Having become an expert on extended warranties, I figured it was a good idea to get one for my 2000 Buick Century. I want to at least get another year or two of use out of it… even if I do buy a new car sooner.
For awhile, I’ve been in the market for an extended warranty for my car. Over the past couple of months, I wound up with a $1,000 total set of repair bills. That’s more than two monthly payments on a new car. Three if I went for a cheap new car.
As a consumer advocate, I’m very cautious towards U.S. Fidelis. Their executives have a shady past, and worse, the company promises the world in their ads. If it sounds too good to be true…
I called U.S. Fidelis first. The quote they gave me was around $1,000 for two years and around 50,000 miles of coverage. Powertrain-only coverage. I was told my 2000 model year car was too old for any other plan.
Then the high-pressure tactics rolled in. I was told that if I didn’t buy the warranty today, that I would be subjected to a mandatory inspection. In follow-up sales calls, I was told this was “incorrect and a miscommunication”. Yeah, right; it was a scare tactic. Actually, I would prefer a free car inspection, then there would be no disputing a breakdown later. When I asked further questions and expressed concerns (as I’ll go into below) about the underwriter… I was hung up on by US Fidelis.
Multiple other companies gave me the same plan. So, I decided to look into the underwriter. I check for an AM Best rating, couldn’t find any. Also couldn’t find this “magical second underwriter” that was supposed to back them in case they went under. All I could find was a PO Box and a telephone number. No corporate web site (not uncommon with middlemen insurers), but the lack of an AM Best rating is unacceptable. Do not buy a vehicle warranty policy unless you can personally verify the current AM Best rating of their underwater. Do not rely on a salesman to give you this info, it’s just as easy to lie and say “A-”.
The lack of an AM Best rating indicates a shady underwriter. It does not guarantee that the underwriter will/won’t go under, but an unrated insurer is a major red flag.
I decided to go with Warranty Direct and was presented with several options. I chose the mid-range (Standard MBI) plan, which added electrics, brakes, and other non-powertrain items. It cost $722 for one year of coverage or 20,000 miles. I tend to put that many miles per year on a car, so that works. Oh, and a $200 deductible.
And yes, the plan I had was underwritten by a company with a real A- rating from AM Best. This plan is actually realistic too, the amount of coverage doesn’t have that “way too good to be true” tinge to it.
In addition, I paid $30 for a rider that covers when a non-covered part breaks a covered part. I did not chose to pay for the opposite; when a covered part breaks a non-covered part. I figured that a non-covered part breaking a covered part is an easy excuse for a claims administrator, and that it would be much harder to show that a covered part was responsible for a non-covered part’s failure (or rather, that it would be hard to get them to admit it). Another option was for a $50 rider for emissions coverage, but I passed on it. It didn’t cover the most expensive emissions-related items (like the catalytic converter, something quite prone to failure on middle-aged-to-older cars).
Mostly I grabbed this plan so that I didn’t have to negotiate with car repairmen. I’ve been in very high-pressure environments, where it basically broke down to the repairman lying to inflate a bill. I had to dispute credit card charges, and even with written proof that I was lied to… it took months to get the charges reversed.
I’ve seen extended warranty negotiations, and well, it’s a lot more civil. The repairman knows that the claims administrator has access to average repair rates (a la RepairPal), and is basically clinical. Either the repairman accepts the rate, or the warranty provider tells the car owner to go to another repair facility. There’s no impression that you’re a dumb consumer and can be charged a “little extra” because of it.
Now it doesn’t mater if something short circuits, or if the transmission blows… I’m only out $200, plus $62 per month. Theoretically.
We’ll see if it actually works out that way. Bottom line: US Fidelis is on my no-no list, Warranty Direct is on my hopeful list.
