Buying extended warranties for cars is often expensive and also rarely feels worth it. Most buyers choose to save on the upfront cost of buying a car (especially these days) and deal with repairs and maintenance once the manufacturer’s warranty has run its course. However, in some cases, like the 2012 Kia Sorento with over 600,000 miles, the extended 10-year warranty was well worth the extra cash. 

Are extended warranties worth it? 

For one Kia Sorento owner, the 10-year warranty was the best decision he could have made. According to The Drive, a Kia mechanic posted on Reddit about a 600,000-mile 2012 Kia Sorento whose 10-year warranty just expired last week. 

Outside of the fact that the mechanic mentioned in the post that this Kia had received nine engines in its short life so far. That comes out to be one engine per every 67,000 miles or so. The extensive records the Kia owner kept are even more fascinating than the nine engines. The mechanic who personally worked on this car, also, who spoke to The Drive, revealed a great many strange things surrounding the Kia Sorento and its owner. 

What happened to this 2012 Kia Sorento? 

The Drive notes that the Reddit-posting mechanic had only been at the dealership for a few months, so he hadn’t done all the work but could clearly see it was abused. He said he had heard the other mechanics talk about how the owner “floors it literally at all times.” 

The strange part is that someone who allegedly treats their car like this isn’t the person you’d think would keep detailed maintenance records. While the nine replacement engines are intense, there is still far more to examine here. 

Is the Kia Sorento a good car? 

Any car that needs an engine replacement nine times in 10 years might raise some concerns. However, it’s not that simple. If you crunch the numbers, the Kia owner averaged around 60,000 miles per year. In case you don’t know, that is a lot. His records also show that he changed the oil 203 times over this period. That means he kept his schedule tight with regular oil changes about every 2,995 miles. He also has had 20 transmission flushes and four transmissions. 

A deeper trend is starting to form. Despite the driver’s hotfoot, he seemed to handle maintenance well. All things considered, the argument could easily be made that this generation’s Kia Sorento is not the strongest model in the world. 

What became of the car once the warranty expired? 

Our intrepid Kia Sorento owner lost his taste for his car after the warranty, for which no one could blame him. He traded his cadaver in for the lowly sum of $1,425. “He paid $18,000 plus the trade-in for a Saturn Vue off our used cars lot,” the mechanic said. “It was a Red Line edition.” 

I guess the takeaway here is the next time you do the dealership paperwork dance; maybe the extended warranty could be worth it if you replace the engine nine times and the transmission four times. That’s value.