Has anyone here bought a extended warranty and it came in handy?
For sure, it's going to be a saver for some people. However, like any insurance, there are going to be a lot more people that have never had to use it.
Mine comes in handy for the roadside assistance towing... they tow the car to the dealer and back to my residence in the event of an issue. This is very nice since my closest dealer is 300+ miles away. I had the entire roof on my spider go bad once, so that was completely replaced. Also had the headers go bad on that car. No issues on my Scud. No issues on my 458.
My 430 has it through late May (powertrain only). Unsure whether to renew. Dealer guys said I should. I think it needs to be reinspected to do it. I have not had to use it at all. Bought it because f1 actuator scared me (though I heard they don't fail often).
The odds are against having it pay off for you. Otherwise they would not sell it to you at that price. The way to look at it is that, like all insurance, you are paying them to take a risk that you don't want to take. You will always be better off over the long run if you self insure. But to protect yourself against a big loss that could hurt you financially, you pony up and pay them to take the risk. In a year I have to make a decision whether to take an extended warranty on my 458. I'll probably go for the two year deal. It does increase the value of the car if I sell it in the meantime.
I have both purchased extended warranties on my personal vehicles as well as administered MANY warranty claims through various companies. My best advise is to know 100% what the contract you are purchasing covers. This in itself can make the difference between it being a " good " contract or a " bad " contract. If you have one you are interested in, I'd be happy to take a look and give you an un-biased opinion. Also, talk with the shop that will be servicing YOUR car , ask them who they work with the best. S p.s. Factory backed contracts have proven to be the easiest to work with in my experience.
The only thing that worries me is the F1 actuator. How much it is to replace F1 actuator vs cost of power train warranty?
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the actuator a wear item? Similar the F1 pump is also a wear item too?
When I bought our Scud in May of last year (from a dealer) it was still under a Power Normal warranty until October. After going back and forth as to whether to renew, we finally made the decision to buy another year. During the warranty inspection, I got the call that a oil/water pump (as it was explained to me, the larger pump unit) was starting to leak (no spots on the garage floor yet at this point) and that the dealer would be replacing same under the existing warranty. I was told out-of-pocket would have been a $6,500 job. For us, it worked out great this time (saved a couple grand and got another year). I would have never caught the leak before the existing warranty would have ran out. Still not sure what to do this coming October. I also was (and still am) concerned about the F1 system - friend of mine is still having F1 issues on his 430 and it hasn't been cheap so far.
A friend was advised by the main dealer to by a warranty contract. On close inspection it only covered a ‘catastrophic’ failure…which was not defined.
