Of Happenings + Your Thoughts on Extended Warranties

"davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com" (davesaddiction) 01/15/2016 at 12:24 • Filed to: RFD

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davesaddiction, casting aside anonymity, is David Lange, now contributing at !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . My first article is below, and my next article is about my experience with the extended warranty I bought for my car. Anyone have opinions or experiences — good or bad — that they care to share?

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Questions:

1. Have you ever purchased an extended warranty?

2a. If you have, did you end up getting value from it? Did you recoup ~25%, ~50%, or >100% of the cost of the warranty? Feel free to share specifics of the company you went with, and how well they met your expectations.
2b. Would you buy one again? Why or why not?

3. If you haven’t, would you ever consider purchasing one? Why or why not?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, and now, if you’ll excuse me, this is the first time I’ve ever used this:

Dave

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 12:29

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Bought a six year extended warranty on my ST just because I bought the car 10k back of book. Got the warranty for invoice.

I haven’t needed to use it yet, but I figure I probably will at some point with a high strung Turbo 4. I would for sure buy another warranty if I bought anything euro again. The wife likes volvos oddly, so if I can find a nice xc90 (new body) I will likely scoop up a warranty on that as well.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet 01/15/2016 at 12:33

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Good to hear from you, man. How’ve you been?

I bought a 3 year warranty on my ‘08 M3 I bought in ‘12 and only ended up using it for a couple damaged tires. Not sure if I’ll buy and extended warranty again, but might go the CPO route instead if I buy another used, technically complex car.

phenotyp > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 12:46

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My last two car purchases: both E60s. Figured it was the right thing to do, and figured right.

The first one: 07 550i . Less than a month into ownership, the engine stumbled and went way down on power and all the warning lights came on . Ended up doing more than the purchace price of the car in engine/seal/belt mount work. Paid about $2200 out of pocket, ended up with nearly $19K in work over the course of four months. Also had the steering angle sensor and battery replaced , but no warranty help on those.

Second one: 09 535i. First crapout came about 2 months into ownership: HPFP (which had, according to the dealership, been replaced at some point before). Covered by BMW and CPO warranty. The second crapout was on the way to vacation last July— water pump quit on a 100-degree day, in the left lane of I-35 near San Antonio. Lucked out and found a nearby shop to tow it to, and they made last call for parts, got a new pump and thermostat done that afternoon and got me on my way. ~$1200 job, I paid $11 out of pocket.

Moral of the story? If you’re buying a used BMW, buy the warranty. My co-worker with an 09 M3 would agree, too- the plastic gears on the throttle bodies crapped out on both sides of his.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > phenotyp 01/15/2016 at 12:51

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Wow. Well done. My ‘08 M3 has been pretty solid for me so far (knock wood; I did catch the AC evaporator under factory warranty right after I got it).

phenotyp > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 12:59

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Now I keep getting “high battery drain” warnings... We’ll see what that ends up being. I think it’s probably a door handle seal leaking and shorting the comfort access, but I haven’t dug too deeply on it.

Congrats on the new gig!

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > phenotyp 01/15/2016 at 13:14

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Ugh - nice to know it won’t come out of your pocket, though.

Thanks! Your thoughts on my first article, since you’re a futurist, of sorts?

phenotyp > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 13:40

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It’s funny, I talked about shit like this (non-owned car use model, electric, autonomous, etc) back when I was in school, and it was always completely blown off and derided. Now it’s happening, and since I left cars and went into tech, seeing the convergences happening over the last couple years has been really interesting, and kind of vindicating in a non-difference-making sort of way. Now carmakers are scrambling, trying to keep up with the pace of consumer technologies, reframing themselves as “mobility companies...”

I’d love an opportunity to get back to car design specifically for this reason, and the job that I’m in the running for may make that possible. Time will tell.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 14:05

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Wow talk about lucky as hell on that M3. Been good man, more responsibility and more puppies lol. Are you going to have your own subsite on RFD? Asking because I will sticky that site and get you some more clicks. As expect to see your usual outstanding quality material.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet 01/15/2016 at 15:22

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Glad you’re doing well. How many pups are you up to now?

Thanks for the good words. I assume this is where all my stuff will show up: http://www.rightfootdown.com/author/dlange/

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > phenotyp 01/15/2016 at 15:24

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Sweet - hope you get it!

Any old “autonomobile” sketches you can scrounge up?

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 16:03

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Two, One chihuahua and then my 6-month old Brittany Spaniel. This summer my Mother in Law is moving in with us to save some money and kind of boost her mood by being around her family and she has a little brother chihuahua (same parents different litter).

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet 01/15/2016 at 16:16

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Nice. We love our (6 year old) Brittany. Great dogs.

Hope all goes well with your mother-in-law. Good man to put her health above your own personal preferences.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 16:26

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Dude, doesn’t bother me at all. she is the only reason her daughter and I are married. Super awesome lady.

Pic from a month ago. He’s doing better with training and we have his behavior classes for the next 8 weeks. Then on to more advanced stuff.

phenotyp > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 16:34

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Probably lost to the sands of time. My first scale model, a wirefrime, was of a car-sharing/personalization thing I did back in 2000... might have some photos of it, but I don’t have a scanner here.

Coincidentally, here’s a pretty solid collection of things about the subject.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet 01/15/2016 at 18:47

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That’s really good. My MIL and I are... not quite that close.

Cute pup! Here's a shot of our two, looking fierce - ha.

davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com > phenotyp 01/15/2016 at 18:51

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Thanks for the link - lots to chew on there. It’s coming, but it will be a while, I think. First truly autonomous vehicles available to the general public in ~10 years, decades more for substantial buy-in and fleets to get in place.

R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet > davesaddiction @ opposite-lock.com 01/15/2016 at 21:30

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Awwwwwww-some. I meant awesome bcuz I a dude....bro.