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Warranty Extension Debate

5K views 31 replies 22 participants last post by  basketcase 
#1 ·
I bought my 2010 PRO-4X in June of 2010. My warranty expires in a few months. That truck has been great for the most part. I've continued to deal with stinky air issues which appear to be the result of mold growing in my system for reasons unknown. Dealer speculates that my low mileage and usage is the problem. All I know, is it's still a problem. Initially I had some A/C problems also. Those seem to have passed. I have 20k miles on my truck (+/- 200 miles.) I think part of me thinks the extended warranty is a waste of money. Wanted to see what people have experienced with their trucks post factory warranty.

Extended Warranty Info: $2500 for 6 years of coverage (aka $35/month). This covers, engine, transmission, transfer unit of 4X4, drive axle assembly, font and rear suspension, steering, air conditioning unit, electronics, seals, gaskets, brake system, electrical system plus "most mechanical parts". This excludes normal wear and tear...ie brake pads, oil changes, tires etc.

$2500 is cheap in the long haul (just over $1 a day) but almost 10% of the value of the vehicle. Thoughts?
 
#3 ·
i bought my truck used with 30k miles. i bought the 'platinum' bumper to bumper to 90k, the guy from the dealership that sat down with me had a great sales week. he dropped my interest rate by 2 points and cut the price of the warranty by 1/3 to hit my monthly payment. lucky me!

the warranty was my wife's idea. i was sold on the truck anyway. i have had a few things that needed to be repaired so far, but the factory warranty covered the fixes.

i passed 60k in the beginning of october. i guess i will find out if my wife was right about spending the extra money, even if it was discounted.
 
#4 ·
6 years or till it is 6 years old. Makes a big difference.
 
#5 ·
Regarding the "stinky air" issue....have you looked inside the in cabin air filter behind the glove box to see if mice might have nested in there and died? That caused my "stinky air " issue on my truck. I found 2 dead mice in mine. Removed mice and put in new air filters and problem solved. If you are a real low mileage user and don't do a lot of off roading, I wouldn't think you need the extended warranty. I didn't see "radiator" mentioned as covered. There have been a lot of radiator contamination problems due to leaking tranny fluid (cross contamination). There is a legal settlement coming on that in a class action suit (see thread on that). At any rate, Nissan extends the radiator coverage to 80,000 miles and 8 yrs from the factory warranty right now. That may get expanded in this class action suit. At 10,000 miles per year, I don't think it would pay off....but I could be wrong. I don't know how you drive or use and abuse the truck. I would not purchase the extended warranty if it were me, but I never go off road and I have a manual tranny that does not have the potential "cross contamination" problem.
 
#6 ·
I kind of slept on the idea and am leaning away from it. The stinky air has been looked at several times. The most likely conclusion that I've come up with (thanks to club frontier) is that my short commute is the reason for my stinky air. My commute to work is 2.5 miles or about 12 minutes. In the summer I blast my A/C b/c I live in VA and it's wicked hot out. Long story short, something about the evaporator coils and the condenser etc don't run long enough to function properly. So basically, moisture collects but is unable to drain off so it molds. The dealer has done the foam cleaning twice and it was great...for a few weeks maybe....then back to stinky air. I'm not moving any time soon and neither is my job. They has to be a happy compromise. 12 minute commute or not, I should be able to run my a/c. I never leave the a/c on recirculate per their advice. Not sure if it helps but I figure it can't hurt either. I know I've kind of topic jumped here but the stinky air issue continues to bother me much more than this warranty debate.
 
#7 ·
. . .

Extended Warranty Info: $2500 for 6 years of coverage (aka $35/month). This covers, engine, transmission, transfer unit of 4X4, drive axle assembly, font and rear suspension, steering, air conditioning unit, electronics, seals, gaskets, brake system, electrical system plus "most mechanical parts". This excludes normal wear and tear...ie brake pads, oil changes, tires etc.

$2500 is cheap in the long haul (just over $1 a day) but almost 10% of the value of the vehicle. Thoughts?
Is this an OEM Nissan warranty? Is it bumper-to-bumper, or just the drivetrain? FWIW, just because a Nissan dealer is selling the warranty doesn't necessarily mean it is an OEM Nissan warranty. If it's an aftermarket warranty, be careful. A lot of these aftermarket warranties have a lot of fine print, exceptions, "gotchas", deductibles, and have a tendency to go out of business leaving you high and dry.

$2500 for six years, but how many miles? Again, is it bumper-to-bumper? Sounds a little high in any case. Haven't priced an OEM Nissan warranty lately, but I do know you can purchase an OEM Toyota Platinum, bumper-to-bumper, zero-deductible 8 year, 125k miles warranty for a 2013 4x4 Tundra for about $1600 from a few select Toyota dealers. The average Toyota dealer would typically charge $2500-$3500 for this same warranty. Most OEM warranties (from most manufacturers) can be purchased from *any* authorized dealer in the country as long as your vehicle is still under the original bumper-to-bumper warranty. There are a handful of dealers around the country that offer *massive* discounts on their respective OEM warranties. A little bit of time shopping (via your phone) can save you a ton of money. All you need is your VIN and a credit card to purchase one.
 
#9 ·
I have decided against this warranty. It was for 6 years or 75k miles. Also it had a $100 deductible each time I'd need to take the truck in. I realized I was going to be paying for peace of mind which shouldn't be necessary. I am anal about maintenance and caring for my truck so it should last. Treat my truck well and it will treat me well.

