MB Extended Limited Warranty - Cost

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I have not seen a post where the extended warranty denied an emissions claim. Maybe I'm not looking that hard, though?
No. The reason you are not seeing them is because these (very frequent) failures are still covered by the federally-mandidated emissions warranty for most of the vans with the new, problematic emissions systems. Just wait...
So, if the engine-only warranty on MB is 5yr/100K miles, but the driveline, trans, and everything else ends at 3yr/36k mile, then I fail to see how a $4k factory-backed warranty that is essentially a CPO taking the vehicle out to 7yr/175K mile is not a good deal.
That's just the trouble, the MB extended warranty is NOT "essentially a CPO". Far from it. The list of covered items is extremely limited. The salespersons sell these warranties as if they were extensions of the 3/36 warranty. Not even close.

I had every intention of buying the extended warranty, until I actually read what I would have been buying. The verbal assurance of your salesperson is worth exactly the paper it is written on. It doesn't matter how good your dealer is--they don't decide warranty claims--MB does.
 
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lindenengineering

Well-known member
What does the fine print say about "consequential damages"?
How good is my lawyer?
One word that comes to mind on the fine printed sheet of clauses is the word "Contingent" I have seen!
In a singular word this is up to interpretation.
How do you interpret that?

Yes an attorney versed in the complexities of the English language in all its complexities and legalese is sometimes advised before you sign and pay for a "make me feel good" betting agreement.
Remember these agreements have been formulated by attorney specialized in this indemnification business.
Dennis
 

lindenengineering

Well-known member
No. The reason you are not seeing them is because these (very frequent) failures are still covered by the federally-mandidated emissions warranty for most of the vans with the new, problematic emissions systems. Just wait...

That's just the trouble, the MB extended warranty is NOT "essentially a CPO". Far from it. The list of covered items is extremely limited. The salespersons sell these warranties as if they were extensions of the 3/36 warranty. Not even close.

I had every intention of buying the extended warranty, until I actually read why I would have been buying. The verbal assurances of your salesperson is worth exactly the paper it is written on. It doesn't matter how good your dealer is--they don't decide warranty claims--MB does.
Thank you
Dennis
 

Wrinkledpants

2017 144WB 4x4
No. The reason you are not seeing them is because these (very frequent) failures are still covered by the federally-mandidated emissions warranty for most of the vans with the new, problematic emissions systems. Just wait...

That's just the trouble, the MB extended warranty is NOT "essentially a CPO". Far from it. The list of covered items is extremely limited. The salespersons sell these warranties as if they were extensions of the 3/36 warranty. Not even close.

I had every intention of buying the extended warranty, until I actually read what I would have been buying. The verbal assurance of your salesperson is worth exactly the paper it is written on. It doesn't matter how good your dealer is--they don't decide warranty claims--MB does.
CPO's and factory extended warranties are always limited compared to the factory warranty. The exclusion list for MB's extended warranty reads just like the Porsche or MB CPO.

Your experiences are obviously different than mine when it comes to extended warranties. I'm purchasing it, and even if I get 50% of the value in claims, I'll still be way ahead when I tally up all my extended warranty costs vs payouts on the warranties I have had. The block, trans, driveline, and some other big ticket items are all I care about. I'm under no illusion that they're going to repair a leaky o-ring that may have a 1500 dollar repair bill. Failed block, failed trans, failed diffs - extended warranty is my insurance on those.
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
CPO's and factory extended warranties are always limited compared to the factory warranty. The exclusion list for MB's extended warranty reads just like the Porsche or MB CPO.
First of all, MB's extended warranty is NOT an exclusionary warranty, it is an inclusionary warranty. There IS no "exclusion list" (last time I checked). This means that only the very skimpy list of enumerated items is covered. Notably, this list excludes most emissions items (and MUCH more).

