6 Things You Must Know about a Car Warranty
Car warranties may look great in the advertisement or on paper but what most consumers don’t know is that you could be setting yourself up for a financial mess or disaster. If you’ve been thinking about getting a car warranty, it’s so important that you know what to look out for when looking for one. To help you better understand how these warranties work, here are six things every car owner should know:
#1 Know Your Odds
All warranties aren’t created equally and if you’re going to spend hundreds, if not thousands on a warranty, you have to really look at closely to know if you’re going to truly use it. So if you’re only going to drive a few miles a week, do you really need to spend $800 on a warranty that protects you for five years? With that being said, it’s smart to weigh your odds.
#2 High Profit Margins
Because of the high profit margins, car warranty sales teams can make a large chunk of cash. Don’t let this worry you just yet, though. What you’re going to find is that there are, indeed, some awesome warranty companies out there. You just have to be on the look out for those companies that continuously push one product only. The lesson here is to just make sure that you always compare three to five companies to make sure it’s something that you can truly use.
“You’re lucky I have car insurance”. Untitled by arq.lordello, on Flickr. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
#3 Are You Covered?
Extended warranties will usually work once your factory warranty has expired. Make sure that you’re not covered twice because this will just be a waste of money. Instead, talk with your car manufacturer to see when your warranty expires. When it does expire, this is your chance to swoop in and get that extended warranty to put your mind at ease.
#4 Response Time
One of the biggest complaints that you will hear about in regards to a car warranty is the response time. So let’s say that your car did need a repair and it qualified for the warranty. Now what if it took that warranty company two weeks to get back with you? That’s a long time to have no money for that repair, right? With that being said, make sure that you read the reviews online to see what other people are saying. The last thing that you want is to be stuck with a company that doesn’t care for their customers.
#5 Know What it Covers
A common misconception among warranty customers is that most think that the warranty is going to cover everything. This isn’t the case! Some warranties may cover one thing, while another may not cover that item at all. This is why it’s so important that you have a policy ahead of time so that you can look through it with a fine tooth comb.
#6 Always Ask Questions
Getting a car warranty isn’t as easy as Googling “car warranties” and picking out the first one that you see. No, instead, you’re going to want to make sure that you compare and ask a lot of questions. To help you with your questions, here are some to potentially ask:
– What kind of deductible am I responsible for?
– Where can I get my car repaired?
– How does the bill processing work?
– What is excluded in the policy?
– Can I transfer in case I sell?
Car warranties can be a fantastic thing to have. As you can see, there is just so much to absorb. Take your time to research them and let’s hope that you can find one that works for you. You may want to visit How Much?. It’s a website that can help you find prices on services and thousands of items.
