When You Get A Robocall Advertising An Extended Car Warranty Do You Ever Wonder Is It Worth It Heres What You Need To Know About Extended Warranty Scamsbefore You Hand Over Your Credit Card
Highlights: * Has worked as a fact checker for Real Simple since 2022 * Worked as a staff writer for Mochi Magazine * Currently runs and operates the United States blog for Student Beans
“We’ve been trying to reach you about your car’s extended warranty” is a message that seems to follow car owners around incessantly. It pries on our worst fears: engine failure, transmission issues, other expenses that we wouldn’t be able to afford covering ourselves, were the worst to happen.
Sometimes these extended warrantiesknown more accurately as extended service agreementsare everything you hope they’ll be, and can end up protecting your wallet and your peace of mind. But many other times, they can be your worst nightmare. Extended warranty scams are abundant, and without knowing the red flags, it’s easy to spend your hard-earned money on a useless warranty.
Knowing the facts about how extended warranties actually work is one of the best ways to protect yourself, because while you may sign up for a warranty that feels like a great buy, if you don’t read the fine print, you may end up feeling like you were ripped off.
Let’s get into what you should knowbecause avoiding scams, or situations where you feel like you were scammed, is a lot simpler than you think.
Tip #: Address Mechanical Issues Immediately
As soon as you experience an issue, take your vehicle to a repair shop and initiate the claims process immediately. Check your contract to see which repair shops will accept your coverage. Most manufacturer extended warranties require that you take your car to a dealership for repairs. Third-party warranties typically stipulate that the repair shop be certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence .
In many cases, addressing problems right away is a contract condition. Even if your issue is not covered by your contract, its a good idea to have your vehicle fixed as soon as an issue arises. Failing to do so can lead to more expensive repairs down the road.
When you take your vehicle to the repair shop, you should first authorize a tear-down service to diagnose the problem.
How To Protect Yourself From Auto Warranty Scams:
Protecting yourself from these scams is easy once you know how they work.
Help protect yourself from these ruthless fraudsters with the following tips:
Occasionally, the FCC returns the money conned from consumers right back to them. In 2011, the FCC gave $3.2 million in refunds to 4,450 people who bought fake warranty coverage. In 2019, they awarded $4 million to about 6,000 people for the same reason. Making a consumer complaint to the Better Business Bureau is another good way to pressure scammers to give you a refund. Also, the BBB has records of previous complaints, which you can check for help in detecting scams.
- For extra peace of mind, log your phone number on the FTC’s National Do Not Call Registry, also known as the Do Not Call List.
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Why Am I Receiving Mail Regarding My Car Warranty
Have you noticed an increase in the number of car warranty offers you’ve received in the mail? You’re not alone. Many consumers have reported receiving postcards informing them that their automobile warranties are about to expire.
For more information about extending or updating your vehicle’s warranty, the directions recommend calling the toll-free phone number on the card. If you were thinking of accepting their offer, reconsider. Many of these warranty offerings are nothing more than scams.
Your motor vehicle registration and service history are stored in the motor vehicle service notification record ID. If you call the toll-free number provided, they will assist you in maintaining optimal protection and operation.
The notification may originate from the vehicle’s factory maker and contain all of the necessary verbiages to convince anyone that the notification is genuine. But do you disregard the notification with the stated consequences?
How Profitable Are Extended Warranties
Extended warranty businesses tend to be more profitable than your average insurance company since they arent regulated by state insurance commissioners. While insurers can only sell an insurance policy for so much money, extended warranty companies can charge whatever customers will pay.
How an extended warranty business can make a profit is by charging a large enough amount to cover all car repairs with money left over. Thats why extended car warranty plans typically cost between $1,000 and $3,000 each.
Car dealers consider extended warranties to be highly profitable. The average dealer can make up to half of the selling price of an extended warranty, which is why youll often find a salesperson at the dealership heavily promoting plans to potential customers.
