jaims

Having pretty much decided to pursue an extended warranty through Audi (Audi Pure Protection), I am curious if anyone can share some info and make suggestions that worked for them. In no order of significance to me are questions I have, answers (more like topics) to which should be of benefit to what must be quite a few ppl in my situation.

> Is there any dept or person at the dealer typically assigned to extended warranty’s? Similarly, any suggestion as who best to contact at the dealer?
> Is the suggested MO to call…or is emailing a preferred or typical MO in approaching the dealer with an RFQ (Request for Quote)?
> Is it a viable strategy to send out emailed RFQs to dealers outside my area (eg., sending to all SoCal Audi dealers vs those just in my County)?
> Has anyone received competing proposals by sending RFQS to multiple dealers? Wondering about what movement on pricing I could expect, if any, going this route.
> What negotiating tactic worked for you (and/or was it a “talk to the hand” “take it or leave it” attitude)?

I appreciate that there are many variables involved insofar as how dealerships handle and price extended warranties, so of course there will be a YMMV component to a response; also, these questions aren’t intended to solicit exacting responses but rather, to get insight on some specifics of the extended warranty acquisition process from those who’ve gone through it, or are otherwise familiar with that process.

Much useful information has been posted here about extended warranties…e.g. going w/ dealer vs 3rd party, fine print implications, cost-benefit opinions, and maybe most useful of all, actual pricing some posted for quotes as to the various benefit tiers. So hope to get some insight not on these areas, but more on the process itself. Sharing experiences on that will add to what is already out there on this topic and help out those of us on the cusp of our warranty expiration date.

Sandroad

I’ll offer a couple thoughts. It’s the finance person at a dealership that handle sales of Audi Pure Protection. You can find names on a dealer’s website, so you can start out directly with that person. My preferred MO is email in any negotiations. Getting quotes in writing for anything from a dealer is good. You can certainly widen the net for quotes and let dealers know you are price shopping. I suggest you research fair prices for the coverage you want and simply ask the finance person if they can match your expectations. That helps reduce the “guess again” part of negotiations by not leaving everything completely wide open. Report back on your purchase process

TJK

Does anyone know if VAG (i.e., Audi itself or an Audi affiliated company) offers or underwrites any extended warranties, or are they all 3rd party providers? I’d be concerned about viability of a 3rd party warranty company years into the future. Companies that exist purely to provide car warranties seem somewhat shady. In other words, if you buy a 3rd party warranty contract, will the provider still exist when you need to make a claim someday? How could one guard against that risk?

jaims

Further to my post, I recall reading a post here admonishing ppl to be sure that the dealer is not quoting you a 3rd party’s warranty company, which I would want to do. But I am still somewhat unsure about the underwriting of the Audi Pure Prorection warranty. I spent time googling “who underwrites Audi Pure Protection” but didn’t come up with a clear answer as to whether VAG is acting as the underwriter, or if VAG has contracted with a 3rd party. Hoping to get clarification on that before turning to the dealer for that information.

I’ll dig deeper into this and post what I come up with…maybe someone out there already has this info. My guess is that it is disclosed somewhere, either in the extended warranty documents provided or in some other documentation Audi provides the consumer in advance of the consumer signing up.

brian_tii

From the warranty brochure fine print:

The Obligor of Vehicle Service Protection, Term Protection, and Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Vehicle Service Protection included in the Audi Pure Protection
program is VWFS Protection Services, Inc., 2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive, Herndon, VA 20171, 1 (844) 368-6416, except in Florida where the Obligor is VWFS
Protection Services FL, Inc., Florida License Number 29864, 2200 Ferdinand Porsche Drive, Herndon, VA 20171, 1 (844) 368-6416.

The Administrator of Vehicle Service Protection, Term Protection, and Certified Pre-Owned (CPO) Vehicle Service Protection included in the Audi Pure Protection
program is Safe-Guard Products International, LLC, Two Concourse Parkway, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30328, 1 (844) 368-6414, except in Florida where the
Administrator is Safe-Guard Warranty Corporation, Florida License Number 60126, Two Concourse Parkway, Suite 500, Atlanta, GA 30328, 1 (844) 368-6416.

jaims

I’ll use this same wide net - multi RFQs since it worked so well when I went car shopping in 2018. Even better (ie a wider net) this time since I don’t have to be concerned about the proximity to the dealership as was the case with a vehicle purchase.

I’m reasonably assuming the best odds of getting competitive pricing would be rounding up as many dealership email addresses I have the stamina for and launching a boatload of a template RFQs. Given the competitive pricing that would be fostered by what I’ve read is a large commission dealers make on these, I’m hoping a positive correlation exists between the number of RFQs sent and competitive quotes received. Hopefully….

