We are getting our 2006 C280 next week. We typically keep our cars at least 7 years and drive 8000 miles per year. Due to the complexities of cars these days, we plan to purchase a bumper-to-bumper warranty that goes 7 years. Both 1sourceautowarranty and warrantydirect have been recommended. Any thoughts on these aftermarket warranty companies vs. the MB extended warranty? Thanks in advance - diane

 

Why buy one now? You can buy one anytime before the factory warranty expires. See if your car is a lemon before spending the kind of money you're talking about.

Generally, extended warranties sound really good until you need them, at which point you discover that they don't cover just about everything, even though you swear it says in black and white that it does. It's better to save your money to pay for the repairs that the warranty won't cover. Alternatively, you can sell the car a year or two earlier than you usually do to avoid the cost of an extended warranty and the burden of owning a lemon. If it's a lemon, you don't want it whether it's warranteed or not, do you?

A few people will defend extended warranties and extol them for their peace of mind effect. One or two may even provide an example of how they were "saved" by having the warranty. Those are the ones who've spent a pile of money to get one and are merely trying to justify the purchase. Countless consumer advocates discourage buying these warranties all together. They aren't a very good value for your money.

 

If I was going to get an extended warranty, I'd certainly want it from MB.
Secondly, I pretty much agree with every thing Lugnut said (which may be a first!) (just kidding, Lugnut)
I had an extended warranty on my 1999 C280 which I purchased from my MB dealer. However, it was not through Mercedes-Benz. I think it was probably (I'm guessing) as good as the better aftermarket companies as they did pay out quite a bit in claims-not to me but as a ratio of premiums collected to benefits paid.
However, after reading about the experience of others and the fact that the expensive electrical control units were not covered, I decided to go the route that Lugnut describes:set aside money for repairs. Luckily I was able to get a full refund on the policy I'd purchased.
One caveat: since your car is under a manufacturers warranty now, you'd be able to get a "bumper to bumper" extended warranty from an aftermarket co.; which I was not able to get. Still, the world of aftermarket warranty companies is full of companies going belly-up with customers losing out as well as customers receiveing denials for claims, inferior parts used in repairs and other discouraging experiences.

 

I knew we would. It was only a matter of time.