Costco dealership extended warranty, a good deal?

I just bought a 2014 Leaf and we were sold a prepaid maintenance agreement for 60 months/75,000 miles for $800 which covers tire rotation, cabin air filters, brake maintenance and battery monitoring among other things. It was instead of paying the $1200 for the scheduled maintenance at the time of service for the same period of time and mileage. We also purchased an extended dealer/costco bumper to bumper warranty the extends the 12 month bumper to bumper warranty for 7 years or 70,000 miles for $1700. We have a month to decide if we want to second warranty and I am leaning towards dropping it since I do not hear to much about the Leaf breaking down. Any suggestions?

The maintenance contract is a terrible and unnecessary deal on a Leaf. Cancel it! The Leaf is very inexpensive to maintain and will cost you fraction of that out of pocket..

As for the extended warranty, if you think you will actually keep it for 7years and not put on more than 10K a year, it might be worth your piece of mind... That is more of a personal call. Myself, I don't think it is worth it and I would not get one.

collinds said:

I just bought a 2014 Leaf and we were sold a prepaid maintenance agreement for 60 months/75,000 miles for $800 which covers tire rotation, cabin air filters, brake maintenance and battery monitoring among other things. It was instead of paying the $1200 for the scheduled maintenance at the time of service for the same period of time and mileage. We also purchased an extended dealer/costco bumper to bumper warranty the extends the 12 month bumper to bumper warranty for 7 years or 70,000 miles for $1700. We have a month to decide if we want to second warranty and I am leaning towards dropping it since I do not hear to much about the Leaf breaking down. Any suggestions?

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I agree with what TomT said.

I agree with derkraut.

Listen to TomT - the voice of reason.

Put the money in the bank and let is earn a few bucks towards the next one.

Unfortunately no one has actually purchased one and held onto it long enough to get it out of the manufacturer warranty. I think <drawing a blank on the name, mike?? in the NW with 100,000 miles> a couple drivers put the miles on to get out of warranty but have already churned into other cars? So we really don't have any good numbers for long term costs.

I say this as a buyer with 4 more years on the car loan (sigh wish I'd leased) and I got the dealer extended warranty because I expected to hold onto the car for 7-10 years.

With a purchase I can't say not to get the extended warranty. As for the maintenance package:

$40/year for 2 tire rotations+ $80 dealer change air filter = $120 X 5 years = $600

Don't know about "battery checks" since the first two are complimentary (added to cost of the vehicle). Don't know about the real cost on the brake check. There are a few threads discussing/arguing this. But on tires and air filters alone you are actually over paying. The cabin filter can be replaced by a moderately competent owner (not sure I fall into that category, i always hit my thumb with the hammer).

I would cancel the maintenance package. I feel Nissan will have to do something for the 'required check' to keep the battery under warranty but that's a gut feeling not based on any real data.

On the extended warranty it's your choice but here's Nissan's website:

http://www.nissanusa.com/electric-cars/leaf/charging-range/battery/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Every US specification Nissan LEAF® is backed by a New Vehicle Limited Warranty providing: 36-month/36,000-mile basic coverage (whichever occurs earlier); 60-month/60,000-mile powertrain and electric vehicle system coverage (whichever occurs earlier); and 96 months/100,000 miles Lithium-Ion Battery coverage (whichever occurs earlier).

So I'm not sure what a 12 month bumper to bumper covers but it looks like it's 3yr 36k.

If nothing else, READ (or show us) that service agreement. This car is one big rolling computer and any major components failure are going to be non-standard (From ICE comparisons). I bet if you called and claimed the on board charger needed replacement they wouldn't cover it.

I second the comments on cancel the contract. There are a lot of postings here that talk about the dealer trying to scare the new owner into expensive contracts for almost nothing. Do a search on this forum for service contracts and read some of the stories.

If you want the piece of mind of an extended warranty, check Santa Rosa Nissan. You can prob do much better than $1,700.

The maintenance contract sounds like a good deal to me. You're supposed to get the brake fluid changed every 15K and that alone can cost $150. And even if you could maybe do the maintenance for less than the $800, there's some value in knowing that you'll never have to shop around for the best price each time you get maintenance, nor will you have to open your wallet.

I'd cancel the extended warranty. The only component that may need replacing during its term is the traction battery, and Nissan's warranty has your back on that.

Just my $.02 worth.

alcalira said:

The maintenance contract sounds like a good deal to me. You're supposed to get the brake fluid changed every 15K and that alone can cost $150. And even if you could maybe do the maintenance for less than the $800, there's some value in knowing that you'll never have to shop around for the best price each time you get maintenance, nor will you have to open your wallet.

I'd cancel the extended warranty. The only component that may need replacing during its term is the traction battery, and Nissan's warranty has your back on that.

Just my $.02 worth.

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I would note that the Nissan recommendation for changing brake fluid every 15,000 miles is only for more severe driving. Normal is every 30,000 miles.

At about 12,000/miles a year that is 2.5 years or about $60/year.

Thanks everybody for taking the time and effort for repsonding to my post. I think I will drop the extended warranty and I will check the postings on dealers service packages.

Service agreements are a waste of money period. I would also never buy a third party extended warranty as it will almost certainly cover very little on your car. You can get good deals online for a factory extended warranty and they can usually be purchased right before the factory warranty expires for the same as a third party useless warranty where you need to fight for each issue.

alcalira said:

The maintenance contract sounds like a good deal to me. You're supposed to get the brake fluid changed every 15K and that alone can cost $150. And even if you could maybe do the maintenance for less than the $800, there's some value in knowing that you'll never have to shop around for the best price each time you get maintenance, nor will you have to open your wallet.

I'd cancel the extended warranty. The only component that may need replacing during its term is the traction battery, and Nissan's warranty has your back on that.

Just my $.02 worth.

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The brake fluid change is unnecessary at 15,000 miles. 30,000 miles is even overkill, unless it took you 5 years to reach it. It's just a way to get you into the dealership to spend $150 for brake fluid, $50 for wiper blades, and $30 for tire rotations. It only costs about $70 if you have a local mechanic do a brake fluid flush, or about $15 if you do it yourself.

I got my leaf over 2 years ago. Outside of new tires (which the contract would not cover), I haven't spent a dime on maintenance on my LEAF, and honestly, I don't intend to... ever... I'm going to turn this car in at the end of the lease having spent NOTHING on maintenance. Ok, wait- I lied. I did take it through the car wash a couple of times.

But honestly, doing a brake fluid flush once every 3-5 years is perfectly reasonable.

yeah tell me about the new tires....sheesh those ecrapia tires are horrible. i've never seen anything like that in my life. need new tires @2 years @26k miles..that's bull but covered under multiple other threads.

Thanks you all for the great advice. I canceled my service contracts with the dealer in May. The cancellation notice said it could take up to 90 days to make changes. Well August rolls along and my monthly payments still do not reflect the changes. I called Nissan to find out the dealer, Beaverton Nissan, never processed the cancellation they received from me. Fortunately I saved a paper trail and FAXed it into Nissan which is hopefully is handling it. Needless to say, based on my experience, I am not happy with the finance department at Beaverton Nissan. Hopefully Nissan North America will deal with them appropriately.

Funny how they forget to cancel but not to activate billing.