Originally Posted by mrksts
HondaCare is good stuff. My bro is a Honda tech and he has seen it pay off for ppl time and again saving big $$. He recommended that I purchase it.
Also, it's supposedly illegal for a mfr. to void a warranty just because of mods. The mods have to be proven as the cause of the failure. With 3rd party, I'm not sure if the law still applies...IMHO they jacked your bro-in-law. Bigger tires is a poor reason to deny coverage. The problem I think, is that certain dealers are more rabid about denying modded cars than others. They can always claim that failures were due to a modification, and the owner has to push the issue if they think they're in the right. If it's a big enough issue (especially with a Honda) a person can call Honda themselves and raise a stink.
BTW, I paid $1k for my mine, 7yr./100k miles. I would strongly recommend it to someone with an auto. trans. The cost of that alone to replace would more than pay for the warranty.
My relative's warranty was not sold by the dealership, but by a 3-rd party company. It had verbage specifically stating any modifications such as larger wheels/tires voided the coverage. You gotta read the fine print on these warranty packages. I would recommend one for a buyer of a vehicle that has historically had problems, i.e. most American cars (
), or for somebody who'll drive a car longer than the factory warranty and will run the car hard.
It's the same argument when applied to extended warranties on appliances. It's up to the purchaser and his/her comfort level and such. I won't buy one for a car, but will on appliances. I have a dishwasher that has needed 3 visits by the repair tech. Out of pocket would have been more than the cost of a new dishwasher. Fortunately I had an extended warranty. Same for an house AC unit and washer/dryer set. Things always go broken after the factory time is up.