CFO

I’m about 3,000 miles / 5 months away from the expiration of my factory warranty on a 2012 A6 prestige. My local dealer just offered me a third party extended warranty that appears to be offered by the dealer’s sister company (Hendrick Autoguard) for $3,400 (plus tax) to cover the following:

- “Platinum Coverage” – Highest plan that covers everything including the Navigation
- 36 months coverage or 60,000 miles
- Zero deductible if fixed at that specific dealership or $100 if fixed elsewhere

I know it’s just a matter of time before something breaks on these cars.

Is this a good price? If not, are there other extended warranty providers you would recommend I look into?

Diogenes

What is your current mileage? Several on the forum have mentioned Fidelity Warranty Services, but I have no experience with them. Apparently, many Audi dealers refer customers to Fidelity. They're on the web. Call and get a quote. Your auto insurance carrier may offer "mechanical breakdown insurance". I never researched the specifics of that coverage.
The A6 Prestige is loaded with tech. A lot of it will not be covered on the typical extended warranty policy.

CFO

Thanks. It's now at 47,000 miles. Not sure how this ended up on the A4 section. I'll repost it in the C7 section.

ayap

I've had 4 Audis, and only used an 'extended warranty' once. Cost $2000+ to extend it to 2 more years, and it was to replace an instrument panel bulb worth $85. So, base on my experience, not worth it.

tjf

I had an Audi Platinum warranty that I purchased for my A8. It was through Fidelity. I was not happy with them. Even though it clearly stated that control arms were covered, they refused to cover them under the guise that the bushings were wear components. I guess they only cover them if they snap in half?
The dealer did split some of the costs with me. About the only thing they did cover was a leak in the tranny oil pan.

CFO

I'm very tempted not to bother getting this either. I've never bought extended warranty and have always bought Japanese cars that had no warranty (60,000 miles or more on the cars). I used them all up to at least 150,000 miles with no issues.

This is my first German car and I guess all the horror stories of the past are still in my head.

nuul

I heard the same ones, they aren't entirely untrue. I bought the "silver" level warranty from my credit union - it covers any of the big ticket items that would cost a fortune to fix but it wasn't that expensive of a purchase. I'm glad I bought it too because I've had my 2009 A4 for just about two weeks now and it's already been in the shop.

A bad relay was causing my engine to throw an error code saying it lost connection to the ECU and the engine would shutdown. Granted, it was cheaper for me to pay the mechanic for the diag time and the relay than it was to use the warranty and pay the deductible but I'm still glad I have it.