Carmax sells Porsche warrantee

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Hi Baxster,

You are getting a lot of opinions here. So I have a very recent Carmax experience to share with you. I consider myself to be an informed and somewhat intelligent consumer. My past experiences with aftermarket warranties with cars, motorcycles, p/u trucks and 18 wheelers leads me to believe the Carmax warranty is a good one.

Between Christmas and New Years my Wife and I took a road trip from Idaho to Arizoma just for the purpose of looking around in Phoenix and Tucson Boxster shopping. One of the cars we went to look at was a 2006 at the Carmax in Tucson. The salesman there gave us the detailed explaination of the extended warranty Carmax offers. The warranty is through an aftermarket company called Liberty something. ( I forget the full name.) The salesman took his time and showed us all the differant combinations of deductables and lenth of milage coverages of the plans he could offer on that car. For what I know from personal experiance from being a purchaser and user of aftermarket warranties, I would tell all of the forum members the Carmax plan is a good one. If you are considering buying the Carmax car, ask the salesman to show you the differant plans such as length of milage coverage and with differant deductable levels. The importamt part here is the warranty is designed to be honored at almost any repair shop including a Porsche dealer.

[Lucky]

I'll second much of what Red Rocket says. I'm also shopping for a car (daily driver) and have spent time researching the Carmax Maxcare warranty. It is an aftermarket warranty, not from the car manufacturer. You can choose different mileage and deductible amounts to adjust the price point to your desired amount. Unlike most dealers, Carmax doesn't generally negotiate on prices including those for warranty.

Something to keep in mind, all warranty repairs will require pre-authorization. You can use whatever shop you want, including dealers, but you must make sure the shop knows you are using a warranty and agrees to get work approved before they do it.

If I end up buying a car from Carmax, I'm going to ask for a few days to decide on Maxcare and see what I can get from other sellers. I'm confident you can get the equivalent at lower cost from someone else. However if the saving isn't significant, I may go with Maxcare as I think it would provide another avenue for recourse if a dispute arises with the warranty company.

[mikefocke]

Ask to read the contract. Read it 3 times. Not the sales literature, the contract. If they won't give it to you ....

A warranty does you no good if it doesn't cover the things that can cost big money on your car.

And research the financial strength of the company that is behind the warranty. Does you no good if you find the company went out of business (they often do). Oregon has a list of who is behind what warranty sellers policies at http://insurance.oregon.gov/insurer/financial_regulation/obligors.pdf

Third party warranties (aka service contracts) have interesting reputations with the insurance commissioners of the various states. Consumer Reports says they pay out very little compared to what you pay in.


Something that sounds too good to be true probably is. And $2,200 for 6 years coverage on a car whose engine can cost what our does just doesn't pass my smell test. Becasue I've priced these things from companies and they would only go 3 years and for a lot more. There may be something we don't understand, some exclusion, some deductible, etc. Because the sales guy has to get paid out of that, the sales manager, the dealer, the insurer, the people who administer the policy, etc. Leaves very little for parts and labor does it? What is the limit on the labor rate per hour? What book do they use to define the number of hours covered for a specific repair? Does your mechanic work with that company? Are they slow pay or slow approval? Some shops insist you pay and then you have to negotiate with the insurance company which makes it impossible because they want to approve before the work is done...and you may have to wait for an inspection.

Bumper to bumper like a new car with every part covered? So what is the difference?

Extended warranties are like a casino:

* some who play will win
* a very very few will win very big
* most by far will lose
* the casino will make a lot of money.

Only the casino odds are so much better...there the percent returned to the person who places the bet is generally more than 80% as opposed to the extended warranty where it approaches 20-30%. Like a casino, you hear the stories of the people who win big and that persuades you to play. You mostly don't hear about all the many, many more people who lose.

[baxster]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

Extended warranties are like a casino:

* some who play will win
* a very very few will win very big
* most by far will lose
* the casino will make a lot of money.

This would have to be true for the warrantee company or casino to stay in business. I've dropped a few bucks at casinos never expecting to get anything back except for entertainment. Maybe I could say that the warrantee could buy me piece of mind to enjoy the entertainment of my car more. My main concern is that an engine failure would be covered.

Otherwise, you make some good points. I'm going to check out the salesman's claims and the other details of the warrantee that you suggest. I'll get back to this thread when I find out more.

[baxster]

I talked to the sales guy again. This time he said that Porsche would honor the Maxcare warrantee. he's going to fax me the terms.

So the question is, would a Maxcare warrantee cover a engine failure due to an IMS failure?

[mikefocke]

http://www.carmax.com/enus/maxcare/default.html

Claims that all parts are covered except those listed. Then goes on to give an elaborate list of what is covered. Which is it? IMS not listed.

Claims non-covered parts covered if the result of covered part failure. No claim of covered part covered as the result of non-covered part failing (as in IMS taking out engine if IMS not covered).

At the bottom reveals Porsche and CarMax aren't behind the warranty, it is just a warranty from one of several third parties. Research those companies.

Read the contract...not the sales literature.

If it is as you hope, the price and length make it a great deal. It is those little details that always worry me and I hear from my lawyer friends about.

[jditom]

I bought my Boxster from Carmax in Salt Lake and I got the extended warranty. It covers all major components including engine failure. It does not mention every engine component but if any fail you are covered. Believe me no warranty lists a IMS simply because it is part of the engine. You must get pre-approved by any shop that has certified mechanics including Porsche if that is your choice. So your brothers garage does not count.
They are a very large co and doing well and I doubt this is a scam.

My 04 S only had 20k miles when I bought her and I got a 6 year up to 75,000 warranty for about $1400. It gives me some breathing room before I do the IMS.

[baxster]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

http://www.carmax.com/enus/maxcare/default.html

Claims that all parts are covered except those listed. Then goes on to give an elaborate list of what is covered. Which is it? IMS not listed.

Claims non-covered parts covered if the result of covered part failure. No claim of covered part covered as the result of non-covered part failing (as in IMS taking out engine if IMS not covered).

The link above that Mike gave is for the Maxcare brochure. The attachment (if it works) is the terms and conditions of the Maxcare contract.

[baxster]

Originally Posted by mikefocke

http://www.carmax.com/enus/maxcare/default.html

It says that all internally lubricated engine parts including seals are covered. May i be so bold to say that covers the IMS and RMS. Of course, I'm sure they'll still come up with a reason to deny it.