extended warranty??

[The Math God]

I just got a mailing from an extended warranty company promoting their product.
I am not huge fan of these as they rarely make financial sense, but as I have an 003 Vue with the famous VTI, I was interested.
After a few minutes on Google, I discovered it was from a company called Ultimate Warranty Corporation from Rocky River, OH.
A few extra minutes uncovered lot of unhappy customers.

Has anybody had any experience with this company?

Is there a good extended warranty company out there?

This letter caused me to think that a little money invested before I hit 75,000 miles might have a good payoff in the end.

Thoughts, ideas?

[onefunkar]

there are thousand of these companies and many are crap. if you want a warranty buy the real thing. saturn service plan or general motors protection plan (gmpp).

[slasky]

Originally Posted by onefunkar

there are thousand of these companies and many are crap. if you want a warranty buy the real thing. saturn service plan or general motors protection plan (gmpp).

+ 100000

My father was a service manager for 30+ years. He says to never buy any extended warranty except a factory one. The after market ones rarely pay for anything or make you wait until they come down to inspect the parts. He said most of them end up folding before the end of your contract.

I went with the Saturn one when I bought my wife's vue.

[Uzzy]

Here's a little advice: DO NOT, EVER BUY A THIRD PARTY AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY!

They are not worth the paper their contract is printed on. The only warranties that should be purchased are from the manufacurer. The VTi VUE's had their facorty warranty extended by GM. If GM won't offer you additional warranty for it at a price, do not buy another one and unload the vehicle before the warranty is up.

[bigfatdave]

http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/askdav...ContentId=8256

Good info there about the EW industry.
Remember, you are getting an EW from someone who plans to stay in business, so after they pay out commissions/taxes/advertising ... then what is left goes into an insurance-style fund.
In the long run, the EW company will collect more than they pay out in repairs ... or they go out of business.
You'd be better off keeping a better-funded emergency fund, unless you don't have the discipline to keep cash in reserve.

[piney]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

Here's a little advice: DO NOT, EVER BUY A THIRD PARTY AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY!

They are not worth the paper their contract is printed on. The only warranties that should be purchased are from the manufacurer. The VTi VUE's had their facorty warranty extended by GM. If GM won't offer you additional warranty for it at a price, do not buy another one and unload the vehicle before the warranty is up.

Depends - I've had several InterContinental Warranty Corporation warranties and they have been great. Even the local Honda stealership sells a third party one (of course they neglect to tell you that it is but the profit is much better for them). They cover the same stuff as a HondaCare or GM warranty for less money and they pay for the repairs with their credit card. When I had my LSS a few years back, two window regulators at $180 a pop and it cost me nothing. My local mechanic did the job too - didn't have to go to a stealer to get it done. The ICW is sold through my credit union & it is a government employee credit union with a lot of customers.

[onefunkar]

all dealers have aftermarket warrantys to sell along with the real thing. finance departments are run by the reps from these warrantry companies. some are bad and some are ok but after 27 years in the car business i feel i can safely saw NO thats right NO aftermarket warranty can comepare to the real thing. when you buy a gm or saturnn waranty they want you to be happy and buy another new car. abc waranty company doesnt care what car you buy next time and only wants to make a profit from the warranty they sold. they are not part of the car company

[madpogue]

Originally Posted by Uzzy

Here's a little advice: DO NOT, EVER BUY A THIRD PARTY AUTOMOBILE WARRANTY!

They are not worth the paper their contract is printed on.

I had a third-party warranty on the wagon, and used it on two occasions for three different repairs that, at the time, would have cost WAY more than the $100 deductible. 'Course, I still wouldn't have bought it. Thanks to a ph@ck-up by another salesman in the showroom at the time I bought it, I got it free.

I wouldn't spend money on one now, just on principle. I forgot to renew our lising on the Wisconsin "no-call" list (we passed a state law before the feds did), and so now we get the occasional telemarketer call. The majority of them are from these warranty companies, trying to sell me an extended warranty on a 12-year-old Saturn (at least I hope they're not trying to sell one for the 25-year-old F150 [or the 32-year-old non-running D-100]). They're the only telemarketers who leave messages on my voice mail.

[The Math God]

I am not a fan at all of EW and have never bought one before.
Dealers mark them up a ton for a huge profit.
Most aftermarket companies are fly-by-night with a ton of strings.

My thought was is there any legit firms that a small investment would protect me when/if my VTI finally dies?

Will Saturn sell or extend upon the 75,000 mile VTI warranty?

Any updates on a recall, etc.....

[onefunkar]

i work in the car business and have bought a factory extend service contract on every car ive owned since 1990. cars are not cheap to fix even if you work there.