How warranties actually work.

[Trogdor]

So as many of you know I had a shit experience with my warranty. So, I'm going to avoid talking about speculation and what did or didn't actually cause the problems I had with my car.

With that said, there's a lot of misunderstanding about how your warranty works, and who is responsible.

First off, a company can't just outright void your entire warranty. So when you hear people say "my warranty was voided because _______." They're wrong. Warranty claims are examined on a case-by-case basis. Each individual claim can be denied or paid. And, just because one was denied doesn't mean subsequent ones won't be paid. It all depends.

According to the federal trade commission, aftermarket parts must be shown to have contributed to the problem in order to blame them for the warranty denial. Meaning, most things that alter FTA ratios, boost pressure, back pressure, etc, will increase horse power and torque beyond factory settings. Note that factory settings are not always factory limits. But for a company to deny a claim, beyond factory settings is enough to deny most power train claims.

However, if mods are clearly unrelated a specific warranty claim, it may still be paid. I.E. engine mods have no bearing on your speakers. If something happens with your stereo system, even though a power train claim has been denied before, it may still be covered.

The other thing to be aware of is that we, the dealer, have little or no control over whether a claim is paid or not. We're simply the middle man between the customer, and the warranty holder (either the manufacturer or the 3rd party warranty company). You ask the dealer to look at your car, our mechanics diagnose it, we call the warranty holder and ask if they will pay for it, the warranty holder may ask for additional information from the mechanics. Then the warranty holder decides if they will pay the dealership to fix the problem.

Sure, we can talk to higher ups at the warranty holder on your behalf and advocate for you. But ultimately its not our decision. We're not trying to deny your claim so we can make more money. In fact, it's in our best interest to have it covered under warranty. If it's done under warranty, yes we get paid less than if you paid for it. However, it's is not covered we then run the risk of a) having you, the customer, upset with us for no reason (see above), or b) shopping around for the best shop rates. E.G. I gave MAP and Ron a shit load of money, and the dealership got very little (OEM parts I had to order).

By the way, don't ever let a dealer charge you for a diagnostic while your car is under warranty! Most warranties cover the diagnostic, even if the claim itself isn't paid.

[goodhart]

So what about certified used car "extended" warranties?

I bought one of those from Subaru for ~$1.5k when I got my WRX and it was the single biggest waste of money in my entire life and I will never suggest one to anyone for as long as I live. About 4-5 months after purchase, I had a plastic A/C pulley melt when the car was still bone stock. I had to fight tooth and nail to get them to waive the diagnostic fee, then still had to pay the cost for them to fix it. The warranty was supposed to cover 100% of the power train. You would think a pulley connected to part of the engine would be part of the powertrain no?

I think the extended warranties are just a money maker for the manufacturers, they can weasel out of them pretty easily. This was not one of those cheesy aftermarket warranties either, it was straight through Subaru.

[Trogdor]

Hrmmm, never heard of anything like that.

Typically when a car is certified there is a small fee the dealership pays either before, or after, the car is sold. This gives the car the remaining life of the original warranty. But they're not usually $1500! Mitsubishi is like $300, VW is like $750.

Generally a powertrain warranty covers "internally lubricated parts" i.e. if oil or transmission fluids touch it.

"Cheesy aftermaket" warranties can actually be a good investment if you get the right company. Problem is there's hundreds of them and its hard to do research on them other than ask people about their experience with them. Some of them suck ass and cover almost nothing. Others are totally awesome and cover pretty much everything, including things you might not even think would be covered like shocks, strut mounts, bushings, and various other suspension parts most would consider wear items.

[SLOW_V]

Extended warranty is always a gimmick. In order for some warranty to not be enforce, you will have to follow schedule suggested manufactures service. I don't buy the Morries buy happy service and free warranty statement. Always read the fine print. Do you realized their free oil changes, there is a upfront fee for it.

The only time I service my car is for the cheap oil changes Luther charges. Mostly, ending getting that service twice a year free from them with their coupons.

You should write up an article how to get free oil change or service from other dealers...

[Trogdor]

Originally Posted by SLOW_V

Extended warranty is always a gimmick

Depends on the company. You can ask a handful of people and they will tell you they had a shit experience with them.

If you ask me, I had about $3,400 worth of repairs covered on my wife's old Rav 4 including; a transfer case and a throttle body. Certainly made up for the $1900 initial cost.

Or if you ask Tom (Evoacha) on EvoMN he swears by them.

All depends on the company providing the warranty.

[Perkul8r]

When I bought my used 01 nissan altima, I did get the extended warranty. It was offered through the nissan dealership back home.

I never thought I would need it. However. Two days before the warranty was up, the intake manifold gasket had gone to hell. I wasn't able to get up to the dealership for another week. They still covered it when i got there.

I couldnt believe it. They even covered the rental car for the day. So in this instance, it was a good thing.

[Trogdor]

There are some tricks we use in order to get you in to our dealership to do the work. For example, a disappearing deductible. The warranty company we use is CNA. They're a great warranty company and cover damn near everything. They're accepted by just about any shop out there. BUT, there's a $100 deductible... unless you come to us for the work. If you come to us then we cover your deductible.

Or what some dealers will do is sell you some POS warranty that no one else expect that dealership and very few others use. That way you can pretty much only use it there.

[asshanson]

Edit: removed because it doesn't apply to the thread and I think my dealer here just sucks. I'm just really disappointed by Mazda's warranty process.

I've heard good things about Don Herring's warranty policy.

[Kracka]

Originally Posted by asshanson

I've heard good things about Don Herring's warranty policy.

Don Herring is the shit. Never had any issues getting either my IX or X repairs covered, and if you buy the aftermarket parts (they're a Cobb dealer) through them and have them install it they'll foot the bill if Mitsu won't. They were selling a bunch of the Cobb 400S kits (FP Green, Kelford cams, and all the bolt-ons) for brand new cars while they were still available, now it's mostly just "Stage 2" cars though.

[JET]

Having been a service manager at a few different companies I have also seen another aspect. The warranty holder can give direction to the adjuster and tell them to not cover most claims. Adjusters can even get bonuses if they only pay xx percent of claims.

The truth is that an extremely small percentage of people will actually take a claim to the next level and take them to court. What do they do when that happens? They just pay the claim as a settlement out of court and they aren't out any more money than if they just paid the claim originally. It is a MAJOR win for the company financially, granted it can hurt their reputation.

Now look at Mitsu's situation, they are hurting pretty badly for money and don't have a great reputation anyway. Which direction do you think they are going to lean for warranty payments?