[Interior Flaire]

Funny we are having this discussion. I just went past 36k yesterday and I am real nervous now. Subaru of Dallas is performance based and are very liberal when it comes to mods. I have been thinking about hitting up an extended warranty for the little things that go wrong: A/C, windows, doors, P/S and whatever. It is nice taking the car to the dealership and not fearing a raping.
Wonder how much I can get an extended warranty for now?

CB

[rasetsu]

I think the extended warranty all depends on the car you're getting. If it's a German car, I'd say yes, get it because of all the electrical gremlins and the high cost of parts and labor. If it's a first year of a new generation no matter what the make, I'd get it too because there are always bugs.

For cars that have been around for 2 years or more, I would pass. Especially for our cars because it's been around in other parts of the world since 2002. There really aren't that many electrical items on the car. Just the standard power windows and locks. We don't even get auto up passenger window. Everything else is pretty basic except for the DCCD, which I don't play with. And most of us mod anyways so the mods will always void the warranty with respect to that area of the car.

After the first year of ownership, you can usually judge whether an extended warranty may be called for and you can buy it at anytime. You may pay a little more, but it's still better than buying it outright for every new car since it's really not needed the majority of the time.

[Interior Flaire]

Actually, I am into the dealership about once a month or so for little things. A/C belt squealing (why?), creaks, pops, rattles.

CB

[halfbr3d]

Originally Posted by fullerton

i did, then i cancelled it and got a nice check.

mod bug hit.

do you really get a check when you cancel it? was your car paid off?

[rasetsu]

Originally Posted by fastcb

Actually, I am into the dealership about once a month or so for little things. A/C belt squealing (why?), creaks, pops, rattles.

CB

I guess I should add to the list of factors for going with an extended warranty to consider how picky you are. A/C belt squeak I can see taking it in for, but the miscellaneous interior noises are not worth me taking time out of work for. My car has only been back to the dealership once.

[rasetsu]

Originally Posted by halfbr3d

do you really get a check when you cancel it? was your car paid off?

You get a prorated refund on how much more time you have left on the warranty when you cancel it. We thought about cancelling the warranty on my wife's Altima before trading it in, but we would have only gotten back a little over $100 and the paperwork is supposed to take over a week to process. The warranty doesn't get cancelled until after everything is processed.

[white2006sti]

Originally Posted by fullerton

^ your stage 1 DID void the drivetrain warranty.

messing with the ECU, no matter who does it, is reason enough for Subaru to void.

That's why I researched, asked Cobb questions and I unmarry/marry the car each trip to the dealer. To clarify the other statement, FMICs, 6 puck clutches, bigger turbos, etc are like billboards asking for trouble when dealing with warranty work. All for dyno bragging rights? Let's see some 1/4 mile, rally or autocross awards! For $30,000 plus $10,000 in mods you could pick up a sweet classic 60's muscle car with NO emissions issues!

[krazyk1371]

I had a 7year 100 mile warranty on my WRX. I never used it and eventually traded in the WRX for my STI. I didn't get an extended with the STI.

[PeterC0523]

Originally Posted by white2006sti

That's why I researched, asked Cobb questions and I unmarry/marry the car each trip to the dealer.

Isn't there a limited amount of times you can change the base map before the ECU is toast, or something like that?

I'm thinking about getting the new AP and unmarrying before a trip to the dealer. But I'm hesitant because I don't want to prematurely kill my ECU. I got the 7 yr/100k mile extended gold warranty and so far all my mods have been warranty friendly, but I'd really like to go stage 1 and hide it from the dealer.

[white2006sti]

Originally Posted by PeterC0523

Isn't there a limited amount of times you can change the base map before the ECU is toast, or something like that?

I'm thinking about getting the new AP and unmarrying before a trip to the dealer. But I'm hesitant because I don't want to prematurely kill my ECU. I got the 7 yr/100k mile extended gold warranty and so far all my mods have been warranty friendly, but I'd really like to go stage 1 and hide it from the dealer.

I've done this at least a half dozen times so far with no problems. The Cobb instructions are clear and their tech support is awesome. There has been speculation that at a minimum, the ECU can handle up to 100 reflashes; I believe Cobb has exceeded that during testing. If you put on 20,000 miles a year, that's (4) four oil changes every 5000 miles at the dealer (THEIR recommendation). At 4 reflashes a year, you'll be good to go for quite a while Even if you through in the those scheduled service visits at mileage intevals and an occasional warranty visit, you'll still be well below 100 reflashes.

I wish SPT would step up to the plate and offer an approved, upgraded downpipe. Then I could go stage 2 with NO worries!

[PeterC0523]

Originally Posted by white2006sti

There has been speculation that at a minimum, the ECU can handle up to 100 reflashes; I believe Cobb has exceeded that during testing. If you put on 20,000 miles a year, that's (4) four oil changes every 5000 miles at the dealer (THEIR recommendation). At 4 reflashes a year, you'll be good to go for quite a while Even if you through in the those scheduled service visits at mileage intevals and an occasional warranty visit, you'll still be well below 100 reflashes.

Wouldn't that be 8 reflashes a year, 1 to unmarry and 1 to marry? Or is reverting to stock not considered a reflash?

I'll probably end up taking mine in about 4-5 times per year, oil changes were worked into the deal when I bought the car. So that's 8-10 (assuming, worst-case, 2 flashes per dealer visit) and my ECU would last ~10-12 years. Where did you find the info regarding how many reflashes our ECUs can handle?

Originally Posted by white2006sti

I wish SPT would step up to the plate and offer an approved, upgraded downpipe. Then I could go stage 2 with NO worries!

+1 That would be sweet! But if SPT did release a downpipe, they would probably also include a SPT stage 2 reflash with it. So we wouldn't need an AP since we'd have an SOA approved stage 2 map.

[white2006sti]

Originally Posted by PeterC0523

Wouldn't that be 8 reflashes a year, 1 to unmarry and 1 to marry? Or is reverting to stock not considered a reflash?

I'll probably end up taking mine in about 4-5 times per year, oil changes were worked into the deal when I bought the car. So that's 8-10 (assuming, worst-case, 2 flashes per dealer visit) and my ECU would last ~10-12 years. Where did you find the info regarding how many reflashes our ECUs can handle?




+1 That would be sweet! But if SPT did release a downpipe, they would probably also include a SPT stage 2 reflash with it. So we wouldn't need an AP since we'd have an SOA approved stage 2 map.

I believe the reflash issue was discussed here and on Cobb's site. Search for "reflash count" or something similar. That's a good point about whether or not a unmarry/marry counts as 1 or 2 on the reflash

Hey, if SPT stepped up, there'd be a lot Cobbs on Ebay!!!

[0bluesti4]

I got a really good deal for Gold 7year/100k miles with $0 deductibles which keeps me sleeping well at night. And at the price of $1,500 with an option of canceling it any time and getting some of my money back I just couldnt pass this opportunity by. Also, since I am in California and I want my car to be street legal and pass emisisons I can't go stage 2 so I guess it is basically staying stock and warranty friendly, at least for now.

[Shaner]

It was definitely worth it that I got it, although their warranty service sucks balls.

[purreplayya69]

how do u go about cancelling the gold warranty? do u just call subaru?