Auto Extended Warranty

Jackfruit · 03-12-2011, 09:19 PM

My wife just bought herself a 2006 VW Passat, and the car is just out of manufacturer's warranty. As a result, I am looking to buy an aftermarket extended warranty for her car.

Any suggestions on good plans/companies is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

BigSherv · 03-12-2011, 11:28 PM

I have had an aftermarket warranty. Cost about 800 bucks which I bought through our credit union. It was for 80K miles on top of what already was on the car or 7 years. While we got close to 6000 dollars in repairs done it is a HUGE headache to use. I suggest you find a shop who has a store manager willing to work hard for the customer. If I didn't have the guy at my dad's old auto shop half of the claims I had would have been denied or paid half way.

It also depends on where you take it. There is a set limit for how much the warranty company will pay for a job costs. Say replacing a sunroof switch costs 250 bucks. If their set price is 200 either you pay the difference or the shop has to eat the difference. They don't tell you this when you buy it.

Another thing they don't tell you is when you get an expensive part replaced you don't get a new one. That is fine lots of places put in rebuilt trannys, alternators, etc. I was told many aftermarket warranty companies will replace it with a working part from a car. I didn't believe it until the shop manager I use told me some warranty companies will have a vendor for the parts and will only allow them to send the part and it is often not rebuilt. This happened with me and my Nissan CD changer. They refused to allow Baker Jackson Nissan to use their radio and mailed a radio from their preferred vendor. Of course the one they sent had a huge scratch on the front and didn't play CD's so I had to have it sent back again. Often a random replacement part is not a rebuilt part so nothing has been done to increase its lifetime. His shop refuses to use random parts unless it is a vintage car where you just can't find parts from a catalog. So be careful on that too and read the fine print.

No matter what they tell you it is not like buying a warranty at the Acura dealership. There is a lot of headaches. Say you bring it is to the VW dealership complaining about a problem. They drive it around and find no issue. You are on the hook for the 129 dollar diagnostic fee. With a factory warranty they just hand you back the keys to your washed car and say we could not find anything.

This other time my sunroof stopped working. I didn't know why so i brought it to the dealership to get fixed because my warranty was supposed to be "just like the ones sold at Nissan." Well my sunroof wasn't broken. It had lost its programming and had to be reprogrammed. Extended warranty doesn't cover this since it wasn't a part failure so i was on the hook for 129 bucks for the reprogramming fee.

In the end am I glad I got the warranty?... hell yes. My maxima had so many issues I would have driven it off a cliff if I had to pay those out of pocket. It has been in the shop way to much for a car with only 107K miles on it. Just be smart, use mom and pop shops. Find a smart shop manager and make friends with them. Also it is amazing how nice a shop will treat you if you drop of a 12 pack around Thanksgiving or Christmas.

**Dr of Dunk** · 03-13-2011, 12:13 AM

With whatever aftermarket warranty you go with, you'd better pray they're still around in a year or two or you'll be out whatever money you paid them. I can't help with a selection, but I would never go aftermarket for some of the reasons BigSherv said.

**Dr of Dunk** · 03-13-2011, 12:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigSherv

Well my sunroof wasn't broken. It had lost its programming and had to be reprogrammed. Extended warranty doesn't cover this since it wasn't a part failure so i was on the hook for 129 bucks for the reprogramming fee.

Now I'm curious - what the heck kind of programming does a sunroof need and why would it "[lose] its programming"?

BigSherv · 03-13-2011, 10:03 PM

So for whatever reason it refused to open. I checked the fuses, unhooked the battery, etc.

To program it you hold this button down then this one then press back, etc and it works again.

Annoying.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr of Dunk

Now I'm curious - what the heck kind of programming does a sunroof need and why would it "[lose] its programming"?

Jackfruit · 03-14-2011, 12:26 PM

Thanks for the input. It is appreciated.

Prince · 03-14-2011, 01:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr of Dunk

With whatever aftermarket warranty you go with, you'd better pray they're still around in a year or two or you'll be out whatever money you paid them. I can't help with a selection, but I would never go aftermarket for some of the reasons BigSherv said.

happened to me and i got it from a compnay that Gilman HOnda recommended to me.

Royals Ego · 03-14-2011, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigSherv

In the end am I glad I got the warranty?... hell yes. My maxima had so many issues I would have driven it off a cliff if I had to pay those out of pocket.

I was going to purchase a Maxima but decided against it since the 2009+ grille is so fugly; looks like I dodged a bullet

Xerobull · 03-14-2011, 02:24 PM

You have to have a certain mindset and tactic when dealing with any kind of warranties. If you're ready to jump through hoops, they pay off. If you're a lazy consumer, don't bother.