Jim, Took my new Volvo home 12/15/99....

a 2000 S70/GLT......about a month or so ago VIP sent me a leter with all the info. I got a very good deal(I think the price just went up though). This is my second time around with a VIP extended warranty....I had one on my 1991 244. Yes I shopped around......VIP is your best bet(both in price & extent of coverage). If you like I can give you VIP’s phone number, and you can get them to send you the info packet.

BTW: Screw that sales dept. you delt with......they sound like get over artists.

I would not trust a place like this with the service or parts for my cars either.

good luck with the new car!

Steve Ferraro

Hoboken, NJ

Well, being an individual who has been in the business for a more than "a couple of years", it is obvious that they have a bigger profit margin built into the warranty from the "private company". We do not even bother with those (even though we would make more money) because we have seen too many private companies go out of business and then the people who bought their warranties are left w/ nothing!

Lastly, I would like to find out how does your friend justify that you "should not pay anything more than $1800 for a 7yr. VIP plan"??? Where does he get his numbers from? Because if he can tell me where I (and I emphasize "I") can get the 7yr. plan for $1800, I would like to get a few hundred. Does he know what is the COST of such plan (especially after the latest price increase) to a Volvo dealer? I can sell you any of these plans with a 20% discount off the retail figure but it will not be any close to $1800 because it, simply, I cannot even buy that plan at my cost.

Yannis

Note that Volvo won't sell you a VIP policy if you have more

then 35K miles (I may have that number wrong nut there is a milage

limit and it is fairly low). Point is, you

should wait (as suggested) but don't wait past the point where

they will not sell you one. This 35K mileage policy is relativly

new (so be aware of dealers who might not know about it).

Also, when your factory warranty runs out, Volvo will send

you a letter offering the VIP plan (that is what they did for

our 850). I assume they don't if their records indicate your

milage is too high. This is the time to buy it since you know

the history of the car. In our case, our 95 850 was quite

reliable and it did not seem like we needed an extended warranty.

Jim,

I shopped around in my area and found the cheapest one ($1800). This was the Volvo VIP with $25 co-payment, 7yrs/10,000 miles.

I bought it from another dealer than the one I purchased my 855. I used it several times in my dealership.

Hope this help.

Ching-Ho Cheng

VIP is not a Volvo warranty! Volvo resells these policies to insurance companies (as does GM and Ford and every other car maker). When you have a claim you do not deal with Volvo but with an insurance company. Take a look at warrantygold.com and warrantydirect.com for better, lower cost alternatives.

Also, If you want an extended warranty then wait until your car is just about out of OEM warranty and then get it. The clock starts on these warranties when you buy them so a 7 year policy starts today even though for the first 4 years you can not claim on it as you have OEM warranty. So you get an effective 3 years of coverage. If you wait until the last month of your OEM warranty you will get the full seven years (up to 10 with warrantydirect).

Also make sure you get an "exclusionary contract". This means everything not listed by the policy is covered. Typically they exclude wear and tear items just like the OEM warranty. If anything not "wear and tear" breaks it is covered. And pay extra for the zero deductible.