Taking A Look At Some Automobile Extended Warranty Essentials
Have you hit a few cars in your lifetime due to your own negligence? Are you a hard breaker? Do you sometimes find that you’re past due for an oil change? Are you planning to drive your car for at least ten years until it simply doesn’t start anymore? If so, then an extended warranty was created just for you. Even though a car is a major investment, many of us can’t help but to drive how we want. Sometimes, our cars rank low on the priority list, with so many other expenses incurred on a normal basis. To help offset the maintenance and repair costs, manufacturers and independent companies offer extended warranty coverage for those people who can’t help but beat on their cars a little.
Did you know that an auto salesman can make more money from selling you an extended warranty than selling you the car? The most profitable part of the retail auto business is, in fact, the extended automobile warranty, where anything over the dealer’s cost is profit. Generally speaking, salesmen get a flat fee for each warranty sold, plus the balance of the profit. The fees can range from $250 to $1750, and when compared to third party warranties, dealership plans cost, on average, 40% to 100% more.
Another factor to consider is auto warranty for “wear and tear.” This type of warranty can be hard to find, since many only cover mechanical failure. However, you can definitely find extended warranty coverage that includes “wear and tear,” thereby covering parts like the idler arm, piston rings, U joints, CV joints, wheel bearings, motor mounts, suspension bushings, tie rod ends, seals, gaskets and other engine parts that gradually wear down and may or may not cause a mechanical breakdown.
If you have an anti-lock braking system, then you’ll want to make sure your coverage extends to ABS and instances of overheating. The comprehensive website, carbuyingtips.com recommends Warranty Direct and Nation Warranty Corporation, which both include “wear and tear” in their plans.
The most important thing is that you don’t feel rushed or hassled into securing the extended warranty for your car immediately. Most auto warranties allow you the option of buying later; yet of course, you should only delay as you research, rather than allowing enough time to elapse so your car is a liability. Like with health insurance, it’s much harder to get coverage once problems arise. As with anything, the extended auto warranty is a “buyer beware” scenario, but if you do some homework and understand your auto habits, then the couple of thousand you pay today can save you a small fortune tomorrow.
Add comment October 18th, 2008