On Extended Car Warranties

If you’re bantering around in your mind as to whether to go for an extended auto warranty, you’ll know doubt have questions… questions worth researching, asking and getting the answers to.

O.K… let’s get the really obvious out of the way first.

How long does the car warranty last? But, beyond that… what’s the time limit of the contract and how far does it go beyond the the original warranty with the car?

Of course, you want to the mileage limit to the warranty as well. Even most extended warranties won’t go beyond 100,000 miles.

That’s the basic stuff to know… or ask if you don’t.

The meat of the questions are involved in what exactly is covered. Are repairs included? If so, which ones? And probably more importantly, you need to know what is NOT covered. Parts that break are certainly different than parts that wear out… with extended car warranties it’s very important to know which is covered and which is not.

Deductibles are also a biggie with extended warranties on your car. A deductible is the amount of the repair that you’ll be responsible for before the warranty coverage kicks in. The higher deductible you are willing to risk, the lower the cost of the extended car warranty.

Another point of interest with the deductible that you’ll want to know is whether the deductible is per repair or per visit? This can really make a BIG difference. In others words if you have a $250 deductible… if your extended coverage is per repair and you take your car in and there are 3 separate repairs needed on your car… you’ll be on the hook for $750 bucks. If your deductible is per visit… $250.

Another very important question to get the answer to is – who does the repairs? Or… who is allowed to do the repairs in order for the warranty to cover the actual work? As a rule of thumb, the manufacturer backed extended car warranty is usually good at dealers around the country… a dealer warranty is usually good at the dealership itself… if you’re considering an aftermarket or third party extended warranty, you’ll want to make sure where you have to have any warranty work done.

How does the bill get paid?

Do you pay and get reimbursed… or does the warranty company pay? Also, is there any type of tedious authorization process involved.

What type, if any, scheduled maintenance is required on your end?

And finally, can the extended car warranty be canceled?

Some can be canceled within a certain period, some can be canceled with fees, and others cannot be canceled.

Be sure to do due diligence on the company that is behind your extended warranty and how long they’ve been around, how many customer complaints there have been.