extended warranty?

[drpaulmarsh]

My daily driver, 1999 996 C2 coupe tiptronic, with 73k miles... Is there an extended warranty available and if so what has been your experience with them?

Pro's vs. Cons?

Paul

[djantlive]

3rd party insurer usually will flake out on paying by denying claim or paying so little that dealer won't do the work. If the car has been pretty reliable, I wouldn't bother paying a couple of g. Put the money aside as repair money.

[Gator996]

1999 C2 Cabriolet w/ 55k miles purchased...70k current.

I've had a different experience with my 3rd party warranty company (mostly good) but don't totally disagree with DJantlive.

I'm using Royal Administration (Lydon Insurance) and they have paid on a failed water pump, replacement of coolant tank, & replacement of cam seals. I paid roughly $2,300 for bumper to bumper for two years when I bought the car as its second owner April '04. They have not been difficult to work with and have pretty much ok'd everything by phone with my shop without me ever getting involved. My shop simply calls them when they begin working on the car and make a claim call if they find something.

Royal also covers all electrical including cabriolet top motors, etc. & the RMS seal.

Sounds perfect? Well.....

Royal covers parts (expected) & labor @ $85/hr. The second half of that statement wasn't so great when I lived in SF, where labor rates are ridiculous and can run as high as double other areas of the country. :eek: (Its not a snobbish cool to live in Northern California...just flippin expensive for no good reason... and I've owned Porsche's in NY & Miami previous to this)

In most cases, the shop was able to jiggle the work hours down a bit so that the majority of the job was covered by the insurance payment.

In the end, if I hadn't bought the warranty I would have paid for the water tank & coolant tank year 1 ...100% out of pocket. With the insurance, I paid a little and the majority was covered by Royal...and I know if I didn't have Royal to share the costs of repair I wouldn't have done the cams on my own. I personally would have kept on driving given it wasn't that bad in my estimation... it was only noticed during a clutch replacement.

Ultimately, if you're buying a car second hand ...its a re-assuring thing to have. If you're the original owner and are a good P-owner it may not be necessary.

(All of this assumes you don't have a catastrophic failure which is when the warranty really proves its value!) :king:

Edited May 5, 2005 by Gator996

[PorschePRH]

That is a lot of mileage to start an extended warranty especially when the car is out of factory warranty...

But you might try warrantydirect.com.

They pay with credit card, and they pay whatever the rates are at the shop. I had them pay rediculous rates at the Jaguar dealer when I had an XJ8L. And let me tell you, I came out ahead on that deal... I sold the car, not because it was costing me anything to fix in cash, but I was without the car a lot and having to pick it up and drop it off for repair.

But the best thing to do is to talk to your service writers about the particular one that you are thinking of and make sure they contact them and confirm that they will pay the rates and in a method that the shop will accept before you buy the warranty.

Also, try to get a zero deductible. If you don't it leads to funny business to make you make more trips there to fix problems so you have to pay more deductibles.

[0586slb]

Porsche Warranty in UK is *just* two years from PCGB. There is no such thing as the 8 year emissions warranty for the UK. Porsche have just reduced the extended warranty from £900 to £700 for one year. I figured that as I have had my RMS replaced just before the warranty expired, I'd bank the £700 in a 'car fund' and try to wing it for a year. If nothing goes wrong with the car, I'll bank another £700.

My wallet was still throbbing from a £545 24K service and couldn't take another hit :(

[Hroussard]

I just looked at the Warrantydirect.com website. Clicking on the right buttons ( California, 1999,Porsche, 911 ) the system comes back " We do not have a coverage for this car".

There must be a reason for that... you think it's because their are no problems / with this car and it does not need extended warranty?? :soapbox:

[Izzy]

Try Warranties4wheels. The are very professional and pay with credit card. Also, you can sear the www.bbbonline.org for con-artists. A lot of the warranty companies change names and State and con customers. A lot of them are under investigation by State Attorneys. The BBB keeps good track of them. I got a 1999 that I bought with 35K miles, 4 year 100K miles for about $2100. Good luck with it.

JC Dennis

Warranties 4 Wheels

Auto Warranty Specialists

1-877-844-7283

www.warranties4wheels.com

:drive:

[PorschePRH]

Try calling them. They were all excited about providing a warranty for a 2001 with 35K miles that was just out of factory warranty that I almost bought (just before I got the long fax of problems from the PPI)...Went with the under warranty 2003 instead...

I just looked at the Warrantydirect.com website. Clicking on the right buttons ( California, 1999,Porsche, 911 ) the system comes back " We do not have a coverage for this car".

