Aftermarket warranty?

[Johnny Bravo]

I did a search, but didn't find the info I'm looking for. Anyway, I'm sure there are a number of you with VX's out of factory warranty and I'm sure some have bought aftermarket warranties. I'm just wondering if there is a good company to go with to get an aftermarket warranty & what kind of prices to expect to pay. I'm still looking at a '99 VX locally and as it's out of warranty and just over the 50k mark I'd rather be safe than sorry. I know the engine failure rate isn't a solid fact, but in researching it seems to be more than just a rumor and I'd rather have a warranty as a saftey net just in case. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Johnny Bravo]

After searching a lot more I did find some info re: warranties on here which helped some. I guess what I should be asking is: Were I to purchase a VX would an aftermarket warranty be a good idea to buy? I've done more than my fair share of research on the VX as of late (especially the oil burning issue & possible remedies) and am pretty confident in the overall stoutness of them, but as they're rare parts become an issue. Not to mention the "scare" of the engine problems which a warranty may help with. Any opinions?

[thebear54]

I personally don't beleive in aftermarket warranties. But then again I don't beleive in paying premiums to rip off insurance companies either.
Unfortunatly...they are both good to have JUST IN CASE. For the most part 99% of the people never use their factory warranties let alone an aftermarket warranty or extended warranties, so it's money down the old crapper.
If you are worried,buy it! But a good sound maintainance program, CarFax report, repair records and sound judgement should keep you out of trouble when you do buy the VX (putting a little aside every month for emergencies doesn't hurt either)
John

[Tone]

If the vehicle is out of factory warranty it is extremely difficult and/or expensive to get any kind of warranty protection since they cannot easily verify the condition of the vehicle. Maybe if you buy from a dealer but then you'll be paying too much for the car AND the insurance.

[Johnny Bravo]

Thanks for the info guys! :) IF we do end up picking this VX up that's available locally I just wanted to be sure that it would be a reliable vehicle for me. I've had a few bad experiences with rare'ish cars over the years and didn't want to get into another situation like those. It's a low-mile (53k) '99 and overall in seemingly great shape & the price is right, but a weeee bit higher than we were planning to spend. But, the price is so good ($10,995), it's very close by, and in such nice shape (other than the same stupid window issues everybody has) that it may be a hard deal to pass up. I just wanted to be sure that it would be reliable enough to actually consider purchasing w/o having to worry about it 24-7. I really want to enjoy it rather than dread possible problems. I have no problem keeping up a vehicle, but maybe I'm just letting these scare stories get to me more than they should.

Just my luck my current dd (a '96 Ford Contour with 131k on it) decided to throw out another tranny (just rebuilt like 10-20k miles ago) this past Thursday about 90mi. from home (ironically we were out car shopping at the time) so we have to get that taken care of first thing tomorrow. We're going to check out a low-mile 4wd '01 Jeep Cherokee Sport 2-door tomorrow when we go back to the dealer where we broke down at so we'll see how that turns out. After being in the VX it's hard to rationally look at anything else as I'm sure ya'll know so I'm not sure I'll be able to give the Cherokee a fair evaluation. :D I almost feel like cringing at the prospect of owning something "common" that doesn't hold up to my personal tastes, but I suppose rationality may be more important in the long run.

Thanks again guys and I appreciate any other words of wisdom you may be able to give. :)

[Offroad vx]

It sounds like you are having bad luck with "common" cars too. I actually traded in a Grand Cherokee for my VX and had a Cherokee previous to that. I had more problems with the Cherokee than I can list but the Grand Cherokee was a great car. But you run a risk with any car you buy one VX may never have a problem and the next one could be th VX from hell. And it always seem like you hear more about problems than you do about cars that are perfect , the old squeaky wheel syndrome. Buy what you like and can see yourself driving but I will let you know that I have never been more excited about owning a vehicle since buying my VX!

[Ldub]

J B,

Rationality?...More Important?huh?.....what?.....Well, OK for you I guess.

Nah, Jk, do whats right for you...life's full of hard choices.
Ldub

[Johnny Bravo]

Just my luck I found out just a bit ago that the VX I was interested in has been sold to a wholesaler or something to that effect. So, no VX for me and needless to say I'm more than disappointed :( Not to mention I find out my damn Contour's tranny is shot so that'll be $2k to fix if we chose to do so (which we won't as it's not worth it) so now we won't be able to use it as a trade-in anywhere. On top of that the '01 Cherokee we were going to check out at the dealership the Contour was at is sold too, but of course they waited for 2hrs. to let us know while we sat and waited. Anyway, thanks again for all of the helpful info guys and maybe one of these days I'll be able to find another deal on a VX.


P.S. Anybody know if it might be possible to track down this "wholesaler" or whomever it was sold to and maybe purchase it off of them? I have jury duty tomorrow so I won't be able to call the dealership myself, but just wondered what ya'll think.

[Andrey]

I HAVE A 99 vx WITH aftermarket warranty till 75K. I've paid around 1K. They've already took care of my rear shock absorbers which is EASY $950 to replace. $420 a shok plus work... so for VX to have an aftermarket warranty is a good idea. I love my VX but will never get another Isuzu product in my life - this is not the way Japaneese car with a sticker price 31K plus should be behaving ! God prohibit engine problem, shocks, windows, electrical problem, headlites gaskets, hood incert... etc... common ! Again, please do not get me wrong, I love VX... if it would only be made by Toyota/Lexus or Nissan/Infinity to gain not only great looks and performance but also durability and rid of annoyances like no rear door popper or no light in engine compartment or luggage compartment.