I just received a clean Carfax report on a car I just purchased. The CarFax website has a link to Carchex which sells extended warranties for used cars based upon the model,mileage, and age of the vehicle. Most major repairs are covered. Does anyone any experience with these warranties? Any recommendations? Thanks.
Doug and Patty
You are gambling. You are betting the insurance company that something will fail and they are betting that it won't fail.
Now, from an independant standpoint, you should know it's a sucker bet. The insurance company has calculated the odds very carefully to make sure that on the average, they will win.
BUT, that doesn't mean that you might not win in the short run. That's why it's a gamble. The car _might_ fall apart tomorrow and you'll collect bigtime and be glad you got the warranty. More likely it will just run and run with no problems and you'll be paying the warranty for nothing. But you don't know for sure.
If it makes you feel more comfortable, do it. If it doesn't make you feel more comfortable, don't do it.
--scott
Usually when you read the fine print far less is covered than the advertising copy would lead you to believe.
I am about to the point of refusing to have anything to do with these scumbags. Trying to get authorization for my customers to be reimbursed typically takes more work than the repair! Automotive repair trade magazines regularly advise us NEVER to count on the company for payment. Get what paltry reimbursement authorised that you can, hand the information to the customer and wish him/her luck. Some say they will pay on the spot with a credit card -- I have experienced cases where the credit card was bad! They have many tricks. Some will insist on providing used parts shipped from the other end of the country to effect the repair. Diagnostic time, fluids and other incidental costs are rarely paid. All claims are void if work has started without authorization. So the shopowner has to leave you car on hold whilst listening to annoying messages and "music" loops only to end up disconnected or told the person handling this type of claim will call back.
No thanks...I'd rather be fixing cars.
Or when it does fail they can weasel out of their obligation. Those that aren't ingenious enough at dodging claims frequently go bankrupt as one method of taking the money and running with it.
Very much so.
Big time.
Its practically unheard of for them to pay out more than the cost of the policy. I have heard rumors that it has been known to happen, but it doesn't happen very often at all.
But why would you buy such a POS car in the first place where that is a likely scenario? Even then, the warranty companies are ahead of you
-- they won't cover seriously troublesome models.
If it makes you comfortable to give your money to an industry that returns about a dime in claims for every $ paid in.
Kind of like going to Best Buy and they want to sell you a $7 "service contract" on a $19 phone.
Don
Good advice!
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