Them's fightin' words
 

Well, its official, per my Audi Advocate at AoA. AoA does not publish a written CPO warranty, because "the list of items is too long." So, their story is that "wear and tear" is not covered, but "wear and tear" is not defined. It can mean whatever AoA decides it means, this week. And, to top it off, AoA will not put in writing that they won't put it in writing.

Where I come from, this is called consumer fraud. Treble damages plus attorneys fees. Not that I'm looking to make money, more that AoA's corporate decision to set themselves up to hose everyone with a CPO contract burns my a**. Johan De Myssthen, you'll be getting a letter from me.

Johan DeMyssthen
President, Audi of America
3800 West Hamlin Road
Auburn Hills, MI 48326

good choice on the c5 :D (not intende to provoke no.radar ;-) )

I wondered who the highest up was. I think he'll be getting a letter on my initial experience too!

The thing is, almost any part of the car could be covered under wear and tear...
 

there is a big differnece IMHO between 'wear item' such as brake bits, shocks, belts etc, and wear and tear, on things such as ABS pumps, steering racks, fuel pumps... Stuff with a HIGH duty cycye.. I'd hate to have Audi pull a fast one on things like those..

like he says wear and tear is subjective...everything wears and tears eventually

This is true of most warranties. "Mechanical Breakdown" is defined as failure due to defect or...
 

... workmanship. So, if a part wears out normally, it is not covered. Only those items listed as covered will be covered, and only for "breakdown" not for degradation. For example, if your transmission slips, or the engine doesn't develop the full compression any longer, or oil usage is excessive... these aren't covered by most MBI policies. Seals and gaskets may be listed as covered, but how do you determine a "mechanical failure" of a seal if it simply seeps a little bit? The companies have you over a barrell.

That is why I opted for the more expensive but more comprehensive Warranty Direct brand. They cover wear and tear failures. They cover overheating failures and their consequences. They cover boots and bushings in the front suspension.

I compared the few others available in CA, including two different ones sourced from two dealerships, and determined that they wouldn't cover many big and small items due to this kind of fine print.

Make sure to read all the fine print. If you have any questions about a warranty company, call Warranty Direct and let them punch holes in what you think the coverage would be. Then call back the company and see if you can get straight answers on those points. I've had firms fax entire contracts to me, and I've read the key provisions... one can begin to see where they will weasel out of covering many items. Usually it comes down to wear and tear, the definition of "breakdown," and overheating problems. Those are key.

We had Warranty Direct on our A4, and they covered everything that we expected them to, no questions.

<a href="http://www.warrantydirect.com/warrantydirect/california_compare.asp">Comparison of WarrantyDirect choices</a>

<A HREF="http://sonolithics.com/files/a6_links.html#warranty">A6 FAQ, warranty section</A>

<a href="http://www.universalunderwriters.com/uug/consumer.nsf/pages/acc9faf1a8d8a2b385256eac006f9b95">Universal Underwriters Group - Vehicle Service Contracts</a>

Exactly...
 

The Audi Assued warranty is the most useless manufacturer extended warranty. Almost nothing is covered - whenever you wanted something fixed, it's not covered anymore. As ESN said, the list of things that are covered changes every week. What good is a warranty if the items it covers changes all the time?

I think Audi of America is really trying to rip people off by offering such an ever changing extended warranty and I believe this is considered as consumer fraud. The fact that they don't have a list of specific items that are covered by the warranty really confirms their intention to rip their customers off.

I may write him, too. Why buy Certified if there's no reliable definition of coverage. And...
 

...I think I'll copy the Illinois Attorney General's Department of Consumer Fraud.