There must be a reason for that... you think it's because their are no problems / with this car and it does not need extended warranty?? :soapbox:

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[RICK3452]

Paul, I bought my 99 this past March. 43K, I did purchase the extended waranty from Western General. It cost me $3,600 for 3 yrs or 36 k. So far I have used it once for a dealer replacement mass air flow. I have a $100 deductable and Westen paid the difference, no questions asked. Good luck !

Rick

My daily driver, 1999 996 C2 coupe tiptronic, with 73k miles... Is there an extended warranty available and if so what has been your experience with them?

Pro's vs. Cons?

Paul

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Hroussard]

Paul, I bought my 99 this past March. 43K, I did purchase the extended waranty from Western General. It cost me $3,600 for 3 yrs or 36 k. So far I have used it once for a dealer replacement mass air flow. I have a $100 deductable and Westen paid the difference, no questions asked.  Good luck !

Rick

My daily driver, 1999 996 C2 coupe tiptronic, with 73k miles... Is there an extended warranty available and if so what has been your experience with them?

Pro's vs. Cons?

Paul

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Western General was the company that refused coverage for me, my car had done 32,000 miles and was 4 years old.. It was around $3,600 for 3 yrs . The insurance was done by Rector in Burlingame and 30 days later I got their ( Western General) refusal in the mail ( I did get my money back). No explanation was given.

HarryR

[bnewport]

I have a repairmaster warranty. I got it when I bought my 996 C4 from the dealer, it was 4 years old with 17k miles on it. 46K for the car and 2k for the warranty with a 200 buck deductible. So far, my pipes on the left front radiator needed to be changed and they didn't pay because it's a plastic part. My air bag light came on which turned out to be grounding on the passenger seat and they didn't pay because its airbag related but Porsche paid for this themselves.

Next, my radio a 220 went berserk and they did pay.

So, its a mixed pot. I'm suspecting if anything big happens they will pay. RMS is unlikely for me as I have a tip. I still consider it money well spent. I got the most expensive warranty because it covered more.

Something to watch is mods on the car, even an exhaust or non OEM wheel sizes, this can give them an excuse not to pay if something goes wrong.

Billy

[johnp77777]

I too bought an extended warranty from Western General for my 99-996. Tried warrantydirect.com right when the law changed last July...refused due to the new liability requirements in CA. Anyway, because the car was under 50Kmi (42K) and 5 years (by 5 months), I was able to get a 5yr-75,000mi extension on the new car warranty for $2500, ZERO deductable! I did check with St Creek Porsche service people as a reference. They work with WG all the time.

I've used the warranty twice. Worn sway bar parts and a door speaker. Ron at St Creek is amazed they covered both without question. He said he's never seen a better warranty. I'm tempted to see if they will cover the sunroof noises. Ron said he doubts it since nothing is malfunctioning. Then again...Ron didn't think they'd cover the sway bar either.

Cheers!

:cheers:

jp

[TRIATHLETE]

Somewhat on topic for those reading this who haven't bought their P-car yet... Consider purchasing a Porsche Certified Pre-owned car. I was all set to buy my car through a broker at auction until I weighed the difference in price from the dealer. Last April, I paid $42.9K for my 99 C2 with 22K miles on it. The car came with a 2 year or 100K mile warranty.

Yes, I probably paid $4-5K more for the car than at auction, but a warranty would cost another $3,600. Also, I was able to review the complete service records from the dealer (lucky me, the previous owner took the car in religiously). My car had a complete service, new brakes and a brand new set of Michelin Pilot Sport tires when I picked it up. That's worth at least $2,500-$3000.

Did I have any warranty claims? You bet! I've had the cruise control module replaced, reverse switch replaced, power seat motor replaced, fuel filler door latch replaced, and the A/C system diagnosed for a leak (never found it) and topped off with freon. Total cost - $0

The only complaint I have about the Certified program is I get the feeling that the 100 point pre-inspection is total BS. You are on you are own to find faults with the car.

You should have seen the look on the salesman's face when he was demonstrating the locking feature of the fuel filler door the day I took delivery of the car. To our surprise, the entire latch mechanism was missing! Same thing for the cruise control. The service guy insists it must have gone out on my way home from the dealer. Yeah, sure...

To their credit, the dealer has addressed every issue with a smile and apology, albeit I was without use of the car at least three days every time I took it in. You can bet they WILL get another crack at fixing that A/C leak before my warranty expires next spring...

[Rob in WA]

My car has about 3 weeks left on the warranty. 2001 22k miles. RMS has been replaced 3 times - the last was about 3 months ago. Also replaced MAF, and PCM. I plan on keeping this car a long time. Does Porsche offer an extended warranty? Should I go w/a third party? Or take my chances? $2,500 for two years seems like a lot.