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I have a master mechanic who worked at the chrysler dealership for 30 years. I asked him about warranty direct and any other ones he had dealings with. He said don’t buy an extended warranty they are horrible they find every reason not to pay. I paid $1424 at warranty direct for a used 2011 toyota sienna almost out of factory warranty due to the miles. His advise was to get my money back put that money in an interest bearing savings account and add $50 a month to it. So if I have a break down I can cash flow it myself. If not I have a good amount saved for whatever.he said a guy came in his shop and needed a repair on his engine….his charge would have been $400 but the guy made him go thru the warranty company who made him take the engine apart to diagnose it……after the problem was confirmed the company made the owner of the car tow it to another facility for repairs. Would not cover the teardown nor the diagnoses which came to $1400 and that my mechanic explained was the “good buddy discount”. I called for my refund the next day only to be notified it could take up to 8 weeks to get my money back.
Could take up to 8 weeks to get your money back ?
My guess is 8 months – 8 years or never, if you ever manage to recover any funds it will be prorated huge. Please post any refund in this thread, I will be the first to offer congratulations and post how misleading I been.
When my warranty was almost expired on my 2006 Mazda 5 I started getting calls from this company. Before I was willing to agree with anything I asked my local Mazda dealer about it. If a Mazda dealer was unfamiliar with this offer I knew it was a red flag. In future calls from US Fidelis they told me they were based out of St. Louis, MO. I bought the car in Florida and was living in North Carolina at the time and wasn’t interested in dealing with anybody from Missouri so I told them I no longer had the Mazda 5, I had an AMC Eagle (20 years discontinued at the time) with 350,000 miles on it because I needed something four wheel drive. They told me the offer was only good up to 15 years old and not more than 200,000 miles. They asked me if I had another vehicle. I told them I had a Daihatsu Rocky (more than 15 years since sold in the US) with 298,000 miles. I guess if they were to honor that they would’ve been made too easily. As far as no vehicle inspection required goes I would’ve requested them to suggest to me a local dealer in my area that can do that for me. I bet they couldn’t do that. They probably wouldn’t want me to ask any local shops if they were familiar with their plan, not without at least getting money from me first.
I came across this thread as I was looking if others had issues with Warranty Direct as I did on Tuesday.
I have a 2004 Dodge Neon SRT4 which has 80K miles on it now. Based on reviews from various sites at that time, I purchased the highest level coverage, a supposed $0 deductible, “True bumper to bumper protection” as per their message, warranty from Warranty Direct.
Well After paying thousands of dollars for the policy, 2 years ago I tried using it for my sunroof not working anymore. I had my car at the dealer’s shop and they sent out an inspector. I thought this is going to be great I can finally use my warranty. That is when the trouble began. The dealer called me and said that I my warranty company inspector had come out earlier that day and that he just left but I would have to pay for the cost if I wanted it fixed. I said what do you mean that he just left I have a bumper to bumper warranty. I called up warranty direct and they told me that the inspector left because the dealership did not have the sunroof taken apart. I called the dealer back up and they said that the request was ridiculous. They said that they were not going to take apart the entire thing to show the inspector the broken part unless they were guaranteed pay for the labor. I asked how much and they quoted me $500 because to take it apart the way that the inspector wanted, it would take a very long time. I told them to go ahead and do it and I called warranty direct to send the guy back out. Warranty Direct told me that I would have to pay for an inspector to come back out because he was already there once. I told them that it was BS. Why did I have to pay for someone to come back out when they didn’t coordinate with the dealer to begin with? Well I was not going to pay 500 + 100 = 600 to get sunroof looked at before any work was even done. They said that if the warranty company would only pay for the part that was broken if it were found faulty. WTF??? I called the dealer and told them to just forget it. My sunroof hasn’t been used since.
Attempt #2: 10/10/2011
I brought in my car into the dealer last Friday because the engine was misfiring and the engine light came on. Well when I called the dealer on Monday, they said that Warranty Direct ( whom they said they never ever heard of ) would NOT pay for most of the items on the bill. They would cover a few sensors and that was it. The shop had to reflash the PCM with upgraded firmware as the old version would cause the misfiring of the pistons. The misfiring caused oil to get into the crank case and air charge temperature sensor so they had to clean it out. They also had to replace the thermostat and gasket.