Secondly, this drastic difference from the basic warranty is FAR from industry standard. I don't know about Porsche, but let's take a look at Toyota:



You will see that only a very small list of perfectly understandable items is excluded.
Your experiences are obviously different than mine when it comes to extended warranties. I'm purchasing it, and even if I get 50% of the value in claims, I'll still be way ahead when I tally up all my extended warranty costs vs payouts on the warranties I have had. The block, trans, driveline, and some other big ticket items are all I care about. I'm under no illusion that they're going to repair a leaky o-ring that may have a 1500 dollar repair bill. Failed block, failed trans, failed diffs - extended warranty is my insurance on those.
If you get 50% of the value in claims, you will be out 50% of what you paid. It makes no sense to add together the costs or savings across very different vehicles with very different contracts. Totally apples and oranges. Good warranties are a good value, bad warranties are a poor value.

If you think the cost of a MB warranty is cost effective for what it covers, then by all means purchase one. But I suggest that you first look at the evidence on this list of the relative failure rates of the covered items vs. the excluded items.
 
CPO's and factory extended warranties are always limited compared to the factory warranty. The exclusion list for MB's extended warranty reads just like the Porsche or MB CPO.

Your experiences are obviously different than mine when it comes to extended warranties. I'm purchasing it, and even if I get 50% of the value in claims, I'll still be way ahead when I tally up all my extended warranty costs vs payouts on the warranties I have had. The block, trans, driveline, and some other big ticket items are all I care about. I'm under no illusion that they're going to repair a leaky o-ring that may have a 1500 dollar repair bill. Failed block, failed trans, failed diffs - extended warranty is my insurance on those.
Interesting perspective -> in my experience it is the 'small items' that really hurt overtime on vehicles. The likelihood of a major system failure like an engine, trans, etc are much smaller. I purchased the ext warranty on 3 vehicles -> it has paid for itself on 2 out of 3 vehicles. The third is still under factory warranty.

- 2007 Jeep Rubicon JKU Unlimited -> Mopar Unlimited mileage/lifetime ext warranty. First model year with a major overhaul AND I knew the I was going to beat the snot out of it. Total estimated wty claims: ~$12k. Total deductible to date: $600. $2200 purchase price. Total out of pocket: $2800. Largest single repair : front diff @ $2800 (covered). The rest were 'small items', Still I consider it a very reliable vehicle in light of how I use it. Thrash it off road, drive it hard, overload it constantly due to its low cargo handling capacity...
- 2013 Mini Cooper Countryman Ext warranty -> No claims as it still under factory CPO warranty. Out of pocket cost: $1400
- 2004 Audi A4 -> three factory warranty claims and four ext warranty claim. Owned it for 5 years and 90k miles. Ext warranty paid for itself on the 2nd repair -> all 'small' things.

The Sprinter has stupidly complex computer control system -> so any single repair can get complex & costly and need a dealer. I spoke with a couple of MB Sprinter Service Writers. I asked about the average repair bill for a Sprinter out of wty. Both said the ext warranty would pay for itself within ~3 repairs. While neither would tell me the average repair for non-maintenance items, however their answers suggests >$1500 per visit.

Seems likely that I will visit the dealer ~3x in the 4yrs following the factory wty expiration date...and all I will need is a couple of repairs for the extended wty to break even. .... No brainer....
 
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avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
The Sprinter has stupidly complex computer control system -> so any single repair can get complex & costly and need a dealer. I spoke with a couple of MB Sprinter Service Writers. I asked about the average repair bill for a Sprinter out of wty. Both said the ext warranty would pay for itself within ~3 repairs. While neither would tell me the average repair for non-maintenance items, however their answers suggests >$1500 per visit.

Seems likely that I will visit the dealer ~3x in the 4yrs following the factory wty expiration date...and all I will need is a couple of repairs for the extended wty to break even. .... No brainer....
It WOULD be a no-brainer if you could count on all of those $1.5K visits (which I believe) were covered by the extended warranty. If this were true, I would have bought one in a heartbeat. But I wonder what percentage of those visits represent emissions failures which are not covered by the MB factory extended warranty. My experience so far is that a LOT of them are.

