Extended Warranty

Warranties, like Insurance, is a gamble. There's no telling if you will come out ahead or not. Maybe you'll need a major repair in the future and that'll recoup the investment or your car could be perfectly fine until you decide to sell it. I'm on the fence as well because I've never needed any major work on any of my cars, but the electrics are becoming increasingly complicated and costly to fix...

new cars are always a gamble especially in their first years of production that being the case I would only suggest short term ownership that doesn't exceed the original warranty before moving on.

Subscription

This is why a subscription or a lease may make sense. When I got my first electric car (Ford Focus Electric) I leased it as I was not sure about the technology. My second is a plug in hybrid (Ford Fusion Energi) will probably buy it off lease as it has been excellent and suits our needs. Not sure abut the XC40 as it is new and size wise and off road activities (replacing a Jeep Liberty) so we are using the subscription system. If we really like it we would probably order a new one after two years in the exact configuration we want which is not avialable on the subscription system. We once had a 1 year lease on a Mazda Miata, not sure how it would suit our needs with only two seats and one child remaining at home, called it our one year test drive. After that year my wife said I could turn it in if I could pry it out of her cold, dead hands. Actually bought a new one with some extras the lease vehicle lacked.

Welcome to the forum and congrats on the new XC40! And with a brand new model, its hard to tell whether or not there will be any serious issues with it down the road. Seeing as how it shares a similar platform with Volvo's larger variants (60&90), which have proven to be quite reliable, I wouldn't foresee any major problems.

With a 4 year 50,000 mile warranty I think most XC40 buyers should feel pretty safe. My guess is that if any glitches occur they should occur during that time and distance. I've owned 4 Volvo's previously (122S, 264, and (2) 240's) and have always been impressed with their reliability. I lost a water hose in my 122S going through the mountains and ended up driving it with the temp gage pegged in the red before I could find any water. I managed to finally get some water and duct tape, taped the hose and continued home. I replaced the hose and continued driving the car for another couple of years before experiencing any problems with 180,000 miles on the odometer.

ls1012 said:

Hi All,

I am new to this forum so hello! I just purchased the XC40 R Design. It is my 3rd Volvo. I have previously owned the S40 and the S60. Both were good cars. Being the XC40 is a brand new model with no history and it is has a lot of newer technology have most of you purchased Extended Warranties or do most of you think it is a waste of money? If I buy one it would be the Volvo VIP extended warranty. I am on the fence. Any and all opinions/information is much appreciated!
Thanks!
Lynn

Click to expand...

An extended warranty is a product. Like any product issued by Volvo, it has a price to a dealer. And the dealer adds a margin and sells it to you. Now many dealers make their money on warranty sales and add 50% or more to your warranty price. Google “extended warranty Volvo” and you’ll find a dealer in Rhode island who makes his money selling 50-100 Volvo extended warranties/week. Bonifide Volvo warranties. And yes, it’s a gamble, you MAY never need it. However, replace that center console, that is the nerve center of that XC40, and you better have an extended warranty. The sucker must be $5,000 to replace! I bought my 10yr/100k warranty out of the RI dealer and saved about $1,200 under my dealers cost and he was none too happy. First year car, bristling with electronics, you may want an extended warranty.

[email protected] said:

An extended warranty is a product. Like any product issued by Volvo, it has a price to a dealer. And the dealer adds a margin and sells it to you. Now many dealers make their money on warranty sales and add 50% or more to your warranty price. Google “extended warranty Volvo” and you’ll find a dealer in Rhode island who makes his money selling 50-100 Volvo extended warranties/week. Bonifide Volvo warranties. And yes, it’s a gamble, you MAY never need it. However, replace that center console, that is the nerve center of that XC40, and you better have an extended warranty. The sucker must be $5,000 to replace! I bought my 10yr/100k warranty out of the RI dealer and saved about $1,200 under my dealers cost and he was none too happy. First year car, bristling with electronics, you may want an extended warranty.

Click to expand...

As the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

I usually wait a year before considering an extended warranty. By then I'll know if I will be in the car past the standard warranty. After I make the decision to do it, I'll shop around for one. Always better to wait IMHO.

eVolved said:

As the saying goes, better safe than sorry.

Click to expand...

Can you share the address of the Rhode Island dealer? I purchased from my local dealer, but I'm still within the cancellation period. My original thinking is that given the expected "high" depreciation of an early model EV, I'm likely going to keep the car longer than usual.

Thanks.

[email protected] said:

An extended warranty is a product. Like any product issued by Volvo, it has a price to a dealer. And the dealer adds a margin and sells it to you. Now many dealers make their money on warranty sales and add 50% or more to your warranty price. Google “extended warranty Volvo” and you’ll find a dealer in Rhode island who makes his money selling 50-100 Volvo extended warranties/week. Bonifide Volvo warranties. And yes, it’s a gamble, you MAY never need it. However, replace that center console, that is the nerve center of that XC40, and you better have an extended warranty. The sucker must be $5,000 to replace! I bought my 10yr/100k warranty out of the RI dealer and saved about $1,200 under my dealers cost and he was none too happy. First year car, bristling with electronics, you may want an extended warranty.

Click to expand...

Can you share the name and/or web address of the Rhode Island dealer? I purchased an extended warranty from my local dealer, but I'm still within the cancellation period. My original thinking is that given the expected "high" depreciation of an early model EV, I'm likely going to keep the car longer than usual.

Thanks.