I’ve used this same MO in other contexts, but this time plan to look on the web for an app that will allow mass emailing of the same RFQ email, but without the recipient seeing any of the other email addresses (which if seen, often discourages replies).

brian_tii

You should be able to use BCC to send to everyone at once without the dealers seeing each other.

jaims

Just to add to that info per researching I’ve been doing the last couple of days:

1. Safe-Guard is a well established insurance company that underwrites all sorts if insurance products and, as is the case with Audi Pure Protection, also administers extended warranty claims for the extended warranty providers (ie, VWFS Protection Services). So Safe-Guard will be the one investigating and making the decision to accept or deny an EW claim.

2. In some areas, the Audi dealer has contracted with another VSC company dba “Easy Care.” Same administrator.

3. The only real difference between a dealer authorized extended warranty (EW for short) and a 3rd party EW company is mandatory use of Audi manufactured parts and mandatory service by Audi. This is a disadvantage if you are far from an Audi dealer…either as to where you live and drive or if you happen to be on a trip away from home (So if you are vacationing in Barking Fish, Neveda when you need service, you might be towing that car a long way to the nearest Audi dealer).

4. Safe-Guard is BBB accredited with an A+ rating …but has 133 complaints. That may seem like bad news, but BBB’s rating metric is one that factors in the volume of annual sales. So one cannot draw any firm conclusion one way or the other about whether this complaint number is good or bad, for the following reasons: (i) BBB gets the members annual volume of business figure from the BBB member, its not a verified figure, so…. (ii) BBB does not publish that volume number and (iii) a certain number of BBB posted complaints are baseless, so this is another reason why its hard to get a handle on the true significance of the number of posted complaints.

5. I’ve spent a couple of hours going through the BBB complaints. My observations: Safeguard’s responses to the BBB are very detailed, so reading them gives one a real insight into some of the factors that trigger denial of a claim. Some of those denial responses will give you a sense of the hair splitting interpretation of the contract all EW claims are subjected to, no matter who sells it. Even the exclusionary type policies will not necessarily be a safe harbor in many scenarios (e.g. overheating caused by the owner driving the car following failure of a covered item..so better be able to show you shut the engine down the instant the temps redlined; failure to strictly adhere to and have full and complete records of all required/scheduled maintenance - so you ppl doing your own maintenance already face same potential push back..even if there is no relationship between the maintenance and what broke down; water intrusion: any problem remotely caused by moisture is excluded; pre-existing condition, meaning any pre-VSC contract issue of wear and tear that is claimed to have caused or contributed to the breakdown.

6. Fortunately, there were not a lot of BBB complaints about delays and stalling; tho some ppl claimed the requests for proper paperwork was a contrived means to discourage pursuit of the claim. On the positive side, Audicare’s responses to delay in payment or the like usually ended up as a “resolved” complaint (the “resolved the claim” percentage was about average for BBB complaints in general, being a disappointing 25-30%.

7. I was somewhat encouraged and impressed by the specificity of the BBB responses posted by Safeguard. They provided a detailed chronology of the events leading up to a denial, referring to dates of inspections and dealer evaluations , quotations taken from both the Audi service dept records and Safeguards own hired expert’s findings regarding the issue, and citing the applicable language of the contract upon which denial was based. Safeguards responses were anything but superficial…in some cases, they went on for a page or two.

IMO, taking the time to read these BBB complaints will give you a better understanding of what is, and is not covered; perhaps more so than would be the case reading the contract. The reason is that Safeguard’s responses provide real world context insofar as application of the contractual exclusions and requirements vs. attempting to understand the contract in a somewhat abstract context (and the consequent risk of it being misconstrued, or more likely, under appreciated insofar as the breadth of its application)

The biggest take away I hope anyone still awake to be reading this rambling stream of consciousness is that the Audi EW is just one of many 3rd party extended warranty providers; an observation not intended to be derisive or critical toward Audi’s EW ….or any other “mainstream” third party warranty provider for that matter. So although I’ve not yet decided whether to go Audi or 3rd party, I’ve at least disabused myself of the notion that buying the EW from Audi leaves Audi involved in any future EW claim. It doesn’t (except the repair, which other EW providers allow Audi to do).

What remains for me: comparing/shopping various and the pricier exclusionary type EWs, since it will be easier to comprehend what I’m buying (for reference, these being EW contracts that cover everything except what is specifically excluded). It’s questionable logic of course, given the risk that broad based exclusions can apply to all tiers of an EW contract); but I’ve convinced myself that the extra cost paid for this type of EW is essentially payment of an insurance premium to cover the risk of buying an EW, LOL.

Sandroad

Thanks so much for your in depth research and analysis. It cuts through so much noise to get at what’s actually important. Good work.

ribeye

jaimes, I will be in your position in June. I am pretty much sure I am getting rid of the car, but there is a chance I will keep it. Let the group know how much it will cost. I am in florida so the price might be different since they use a different company (in name anyway).
Thanks

John