3rd Party Extended Warranties

[DusterRT]

I just bought a new car today (well, an '06 with less than 5,000 miles, new enough). It's a Jeep, but for the purposes of this forum...let's fib and call it a Z06 or something. Anyway, as the paperwork was being finished up, the finance guy pitched a warranty by National Warranty Corporation.

$1985 gets me what sounds like a pretty decent deal given the cost of parts and labor these days. that covers all electronics and mechanicals for not just defects, but wear beyond wear tolerances for 7 years or 100,000 miles. Obviously it doesn't cover consumables like brake pads/rotors, clutch, exhaust, etc. Modifications are for the most part ok, but the aftermarket parts aren't covered (ie, you can change suspension links, and the OE parts elsewhere in the suspension are still covered; however something like a blower would void the engine and possibly/probably drivetrain warranty). Zero deductible, and is valid at any repair shop that accepts a credit card. $35/day towards rental cars and $50 towards towing; better than nothing but not spectacular.



I couldn't complete the sale there, I have to go back tomorrow (didn't bring my checkbook; didn't think they'd take my offer!). I sprung for the warranty since I can opt out and have the contract re-written since technically the sale isn't final yet (I confirmed this before signing the dotted lines). Usually I write this stuff off as crap, but it *sounds* good; I can have it repaired where I want, and while Chrysler's..err, I mean GM's reputation for quality and reliability is improving...well they're still not stereotyped along with Toyotas yet.

I basically have until tomorrow afternoon, or maybe another day to make the decision, so any input is appreciated!!

[MrQuick]

I always recommend it cause its really cheap when you consider what $1985 will buy you these days.

After your first transmission you will be glad you did. just kidding.

I would have bought the 07 Wrangler. Cool boxer. KJ, TJ, WK or XK?

[patriot68]

i dont like aftermarket warranties at all. it seems like everytime i get a customer in my shop with an extended warranty that is not from the manufacturer i usuall have to lie to the company to get them to pay for the repairs..example, we get alot of ford deisels in with the front trans seal leaking.. most of the time this is caused by the pump bushing waering on the converter..bushings and seals arent usually covered. so i have to tell the ins company that the converter is bad to get it fixed. they sometimes pay half of the labor that most shops charge and you have to make up the rest

every time i deal with the ins company on a motor or transmission overhaul they will not fund it. they will send a used one instead..not a big deal on my side, i still make money. i just wouldnt want powertrain parts from a junkyard with 100,000 miles+ installed on my vehicle

1900 dollars is alot for all of the hassel imo.

[DusterRT]

I've been battling myself both ways..I see both arguments. On one hand, there isn't a simpler new vehicle on the road, I really can't anticipate many problems; on the other hand, like you say, $2000 won't buy much these days if you don't do it yourself!

I checked out the 2008 models; the lifetime warranty was appealing. There were no 2007's around to check out, new or used (well, a few $30k+ tricked out rigs, my budget was closer to half of that!). Anyway..don't even get me started on the JK's. I was not a fan of the new V-6, and especially the drive by wire. I hadn't killed a manual transmission vehicle in years until I drove one of those; 3 times over the course of the test drive. Press the go-pedal; nothing. Between that and the fact that the V-6 has less low end torque, and I'm pretty sure the JK's are heavier..not a good combo IMO. They should have left the 3.8 to the minivans or wherever they got them from! And then there is the $4995 "Market Value Adjustment" as icing on the cake..an $18,000 base model was about to $25,000 out the door after TT&L. I liked the '05-'06 TJ's; you get the old school 4.0 with the new 6-speed manual..

[barno68]

I have bought extended warranties on my last four vehicles, and feel that with the proper research they are a good idea. It is also imporant to look at the vehicle you are getting it for, sometimes it does not make a lot of sense if the car model has a good reliability history.

Research the company well, many of these do not stay in business for the lenth of the contract, check their history. Make sure that they pay via credit card as most shops are not willing to spend time haggling with the warranty company and will want you to pay instead. Also, carefully look at what is covered and what is specifically excluded. As stated above, make sure it specifies new replacement parts.

