Hondacare (extended) Warranty

Very good point. Our trusted non-Honda mechanic & his crew isn't going to fare well dealing with the Clarity and its extensive EV & electronic systems. It'll be new ground even for 'authorized Clarity' Honda dealerships. I suspect I'll have to return to Honda for service & repairs in the future.

 

That's exactly what happened to me twice with Honda.

2007 Civic: It had a 3 year warranty. About 7 years into ownership I noticed the headlights dimmed when I stopped at a red light. At my next service I mentioned it to the service manager. They called me and said, "The alternator is bad. They never go bad so it must have been a factory defect. We'll replace it and pay 1/2 the cost." I was flabbergasted. Well out of warranty and Honda was coming through for me.

1999 Honda Odyssey: Honda had big problems with the transmission slipping. There were lawsuits. Honda extended the warranty from 60,000 miles to 100,000 miles. I sensed slight slipping in our Odyssey so took it to the dealer. They said this particular car didn't have the problem. I continued to drive well past the 100,000 mark, I think it was around 119,000 miles when the transmission was clearly bad. Even at that late date, well over the extended warranty, Honda replaced the transmission. It cost me something ( I forget now) but it was something like 1/4 what it would have cost otherwise. Honda picked up the rest.

 

They 1st offered a third party extended warranty contract, told them I wasn’t interested.
Hondacare warranty c 60: 72 months, 100k miles, $100 deductible negotiated to $1607
0.9% finance for 60 months. Not as good as saccucci Honda but i felt I wanted them to feel whole from the deal.

 

In the past I've never bought an extended warranty (except on my 1st car that I bought 26 year ago on a "first time buyers program" that Ford had, the dealer lied and said that the program required all 1st time buyers to buy the warranty- when I went into car sales at a different Ford dealer and found out they lied, I returned demanding a refund and got it). I almost didn't get one on this car. It is a Honda and I figured it doesn't really need it.

I ended up getting it for three reasons (I don't remember the price, but it wasn't cheap). First, since so much about this car is new, I figured better safe than sorry. Second, I've had some bad luck with cars in the past. Fords have been reliable for me, but everything else, even reliable cars, I always seem to get the rare lemon or have some strange problem that worries me. Many cars I bought planning to keep forever, I traded after a few years when they had some issues. Now, if I get unlucky, I'll be covered for 125k or 150k miles (I don't remember which, I'll have to check the paperwork). I figured a little extra a month for some peace of mind, and if I do get unlucky I'm covered and can still hold on to it for some time after the loan is paid off. Finally, I think I mentioned bad luck with cars... On most cars I've had, I've had to replace tires due to damage from road debris several times. This particular warranty also includes road hazard insurance for the tires. I figure if I pick up a nail or bolt on the road as often as I have in the past, this warranty will pay for itself within 5 or 6 years even if nothing goes wrong with the car.

 

https://www.quora.com/Are-extended-warranties-ever-worth-it/answer/Vikas-Saxena-35


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I’m not sure how many Honda dealer mechanics are capable of servicing this vehicle. Ours was the 4th Clarity my dealer had sold.


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They were over $1000 less than the dealer I bought from on HC

 

Got the D80 from The Honda Store to match the Hyannis $1300 pricing. New technology, no spare tire and roadside assistance for my kids Honda’s made this an easy decision. I never buy extended coverage, but just cancelling AAA pays for 1/2 of it!

 

But really, nobody buys insurance to 'win', they buy it for peace of mind.

 

I'm not sure if this is posted somewhere else.
I found the following on Honda website.
A – Minimum coverage for all vehicles in all states. • B – Vehicles that are registered and normally operated in California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Here is link

http://owners.honda.com/Documentum/Warranty/Partslist/2018_Honda_Clarity_PHEV_-_EWPL_APL06769.pdf

I'm in Mass so I'm very happy.

 

Wow, I'm in Maryland so I'm very happy too. The way I read that, it looks like it's those low emissions states. The battery itself is warranted for 10 years, 150K miles and everything else to do with emissions is 15/150. The two years is great, but really the extra 50k miles is even better.

I really don't see the need for the extended warranty now. This is definitely worth hanging onto in case you want to sell the car individually in the future, because obviously it's the first thing someone buying a 5 year-old electric car is going to ask. That warranty must have a massive effect on resale value in the future.

 

So this means that if you are in one of those column B states you don't need to buy extended warranty?? Im in Oregon and the dealer only mentioned the 3yr/36,000 for most vehicle parts when he was trying to sell me the overpriced extended warranty.

 

The only major parts I've replaced on older cars I've owned are catylitic converters and selonoids which were very expenisive.

 

Well, I would say it means you don't need to buy the extended warranty to get extended coverage on those emissions parts. But there are lots of other parts to the car. However, to ME, since it's a Honda it's really the new technology I'm concerned about, and it seems like it's pretty much all covered under the emissions items. I just noticed in the 'fine print' it also includes software updates. Good deal!

But if your climate control breaks down, for example, I assume it's under the regular warranty.

For ME, yeah, it means I'm not buying the extended warranty.

 

Arthur - you are my hero!! That was a great find. Now I have to decide if I’m going to keep the extended warranty.

 

This is very interesting, because I'm thinking it still applies to any owners after the original owner? That would be good.

Here is the California CARB site.
https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/california-vehicle-and-emissions-warranty-periods

It says the following below, so that means any PZEV vehicle? Honda's list of components may be different than other brands. I will have to see what I can find for Toyota, do they do the same I wonder.

Defects and Performance Warranty for PZEV
Only covers vehicles certified to the PZEV (Partial Zero Emission Vehicle) standard Reference: CCR §1962
15 years/ 150k miles (except battery)

10 years/ 150k miles battery or other energy storage device

 

No. Canda gets 8/160 coverage of some parts of the hybrid system and battery assembly, but nothing to do with the cells.

 

Can you buy the extended warranty after you have bought the car?

Finance guy says I have to buy today, the day of the purchase/delivery. Is this right? I’m thinking I can still purchase the warranty at a later date.

 

Just picked up my base model Clarity today. Finance guy kept pushing the extended warranty and after 10 minutes, only to find out he was pushing a third party warranty and not the Honda Care one. And it was way too expensive. WTF???

 

If you want peace of mind, take the money you would spend on the extended warranty and put it in a high interest savings account.

Once your car is out of warranty you have cash in the back ready for the unexpected repairs. And based on the actuaries, that amount of money should more than cover the expected repairs during what would be the extended warranty period.


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