Honda Care (extended warranty) - how much to pay? before factory warranty expires

@hanman

I agree with everything you said except the refurbishment / buying a 3rd-party propulsion battery. In my opinion, that will never happen.
This battery is far more complex than a Prius hybrid battery. There was sufficient incentive that a market developed with the Prius, but...
There have been almost 2.2 Million Prius's sold, vs. < 50K for the Clarity. Not enough of a market to seem like it would ever happen.

Perhaps with the Volt (550K in the US), but the Clarity... I'm not holding my breath.

 

And as discussed in the past, I think the extended warranty deal sort of has two camps. There's the folks who are working the numbers and feel good that they beat the system not spending extra money on a warranty statistically speaking they don't need. Then there's the other camp (the one I, hanman and some others are in), where I buy the warranty like I buy insurance. In fact, I will sincerely feel better if I never need to use it. So to me, $1500 vs the cost of the car is small potatoes for the peace of mind. So I temp my car to go for it, and never need the warranty!

 

I have been following this thread and since I live in Florida it is my understanding I am unable to purchase an out of state warranty so I just called the local Honda dealership and they do not sell Honda Care only "U.S. Warranty". Only negative thing I have seen being a resident of Florida, other than hurricanes.

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I am sorry that there are at least one (or two) special states where Honda doesn't offer the same deal everywhere else. Does anyone know why this/these states are excluded?

 

It's state law in those states that make it hard for dealers to sell the product. My understanding is in those states the Honda Care extended warranty is considered an insurance policy and therefore Honda would have to become a licensed insurance company with all the capital and regulatory requirements that includes in order to sell it in those states.

 

It's possible no one sells Honda Care in Florida. It's also possible that only Florida dealers can sell it (and therefore that the usual suspects can't) but that your particular dealer has decided they make more profit selling some third-party warranty. I'd call around to a couple other dealers to see whether they sell Honda Care before I gave up on it.

 

Wanted to share pricing for a 2018 Touring with ~13k miles. The original warranty expires sometime in like October.

Quotes for G52 +5yr 120k mile warranty with $0 deductible -
Hyannis - $1,444 - said via email can take an extra $10 off ($1434) when I mentioned I was waiting on College Hills but that they beat the others
Saccucci - $1,569
Curry - $1,559
College Hills - $1,439 - the only one I couldn't find an online quote mechanism, had to email, they mentioned sales tax if I lived in Ohio (I don't) - haven't shot Hyannis back at them

Honestly unsure if cross-state sales tax on plans is a thing.

 

Hi All, new owner of a new 2020 Touring in Alberta. Any Canuck owners find a deal on Honda Care extended warranty? Quoted $3400 canadian peso's for 8yr/200K .

 

I just got quotes from Hyannis and Curry. I looked at the miles, and noticed my 2018 has 12,483 miles on it. It had 8,500 when I bought it in December. I have a job where I travel, so I mainly drive it back and forth from the airport. At the rate I'm going, I'll put about 6,000 miles a year on it. I doubt I will need major repairs if I manage to only put 36,000 miles on it in 5 years. But there's a little voice in the back of my head saying I should get at least the 80K / 5 years for 1K....

 

I had the same thought. Then I did some searches on the cost of some of the covered parts - it would only take one to potentially pay for the warranty. I then looked at as $XXX/yr for peace of mind. That made it easier to evaluate IMO.

A few notes - check out my post #28 on pricing. The extended warranty starts from when you buy it, not from the end of the standard warranty - it does not pay to buy it early. If you have a 2018 car - check when it was purchased and how long you have to buy the warranty - you have to buy it before the original warranty expires.

 

The Honda Care extended warranty for a new vehicle starts from the date the auto was originally put into service. An 8 year extended warranty provides coverage for the five years after the original 3 year warranty ends. So, it does not matter when the extended warranty was purchased (as long as it was purchased within the allowable time period after the auto was put into service.

 

Certainly, if the extended warranty cost actually remains the same no matter when you purchase it, you can invest that money and profit by waiting--as long as you remember to purchase the extended warranty before the factory warranty expires.

I never bothered to check if the extended warranty costs the same whether the car is new or its factory warranty is about to expire (due to mileage or time), I just assumed there would be a cost-incentive to buy it early (as I did). Being probably the only Clarity owner on this forum who paid MSRP, my financial acumen is highly questionable. I couldn't wait for the Clarity PHEV and ordered it a year before deliveries began, so my eagerness reduced my leverage.

 

That allowable time is pretty short (6 months, 6k miles) and after that you can still get it. The mileage starts from new, but the time start depends on whether you get the "near new" extended warranty (<6 months old, < 6000) or the regular extended warranty. If you buy it now for a 2018, you can only get up to 5 years, but that's 5 years from when you buy the warranty, so 8 years total.

From Saccucchi Honda (one of the big sellers of Hondacare)

All "C" and "D" plans start at the original in-service date, and 0 miles(Vehicles under 6,000 miles).

All "F" and "G" plans start at contract purchase date (Vehicles over 6,000 miles).

 

As said perhaps, I also think the go or no-go on extended warranty likely has to do with how long you think you might keep the car. If I was a person who buys a new car somewhat frequently, I'd just take my chances.

I happen to be the variety that drives cars until the wheels fall off. In my case, purchasing the Honda Extended Care warranty is a no-brainer. I insist on th official Honda version, nothing else. I also bought mine from Hyannis (or whomever has best price presently). Good luck with your decision.

-Dan

 

I am somewhat concerned that Honda might not sell extended warranty next year as it would be the first year that the car is discontinued. Any risk of that?


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As a counterpoint, we have sometimes been known to keep cars - and motorcycles - for a very long time. Case in point, our 2005 Honda Element bought new that now has over 200,000 miles. Any money we might have spent on an extended warranty for that car would have been a total waste - zero repairs were necessary within the time span that would have been covered by a typical extended warranty. So I’m not sure your calculus makes an extended warranty the “no-brainer” you think it does. Honda wouldn’t be selling these unless they, on average, took in more than they paid out.

For newbies, here’s a summary of my logic posted some time ago to this forum:
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/why-not-to-buy-that-extended-warranty.3703/page-4#post-39994

 

I got rid of a 2000 for my Clarity. In my view, your 2005 (and my 2000) were cars with a bit of computer. The Clarity is a computer with a bit of car. Also, Honda's actual cost for the items I most fear breaking (e.g., the tablet) is almost $0, but they charge thousands for the part, so I'm happy to pay them to insure it, and they'll probably be happy even if it pays off for me (since they got the parts at cost)

 

Like any insurance, extended warranties can be a rational choice. But religiously "going naked" after the factory warranty has worked out well for me in the past.

But you know what they say about past performance!

 

So it is my understanding that the Honda Care warranty is transferable to a new owner. The way I see it, I am buying the warranty as insurance of sorts, but also to enhance the value of the car when I sell it. I got the 8 year, 100,000 mile warranty even though I'll probably sell the car in 5 years with about 50,000 miles on it. How much more do you think a new owner would be willing to pay to buy my Clarity with effectively a 3 year, 50,000 mile warranty vs. someone else's Clarity with no warrany whatsoever? I expect I will recoop at least $500 or maybe up to $1000 of my $1400 purchase price of the warranty when I sell the car.