Honda Care (extended warranty) - how much to pay? before factory warranty expires

You can buy the Honda Care service contract* from any authorised Honda dealership, so ideally you should buy from the dealership that will offer you the best price.

Many owners cite College Hills Honda as their go-to for purchasing a Honda Care service contract because they offer better prices. One owner recently cited paying ~$1,300 for Honda Care from College Hills Honda.

Cheers

 

The standard dealers to buy Hondacare from (or get a quote and have your dealer match) if you are not in Florida or California (where apparently the law classifies Hondacare as insurance, so can't be sold by these dealers from out of state without the state license) are

• College Hills Honda,
• Saccucchi Honda, and
• Hyannis Honda

All are Brick and Mortar dealers who have found that they can make more on volume selling the plans nationally than they make on selling a few with high markup.

 

Add in an extra 125.00. Sometimes they require an inspection by a honda dealer to find current condition even if within warranty. Many times you can get price from out of state dealer and encourage local dealer to match. Clincher...After all, local dealer gets the work!

 

Yep, this is one of those things the wisdom of this forum saves you big time. I bought my 8 year I think 120,000 miles (it was the max permitted for $1550 from Hyannis. As others have mentioned, once you have HondaCare (the real one, not local dealer one), you can take your car to any Honda dealer for repair. I'm in Oregon so didn't have any problems buying it out of state. My local dealer quoted me more than double the cost for the exact same thing. When I mentioned I could buy out of state for less (and asked them to match price) they said no way. So yeah, this is one of those things to shop for (using one of the ones mentioned in this thread most likely).

 

When I bought my 2021 base model Clarity (from a dealer in Old Bridge, NJ), I got pressured to buy Honda Care that day, and they had me paying $3400 + tax for 7 years/100K miles with $100 deductible. I subsequently did my research, realized that I’d been taken for a ride, and canceled that contract. Yesterday I bought the same contract, but with zero deductible, for $1220, from Hyannis Honda. I can’t say enough good things about Sean Rausch at Hyannis. Absolutely no b.s.

 

I went with the warranty sold by www.CurryHondaCare.com since they offered quotes for California cars. The dealers mentioned above did not. The quote for the 8 year 100,000 mile Honda Care Plan was $1454. I asked my local dealer to match it and they did. Their original offer when I bought the car was over $3000.

 

Yes. It was only about a week or so after I bought the car and the original exorbitantly priced contract.


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Remember that these warranties are transferrable when you sell your car. So if you sell your Clarity after 3 or 4 years, the new owner will inherit the 3 or 4 years of remaining warranty with a big chunk of miles which should significantly enhance the resale value.

 

HondaCare will pro-rate a refund for the amount not used if you sell the car.

 

As I understand it, the downside to HondaCare is they only pay for covered work done at a Honda dealer. If you travel out west through remote states on vacation, as I do, that's not a great situation. Talking to the business manager at my local Honda dealer, he also said HondaCare doesn't cover shocks, struts and tie-rods. He actually recommended a CNA National plan, which covers those items, and if you encounter problems on the road they directly reimburse most any licensed repair facility in the country. Also covers meals and lodging up to a point while getting repairs done. He listed the names of all the guys at the Honda dealer who carry the CNA extended warranty. I'm in the same situation as the original poster of this thread, altho I'm coming up on my 36,000 mile limit at the same time as my 3 yr deadline in August. I'm looking at a 5 yr, 60,000 mile warranty extension, so I appreciate hearing about national Honda dealers who will give a good deal.

 

I appreciate the discussion here, and the options suggested.
I have a more global question, though. Consumer Reports, AARP, and many other independent organizations recommend against buying extended warranties.
I would like to hear the reasons you-all are planning to buy them, as my car is approaching the end of the Honda warranty. Keeping in mind that this is a car I use 80% of the time in electric only mode, and the big battery & drive train warranties are longer than the 36 months.

 

When I found out the Clarity's infotainment system head unit was more expensive than an extended warranty, I bought the extended warranty. However, the extended warranty for my battery-powered MINI Cooper would have cost double the price of Honda's extended warranty, so I didn't get one for that car.

 

Does it depend on current condition/mileage of the car? I am having 2020 and just 5500 Miles on it and considering the Extended warranty. BTW: What will happen if the required part is not produced by Honda, does extended warranty help? Also, what is(are) the major items not covered by extended warranty?

 

Did you actually read any of this in the warranties themselves?
Not saying your dealer would lie to sell a higher profit product, but it has been known to happen....

 

The general consensus over the years has seemed to be that it's a fairly low cost to pay annually for what is covered. Unlike many aftermarket extended warranties, the extended warranty for Honda doesn't have outright gotcha's or bad-faith payees to deal with. It is also a pretty acceptable price for most people given the cost of replacing almost any item in the vehicle. The - don't buy extended warranty - mantra that is the usual advice given isn't bad advice, it just has seemed less applicable to the cost of HondaCare for the Clarity. Some of the other arguments for the extended warranty I've seen include - sheer amount of systems/tech in Clarity, that it actually has some unique tech not found in other vehicles, low model production & not a good grasp on potential failures (ie AC is a good example - part alone is like $800 and what if Honda hadn't extended coverage?), that there are almost no aftermarket parts available for the Clarity's unique bits. Insurance is about mitigating risk, and there are hundreds of things on the Clarity that run the risk of being more to fix/replace than the warranty's cost. Thus - lots of Clarity owners that are in an above average knowledge bracket vs the general population typically on all sorts of things tend to consider the extended warranty. I mean, the longest option with $0 deductible - $1500 or so seems pretty cheap to take a vehicle to 8yrs/120k minus some wear items & with nationwide dealer coverage.