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Tip #: Read And Understand Your Warranty Contract
Extended car warranty contracts are multi-page documents that carefully explain warranty terms and coverage. Make sure that you fully understand any extended warranty contract you sign. If youre at all unclear about what a warranty covers, dont buy it.
There is a common set of exclusions that are not covered by nearly any extended warranty contract. Most extended warranties will not cover the following:
- Covered parts that are damaged by non-covered parts
- Any vehicle that is involved in a serious accident and has been given a salvage title
- Cars used for racing or offroading
- Glass parts like windshields and mirrors
- Wear-and-tear components such as brake pads, wiper blades, and shock absorbers.
- Interior upholstery
- Latches, hinges, bulbs, and fuses
The best extended warranty contracts are exclusionary. An exclusionary warranty contract specifically lists all the parts that are not protected. Be sure to read your warranty carefully and understand the parts on any such list.
How Do These People Get Your Information
There are many ways telemarketers and scammers posing as car warranty representatives can get your information. Chris Hauk, a consumer privacy champion at Pixel Privacy, says there are legitimate and illegitimate channels they go through. While some information comes from data breaches like we hear about on an almost daily basis, the information can also come from legitimate sources like a state department of motor vehicles, Hauk explains. For example, the New York DMV sells driver license and vehicle information via contract sales, pay-per-search, and over-the-counter.
Luki says there are plenty of other ways robocallers can get your information and telemarketers can get your number. Other common ways robocallers can get hands on your phone number is through a Terms of Service dialog box , data accumulating firms, credit reporting companies, and contests and competitions.
Roberts also adds that there are large lists of cell phone numbers readily available for purchase online. Businesses have been known to purchase these lists and call the numbers on the list without the recipients permission.
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Does My Car Have An Extended Warranty Heres How To Check It
While new cars come with manufacturer warranties, also known as factory warranties, used cars are oftentimes sold with extended warranties to keep you protected in case of a sudden breakdown.
If you purchased your vehicle at a dealership, you may have been offered a vehicle service contract, or extended warranty. If you bought your car privately from an individual, its highly unlikely extended warranty coverage was discussed or included. However, if youre unsure on whether or not your car has an extended warranty in place, its worth checking sooner than later.
Follow the simple steps in this guide to get the answers you need.
Think your car may still be covered by the original manufacturer warranty?
You can check when the car was first purchased by doing a check on the National Motor Vehicle Title Information System website and then comparing with how old the vehicle is and checking the mileage on the odometer. Go to our post with details of different factory warranty lengths here for more information.
Handle Those Calls With Care
Getting these calls can be frustrating, especially because it feels like you can’t get them to stop. But there are ways to handle the callsin order to avoid being scammed . Firstly, do not give any of your personal information to any extended warranty company that calls you unprompted.
“If the call is legitimate and you are interested, they should be able to direct you to a website that has more information,” says Long. “And they will never ask you for payment information on that initial phone call, because this extended warranty is a contract, and you should be presented with the terms before paying for anything.” Personal information includes your full name, address, vehicle identification number, financial information, and so forth.
In addition, if you receive a robocall, do not press any numbers if they request you do so instead, hang up right away. You can also block the number from calling you again by going into the “settings” feature on your phone.
Looking at your caller ID, if you have it, isn’t enough. While a legitimate company would have their information listed, scammers can spoof those numbers. If you get a call and you are interested in the policy, do your own research after hanging up. Look for reviews and only purchase from the website, or by calling the publicly listed number yourself.
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What Does A Car Warranty Cover
A car warranty covers defects or damage that occurs during normal use and cant be considered normal wear and tear. It pays to replace defective parts with new or reconditioned parts at the companys discretion behind the warranty. It also covers labor.
Should your air conditioning stop working while your bumper-to-bumper coverage is active, that warranty will cover the full cost of replacement. Should your transmission fail during normal driving while the powertrain warranty is active, that warranty will cover the full replacement cost.
