The more I talk to dads in my area the more I find a common trend - dad drives the old clunker to work (sans kids) and mom has the new (kid) car, whether it be the wagon, the SUV or the minivan. I bought mine as a pre-certified used car from a dealership with a warranty on it and even though the warranty has lapsed with little to no use from it I still feel I did a good thing by having it.

The issue now is should I go out and get some type of extended auto warranty or not? This is a question I would love to get feedback on. As a dad, I am all about having warranties and insurance policies, but do most people cover their clunkers or do they bite the bullet and just deal with the consequences?

Depending on what you are paying per year for maintenance and repairs, an extended warranty may be the way to go, especially if there is no room for an upgrading dad’s car in the near future. So as long the policy comes from an A+ rated insurance company and aren’t backed by a Risk Retention Group and it doesn’t eclipse your current maintenance cost (figuring in the offset of the policy itself), it may ease the burden of hanging onto to that dear old clunker of yours another year or so.