Extended warranty

[gugel]

The Certified Pre-Owned Warranty on my 2009 ML350 has just a few more months to run, and I'm starting to look into getting an Extended Warranty.  On average, of course, such a warranty would not be expected to pay for itself (else the warranty company would go broke), but repairs on newer Mercedes can be *very* expensive, and for me, limiting my risk may well be worth it.

So my question is not whether to get such a warranty, but rather, how does one get the best deal?  There apparently is a lot of bargaining room:  the price quoted by the warranty insurance company used by my Mercedes dealer has come down significantly several times now, but their latest price is still quite expensive.  Does anyone have an idea what a fair price would be for a complete-coverage warranty for the ML for 4 years or 48,000 miles (on top the miles and years already on the car)?

Chris

[66andBlue]

Chris,
are you looking for a "service contract" or "mechanical breakdown insurance"?
You might want to read this: http://ww1.calif.aaa.com/westways/2012/01-02/Pages/drive-smart-warranties.aspx

[gugel]

Chris,
are you looking for a "service contract" or "mechanical breakdown insurance"?
You might want to read this: http://ww1.calif.aaa.com/westways/2012/01-02/Pages/drive-smart-warranties.aspx

Thanks for the info -- I hadn't know about the two types.  Most articles say that mechanical breakdown insurance is usually cheaper because it's regulated by the state, and because service contracts can only be sold by auto dealers, who often tack on large markups.  But in checking prices, I found the opposite to be true.  The price for a service contract from my dealer costs only 75% of the best price I've found for comparable mechanical breakdown insurance.  Perhaps I just have a good dealer.

Interestingly, one insurer remarked that breakdown insurance costs much less for Japanese than for German luxury cars.  Makes one wonder why the Germans can't achieve the same reliability as the Japanese, and also makes me think that insurance may be worth it for my relatively unreliable Mercedes.

Chris