Hello/salut To Other Smartcar Drivers From A First-time Poster!, Question: Extended warranty...yes/no? Options

[greggohall]

Greetings bulletin board participants,
And many thanks to those who selflessly maintain this site. I gleaned valuable info from here 3 years ago when I bought our 2006 Passion model, used here in Coquitlam BC. It had 12000 klicks at that time; now has 48000. I am only now posting for the first time.

As you will guess, the original warranty is about to expire and we have to decide whether or not to spend the $1600 that MB West Broadway, Vancouver quoted. I have not found any evidence of common major repairs for this vehicle (after an admittedly brief bit of research). The frequency of repair rate seems to be good. Is this an illusion? I am a little concerned about the clutch, which took a beating last winter, in Vancouver's "snowfall of the century!!". I was really wishing I could turn off the traction control when the snow was piling up in the sidestreets. Have people in other parts of Canada had these problems in the winter?

We are generally very pleased with the car. We had seen them in Europe in 2004 and thought they were a brilliant concept. Still do!! The only things I would improve are the turning cirlcle; can't understand why the steering lock is so limited for a car this size. Must be an engineering issue. My old Volvo wagon turns in a tighter circle! Also, I REALLY wish it had a clutch pedal and conventional shifting. I find the auto gear selection to be frustratingly slow, sometimes leaving one with no throttle response when it's really needed.

Anyway, certainly plan to keep the little beast for long time. It suits our purposes perfectly, especially now that my wife and I are newly retired. (MB West Broadway have provided excellent service for us; esp service agent Lino)

In case anyone is interested, I used the car a lot for work, in and around Metro Vancouver for the last 3 years and checked the fuel consumption at practically every fill-up. Actual figures varied between 4.5 and 5.1 L/100 kms. The fuel consumption is greatly affected by the driving style. I confess to being a little on the heavy-footed side, so of course, the fuel mileage (consumption) is usually 4.8-5.5.

Our vehicular stable consists of the aforementioned Volvo ('93 945T, giving yeoman service as the garden supplies hauler); 1965 Lotus Elan S2 (in serious need of restoration; can you spell retirement project?!). Also some 2-wheelers; '96 Honda Pacific Coast PC800 sport tourer, Rocky Mountain Metro commuter bike, Burley Bongo tandem bicycle (wheelbase longer than the smart!)

That's certainly enough of blowing my own horn, eh?
I hope someone can point me to info that will help us decide on the extended warranty,
thanks in advance.
cheers, GH

[smartnhappy]

The question of extended warranty seems to be mainly a personal one.... like 'blondes or brunettes?', or 'PC or Mac?'.
The crowd here seems about equally divided. It's a crap shoot, either way.

Personally, I got the extended warranty for 'Lil Toot last June.
Since I got it, MB has replaced the steering wheel (for shifters), the turbo, one rear wheel bearing and the battery at no charge.
I'm ahead on the game. Some others aren't. Others have saved money while sill others regret not going for it.

It's dependant on miles travelled, driving habits, driving type, environment, vehicle history and lots of other factors, but it's
still a crap shoot with no clear guidelines.

Go with your gut feeling and be satisfied with your decision.

[smart142]

Great first post!

In my experience there have been very few problems with such a low km car.

I would put the $1600 into a bank account and then draw on that if you have difficulties.

The diesel smarts are getting older, so now there a few rebuilt items out there at more reasonable prices.
I keep my vehicles for life so I now have a rebuilt altenator, starter, EGR valve, and used injectors. I've also purchased some new ball joints and bearings. I'm in it for the long haul.

The extended warranty would have been a waste of money in my case, and I'm now at 174,000 kms.

Good luck!

[Mike T]

Welcome! Does your Elan have the front fender cracks? I hope not. Nice little cars! Beautiful actually.

I could have bought a warranty extension to 120K km or 160K, the former would have been a waste of money too (I had one $700 repair at 84K km), and with 7500 km to go to 160K I doubt anything too drastic will happen in that distance and so there's another $1000 I didn't spend. Really the experience to date you've had with the car should determine whether you have any interest in warranty extensions or not. If you lose A/C every year and really need it, OK; if you have had three + turbos go (as a few have had), yes. A car that has not been problematic to date is unlikely to have recurring faults in the future.

I have my own retirement car, the 404 Coupé that is in my signature....I bought it when I was 28 and...... well...... now I'm just about 50.....

[greggohall]

Thank you folks, for your quick and useful replies. As "smartnhappy" indicated, it probably comes down to how risk-tolerant I am. There haven't been any serious repairs so far. Just the A/C (freon leak) as mentioned by "MikeT" and the outer door handles. Does "Smart142" do your own wrenching? I'll have to ask whether the dealer will install recovered/rebuilt parts under that warranty.
Thanks again, I look forward to further correspondence with Club enthusiasts as the kms roll up. We're planning a few road trips around the province this year. My car has a factory-looking cruise control that is not shown in any of the sales brochures. I've never used it. Can anyone explain how it works, and whether it's useful or not?

BTW MikeT; the body on the Lotus is good, but I'm concerned about the backbone chassis. I'm pretty sure the rear chapman strut towers are rusted beyond repair, but that too, shall be overcome! Interested to see you are a fellow vehicluar francophile; we have had in our possession over the years: 2 Renault R16s, Peugeot 403, 504, & 604 and a lonely Citroen GS. I miss them, but SWMBO does not!

[smartnhappy]

Yes, Smart142 does do his own wrenching. He also works on cars for others, is quite knowledgeable, very good and reasonably priced.
With his ad behind me , I have to say that the extended warranty was not available when he passed the 80K/4 year deadline, so he might have been of a different mind had the opportunity presented itself (BTW - we rib each other on this topic all the time). Plus many folks don't have $1600 cash to leave sitting in a bank account, earning next to nothing.
Just my 2¢ worth.

This post has been edited by smartnhappy: Mar 8 2010 - 08:21 PM

[Mike T]

I love the Lotus Elan, such a pretty car, it's definitely worth throwing some resources behind a full restoration!

See you at the Auto Show smart event coming up??