Well called up warranty direct and they said that according to their file, they did not deny anything. So I called the dealer back up and they said that the number that they called with the claims department said that those items were denied. I asked them what exactly was denied and that I had bumper to bumper coverage. The dealer said that perhaps I bought the wrong policy. I told them that I was looking at it in front of my face and indeed I had bumper to bumper. The shop told me that Warranty Direct would only cover the parts and labor associated with a few sensors and thermostat. They would NOT cover the cost of cleaning up the oil that got into the crank case ( which stemmed from the misfiring ), they would NOT cover the flashing of the PCM because there was no code returned for it but only a manufacturer recommendation to update it, and that the dealer should “resuse” the antifreeze they had to drain when they replaced the gasket and thermostat.
I told the dealer that I was not going to play this phone chain game and that I would conference call all of us in. Well I called up warranty direct’s claim special phone number and after waiting for 10 minutes the shop rep said that she needs to get back to work. I told her that I would call her back when I got the claims department on the phone. Well after another 10 minutes I got a person and immediately when I told him that I was a customer, he tried to get me off the phone and told me to call customer service. I told him no that I was calling to get it directly from them that I had bumper to bumper coverage and that nothing was denied in their system but that the dealer said that they denied it. I conferenced the dealer back in and when she asked the warranty rep if I had bumper to bumper he said yes. Then she asked why they denied this and that, and he said well we dont cover that. I jumped in and said that it was complete BS. The PCM caused this misfiring which led to the parts being broken, which led to the over flow of oil into the crankcase. They said that there was no codes to update the PCM. I told them how could the PCM tell itself that it needed to be fixed! It didnt even make any sense. Well they refused to pay it and the dealer dropped off because really they dont care who pays for the work. I was so furious and the claim guy told me that he couldnt help me anymore and when I asked for a supervisor, he said that I could only talk to the customer service department.
I called up the customer service department and immediately asked for a supervisor. I told the lady that I was upset and that I wasnt upset at her but that after paying thousands of dollars on what was supposed to be a bumper to bumper policy, they were being ridiculous on a couple of BS items which they would still make out like a bandit from me. I told them that they were fighting me on $300 for something which I said was not arbitrary. I told them that I would not back down on this and that I would call them every single day if I had to to argue with them about it. I also told them that I was going to go to every review site on the internet and blast them for their misleading sucky coverage. The customer service rep and manager were both Very nice. They tried to work with me. The manager said that she couldnt change the outcome of the claims manager but that she could try and work with me on some of the costs. She agreed to reimburse me $100 bucks which still not even half of what I had to pay out of pocket plus the thousands of dollars wasted on WARRANTY DIRECT SUCKS!
If others are on the fence about them I would think twice. I cant tell you what to do with your decision but I can only give you my 2 lousy experiences and total waste of money.
and like many others have stated, their hold time on the phone was like 15 minutes.
I just got warranty direct last month. So I took my car to get an oil change and had them check it out and see what needed repair and there were a few things wrong. Warranty Direct refused the claim and every time i talked to someone I got a different reason. They are such liars. I am cancelling my coverage after a month. I lost $100 for trusting them. If they are like this now obviously it will only be worse in the future. Too good to be true always applies!!
Warranty direct is a total scam…look at the internet.
The above post by Jennifer McAnally ” I lost $100 for trusting them ” I would be interested to know how you figure you only lost $100.
Re Refunds – Please read the post by Teejay Sept12/11, I posted a reply to the post the same day and it’s now past 8 weeks,,, So please Teejay tell us the good news that you got your money back ?
The only happy consumers having purchased a 3th party warranty are the ones that never had an issue.
Other happy consumers are the ones that were fortunate enough to come across this link prior to purchase http://www.usedcartips.org/warranty.html