Folks,

My 2020 110S is at the end of the warranty, and I'd be going back and forth on whether to purchase an extended warranty or not, and if yes, which one. In a snapshot I learned a few things, and much appreciate the things I learned from other members here:

** The options vary wildly, cost and coverage, limits etc. Read every contract carefully; many key phrases can be hidden in the long text. Some companies have literally a dozen options, add ons etc. which can change the coverage and costs significantly.
** Exclusions are common, and that section needs to be looked at in particular.
** Wear-and-tear comes into play in many places, fluid leaks etc.
** Coverage maximums are pretty low in some cases -- one policy from AAA that looked great had a $10,000 lifetime maximum on it. Virtually all have limits to the effect of, "if the repair is higher than the present value of the car, they'll only cover up top that amount."
** My local indy -- which was a huge help -- said to look carefully about the labor coverage; they told me in many cases, their clients had to pay additional labor costs because the policy they had only allowed up to a certain labor hourly amount, which was very low in some cases. Same for parts cost, some only allowed OEM or generic. If they use a formula based upon national average and you live in a high-cost area (like I do) the difference can be significant. $200+ per hour labor is common here.
** Some had limitations on the kind of shop you could use i.e. ASAE certified etc.
** Increasingly, shops in my area (including dealers) won't accept third-party policies at all -- essentially, they'll tell you what's wrong, and you have to go get the approval etc. which can take time. Not unlike healthcare out-of-network.
** Most companies were willing to respond to emails with my very specific questions, which was helpful. The ones that didn't were immediately discounted.
** One shop said, "whatever you do, if they have a celebrity spokesperson, run away..."

In the end I went with the policy that Land Rover offers and every LR dealer accepts (the "Platinum" VSP (the only one) which is administered by Safe-Gurad but is an official LR product). It was just shy of $6,000 for up to seven years or 75,000 miles, fully transferable. There's a 100,000 mile option available, and deductibles are $500 or $1,000. The deductible is per visit, not line item, something I had my dealer validate in writing (and some polices treat each repair as a separate deductible). Not every dealer has info on their site, but this one in Atlanta does https://www.landrovernorthatlanta.co...n-products.htm.

Was it the right call? We'll see. I was always 50/50 on getting one, but given the cost of repairs on this vehicle and my previous experience with LR products, I think I'll come out even worse case, and it's giving me the peace of mind I want. It'll allow me to use the dealer I like for major repairs. Regularly scheduled maintenance is, of course, separate.

I hope this helps others. I'd say that depending on where you live call around and get some options. The LR-branded one was the best fit for me, but other folks may have better options. Thanks again to all who shared their experiences, opinions etc.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience. Buying extended warranties is a very tricky process and as you said, one has to read the fine print. Going with an LR/dealer approved company is always the best choice despite the additional cost.

 

Excellent writeup. In the end the number 1 thing for me would be a pre-existing partnership between the warranty administrator and the shop of my choosing (Dealer or Indy). When my car is broken down it's already an inconvenience, the last thing I'd want to do in addition to that is jump through hoops trying to get a claim pre-approved before work could even start. Your choice of something approved by a dealership may be a boon if you consider the potential of securing a loaner vehicle (didn't see you mention that, is your dealership going to provide?). Obviously with most any Indy shop you'll be on your own for transportation while the repairs are being made which depending on the item, could be non-trivial...

 

Hopefully the Safe Guard warranty will be good for you. My dealer offers this warranty, but they don't encourage it as it isn't cheap and some things aren't covered, so they always have an alternative for customers. They offer an ASC factory-type warranty that covers everything other than interior/exterior trim pieces. There is no deductible and in the year that my dealer has been using this vendor, they haven't had a single issue trying to get something covered. I was quoted $3600 for a five-year 100k mile or I could upgrade to an eight-year, 120k mile warranty for only $4100. I'm friends with the finance manager at my dealer, and he was generous enough to give me a discounted rate. Usually the five year plan is around $5k.

 

As stated several times the one I was offered was an exclusionary zero deductible 100k extended warranty only sold with new vehicles purchased at my local JLR dealership and they offered it because they had good experience working through claims with them over the years. I forget exactly what I paid, it wasn't cheap but I got back a pro-rated amount when I traded the vehicle in to another dealership. The balance of the prepaid maintenance was not pro-rated though (total loss on that) but the maintenance agreement was of course entirely separate from the extended warranty. My thought on these things really is if you're so stretched on budget to get into one in the first place that you need this kind of safety net then it's probably not the best choice in a vehicle, I mean I'm as guilty as anyone, I wanted one and enjoyed it for a short time but it's too much money for me. The people who can and should be buying these things should probably not be worried about extending it and should find it well within budget to trade it for a new one after 3 or 4 years. Just personal opinion. I walked down to my JLR dealership over the weekend because the weather was nice, I now live less than a mile away from them, I can't find anything under 57k on their lot and that's a disco sport, even 57k MSRP you're talking about well over 1k in a monthly payment, that's even on a 72 month finance. People who can really swing those kinds of payments effortlessly IMO are better off trading it in for a new one after the 4 year/50k. Just my two cents on it...

Oh and keep in mind too for the pro rated part of it, the mileage actually counts against you even if it's still within the factory warranty. So if you get to 50k which is factory warranty and want to trade then and there to get back the full 'extended' bit to the 100k you're looking at maybe getting half of it back 'pro-rated'. That might be a big 'YMMV' but that's the way mine played out when I was at like 26k miles or something and the dealership also charged me an administrative fee to cut me the check for the pro-rated amount besides. Like I said I don't see myself getting into anything from JLR again anytime soon. Beautiful vehicles but it would be foolish with my current budget.