Examining Extended Warranty in Relation to Auto Repairs

There’s been a lot of differing opinion when it comes to extended warranty—some people say it’s a waste of money, while others attest that it’s extremely helpful. If you belong to the latter group and you plan to get an extended warranty on repairs, you have a lot of options. In the same way, there are a lot of things that you need to consider.

First and foremost, you need to check the repair shop coverage of the warranty. Does the warranty allow you to bring your car to any shop and avail of the extended warranty for the repair? Or does it stipulate that you have to bring your car only to specific “accredited” shops?

Of course, you also need to know how the warranty will work. Will the shop or the dealer or the seller of the warranty pay the auto repair shop directly when you go in for repair under warranty? Or will you have to pay the shop and just ask for reimbursement later on? Generally, the first option is better because it causes less hassle.

Another point that you need to look into is transferability. If you sell your vehicle, will the extended warranty still be in effect with the new car owner? A car that will still be covered by an extended warranty will sell better than one that doesn’t.

When going for car repairs, you need to find a shop that will honor the extended warranty of your vehicle. You need to negotiate about the billing and you should have everything properly documented so that you’ll be ready just in case you encounter a dispute with the shop or the warranty seller later on.

In one of my next posts this week, we’ll look at warranty claims and some ways to deal with a warranty dispute.