,000 miles. He also mentioned about the water pump. He said there are less costly Service Contracts, though he said those are crap compared to the top one.

Also, I've read up lots of information about Service Contracts at this forum...all having to do with "Extended Warranties" and warnings about (3rd party contracts) however nothing I've read (at least as far as I know) about the "Unlimited Pre-Owned" Service Contract.

So the main question is, what should I expect to happen with my car between now and three years from now? Assuming I put about 18,000 miles on my car per year, what should I except to happen to my car between 75,000 miles through 129,000 miles?

Even if I break about even, I'm thinking it might be worth it, since I wont' be burdened with big costly repairs when something does need fixing. Then there's the fact that this car has been great so far and much more dependable than my other pizzamobile. On the other hand, I do deliver pizzas with this car.

Believe it or not, all those short trips is about three times the wear and tear on a car. I've been delivering pizza for over seven years and I know from experience what damage that can do to a car. My last Pizzamobile (1992 Cadillac Seville) broke every time I turned around and ended up costing me about $500 (average) every few months. As it aged, the problems got worst and worst and seemingly more frequent.


Thanks for your comments!

[Tarheel]

No way! Dealerships make big $ from selling service contracts, save your money.

[DaleFicken]

Seems like a lot of money for the amount of repairs you might have to do. WP/TB should cost you about 400-600 if someone else does it. 125-175 if you do it yourself. That is the biggest maintenance I am aware of. Of course, brakes, maybe a tie rod or sway bar bushing or something.. should be cheap enough even with an alignment is still not that outrageous. for 3k you can get another 300M as a daily beater if you are worried about your Special. Transmissions don't seem to be failing all over the place around here. Do the maintenance on it and it should last you a long time. Your biggest concern is the WP/TB replacement. Maybe a flush and refill of new coolant, new plugs..My base model just turned 120k and runs like a new car. That's just my opinion.. personally I would not spend the money unless you just tell them to replace everything now, struts, tires, all the bushings, do the WP/TB all the belts.. everything then maybe..

[Bill Putney]

I agree with the others.

While I agree that pizza delivery is hard on a car, consider the following:

If any of you know who Dave Ramsey is (a pretty savvy radio talk show host on financial advice and on getting out of debt, also appears as a guest on Neil Cavuto and other shows on Fox News), he talks (borderline rants) about extended warranties (whether on cars or on a drill you buy at Lowes, or on a computer you buy at Best Buy) probably at least once a week. He points out that statistically, of every $100 you pay on such a contract, something like $18 gets paid out in claims. Most of it goes to commisions to the dealer, and the rest is marketing and overhead. He does not make up the numbers - he states them as facts (somehow he knows the real numbers - if he were guessing at them, he would say so - he would not just make them up).

Also - when I see prices that people post about what a dealer or extended warranty company documents that a repair costs, they are usually 2 to 4 times what you can get it done for reliably with some common sense approaches (i.e., using a good local indepent shop, using trusted sources for salvage parts like engines and transmissions, some DIY'ing, etc., etc., etc.).

Also no. 2 - I get the distinct feeling that people buy such warranties to get a sense of comfort about serious and expensive problems that could occur - *BUT*, when such a problem does occur, the warranty company often finds ways to weasel out of paying (some exclusion in the contract). Also, with the inflated costs they claim to pay (see previous paragraph) when they do cover the repair, the total cost is so high, that when the customer hears the numbers and only has to pay a fraction of it on "incidentals", or "deductables", or "things not covered" that actually probably should have been, they are relieved to pay that smaller amount - *YET* for that smaller part that they do end up paying and feel good about, they could have gotten the job done using the common sense approaches that I mentioned at the end of the previous parpagraph *AND* could have saved the huge amount that they had paid out in the cost of the contract, which would have paid that repair several times over.

IOW - statistically, for the overwhelming number of car owners, if you were to put the money you would have paid into the contract into an emergency fund for car repairs, you would be way ahead. Another way to put it is that over your lifetime of owning several cars, comparing buying an extended warranty to investing or setting aside the same money for each of those cars, it would be almost impossible *not* to come out ahead putting the same money into an emergency car repair fund and handling any repairs that come up in a wise manner.

[LUNAT1C]

So, it WILL go out at 100,000, the trans? Give him Hank's number...

[300Michael]

You have to pay 1K a year and still pay 100 dollar deductible? I too would pass on the deal. You can go out an buy anther 300M in three years for that cost.

[EasyRider300M]

Don't Walk

RUN--away from that ridiculous offer

just properly maintain your car and chances are it will be dependable.

Put that money in a 3 year certificate of deposit and use it for any major repairs down the road.

[300man86]

don't bother with the service contract from the dealer. If you have a reputable local mechanic that your trust, I would suggest taking it there instead when something breaks.

In the mean time, I would save up about $1,500 or so for future maintenances i.e. timing belt, water pump, struts, etc.

[mnitetrain]

Barney my M is also a delivery vehicle. I bought mine off lease with about 60,000 miles.
Only thing that doesn't work on my car at this moment is the odometer which is comfortably dozing at 536,870. Conservative estimate of my current mileage is probably around 630,000+ miles.

I did replace transmission (X2) both from salvage yards. Engine has also been replaced with a salvage yard engine.

I used to average 450-500 miles per night also with the economy nowthat has suffered to between 250-350 miles a night.

The same dealer tech has worked on my car since I got it so between him and I we both know what has been done and what should be done. Dealer charges are expensive but the relationship I have I can drop my car after work and 9/10 time they will have me running that night. I have never had extended service contract because I feel that odds are it would expire before I needed it and I would rather use the money to keep the car.

Most folks would have given up on my car 500,000 miles ago but considering what I would spend for a replacement I would be back into mileage/repair within a year.

Your local driving might be a bit more brutal than mine but if you can find a local shop that KNOWS what they are doing with these cars you will come out way ahead. Just keep that piggy bank for unexpected or required maintainence repair.


If you feel that you DO want to get an extended service contract do your homework, talk to shops about what companies they have good experience with and which ones to avoid.

The internet is your friend...even shop that contract your dealer tried to sell, I would almost bet you can get it with lower deductible ($50.00) for around 1/2 of what you were quoted.

Keep the shiney side up!!

[Thebarnman]

Barney my M is also a delivery vehicle. I bought mine off lease with about 60,000 miles.
Only thing that doesn't work on my car at this moment is the odometer which is comfortably dozing at 536,870. Conservative estimate of my current mileage is probably around 630,000+ miles.

Wow! You must do long travels with your deliveries.

I want to thank everyone for their comments. Even if I was to shop around, I've decided to simply put some money aside every month for those times something does break...or some type of service needs to take place.

Reading the comments here has made my decision very easy!

[FIREM]

Great plan!! Thats what this club is all about!!