Aftermarket Car Warranty

Sales Pitch vs Sales Hitch Consideration

If you buy a new car, you are covered by the manufacturer’s warranty for several years and miles, and that varies on the make. But if you buy a used car you may be able to purchase an aftermarket car warranty. Yes, many new car dealers offer you a limited 90 day warranty but when you sit down to sign the contract the salesman will almost certainly hit you for a lot of add on extras you may not want or need.

One of them for sure will be the aftermarket extended warranty. This could be for one or more years and cover various aspects of the automobile repair.  So, are they a good thing to buy? Well that depends, as there have been many bad experiences associated with them, such as the insurance company offering the plan will almost certainly do what they can to limit their liability and repair payout.

Also, many aftermarket warranty plans list what most cars don’t have. You should always go over what is covered in detail with the salesman and read the fine print as that is where they get you every time. One way a lot of consumers have discovered when attempting to enforce their policy, is that the large print attempts to sell you, the small print is there to stiff you. Things such as listing on their policy a great deal of parts or servicing that doesn’t even apply to your car, or requiring the auto repair facility you brought your car into to use aftermarket parts, not the higher grade OEM parts.

For example you may need a repair that requires a part that would cost $60 for an aftermarket part whereas the better OEM part (Original Engineered Manufacturers) part, the one specifically recommended by the manufacturer for your specific automobile, would cost $120. Also the warranty may not pay for associated parts that are in need of replacement or repair that connect directly to the part covered, whereas you would be on the hook for that.

The aftermarket warranty purchase is negotiable, you should never just pay the asking price for a warranty. While the actual coverage stated in the warranty is one thing, getting the insurance company to cover it is another. And, and you can bet you’ll see this in the small print, the warranty is void if you don’t service your car to their recommended specifications or if you add custom parts to your car. Then you have the expense, mostly around $500 for a 1 or 2 year warranty plan.

What no one tells you is that most of these aftermarket warranties have a huge padding in them, perhaps as much as 70%. Why is this important to know? Because they are almost always negotiable, especially at the time you are purchasing a used car, or even a new one, as salesmen may even try to shove one of these on you then. But always  read the small print disclaimers very carefully before you jump into purchasing an aftermarket warranty.

While All Car does not normally endorse or recommend third party services or products we don’t carry, we will say that a few that All Car has had reasonable experience with are GE Capita, Enterprise (as they frequently have used car sales) and Car Max. So if you are in the market for an aftermarket auto repair warranty then you may want to carefully look into one of these.

As always, give Paul a call if you have any questions about this and he will be happy to discuss it with you before you purchase. All Car works with all aftermarket warranty companies — Paul has seen them all over the years and is here to help you.