Martha Menard, PhD
Sep 7, 2018 · 1 min read

Ben, I agree with you — most extended warranties are a total waste of money. I do think there can be one exception, though, and that is an extended warranty for your car. My husband and I bought a Fiat 500 three years ago, and the warranty that came with it just expired. It’s a great little car that gets excellent gas mileage, we can park anywhere, and we plan to drive it into the ground. For $2000 (which we can pay off at 0% interest over 18 months), we bought an extended warranty that covers everything that could go wrong mechanically with the car for another 150,000 miles. Since it’s a not a Honda, we figure the odds are good that something(s) costing more than $2000 will happen before we hit that. For me, the peace of mind is worth the roughly $100/month.

    Martha Menard, PhD

    Written by

    Research scientist and financial coach. Qual and quant data diva. Founder, Society of Independent Women Investors. www.marthamenard.com