Maintenance Plans for Used 2015 e-Golf?

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Jul 17, 2018
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I'm close to buying my 1st EV, deciding between 3 used 2015 e-Golfs, either from a local dealer here in Houston, a dealer in CA, or from Carvana. All offer maintenance plans for various years and $1500-$2000+ costs. Considering 55% of the 472 items covered on one of them aren't even applicable to an EV, what are your opinions on whether maintenance plans are even worthwhile? Thanks very much!
 
Skip the maintenance plan. You will not spend anywhere near that on maintenance in the next 5, possibly 10 years, even if you use a VW dealer and go with their recommended intervals.

I would try to get a certified pre-owned one from a VW dealer, simply for the 2 year extension of the warranty.
 
I second Rondawg's advice - definitely do not pay for the maintenance plan, you'd never get your money's worth on the eGolf. (or really any other car as far as these things go, but that's another topic...)
 
What RonDawg said. Try to find VW CPO if possible. Then you will have coverage for a while in case anything goes amiss. Most (all?) extended warranties don't cover the most expensive part, the drive battery (or the 12v for that matter). The drive battery falls under VW's 8 year/100k mile warranty which kicks in if the battery falls below 30% loss of capacity from new.

As far as buying an extended warranty, it depends on your comfort level paying for repairs. Some people just don't want the hassle of doing the work and/or the unexpected expense of repairs and so they get coverage to 100k and part with the car soon after coverage expires. I have friends who drive a lot of miles, live in a semi-remote location, and this strategy has worked out well for them (mostly Ford SUVs in recent years). Repair costs (at the dealer) typically exceeds the "platinum" warranty cost for them. While maybe not the best deal, a good extended warranty can make sense for some people. Only you can decide your comfort level there. If you do get an extended, best to tack on VW warranty extending CPO if they do that (I know BMW and Audi do, not sure about VW). CPO is essentially paying a premium used price to get VW extended warranty coverage. Local dealer may be best option if they are a good one you like.

"Maintenance Plan" is a different animal and it sounds like a total rip-off for an e-Golf. I am not even sure what the maintenance intervals are. When the car "talks to me" via a monthly "health report" email message I am told no service due again until ~50k miles which I don't think correlates with the owner's manual intervals (every 10k?). We bought the car with just over 30k miles and it has not been back for maintenance service (just a charging module warranty repair). Not much to service. Top up washer fluid (easy DIY). Change cabin air filter (also pretty easy). Brake fluid flush every 2 years. (Not too tough, but also not very expensive to have done.) Tire rotation and maintenance. (I normally had a favorite tire shop for that.) Not sure how often coolant needs to be changed. Since it is pink and not an ICE coolant probably lasts for many years. Not sure yet about gear oil, starting to wonder about that interval and what the magic juice is.

We bought our 2015 SEL used last November and it is just past 39k miles now. We love it every day and it truly is one of the best vehicles I have ever owned (out of well over 50, mostly Audis, covering the past 40+ years). If the range works for you these are great cars.
 
Wow, thanks very much to RonDawg, specktre, and msvphoto for the instant and thorough replies! Just what I was hoping to confirm. You've saved me a couple grand! Thanks again!
 
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