Extended Warranty Plans?

TonyC

Guru
100+ Post Club
446
Hi Friends,

I haven't seen any posts regarding Auto Extended Warranty Plans. I know they are insurance plans because i've spoken with several companies that write them.

Anyone here writing Extended Warranty Plans?
 
Hi Friends,

I haven't seen any posts regarding Auto Extended Warranty Plans. I know they are insurance plans because i've spoken with several companies that write them.

Anyone here writing Extended Warranty Plans?

Those are typically offered by the dealers or independent groups/ warranty companies. They may call them insurance because they work in a similar fashion, but you do not need a license to sell them. When I sold F&I products back in my car days, the only limited lines license needed was for Credit, Life, and disability, and even that didn't require the normal tetsing and licensure like traditional P&C does.
 
Auto Extended Warranty Plans are nothing more than extended service plans, similar to automobile insurance in many ways. It is also known as the health insurance for the engine in which you pay money up front to avoid paying considerably more money at the time of the repair.
 
My own personal opinions is that extended warranty plans from car manufacturers are the best. Third-party plans are PITA when it comes time to claims.

I once purchased a 7-year/100000-mil plan from Deutsche Bank. Purchased it from the dealer where I purchased my new car. I don't know if Deutsche Bank still sells these plans. (edit: apparent Deutsche Bank sold the extended
warranty division, Deutsche Financial Services to GE Financial) Anyway... in
year 5, the AC compressor died and needed replacing. The service dept at
the same car dealership took care of it for me. The service advisor did tell me
that the claims dept was really picky. They insisted on the dealer shipping the
bad compressor back to them for inspection. The dealership did not get
reimbursed until 3 weeks later. Not to mention the amount of time that the
service advisor had to spend on the phone with them on my behalf.

For my other car(different make), I purchased the car manufacturer's own
extended service plan. The car dealer wanted $2700 for the 8-year/100k
miles plan. I did a lot of research and found another authorized dealer in
Kansas who sells the same plans online. They only wanted $1250 for the
exact same plan! (which goes to show how much profit is in these plans) After paying for it, I received the extended warranty plan documents directly
from the car manufacturer in about two weeks.

I had a water pump with minor leak and I took it to the dealer. Just told them
that I had the manufacturer's extended warranty. The service advisor called
it in and the repair was approved within a couple of minutes. If I had to pay
it myself, it would have cost almost $800. On my car, getting to the water
pump require removal of the timing belt and a lot of other parts. The water
pump was cheap, but the labor accounted for most of the $800.

My point is that if you can get a car manufacturer's own extended warranty
at a good discount, do not pass up on it. I thin it's well worth it. The only
exception is when you don't plan on keeping the car for more than 4 or 5 years.
 
Last edited:
Auto Extended Warranty Plans are nothing more than extended service plans, similar to automobile insurance in many ways. It is also known as the health insurance for the engine in which you pay money up front to avoid paying considerably more money at the time of the repair.
 
I write a few since my primary auto company bought a company that does them. Beware though, there are a LOT of companies out there that sell near worthless service contracts or even worse, product warranties disguised as vehicle service contracts. Do LOTS of research into any company you are going to contract with (or buy from).

Also, know your terms. Extended warranties can only be sold by the manufacturer of the vehicle. California DOI has a good web page explaining what is out there.

It's an industry with lots of scammers in it. Choose wisely.
 
Back
Top