Extended car warranties are B.S.

[tallyho8]

When I bought my 2013 Genesis Coupe I broke down and bought the extended warranty for the first time since it was made in Korea and I knew parts were going to be expensive. The Coupe had a 5 year or 100,000 mile warranty on everything and a 10 year engine, drive train warranty. The extended warranty was supposed to cover anything that went bad (except brake pads, tires, battery etc.) after the 5 year warranty ended except for the engine and drive train that the 10 year warranty covered.

I keep this car in perfect showroom condition inside a garage and only drive it 4000 miles a year since I have so many other vehicles to drive. It is now 7 years old with 24000 miles and original tires that look like new and nothing has ever broken till now. The starter went out so I brought it to the dealership for repairs. They contacted the company that wrote the extended warranty and were told that they would not cover it unless I gave them proof that I followed all of the recommended maintenance procedures for the last 7 years.

The maintenance book recommended changing the oil and filter every 7500 miles or every 6 months. Since I only drove it 4000 miles a year, I had the oil changed once a year every 4000 miles. I can not believe that a car used so little under easy conditions would need an oil change every 2000 miles just because it sat in the garage most of the time.

Since I did not change my oil every 6 months at 2000 miles the warranty company would not pay for the starter repair and cancelled my warranty since I was "not maintaining the car properly".

To make matters even worse they pro-rated the warranty and charged me for 7 years of the warranty and only refunded me for 3 years (30% of the cost of the warranty). Since the warranty only took effect after my 5 year warranty expired. I only used 2 years of the 5 year warranty and should have gotten back 60% of the cost.

Just try to get just compensation from a warranty company that is out of state.:confused2:

If you were in my position, would you have had a dealer change the oil every 2000 miles or done it yourself and keep all the records and receipts for 7 years and what would your next step be, or was I completely in the wrong?

 

[RalphVa]

Agreed. Never ever took out one. Same for almost anything. If it's gonna fail prematurely, it'll do it probably within the first year.

Ralph

 

[txdon]

That's how they make their money. I get about 5 calls a week to extend my warranty and the dealer really pushes it at closing. I had an extended warranty on two vehicles in the past and kept my oil change records but they never asked for them for a few minor repairs. I never exceeded repairs more than the cost of the warranty. I stopped buying them.

Thanks for sharing to remind people that they have to really read and abide exactly by the terms of the contract.
I would say they are within the contract terms to ask you to prove you have done all the required maintenance, - but I have not read your contract. I would argue that I did all the required maintenance on the starter that the manual called for. (which is probably none).

 

[ray66v]

It's simple math.

They do not offer extended warranties as a community service. They offer them, because they make money off of them.

That means the odds are, you won't need the warranty as much as you will spend on repairs.

Yes, everyone has heard the story about, or knows some guy who had a major repair bill payed by some extended warranty. You never hear about the opposite though. :laughing: You never hear about the guy who spent thousands on a warranty, to cover repairs he didn't ever need.

The warranty companies use fear mongering like, New engine $6500, New Transmission $4000. Guess how many new engines and transmissions they actually pay for? I guarantee you they will be putting a used one, or a rebuilt one in, and not a new one. So, that's a lot of nonsense.

They didn't build Las Vegas, because everyone goes out there and wins all the time. They built it because they win almost all the time.

You know who else wins almost all the time? The extended warranty companies. Or, they wouldn't be in business.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I always thought when you buy an extended warr., you would already KNOW what you had to do to keep it valid, that it was common knowledge!

That's why I never have bought one, because I would have to go to my dealer for everything ON SCHEDULE or it would be voided.

Anyone who buys anything like that, should check all of this out, BEFORE they sign on the dotted line, you have just had a "lifes lesson"!!

SR

 

[Fuddy1952]

I'm beyond pixxed and it's not even my car!
We've had Hyundais for years because of the warranty...never had a problem. Never bought an extended warranty on anything.
As I understand the Hyundai warranty, the starter should be covered by their warranty! It not tires, wiper blades, a battery, etc.
Me... I'd simply call Hyundai customer service. Tell them it won't run when you turn the key...have it towed to a dealership for repair.
What sold me on Hyundai is in 90s my first Accent made an intermittent squealing noise. Dealer gave up trying to find out what it was. My guess was power steering pump front bearing. One night coming home it started squealing...I quickly popped hood, put a drop of oil on a long thin screwdriver. As soon as I touched it to pump...bingo! It was quiet.
Next day I took it to dealer, left it, they called saying they couldn't get it to squeal.
I called Hyundai, explained the situation, and I'm a mechanic (not by trade, but work on my own stuff). They sent me a new pump overnight AND a check for $45 (they said that's what they would of paid the dealer). I installed it in 20 minutes.
We've had 10 Hyundais since.
Never a Genesis...that's top of the line.(Accent, Elantra, Tiburon).

 

[ultrarunner]

Factory backed is very different from third party... however the third party is often more money for the seller...

 

[fried1765]

In 1999, I bought a Mercedes extended warranty that I paid $2000 for.
Never collected anything!
Spent LOTS of money on Mercedes repair AFTER the warranty expired.
Never bought another warranty on ANYTHING,.... ever again!

 

[dragoneggs]

I think extended warranties on just about anything are a waste of money. My thinking is that for the money you save in buying extended warranties on various items will pay for any repair of a major item, or repurchase of less costly items.

 

[kf4uda]

I think extended warranties on just about anything are a waste of money. My thinking is that for the money you save in buying extended warranties on various items will pay for any repair of a major item, or repurchase of less costly items.

