Should I buy an extended warranty?
Pick your vehicle. We calculate risk-weighted repair exposure across your ownership window using NHTSA owner complaint data, compare it to typical service contract cost, and tell you whether the math favors coverage. We say skip when it does not.
Your vehicle
Pick a year, make, and model above to see your verdict.
How the math works
Pull your vehicle data
We look up every documented problem pattern (cluster) for your specific year, make, and model from the NHTSA owner complaint database.
Adjust costs by make
Repair costs are scaled by a make-complexity multiplier. A BMW transmission costs more to fix than a Toyota. Costs reflect that.
Risk-weight by ownership window
Probability of each failure scales with your ownership years and current mileage. Older, higher-mileage vehicles weight risk higher.
Compare to contract cost
If risk-weighted exposure exceeds typical 3-year contract pricing, coverage likely pays back. If not, we say skip.
Common questions
How accurate are the repair cost estimates?
Cost estimates are national averages from independent shop pricing, scaled by a make-complexity multiplier (BMW, Mercedes, Porsche cost more to fix than Toyota or Honda). They are ballpark figures, not vehicle-specific quotes. Local labor rates, dealer-vs-independent choice, and parts availability all affect actual cost.
Why do you sometimes say to skip coverage?
For some vehicles the math does not pencil out. A low-complaint vehicle with cheap typical repairs costs more to insure than it would save. We say so honestly. Routing every visitor to a Chaiz quote would erode trust in the rest of the site.
Is this affiliate content?
Yes. When the calculator says coverage may be worth it, the recommended provider is Chaiz via an affiliate link. We earn a commission if you complete a quote. We earn nothing if the calculator tells you to skip, which is intentional.
I am in California or Washington. Can I still use this?
Yes. The verdict math runs the same. Chaiz is not available in California, so we do not show the Chaiz button to California users. We disclose this instead of pretending you have an option you do not.
What if my vehicle is not in your database?
The calculator covers ~14,000 vehicles spanning 44 makes and model years 2005-2025. If your vehicle is not pickable above, we do not have NHTSA data on it yet (often the case for very new model years before owner complaints accumulate, or for niche imports).