Warranty

JohnM

New member
i wlll be picking up my 2019 sprinter near the end of june early july and i'm sure they are going to try and up sale extras are the warranties and the prepays service worth getting as i am able to use my time to change the oil, air filter and other simple maintenance
 
i wlll be picking up my 2019 sprinter near the end of june early july and i'm sure they are going to try and up sale extras are the warranties and the prepays service worth getting as i am able to use my time to change the oil, air filter and other simple maintenance
No. They are not worth it.

I won't have time to go into it in detail until tomorrow, but "extended warranties" (Mechanical Breakdown Insurance Policies) are the most profitable thing that the dealership can cram up your butt. They're literally selling air.
 
...aaaand I'm back...

The first thing you need to understand, is what a warranty actually IS. Manufacturers realize that nobody is perfect- they do their best to build a good product, but people make mistakes. So manufacturers often offer a warranty, which gives the consumer a reasonable amount of time (expressed in terms of months and miles in this case), for you to discover any defects in manufacturing and present those defect(s) to the manufacturer's representative (the dealership in this case). But at some point, the manufacturer feels that YOU need to take full ownership of YOUR vehicle, which is why warranties don't last forever- they all have an ending point. And vehicle warranties typically cover the entire vehicle, except for the tires (tires are customarily warranted by the tire manufacturer).

So you can't BUY a warranty- you paying more money for something, in order to get more time to discover any defect(s), doesn't make sense.

It is also important for you to realize what warranties AREN'T. Warranties do not immunize the vehicle owner from all possible adverse aspects of vehicle ownership- they only cover defects in manufacturing.

So if they put the rear main seal in cocked, and it leaks oil during the warranty period, that would be covered by warranty, because it's a defect in manufacturing.

If a bird craps on your paint and it eats a hole through the paint, that would not be covered by warranty, because it's not a defect in manufacturing.

So what they're trying to sell you, is not a warranty. This can be confusing, because the people who sell these things often use the WORD "warranty" in the NAME of the thing they're trying to sell you. What they're actually trying to sell you, is an MBI (Mechanical Breakdown Insurance) policy. Like all insurance, it's legalized gambling, and the "house" always has the advantage. They are gambling that you won't need to use it, and it will therefore benefit them financially, and you would be gambling that you would need to use it, and so you're hoping that it would benefit you financially. In actual practice, it is the single most-profitable thing that a dealership can cram up your butt. And unlike an actual warranty, an MBI policy does not cover the entire car- an MBI policy only covers what it says it covers, in black and white.

The difference between a warranty and an MBI policy becomes much more apparent when you try to use the MBI policy. If you present your vehicle to the dealership during the warranty period because the engine is knocking, you sign a repair order authorizing them to work on your vehicle for ZERO dollars of your own money. They put you in a Mercedes-Benz loaner car, diagnose and repair the vehicle, and then they call you to come and pick it up- easy. With an MBI policy, if you present your vehicle to the dealership after the warranty has expired but during the MBI policy term with the same knocking engine, you sign a repair order authorizing them (typically) an hour of diagnostic time (around $200). They'll call a car rental company to come pick you up (at your expense) if you'd like. After they've expended that first $200, then you get a call advising you that the engine knock is internal, and they need to remove the engine and tear it down for your MBI policy company to inspect, which would require you to authorize another 15 hours of labor ($3,000). Once they've got your engine out and scattered all over a workbench, they phone in their findings to your MBI policy company. Your MBI policy company typically has a few days to send out an inspector, who will also report back to your MBI policy company. IF (and I mean IF) they end up authorizing the repair, they may scrounge around to find a junkyard engine to put back in your vehicle, because that's what the contract with all the tiny print says. Even if there is rental reimbursement, there is no guarantee that it won't be exhausted by the time the job is completed, so you may still end up paying for part or all of your rental car. Then when you go to pick up your vehicle, you will pay your deductible ($500 or whatever), plus anything that your MBI policy doesn't cover, like fluids, filters, gaskets, seals, fan belts, sealants, and miscellaneous shop supplies. HUGE difference.
 
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cacaw

Well-known member
I'll be making the same decision soon and would love to hear some of the specifics regarding the extended warranty and pre-paid service that Mercedes offers. I agree that most third-party extended warranties are not a bargain but I'm inclined to think that a manufacturer's extended warranty might be a better deal.
 
D

Deleted member 50714

Guest
I'll be making the same decision soon and would love to hear some of the specifics regarding the extended warranty and pre-paid service that Mercedes offers. I agree that most third-party extended warranties are not a bargain but I'm inclined to think that a manufacturer's extended warranty might be a better deal.
Retrieve and post a copy of contract for peer examination.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I'll be making the same decision soon and would love to hear some of the specifics regarding the extended warranty and pre-paid service that Mercedes offers. I agree that most third-party extended warranties are not a bargain but I'm inclined to think that a manufacturer's extended warranty might be a better deal.
You are correct that an OEM extended "warranty" does at least have a chance of being a better deal than any third-party products (which are always garbage). However, as it turns out the MB warranty is a particularly bad one. It is an inclusionary warranty, and the list of covered items carefully avoids almost all the really worrisome parts of the vehicle. In particular, it offers no coverage at all of the very troublesome emissions system.

There are extensive discussions on the list of the kind you are looking for. No point in starting another one. The search tool should turn them up easily.
 

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