"To warranty, or to not warranty, that is the question"- 4 tips on purchasing an aftermarket warranty

Often times we have customers that assume or were told they need to go back to the dealership have their vehicle repaired because they have a warranty. Some customers are confused between an aftermarket and factory warranty. To clarify, a factory warranty is the warranty most manufacturers offer when you purchase a new vehicle. For instance, GM may give a 3 year, 36,000 mile warranty when you purchase that new Impala. An 'after market warranty' is an extra warranty to cover repairs when the factory warranty expires. For example, you may be offered to purchase an additional warranty on that same Impala when the odometer hits 36,001 miles. Also, an after market warranty can be purchased on that gently used 2008 Impala with 65,000 miles. Again, it is usually purchased for an extra amount of money to cover future repair expenses. For example, a car dealer try to sell you a gold plan with some sort of deductible to pay if and when repairs are needed. We work with many different aftermarket warranty companies almost daily, some are great and some are...ugh....not so great.... A couple of quick tips regarding extended warranties. 1) Read the fine print- we had a vehicle in recently and the the warranty brochure read "Brakes- we cover the brake pedal." Now I've only been in the auto repair business for 20 years but I have never replaced a brake pedal. 2) Be sure to read the fine print regarding the odometer rules. If the warranty paperwork reads that your vehicle has a 75,000 mile warranty, make sure when purchasing a used vehicle with 50,000 miles that means you are covered until you drive up to 125,000 miles. Make sure that it does NOT expire at 75,000 miles. I don't know how many furious customers we have had in our shop realize their warranty had expired within 10,000 miles of driving and they thought they were covered for another 30-40,000 miles. 3) We had a claim a while ago in which the brochure read "covers brake components, including brake calipers, brake rotors, brake pads.....etc. Well this warranty company asked us for some pictures of the failed components (which is becoming more normal). But, this particular company decided the items listed were not covered because of evidence of rust. After explaining that we live in Iowa and there's not a vehicle on the road in the entire state without rust somewhere they still denied the claim. Needless to say the customer was very unhappy. 4) Most importantly, you as a consumer have the option to have your vehicle serviced anywhere you want. Do not let dealerships tell you that in order to maintain your warranty (factory or aftermarket) you must have it serviced by them. For more information, you can read about the Magnuson-Moss Act.