has anybody explored these new warranties? my understanding is that you can buy one year or two year bumper-to-bumper coverage, though i don't know what it costs. i spoke to my dealer yesterday and learned a few things i thought i'd share here. first off, they have to do apparently a four hour inspection of the car, including a leakdown and compression. basically a full PPI and then some. it wasn't clear to me who pays for that labor, though my general assumption is that they wouldnt' do this gratis and FNA sure ain't picking up the tab! second, the car has to be completely up to date on its scheduled services. this latter point is interesting, since while RoW manuals have always/generally stipulated this distinction of time -vs- mileage on the services, many NA manuals (especially recently) have not. and this has been the topic of much debate here, as we all know. he said that as of MY 2002, all manuals now stipulate this time -vs- mileage distinction. furthermore, based on my understanding from this discussion, FNA has issued TSBs to clarify this point for cars that did not have this laid out in their manuals. and the magic number shall be, drum roll please, THREE years. of course we can debate whether that's reasonable or not until the cow's come home. my 550 is now 4.5 years young and hasn't had its major yet. i am planning to do it overwinter next year (5.5 years young) when the car should have something like 11K miles on it (hopefully more!). apparently, after they do that major service, they could add the warranty. so i've got a year to think about it, but was curious to hear if anyone else has availed themselves of this pre-owned warranty coverage. tia, doody.
Doody in my dealings with Farrari of Alanta ,to buy my 355 they are going through the process of certifying the car for this warranty, but I am skeptical because the salesman said that the warranty covers all the things that dont break on the cars.He was being sarcastic ,but i think he is right .If it covers the valve guides then I think I will get it .Buy the way you do half to pay for the inspection it was 350.00 for me
there are a couple different warranties available. there's the power train stuff that only covers the stuff that doesn't break (i've heard other dealers refer to it that way as well!) but then there's this new bumper-to-bumper stuff which is what i'm interested in. doody.
Didn't someone mention previously that the 2year warranty was $10k? Does it include services (yeah right)? --Dan
I recently bought my '99 355 privately. I agreed with the seller that it must be checked by the main dealer and approved for the warrantee. The check was £450 (and it included the compression test). THe car was due for a service so it had that done too (£1650). They wanted me to change break pads and tyres before they gave me the warrantee. I argued about the tyres as they were just over half used (3.5mm vs 8mm when new) but did change the pads. The 2 year warantee cost me another £2,000. All in all £4,000. I have read the warantee and it is very impressive as it includes all sort of features apart from just the basic parts cover. It includes breakdown recovery, paying for flights back to your house if the car is irrepairable or hotel rooms to wait, replacement car etc etc.
Ask me again tomorrow because I'm supposed to find out the deal on the new pre-owned warranty. I can tell you this much. It requires a 103 point inspection, and this ain't free. Even though I just got the 30k service down (yep, I bit the bullet and had the service down while fixing the hose leak), I still have to do the inspection. The warranty is supposed to be bumper-to-bumper except for tires, brakes, batteries, and the clutch. Is it worth it? I'm gonna say yes because I'm looking forward to a year of worry free driving. Recall that I'm planning to drive the Maranello from Texas to Pebble Beach and back this Summer. Bottom line is these are expensive cars to work on, and they are complicated low production cars. Because I'm a lover instead of a fighter, I rather pay now so that I can drive later without having to worry about all those little values going up and down and kinds of other things that can and will go bump in the night. If I had the tools, talent, and time, I'd consider playing without a safety net. But I don't, so there you go. I did consider not going with the warranty because I just had the 30k service done and the FOH folks are known for standing behind their work. Plus, the reputation of their techs is that they are among the best in the country. However, for a few dollars more, I can add the FNA warranty on top of the FOH warrenty on the timing belt. As a general rule, I don't get extended warranties on electronic stuff. It either works or it doesn't. But luxury cars are so expensive to repair that I generally do bite the bullet here. In fact, I'm going get one on my 2001 MB E55 because the pulley just came loose and ate everything in sight. Because the car was still covered under the original warranty, no charge. But if hadn't of been covered, you don't want to know. Dale
Doody, I purchased my 355 this summer with the Powertrain Plus warranty. The certification was about 6 hours worth of work (runs about $500) and then the dealer sends a check to FNA for $1,000. Most dealers charge a total of $1,500 for the one year coverage. It covers the engine and transmission (all internal parts) it also covers the ECU's, ABS, control system for shocks, A/C controls and bunch of other electronic stuff. The car can not have any leaks of oil, antifreeze, etc. and it has to be 100% stock (can't even have a TUBI according to my dealer). The Powertrain Plus is still available for cars that are over , I think, 7 years old... If the car is newer than that, you can buy the one or two year bumper to bumper coverage. There are a few programs, power one, power two and power cubed... Power cubed is the most expensive and is a bumber to bumper program with roadside assistance for two years. I think it runs about $6K. I never needed to collect on my warranty, but I can tell you that it was a huge plus when I went to sell my car (it is completely transferable..)