I currently have a warrantee on my Ford F250 and think that was a mistake as it is truly dependable (V10). We also have one on our Jetta, although it is still under factory warrantee, my experience tells me this will be a good investment. I will not buy a german (ok, German name, Mexico assembly) car without a warrantee due to the repair costs. So far I have have come out on the possitive side on warrantees on an Audi S90 and Passat. I wish I would have bought one on a previous Porsche! JMO

Brent

[scogin918]

I bought one for the last truck and it came in handy. I bought the '97 truck from a Rick Hendrick dealership in '99 and it was a Hendrick Automotive Group extended warranty. So I guess in reality it wasn't a 3rd party warranty, but it still worked for me after the factory warranty expired. I bought the 100,000 mile warranty and it pretty much paid for itself over the duration.

[DusterRT]

Any specific questions that would be good to add to this list?

- First off I'll want a copy of the contract to review before deciding
- Payment: I pay the repair shop, they reimburse me for the full amount, parts labor and tax?
- Parts installed will be new, not used?
- A list of specific things covered and not covered

Thanks guys, good discussion...I appreciate it!

[trapin]

I got burned once really bad on a third party warranty when I bought my boat. I thought it was through Bayliner but the salesman never mentioned it wasn't. It was a refundable $500 extended policy and if you didn't use it after 5 years you could get your money back.

....wouldn't you know the company it was through went bankrupt before I could collect.

[streetk14]

I don't like the aftermarket extended warranties, myself. I have never bought one, but I deal with them on customer's cars (as a BMW technician). The problem is that they are out to save themselves money and are not looking out for the best interest of their customer (like most insurance companies).

They can be very difficult to deal with, and rarely pay the entire amount of the repair. A lot of things are not covered by the warranty (the guy selling it to you will not tell you that) and they pull labor times out of their as#es sometimes. When they will only cover a certain amount for a repair, we make the customer pick up the rest of the bill.

Also, when the repair is an expensive one (over $700 or so) they send a claims adjuster out to look at the car. This usually means the car sits there a few days before they give authorization to fix it. The adjusters are usually *****s, and I think they get paid on reverse-commission (the less $$ they give out the more they get paid).

Here is an example of why I don't like these companies. A lady brings in here 2002 or 2003 530I for a check engine light. She has one of these warranies (can't remember which one) and I start diagnosing the problem. It turns out to be a torque converter clutch slip fault. I suspected a faulty converter but the customer needed the car back that day, so I cleared the fault and let the customer take the car. It came back a few weeks later with the same fault, and they send a inspecter out to look at the car. I cleared the fault memory and drove the car to see how it ran/felt. The fault/check engine light did not come back on my drive, and I believe I had printed out the fault code sheet for the inspecter. This guy would not authorize the repair until he saw the "service engine soon" light with his own eyes, my printout was not good enough. I also had a supporting service bulletin that said the converter clutch was the problem. I think the inspecter came back 1 or 2 more times to drive the car, and I don't think they ever got the light to come back on. This was an intermittant problem, which took a couple weeks of driving to act up. In the end they did pay for a new torque converter, but the car sat at our shop for a few weeks before they allowed us to do the repair. The poor lady was in a rental car the whole time, and she was the one who suffered for the warranty company being stingy.

Also, they will put a used engine in your car if they can. They are not going to put a brand new engine in a car with 70k miles.

That's my 2 cents,

Andy

[camcojb]

I will not buy an extended warranty that's not direct from the manufacturer, and even then there's a lot of room to negotiate on pricing. $2K sounds high, and I wouldn't even consider it if it's not from Chrysler/Jeep. Every third party policy I had (one, then learned my lesson) and several from friends has basically paid for nothing. They have an out for nearly anything that can go wrong.

The one and only time I bought one was on a leased truck for my company that I'd had since new, and then decided to buy when the lease was up. I told the guy I had heard major stories on aftermarket warranties but he swore this company had been great for them.

One month later the truck got a bad water leak at the upper rear of the engine. I sent it in for warranty work, but the insurance company determined that the plate that was leaking water was part of the egr system, and the egr system was not covered. I paid for the repair and walked straight into his office and got my money back on the worthless third party warranty.

I can write a book of examples from friends who didn't listen and bought these, only to find out they have more things they don't cover than what they do cover. I say buyer beware, and don't say I didn't warn 'ya!

Jody