I think that you are right.

 

[KennyG]

I've never bought extended warranty on vehicles or appliances, or travel insurance for vacations. I could buy a lot of new stuff with the money I've saved.

 

[dnw64]

or[/B] every 6 months.

Interpretation of the above seems to be the problem. Sounds like they were claiming it meant "whichever comes first".

I personally have never interpreted it that way. If you drive 4000 miles a year, change the oil once a year. If you drive 100,000 mile a year, change every 7500.

My personal suggestion is to ask to speak with a supervisor under the assumption that the first level person didn't have a clue.

Case in point - a friend recently moved from NC to VT. When he went to register his vehicles the DMV wanted to charge him 6% sales tax unless he could prove he had previously paid that amount or more (or would reduce it if some was paid, but less than 6%). He showed the (young) person his original purchase contract from the dealer in NC which showed "road tax" but she said that didn't count.

After my friend told me about it, I did some research and sent him some links that indicated he should have gotten credit. He went back with more info, and the (older) person said "Yes, that is sales tax and you should get a credit".

 

[tallyho8]

I know that extended warranty companies, just like insurance companies, are in it to make money and always have the odds in their favor. Since this Genesis cost me so much money and was such a new car that you could not get much feedback on it, I decided to buy the extended warranty for the first time against my better judgement.

Now, if you had no warranty, do any of you have a vehicle, car, truck, tractor, combine or whatever, that the guide recommends changing oil at 7500 miles or 6 months, and if you use it very, very, rarely and keep it under cover, change your oil every 6 months whether you use it or not?

 

[Oaktree]

Case in point - a friend recently moved from NC to VT. When he went to register his vehicles the DMV wanted to charge him 6% sales tax unless he could prove he had previously paid that amount or more (or would reduce it if some was paid, but less than 6%).

I believe Vt. charges the tax when you register a vehicle. I live in N.H. (which has no sales tax), but have bought cars in Vt. more than once. I was never charged tax, of course they were all registered in N.H.
One time I bought a vehicle in Maine, and had to send paperwork to their DMV to prove I registered it in another state so I didn't get hit with tax there.
Never had to file any paperwork with Vt. though.

 

[Oaktree]

Agreed. Never ever took out one. Same for almost anything. If it's gonna fail prematurely, it'll do it probably within the first year.

My one exception to that would be HF power tools. Glad I did on my Lynx polesaw...failed after about 6 mo.

 

[txdon]

I know that extended warranty companies, just like insurance companies, are in it to make money and always have the odds in their favor. Since this Genesis cost me so much money and was such a new car that you could not get much feedback on it, I decided to buy the extended warranty for the first time against my better judgement.

Now, if you had no warranty, do any of you have a vehicle, car, truck, tractor, combine or whatever, that the guide recommends changing oil at 7500 miles or 6 months, and if you use it very, very, rarely and keep it under cover, change your oil every 6 months whether you use it or not?

My mother's car goes about 500 miles a year and I get the oil changed once a year. She has an extended warranty and I know it's worthless because I'm not changing the oil every 6 months. But if it needs a repair I'll try anyway, but expect rejection. She stopped driving (except to the mailbox) a year after she got the new vehicle extended warranty. The oil is still clear every year.

 

[hawkeye08]

Sorry for your troubles, we learned our lesson on 1991 Chevrolet conversion van.. front end was wearing tires, idler arm was sloppy. Took it in and they denied warranty saying it was within specs (definitely not). I cancelled the warranty and ask for complete refund as it was worthless. Dealer submitted cancellation and then told me it was rejected as there was an outstanding claim (the one that was denied). I used my loud voice in the dealer showroom explaining how stupid it was, they told me they would issue a check the following week (which they did for full amount).

The details are the sticky part. Appeal the warranty rejection stating that the starter had all the recommended maintenance and failed. It has nothing to do with your oil changes. Of course you might want to read the details and see what the requirements are..

It is no fun when this happens.. after my brother passed from cancer 5 years ago, his wife was driving the pickup (bought new with extended warranty) when the oil pressure dropped. She had it towed to dealer, they decided engine could be fixed, charged my SIL $600 deductible... fine print got her. She got it back and almost immediately traded it on a VW bug convertible she liked.

extended warranties are part of the reason car dealers have a bad reputation.

 

[Jstpssng]

On a similar note... I bought a "Certified Used Auto" which included a 90 day warranty. I took it to my regular mechanic and had them flush the radiator; it turned out to have been plugged with stop leak, and flushing it caused major leakage. The warranty covered the new radiator, but within a week the transmission started slipping. I took it back, they made some adjustments so that it shifted mean; and told me that it was normal to slip when going into third gear. I offered to sell it back for them for 1/3 of what I had paid for it two weeks earlier... they laughed at me and said "We don't want that POS."
I called the number on the "Certified Auto" paperwork... and got a message saying to call the dealer for warranty issues. In hindsight my next call should have been a lawyer...

 

[Fuddy1952]

I don't understand.
I never got a reply.
Who give a $#&% about the extended warranty?
The OP simply lost money...lesson learned...don't buy one again!
Hyundai covers the starter under the 10 year/100K mile powertrain warranty.
"Yes the*starter*is*covered under warranty."
So OP...have dealer replace starter under warranty. Screw the pos useless waste of money extended warranty.

 

[Diggin It]

The Coupe had a 5 year or 100,000 mile warranty on everything and a 10 year engine, drive train warranty.

The starter went out so I brought it to the dealership for repairs.

Starter isn't part of the engine/drivetrain?