Each of the cars possesses a personality. Others are stable workhorses that can work and work without any objection. There are others who are temperamental high-achievers – spectacular when they are running well, catastrophically expensive when they are not. Purchasing the identical extended warranty of a pair of vehicles is roughly as sensible as getting the identical meal to a person who has never eaten previously and a professional food critic, which is frequently elaborated in more important site discussions of vehicle coverage.

Coverage should be based on vehicle character. Full stop.

The data of reliability are in much more specific forms than reputation in general. Specific model year owner forums record the real failure rates, average cost of repair and component pattern of problems with an amazing accuracy. One model year may have a known weakness in a single system that the next year(s) do not have. This granularity is completely lacking in generic brand reputation. Before coming to conclusions about the need to cover something based on the larger brand perception, research the particular year and configuration that you own.

The coverage math of vehicles is impacted by repair cost asymmetry. The price of a failed sensor in an economy car is significantly less than the same failure in a car with proprietary systems, which would need specific diagnostic tools, which are only available at a dealer. What would be considered an exceptional value on a vehicle with a failure probability double that of the vehicle being covered, would be coverage that just pencils on a vehicle with a failure probability that is half, but three times the cost of repair per failure. Divide by the actual cost profile of repair of your vehicle.

The issue of frequency is a different one than the issue of severity in warranty math. A car that is likely to have a lot of small failures will result in more claim contacts – more pre-authorization calls, more deductibles, more administrative rub-a-dub-a-dub – than a car that is likely to have a catastrophic failure. The low-severity profiles of failure at high frequency actually may render warranties less gratifying even though the rates of claims are higher since the administrative burden is being undermined. Look at both dimensions in assessing coverage fit.

One of the mechanics specializing in European cars explained how a client purchased a used luxury car and refused to buy the long warranty in order to save. The mechanic looked at his model frequently, he said thoughtfully. It comes in every now and then. Eight months later, the customer came back with an electronic problem that cost him/her $3,400 to fix. No coverage. Full bill. The mechanic said, “He was aware of the reputation of the brand. He simply was not aware of that specific history of a model. Brand popularity and model-specific trustworthiness are truly various research types.

The intensity of driving patterns influences the probability of failure not just due to accumulation of miles. Urban driving with high stop-and-start rates puts an emphasis on other parts than highway driving. Towing and payload application will increase the rate of wear on transmissions, brakes and cooling systems faster than would be anticipated by mileage. Report on your real driving habits when assessing the need to cover them – not how you would like to drive.

Know your car. Then buy accordingly.