I plan on changing my own oil and whatever maintance I can do. I also plan on getting the seven year Honda warranty. Will I loose my warranty because I can't prove oil changes, break jobs etc. when and if something breaks? If this is an issue, then I may skip the extended warranty.
Will changing my own oil void the warranty?
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In the US, because of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, specifically the language regarding "tie-in sales", no automobile manufacturer can require that you bring the car back to them for the warranty to remain in effect.
(See http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty/undermag.htm
for more details)
They can, however, require that the service be done by a competent entity and that parts conform to their standards. Personally, I do all my own service, and I
a) keep detailed records of what, when, how, why
b) use only genuine OEM parts while under warranty
c) buy and use the best service manual available (in this case Helm's)
d) buy and use good quality tools
e) did I say I keep ALL records?
In about 15 years of doing my own car maintenance, warranty has never been an issue. YMMV.
Now regarding the extended warranty, remember that this is like an insurance policy, and the same rules apply. Insurance policies are written to make the insurance companies money, which means that for any single policy, the statistical "expected value" is in the insurance company's favor, i.e. if you purchase an extended warranty, the statistical expected value of the services you would get would be less than the cost of the warranty. Of course the big point is that this expected value is averaged over many thousands of policies, so if you did have to have repairs on your car, the cost of these repairs might greatly exceed the warranty cost. So as in every insurance decision, the issue boils down to one of emergency cash flow - i.e. if in the unlikely event of your needing large scale vehicle repairs (e.g. a new transmission at $3500), is it going to break your bank? If the answer is yes, buy the warranty. If the answer is no, you are better off not buying the warranty, i.e. being "self insured", and taking the chance that this cash flow outlay will never be required.
(See http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/warranty/undermag.htm
for more details)
They can, however, require that the service be done by a competent entity and that parts conform to their standards. Personally, I do all my own service, and I
a) keep detailed records of what, when, how, why
b) use only genuine OEM parts while under warranty
c) buy and use the best service manual available (in this case Helm's)
d) buy and use good quality tools
e) did I say I keep ALL records?
In about 15 years of doing my own car maintenance, warranty has never been an issue. YMMV.
Now regarding the extended warranty, remember that this is like an insurance policy, and the same rules apply. Insurance policies are written to make the insurance companies money, which means that for any single policy, the statistical "expected value" is in the insurance company's favor, i.e. if you purchase an extended warranty, the statistical expected value of the services you would get would be less than the cost of the warranty. Of course the big point is that this expected value is averaged over many thousands of policies, so if you did have to have repairs on your car, the cost of these repairs might greatly exceed the warranty cost. So as in every insurance decision, the issue boils down to one of emergency cash flow - i.e. if in the unlikely event of your needing large scale vehicle repairs (e.g. a new transmission at $3500), is it going to break your bank? If the answer is yes, buy the warranty. If the answer is no, you are better off not buying the warranty, i.e. being "self insured", and taking the chance that this cash flow outlay will never be required.
Good points. It's refreshing to hear from someone who understands risk. Only think I would add is that if the major components last thru the manufacturer's warranty period they will last thru the extended warranty so I have never regreted not buying an extended warranty.
Sorta bites when you consider that those with the least cash flow tend to skip the extended warranty to save a few bucks on purchase, even though they are the ones that stand to benefit most. Those with higher cash flow likely will buy the warranty because they can afford the luxury of the security it affords.
That may be true of major mechanical components like the engine, transmission, etc. but some of the other features may tend to be problematic and very expensive to repair as time passes like the power doors, RES, two AC units (front and rear) and all the other gadgets on board. After paying 30K+ for the Odyssey, it was worth the additional $895 to get the 7/100 Honda Care warranty to avoid expensive repairs while I own the van.
The Odyssey has a solid reputation and this is comparing apples and oranges I know, but let me use my '92 Plymouth Grand Voyager LE as an example. I purchased a 70K extended warranty when I bought the van. The engine died at 51K miles and required a rebuild. That alone was worth what I paid for the 70K warranty. Between 70K and 120K miles, after the extended warranty expired, the darn van fell apart. AC, transmission, power windows, trip computer, ABS system, and many smaller things have all failed at some point costing me thousands to repair. (I basically parked it after the AC went out last year because there was no way I was going to put more money into it. It's now a hulking shell that is almost worthless with just 130,000 miles on it.)
I know Honda engineering and quality is well known, but a lot of expensive things can go wrong after just 36,000 miles. Even on a Honda. But that's just my viewpoint.
I hope the comparison with the Ody does not prove accurate. The A/C evaporator coil failures are apparently rampant on a variety of DC vehicles including Jeep and DC is not paying for these even out of warranty. I cannot believe that Honda would build a vehicle with such a poor quality coil and bury it under the dash board so it takes 6-7 hours flat rate time to replace it--or maybe they did?? As far as the other options mentioned I would avoid the power doors etc on a vehicle I planned to keep 10+ years since I would not want to feed them so would lean toward the LX.
correction, meant to say that DC is paying for the A/C evaporator coils even out of warranty. Understand they paid for ABS module replacements in some GC's out of warranty as well. I had to talk with more than one customer service rep before I collected--perhaps they have a daily quota?? If I added up the cost of extended warranty on every product I bought my cash flow would be seriously impacted. Bought a $400 dishwasher last week and was offered a $100 extended warranty!! Honda should not be selling extended warranties IMHO--an extended warranty on a Honda should be standard.
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