I am on the record saying that OEM extended warranties CAN be a good deal. It just doesn't look to me that Mercedes offers one of them. You have to read the fine print.
 

Wrinkledpants

2017 144WB 4x4
Interesting perspective -> in my experience it is the 'small items' that really hurt overtime on vehicles. The likelihood of a major system failure like an engine, trans, etc are much smaller. I purchased the ext warranty on 3 vehicles -> it has paid for itself on 2 out of 3 vehicles. The third is still under factory warranty.

- 2007 Jeep Rubicon JKU Unlimited -> Mopar Unlimited mileage/lifetime ext warranty. First model year with a major overhaul AND I knew the I was going to beat the snot out of it. Total estimated wty claims: ~$12k. Total deductible to date: $600. $2200 purchase price. Total out of pocket: $2800. Largest single repair : front diff @ $2800 (covered). The rest were 'small items', Still I consider it a very reliable vehicle in light of how I use it. Thrash it off road, drive it hard, overload it constantly due to its low cargo handling capacity...
- 2013 Mini Cooper Countryman Ext warranty -> No claims as it still under factory CPO warranty. Out of pocket cost: $1400
- 2004 Audi A4 -> three factory warranty claims and four ext warranty claim. Owned it for 5 years and 90k miles. Ext warranty paid for itself on the 2nd repair -> all 'small' things.

The Sprinter has stupidly complex computer control system -> so any single repair can get complex & costly and need a dealer. I spoke with a couple of MB Sprinter Service Writers. I asked about the average repair bill for a Sprinter out of wty. Both said the ext warranty would pay for itself within ~3 repairs. While neither would tell me the average repair for non-maintenance items, however their answers suggests >$1500 per visit.

Seems likely that I will visit the dealer ~3x in the 4yrs following the factory wty expiration date...and all I will need is a couple of repairs for the extended wty to break even. .... No brainer....
That's true. It's the small things that actually pay for the insurance, but it's the big things that are the reasons I buy it.

Our CPO'd TDi had a bunch of suspension work completed that was covered under CPO, but would have covered the whole cost of our aftermarket warranty.

We also had an interior trim piece replaced that was $500. Not covered under CPO, but covered by aftermarket warranty. I have no doubt that these little things will be what exceeds our price for the aftermarket warranty (sold through the VW dealer).
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I’m glad that you got “lucky”. Just remember that it is financially impossible for the average customer of a 3rd party warranty company to share such luck. This is not necessarily true of an oem warranty.
 

Wrinkledpants

2017 144WB 4x4
I’m glad that you got “lucky”. Just remember that it is financially impossible for the average customer of a 3rd party warranty company to share such luck. This is not necessarily true of an oem warranty.
I've said this before, but most people either don't know they have an issue, or don't take the time to get it fixed. Look how many factory warranty vehicles can't pass the CPO process and are either sold or auctioned off because of the extensive work that needs to be done. It takes effort to drive to a dealer, get a courtesy car, and then drive back to pickup your vehicle.

If you're a discerning driver of a German vehicle, it's not hard to make the warranty pencil out. If you're the average owner, you're not likely going to pay attention enough to recognize you have an issue, or you just don't care enough to always take it in.

All of the warranty work completed on our TDi was to fix issues that existed since day one when we bought it. The car was traded in to the dealer with 39K miles with worn strut bearings, failed lower control arms, a rear hatch that wouldn't open, backup cam that didn't work, a splash shield that was rattling, and broken trim pieces. All of that was warrantable, but the PO never had it done. Not even during the 10K service that was routinely done.

That tells me the owner either didn't know, or didn't care. Both of which are far more common than a discerning driver who wants everything to be perfect. That's what the warranty companies are banking on.
 

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