09/21/2024
Ever wonder about those extended warranties that you buy for your vehicle at purchase? Here are a few tips on these.
1. NEGOTIATE. The Selling Dealer often marks these up dramatically. So, a $4,000.00 warranty may be $1,500.00 in profit to the dealer. So negotiate on this. If you want the warranty you can probably cut the price.
2. MANUFACTURER WARRANTY. If you are buying a new vehicle, check your manufacturer warranty. Remember, the extended warranty pays NOTHING until after the manufacturer warranty expires. So the purchase of an extended warranty with a Kia/Hyundai that may have a 100k mileage manufacturer warranty may provide very little coverage.
3. FOLLOW your maintenance schedule and keep all your receipts. If you need a major repair they will check this. They will also inspect the engine and look for any indication of low oil, sludge or failed maintenance. ANY indication of this and they will deny your claim. So not only did you waste the money you paid, you will also likely lose the 2 to 3 weeks or more that it takes to compile and submit your claim and wait on an answer.
4. REMEMBER that you have the warranty. They count on you forgetting because if you don't even think about the warranty, you won't make a claim. This is also the reason you won't get any maintenance reminders. They don't want to do anything that might generate a claim they have to pay.
5. CANCEL. Did you know that you can cancel the warranty and receive a refund? Virtually all contracts have this option but it is pro-rated so the sooner the cancellation, the greater the refund. But this assumes you made no claims.
6. TRADE. If you trade your vehicle, you may still have some value left on the contract. If so, cancel it. If you don't guess who might? The Dealer that you traded the vehicle to may cancel and get the refund. Or possibly your lender. You may forget about the warranty. But they don't.
