Extras to avoid
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Extended warranty
Vehicles already come with a basic “bumper-to-bumper” factory warranty of at least two years or 24,000 miles. Vehicles also come with warranties that cover the powertrain and warrant the vehicle against rust or corrosion. Hybrid vehicles have a minimum 8-year/100,000-mile warrant on the battery (150,000 miles in California). The extended warranties are often pitched by dealerships as a way to attract customers, but they’re not honored by the manufacturer; the extended warranty is more like a service contract with the dealership. If, for whatever reason you decide to purchase an extended warranty, make sure that it doesn’t overlap with the warranty provided by the manufacturer. -
Rustproofing
Often referred to as undercoating, many dealers pitch this extra as a way to make a quick few hundred dollars with little effort on their part. Manufacturers already warrant their vehicles against rust or corrosion, so additional rustproofing of the vehicle is redundant. -
Fabric protection
Save yourself the money and buy a couple of cans of Scotch Guard. -
“Truecoat” paint sealant
A new vehicle does not need additional sealant. However, because paint and surface corrosion is not included in the vehicle warranty, you will need to make sure you routinely wax the vehicle.
thank you for the list! I don’t know how much we’ll be tvrealing thankfully the majority of our family lives within a 30 minute drive or soon will if they don’t but this will definitely be nice to reference if we do take a longer trip