Does anyone know of a GOOD extended warranty company?

Nothing positive here.
I'd sure like to hear from somebody with a positive experiance too, I won't be holding my breath though.

I think carrying warranty/service contracts on used cars is just way too risky for companies. They will either charge you a arm and a leg, or they'll just make sure they have enough clauses in the contract that they won't have to pay, and even if they did pay it would be very little.
Problem is, if it they made these contracts worth while too many people would be trying to warranty junk vehicles that they know are going to break down and they'd lose money. In a nutshell, just not worth it.

Had good luck with both ford and Toyota certified used. Both were 6 years 100k power train with $100 deductible. On my power stroke I probably cost them 12-15k before I traded it. If you find a low mileage model, the warranty is better than new.

This might help you out.
http://www.consumerautomotiveresearch.com/?gclid=COH7v9C0560CFUIBQAodbx856g
http://www.edmunds.com/auto-warranty/understanding-extended-warranties.html

I have never bought a extended warranty because I personally don't want to pay for a repair that hasn't happened yet and may not. This being said I am sure they have there place so hopefully this helps you out.

Pete

Remember warranty companies bank on you never making your money back from the warranty. Myself I prefer to bank the extra cash and hedge against such a failure. With some careful car shopping you can do pretty well but you have to be patient.

What type of car are you looking at?

I second the certified used suggestion. Some years back (~2005) I bought my daughter a certified used VW Jetta as her first car, and the dealer service & warranty coverage was outstanding. Rick

If you bring your car to my shop with an extended warranty contract from Ed's used cars & fried chicken, I'll submit the appropriate estimates, invoices, & paperwork, wait for approval, they'll usually try to beat me up on parts prices, then fix the car if they approve the estimate. You may have your car back when they or you pay the bill in full, if they wait past 30 days I'll impound the vehicle or you can pay out of pocket & try to collect from them. Otherwise I'll sell it for the cost of repairs. If you have a certified vehicle warranty from a reputable used car dealer, I E Toyota, Ford, etc. I'll fix it on approval of the estimate, bill them, knowing I'll be paid, & you'll drive away @ the end of the day the repair was scheduled. Just my experience. A C

I’m looking to buy a late model used car and would like to get an extended warranty/service contract to cover the next few years.

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I think the only reason to buy any insurance is to cover an extraordinary cost that a person could not otherwise afford. Keep in mind that insurance is about the only business that makes money by not providing the service being sold, and that the only thing insurance insures is the profit of the insurance company. Go back to my first sentence.

Wife and I have only bought used cars beginning after 1986, the year of our last new car. We have relied heavily on Consumers Reports and the reliability and repair records of used cars. Except for a Chev Celebrity wagon many years ago on which we got an exceptional deal, we only have bought used Toyotas (there are other high quality used autos, we're just partial on this), none from dealers, all from private parties, with the most mileage at our time of purchase being 186,000. Based on the purchase price and not counting gas, oil and normal servicing, no car we have purchased has cost us more than $0.10/mile to own, that is, buy for $12,000 / $0.10 = minimum number of miles we should be able to get out of the car = 120,000, and every used car we have owned has done much better than this.

We also have never followed the recommended service interval, except religious on oil and filter changes every 5,000 miles and tire rotation at the same time. Typically we bring the car in for service about every 90,000 miles. Oil/filter/rotation I do my self. We have only had one break down, that being a timing belt failure while I was on my way to bring the car in for a timing belt change and other service.

My recommendation is to buy a quality used car, take care of it, and skip the extended warranty. There should never be an engine or transmission failure. I feel that if a car can't last at least 250,000 miles without any major repair, it is not worth buying.

+1 to every response so far.

I have never read or heard a single good thing about aftermarket warranty companies. Seems even the best ones will make you jump through all kinds of hoops to get even major problems partially covered, and many of them are outright scams that just take your money and run.

I'll also second the certified used idea... if you want a late model car but wisely don't want to pay the new premium it seems the way to go. We did that the first time with my Wife's 08 Honda Pilot. Got a car that practically looks new for half the price of new with a factory warranty longer than they offer on new ones. Cant go wrong with that.

Take the premium you would pay and put it in a separate bank account. When the time comes, use the money to pay for the unexpected repair. As long as you aren't tempted to use it for small stuff or to skip payments, you should have enough.

I had an oil leak years ago that cost me (at the time) about five hundred dollars. The dealership kept reminding me smugly that had I had extended warranty, it would be covered. I asked how much it would have been for the extended, and I would have paid three times that much by the time the repair was needed.

I am not one to just shop a payment, but with the 0% financing incentives, one could have a new car for pretty close to the same payment as slightly used or certified. There are alot of payment calculators to play with, I like Edmunds.com or if you belong USAA or another similar insurance company, they have an excellent car buying and pricing service.

Let me know what type of car your looking at and I can price out a VSC. As a rule the Factory warrantys are the way to fly. I am In that Biz so I hear about the good and Bad.

I think a good extended warranty company is kinda like a good politician.

firebroad said:

Take the premium you would pay and put it in a separate bank account. When the time comes, use the money to pay for the unexpected repair. As long as you aren't tempted to use it for small stuff or to skip payments, you should have enough.

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Cheaper to wait and take out a loan for a repair (if there is one) than pay premium. Three years will cost $2000+ easy. Read the fine print. Most of those company's policies require you to install used parts they locate themselves. Meaning old engine or transmission from some salvage yard in another state.

wetwood said:

firebroad said:

Take the premium you would pay and put it in a separate bank account. When the time comes, use the money to pay for the unexpected repair. As long as you aren't tempted to use it for small stuff or to skip payments, you should have enough.

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Cheaper to wait and take out a loan for a repair (if there is one) than pay premium. Three years will cost $2000+ easy. Read the fine print. Most of those company's policies require you to install used parts they locate themselves. Meaning old engine or transmission from some salvage yard in another state.

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I will now throw you the Cadillac Curve. We had a DTS that in one year did 17000.00 in repairs, all covered by a warranty. Depends on what type of car you have !

Im a tech at a mini dealer, Most of the companies we have to deal with are fairly straight forward. Master tech I think is the big one. I personally worked on a car that got a cylinder head replaced, new transmission and bunch of smaller items at different times. Paid and approved in a reasonable manor. I ve dealt with other ones that dragged the job out for upwards of a month and put used parts on the car. I think it all comes down to who picks up the phone at the warranty company when you call

I would advise you to avoid an extended warranty at all costs. They are scams and you are better off just setting some cash aside for a mechanical repair. Google "US Fidelis" for a great story about extended warranties.

richg said:

I would advise you to avoid an extended warranty at all costs. They are scams and you are better off just setting some cash aside for a mechanical repair. Google "US Fidelis" for a great story about extended warranties.

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Sorry but I strongly disagree, Do your research on the company, like I pointed out and a previous poster pointed out, 1-2k is worth shelling out when they cover 5-10k in repairs over the life of the vehicle, sure you may never need it but for the customer who cant repair there own vehicle they are good insurance, Just dont by one from joe blow

Most certified used programs are just a reasonably thorough inspection by dealership service techs. They fix any issues, price the car accordingly and work the cost of the inspection into the price. Had a dealer tell me he'd "certify" any late-model used car on the lot for the cost of the inspection (was around $150 IIRC). That makes certified cars the cheapest, and most reliable, extended warranty you can buy, Wouldn't bother with aftermarket warranties, as has been pointed out here, total waste of $$ IMO.