perlfather

Obviously you are not an average car owner. The extended warranty company is making a profit and the people selling the warranty are getting paid a commission. On average every person purchasing an extended warranty has to get back less than they paid for the warranty. It is simple insurance - makes sense for some that want to ensure their maximum payout, however, it will (on average) be more costly. If you think you are "average" you would be foolish to by and extended warranty.

jeremymc7

I understand the concept of insurance. I've actually sold it before when I ran a custom audio / video install business. I never used a hard sell though. Just told people it's just like health insurance. You hope you'll never use but if it you even think you might need it you'll be glad you had it.

Speaking of insurance I'm also not you're typical customer either given my checkered history so I get my money's worth there as well. My wife however has never even broken a toe so that's a different story. We keep separate and different levels of insurance each and it costs us less.

As for the car - say paying 10% of the price of the car to not have to worry about most of the major things knowing what the cost of the parts and labor are it's a calculated cost I'll pay. I manage a top 100 financial $4B budget so I'm also comfortable with the numbers.

irenesbob

That's obvious. I wonder how many people get an extended warranty then a few years down the pike can't resist upgrading to new and therefore never get to making a claim and costing the insurer a penny.

jeremymc7

Actually I wonder something similar. If you sell to PP the warranty goes with. But what if you sell back to dealer. Do they consider the warranty as part of the trade? Do they include in resale? Or do they just write it from the books.

Quattro_Chic

farmerjones

The original poster is unhappy with the standard practices of extended warranties....he is entitled to his opinion. However saying it is a "rip-off" is also his opinion. Every complaint he has is standard industry practice, so if he had purchased basically ANY other extended warranty for ANY other company on the planet his experience would be the same. Perhaps the OP was caught off guard on the terms of a warranty due to inexperience...that's understandable and unfortunate. However, someone well-versed in warranty purchases knows his complaints are simply his dissatisfaction with the the warranty industry and has nothing to do with the Audi-specific warranty....ANY extended warranty would have very similar terms.

Clauses about "modifications" not being covered is standard-industry practice. (No you can't twin-turbocharge your car with NOS and expected the engine still be covered, but that doesn't void your radio warranty.) Diagnostic time is always limited or pre-approved, however this can all be known in advance (so yes, an extended warranty may not cover 100% of a horrendous problem with abnormally high diagnostic time, this is standard industry practice). Knowing if a component is covered (or excluded) is stated on the contract before purchase, so do your reading. And yes, a 7/100,0000 mile warranty is really purchasing a 2/50,000 extended warranty for your Audi, again....standard industry practice. And yes, you get a prorated amount back when you cancel, as listed on the warranty.....and no you don't get 50% of it back if you cancel at 50% of the elapsed coverage time. As for buying a warranty when the car is new as opposed to right before it's out of warranty....it is 100% of the time cheaper to buy when the car is new than at the tail end of the manufacture's warranty....just like buying health insurance is cheaper when you are 20 than at 80 (because you are lease likely to make a claim)...again, standard industry practice.

Some see value in an extended warranty with peace of mind, others see it as a gamble and are open to the risk. There is no right or wrong, just personal option and a risk-level tolerance difference. I've had 3 extended warranties on cars....one I never used. Another payed for $8,000 of repairs over 2 years. Another payed for a $10,000 engine replacement only a short while after the original warranty expired. So would I buy another?!? As you can see, my experience shows it has been beneficial. Others have the complete opposite experience. There is no right or wrong...it's a personal viewpoint, just like ANY insurance policy. I'm a healthy guy and rarely even visit a doctor, so I'd say my car insurance has personally saved me about 1,000x more money that my health insurance has, LOL.

dudley@07726

farmerjones

I actually had Lexus extended warranty a few years ago....while backed by Toyota it, too, is administered by a third party (or was when I had mine). Few manufacturer actually have an extended warranty that is administered by them, so...... It's just the way it is. Some companies certainly are easier to deal with than others, and many plans are far more comprehensive than others. That said, the manufacture-backed/sold plans often tend to be the least hassle in my experience. I worked in service and parts for many years at luxury car dealerships and have had my fair share of dealings with extended warranty claims.....

Redd

Funny thing but since my car went out of warranty, I've gotten two "Audi extended warranty" offers, both the real deal. One shortly after, another now six months later.

And yes, they are cheaper than buying a new transmission or engine. But...dealers love to sell these things, as do car makers. In the 80's no car makers sold them, only third parties who often took the money and ran. But there's often more profit on the extended warranty than there is on the vehicle sale itself--which is why they push them so hard these days. AND there are some dealers who will sell the extended warranty at a discount, too.

"As for Alterations, the fine print says "any alteration to the vehicle or the part"
There's never a federal magistrate around when you need one, is there? The US federal courts have all ruled, specifically with the automotive industry where "You didn't get your oil changed in our shop" was used for so many years to deny major warranty claims. They've ruled that unless the warrantor (the automaker) can actually PROVE the failure was the customer's fault, i.e. that the customer used Crisco instead of a proper approved oil, that the warranty still applies. Now in this case, the warranty is supposedly an agreement in which both parties are saying "If you hang fuzzy dice from the windshield, your warranty is void." Eh. I think in contract court, or any federal warranty basis, they would call this "overreaching" and "unilateral" and say that UNLESS the alteration can be proven to have caused the failure--there's still a warranty. Sadly, you'd need a court ruling to determine that, anything else is just an opinion.

But the FACT is that they make real sweet bucks on those extended warranties.

dudley@07726