Acuransx

Agree that Fidelity not hiding anything however I would not buy a Fidelity warranty (or any warranty with those exclusions). In particular I think that those listed below could be very problematic (for us, not the insurer):#2 – Any mechanical breakdown caused by subfreezing temperature – uh, that seems a bit broad to me – so if starter goes kaput and it is in the winter during a particularly cold snap deny coverage?

#8 – Any mechanical breakdown caused by contamination, damage as the result of continued operation with…………………lack of oil viscosity, sludge, restricted oil flow…… -- uh, how am I supposed to know if there is a viscosity/sludge/restricted oil flow problem unless and until the worst happens? This seems to me to be a nice escape hatch for insurer to deny coverage for what is likely a major engine problem.

#17 – The correction of oil consumption, repair of worn rings, or any repairs for reduction in engine efficiency that must be performed on your vehicle when a mechanical breakdown has not occurred (emphasis added) – OK, so car starts using a quart every couple hundred miles and no coverage? Presumably some serious sh*t going on internally and warranty is N/A? They must have gotten tagged on the Toyota sludge issues of years back and Audi, BMW and Volvo (perhaps others) oil consumption issues some years ago.

My A6 at 5 years/45K miles is well beyond manufacturer's warranty and any extended warranty will be prohibitively expensive. I'll self-insure thank you very much. We may buy wife's A4 Quattro (2018) off the lease in a year or so. If the best I can do is coverage with same/similar exclusions as Fidelity, I'll save the cost of the policy (likely a minimum of $3,000), set that amount aside and add $1,000/year as a self-insurance fund. We won't keep any German car more than 6-7 years or 65-70,000 miles, whichever comes first so I'm reasonably comfortable (hopeful) we can get to that point without major issues.

Best,
Jeff

dudley07726

You are so correct!

Tanket

Fidelity NOT covering 2 brake harnesses, Audi wants $2,358., NOT covering MMI center button repair, Audi wants $1,498. and the NOT covered microphone, they want $284. to replace. Glad I bought the top of the line Platinum plan!

I had to fight for the Particulate Sensor + pipe & clamp repair even though it's all still covered under the emissions warranty, contacted AOA and they approved it, the service advisor told me and the AOA rep that the repair was not covered because the program ended in May??

bob m

Jeff and All.

How about this one?

21. ANY BREAKDOWN CAUSED BY A CONDITION REASONABLY DETERMINED TO HAVE EXISTED PRIOR TO THE SERVICE CONTRACT
PURCHASE DATE (PRE-EXISTING), OR IF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED BY YOU OR THE REPAIR FACILITY CANNOT BE VERIFIED.

So, if there was a problem brewing - that you are unaware of because it did not manifest itself as a problem but existed prior to buying the EW and is now presenting as a problem - no coverage. Are you kidding me? Prior to this discussion I thought the EW was an extension of the existing 4y, 50k warranty. Apparently not even close. Seems they are promising much and looking for any and every reason to deny a claim, If I keep my AR, I'm going to look closely at the Audi Platinum Warranty, speaking with the finance guy and assess then. If the same or similar exclusions apply, I highly doubt it to be a worthwhile investment. And mechanically my car is so very sound and solid, but it more the possible glitches in the electronic areas/MMI that is a huge concern as they are so expensive to repair.

KevinGary

You read the purchased coverage correctly. Hopefully other companies sell exclusion policies with better coverage. Obviously Fidelity has built a hug profit margin into its exclusion policy. I am guessing it is better to “self-insure” auto repairs and simply sell when a car passes the 130k mile mark.

snagitseven

I looked into other "Platinum" policies and all without exception are chock full of exclusions and gotchas. None of them were comprehensive, no matter the price. Let's face it, all of these contracts supported by various providers are only interested in one thing; ensuring they are profitable. Not one of them is altruistically inclined to protecting the consumer. As I have determined and stated in the past, buying one of the "warranties" (they're not) is like gambling at a casino. A few will make out and the majority will end up blowing through the kid's college savings. So to speak.

Tanket

So, if we still want to purchase one we need to find out which is the best....very time consuming. If the Audi Pure was add on miles & date I would have purchased it knowing that you could deal with Audi themselves. Still going to call Fidelity on Monday to see if they will give on any of the denials, no one actually looked into the MMI to see if something was really spilled into it.

bob m

Good points, but no insurance company or practically any other for profit business is working out of altruism. They are there to make a profit - nothing wrong with that at all. We expect that. But as mentioned, when it looks like that list of exclusions for what most fair minded consumers would consider to items that are expected to be covered and it seems after reading that there are so many "exclusions, gotchas and escape hatches" for those policies, it does look like it's a scam - maybe not the best word, but close enough. In an ideal world, they would not have unreasonable exclusions, offer the consumer good peace of mind mind, thus have more consumers buy one and in the end increase profits. Well, as I said in an ideal world.....

Acuransx

I'm not sure "deal[ing] with Audi themselves" is any better than Fidelity. As pointed out by Snagit and Bob the insurers are in the business to make a profit, plain and simple. If I recall correctly, it was Snagit some years ago who turned me on to the self-insure strategy. For me, this is the only way to go especially because I do not intend to hold onto my car beyond 65-70,000 miles. However, for those who intend to keep their cars well into later middle/old age (the car's, not yours) I acknowledge the concern that all it takes is one major meltdown, whether electrical or mechanical and there can be huge expense, thus the desire to mitigate this risk. There is only so much you can address via preventative maintenance (for example, that crazy coolant valve near the mechatronic unit in my A6, to mention just one) -- something like the MMI crapping out is one of those things that can just happen without warning and there is no preventative maintenance regime for the MMI.

I wonder if any of you wish for a simpler machine. I can live without the MMI and touch screens -- did fine with ***** and buttons for 35+ years. Same for keyless entry (yes, it is convenient but having lost one of the keys the cost to replace/program hurts and it never bothered me having to insert a key into the ignition switch). Direct injection -- yes I like my 300 hp in my A6 but if the car had 20 or 25 less hp it really wouldn't bother me -- the fact that I might be facing an approximately $1,000 carbon cleaning at 100K miles, give or take some miles on either side plays into my decision to bid the car adieu at 65-70K miles. And on it goes. I'm sure Audi or any other manufacturer for that matter could make a car with less tech that drives just as well as a car without MMI, keyless entry, etc. and I suspect the lack of some of the tech would result in a less troublesome vehicle over the long term.

I keep going back to my 04 Acura TL that I kept when I bought my A6 in 2015 -- in 16 years and 183,000 miles I have had the grand total of two mechanical repairs on the TL. The cost to repair was $1,200 in total. Why? In part the product is well-engineered and I suspect part of that engineering was to achieve a 200,000 mile life-cycle before stuff really starts to fall apart. But in my opinion the other reason the old TL has been so trouble-free is the fact that it is essentially a simple machine. I guess we can't stop progress but some of the stuff finding its way into modern cars does not fit my definition of progress. Rant over.


Best,
Jeff

bob m

Well stated - as usual, Jeff. But I will also go back to what I mentioned in my last post. I'd like to ask Audi Corporate - or have an Audi employee in the know, answer this - why not have the EW offer exactly the same level of coverage as the 4y/50k? With a way larger number of customers buying it, wouldn't it be at least - if not more profitable for Audi, as well as providing a better customer experience and loyalty?