December 1988

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Dear Tom and Ray,
We have a question for you about extended warranties. We recently traded in our 1982 Chevrolet Celebrity for a new 1988 model. During the 145,000 miles we put on the old car, all we had to do was tune it up twice and replace the brakes twice. Should we gamble that our good luck will continue or should we purchase an extended warranty?
Joe and Harriet

RAY: First of all, you should call Guiness if you really got 145,000 miles out of a Celebrity. Second, your luck will probably not hold out if you continue to ignore regular maintenance the way you have. Your Celebrity should have been serviced every 7500 miles. You tuned it up every 72,500 miles! It's a miracle that you had as little trouble as you did.

TOM: And given that, we suggest you forego the extended warranty since you obviously have someone much more powerful than General Motors looking after you.

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© 2006 by Tom and Ray Magliozzi and Doug Berman. Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.

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Auto repairs can be costly! Save money by ordering Tom and Ray's pamphlet: "Ten Ways You May Be Ruining Your Car Without Even Knowing It!" To order, send (check or money order) to Ruin, P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. You can also order online.