snagitseven

It's really just another form of third party insurance. I guess some could relate it to home and car liability insurance, however, those are required by state laws and your mortgage lender. And, there's the risk of total loss present. In this case, I feel the risk/reward just isn't there and the profit will almost always fall to the provider. But then again, I don't buy extended warranties on my appliances, electronics, etc either. And I also severely restrict my slot machine participation when in LV.

Which brings up the question...is a car finance manager like a blinking, bell-ringing, beckoning slot machine?

MileHighJC

Its not just cars - retailers like Best Buy hawk these warranties all day too. I guess if you look at it as buying peace of mind, maybe on some level its understandable. But I don't get it at all. If the product is sufficiently unreliable to merit purchasing one of these warranties, then I would rather buy a different product that didn't need me to spend a material portion of the purchase price to buy peace of mind.

I think its interesting that whether its Audi, or Best Buy, or whoever... the sale is pressed as a last minute thing - sold as something you can ONLY buy for a limited time (usually minutes). They are looking for a splurge purchase in the heat of the moment.

Interesting to me that Audi Care (essentially prepaid maintenance) is much more widely understood, and something you can carefully consider before sitting at the closing table. At least in my humble opinion, of you want your car serviced by Audi initially, its a fair enough deal - basically committing you to future KNOWN service for a discount. But if you are up for doing your own service, clearly you could do it for less than the cost of Audi Care.

Pure Protection seems to me more like a bet against the reliability of the car, and something that is played against the fear of a catastrophic failure outside of the manufacturers warranty. This was the ONLY unpleasant part of my purchase experience - it was very much a high pressure sales pitch, laced with condescending remarks about "why would I not want to protect my investment". At that point, I glared at the finance manager, and let him know that we were done with that particular conversation. He wisely moved on, as I was nearing the get up and walk out part of MY conversation.

Does it pay of for some - I'm sure it does, but not for many. I expect the vast majority of the the purchasers lose on the deal, otherwise they would not make money on the proposition and therefore would not offer it.

All of this is of course just my opinion... to each their own of course.

snagitseven

And unlike these baloney "you gotta buy it now" proclamations, Audi Care can always be purchased at any time with the 15K service being the first time it can be used. That's when I buy it (even though the cost could go up a bit later).

alvam

In my experience yes they are like that up to and including the old style "pull the handle down" slot machines. I tend to not buy these protections plans either but given my first Audi I am considering it if they ask. I don't know why since I did not get it with my BMW.

Diogenes

Not to me. Audi is in the car business, not the warranty business. They can have Fidelity Warranty Services administer the warranty and handle the claims, while Audi stays in the service bay where they belong.

noah123

Well some companies do offer warranty..i think Subaru is one that comes to my mind...others like bmw also offer it although they are expensive...that would be a warranty i would be inclined to buy if i really had to buy one!!

dcmetro

Agree with ya. In fact it was surely a money maker, Audi should surely be offering it and making more money.
Anyways, I am looking to buy the warranty too. Have about a month to decide (before I hit the 10K and pricing becomes more expensive). I guess to each their own...in terms of risk tolerance. I took the warranty for my MB truck and have used it up already between the few issues I encountered. The only difference here being that for MB warranty was offered by MB company and here its a third party with deductible.

Any experiences out there of someone who used the warranty?

OBP

Has anyone Googled Fidelity Warranty to check out their reputation? The one real financial consideration in not going with an extended warranty backed by the OEM is that if the 3rd party warranty company has financial difficulty, you have no legal recourse to the OEM. Whereas we would expect BMW AG and Daimler to back their US subsidiaries BMW Financial Svcs and MB Financial Services respectively. Or at least that is how their bonds trade in the market- assumption of full faith and credit from the German parent company. Dunno how the market treats Fidelity Warranty bonds though but clearly it is not backed by VW/Audi.

DeerHunter

I have a Fidelity Platinum warranty on my B6 S4 Cab and haven't had any issues making claims (the MMI replacement done a couple of years ago covered my original warranty cost). They've even covered me up here in Canada, despite the fact I purchased my car in the U.S.

Just a data point - I have no information about their financial solvency.

dcmetro

What's best quote anyone has received recently for Platinum 7/70 or 7/100 with $100 or no deductible? I want to get the warranty by the end of this month. Best I've got is around 1980 for 7/70.