I'm not sure how to delete this thread now that I've made my mind up. I'm semi new to the forum world.
 
#11 ·
Also, try not using recirculate on your A/C. Use outside fresh air. Once saw a Subaru that was virtually rotted out on the inside from moisture build-up from constant use of recirculate.
 
#14 ·
Once the idea had a little time to marinate, I realized it was a mistake. I'm just tired of dealing with the stink air issue. I've tried not using recirculate. No real difference.

If I turn the heat on vents or floor it's fine. As soon as I switch to defrost it stinks. To make matters worse, once I switch to defrost, it stinks on every other setting also. If I got back to vents, it still smells bad. I just dropped it off again to see if there is anything they can do. My Nissan dealer seems to have a new batch of employees. It's been a while since I've been in. Maybe I'll have better luck this time round.

Only thing they've ever done that has helped is the foaming cleaning. That made the smell go away for a solid....3 weeks maybe. Everything has been a waste of time thus far.
 
#15 ·
I find this kind of hard to believe. My commute is 4 miles. Not much more than you and I run A/C during the summer months every day with no problems. There must be a drain hole that is not draining correctly or a drain line that is not pitched enough. Something must be causing this, other than you short commute.
 
#16 ·
I really really hope you're right. I have no intentions of getting ride of this truck any time soon but I'd like to be able to use my A/C or heat without the foul smell.

As far as the short commute goes, from what I've read on here, people say it's not about the drain hole being plugged, its about the lack of run off since the water is beading up but not running off b/c I park the truck before it has a chance. I hope they are wrong but it seems logical. I also park in a garage at work and home. Maybe not enough outside air circulating? I have no clue. I'm shooting from the hip here.
 
#20 ·
I only bought one extended warranty on my wide 1998 mustang. I took it in for a tie rod end and was told it was not covered under a bumper to bumper warranty....prior conditions. A$$holes.
Anyway, I have not bought another extended warranty since. Saved many thousands of dollars...in retrospect, I would have never needed a warranty. Today’s vehicles are pretty stable and generally need only minor repairs. Even a major repair fear could not get me to buy a warranty.
The dealer was almost irate because I told him I didn’t even want to discuss a warranty when I bought my 2019 Frontier. He tried to tell me that state law requires that I listen to his lecture. I said I’ll go to another state and buy the truck. He finally agreed to shut up.
 
#21 ·
I was an independent mechanical inspector for an agency that worked with several warranty companies for about a year; I would have stuck with it but there was too much running me around the state and I was using my own car. I would inspect the vehicle at the repair facility, make a report, take pictures and call it into the insurance company. Here's what I learned: read and be aware of the fine print in the warranty provisions. Most will have a grace period to protect them against pre-existing conditions. Save your receipts for servicing. Some companies are really good and some are really bad. I remember doing a claim on a 132,000 mile Dodge Caravan for Corinthian Management and they covered both a bad engine and transmission without any ifs, ands or buts. There was another company in Florida that did what they could to deny any claim they got and always gave me a hard time; their warranty didn't cover any seal failures nor damages caused by leaking seals, which pretty much meant 99% of the automatic transmission problems, turbo failures and power steering repairs were not covered. I really don't recommend them for most people, but some are good for some people depending on their circumstances.
 
#22 ·
A friend of mine bought a used Land Rover from a dealership and at the time of sale also purchased an extended warranty. He was very happy when his car died on the highway on a road trip 400 miles from home and he remembered he got the extra warranty. Unfortunately, somewhere in fine print was a disclaimer that said damages due to overheating were not covered. He said the car just stopped working as he was driving. The dealership says it overheated. He can't pay the $6000 plus to fix the car. So it's been sitting on the dealers lot for the past 9 months or so while he continues to make payments on it as he tries to resolve the situation. He is dealing with lawyers now.

I won't buy an extended warranty. Too easy to hide stuff in the fine print. Even if you read and understand the fine print, how are you supposed to prove a negative, as in proving a disqualifying event didn't happen when they say it did?
 
#25 ·
My neighbor was looking for a new vehicle and came over to look at my new Frontier. He liked it so well ( I let him drive it) that he bought one from the same dealer that I had.
He said he got the extended warranty (I said nothing) but he added the dealer sold him an aftermarket warranty....not even a Nissan factory warranty.
I assume that the dealer made more money on the aftermarket warranty. He’s happy that he can go anywhere to get it repaired without being restricted to a Nissan dealer....ouch!!
 
#26 ·
$2500 is cheap in the long haul (just over $1 a day) but almost 10% of the value of the vehicle. Thoughts?
The fact that they're charging $2500 means that they've calculated that they'll need to pay out considerably less than $2500 in claims over the length of the warranty.

I say "calculated", because they have plenty of statistical data on how much they have to pay out in warranty claims for your particular year and model.

They don't offer warranties out of the goodness of their hearts. They offer them to make money - which means that they charge several times as much for a warranty as they'll ever pay out in claims for it.
 
#27 ·
I'm guessing 90% of policy purchaser's never even read the actual policy or contract that they sign.And alot of those don't really understand what they're reading.Most of the insurance companies selling these warranties seem to use fear of economic demise as motivation, beings a 500$ repair is beyond the monthly budget of half of America if you believe statistics.
 
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