But many reasons you could end up in a repair shop are not covered by the standard warranty.
Who Are These Scammers
Both the FTC and the Federal Communications Commission have been playing whack-a-mole with the operators who run car warranty scams for years. . They originate from within the U.S. as well as overseas: FTC enforcement actions from 2012 reveal a globe-spanning web of crooks that has profited off unsuspecting car owners. Investigators tied the California-based operation to a bank account in Hong Kong, real estate holdings in mainland China, plus land, cars and other assets the FTC seized as part of the settlement.
These crooks are adept at using technology to cover their tracks, with manipulation tools like caller ID spoofing to fake who they are and where theyre calling from. Which is why you might get a call from a scammer that shows up on your phone as the manufacturer of your vehicle, or something like auto warranty department.
Scammers reliance on spoofing tools is usually carried out with the help of voice over internet protocol technology, which does give regulators another avenue to crack down on scammers when they use VoIP providers based in the U.S.
Will Maxson, an attorney with the FTCs bureau of consumer protection, says the agency has specifically targeted VoIP providers that facilitate robocall spam operations. Shutting down these bad operators can prevent the calls from going out to peoples phones in the first place, according to Maxson.
We want to enforce the law against everyone in the ecosystem of illegal telemarketing, he says.
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Do You Require An Extended Car Warranty
Now that we’ve gone over the service notification, let’s talk about the extended auto warranty. First and foremost, it is not a warranty, but rather an insurance policy put in place to safeguard the consumer from having to pay for costly repairs and parts. Extended insurance coverage is available from the manufacturer or third-party providers.
OEM policies include powertrain or “bumper to bumper” coverage. The engine and transmission are covered by powertrain insurance, while bumper-to-bumper coverage includes interior electronics and other equipment. Third parties develop a variety of packages that are generally less expensive than what the manufacturer offers nevertheless, repairs and components utilized are not guaranteed to be of OEM quality.
So the question is, do you require any of that? The answer is determined by the age and type of vehicle being purchased.
Why Am I Getting These Calls
The Federal Communications Commission, FCC, does not consider extended car warranty sales pitch calls legitimate business solicitations, but rather, terms them scams. Like Rachel from Cardholder Services, that Nigerian prince who just needs your bank account number to temporarily stash a few million, and the local chimney sweep who just happens to be doing your neighbors chimney tomorrow, these calls are not usually targeted. They just call every possible phone number one by one until they find a gullible mark.
Some extended car warranty companies do some research on their marks. They may have some bits of information that seem about right. Thats because they purchased some of your personal information from a data mining company, or maybe even your own car dealer, the Quick-Lube place where you get your oil changed, or your states DMV. Who knows? Regardless, it is a sales pitch they employ all day every day, and you were not singled out.
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Read Up On The Telephone Consumer Protection Act
According to Roberts, brushing up on this law can hit telemarketers where it hurtstheir pockets. I use a little-known law called the Telephone Consumer Protection Act to get marketers to pay $500 per call or text to your cell phone if they do not have your written permission to call your cell phone, Roberts explains. As one example, if you have been registered on the Do Not Call List for more than 30 days and a marketer calls your cell phone more than one time in a year, you could receive $500 and up to $1,500 per call.
How To Check Extended Warranty On Car Authors View
Now that you have read the entire article and come to the concluding part, you might have understood well about what are the best ways to check if your car has extended warranty. The ones mentioned in the sections above are tested and tried methods that are popular amongst car owners across the world to check for extended warranties on their vehicles.
No wonder you have also handpicked the best method amongst the given ones to check for your vehicles extended warranty. But if you are still confused about how to check if you have warranty on your car using the best method, I have some suggestions for you. Well, after researching all of the given methods and finding the pros and cons of each, I zeroed in on one of them to be the best!
In my opinion, checking car warranty by VIN is the best method to find out whether your vehicle has an extended warranty or not! It is reliable and effective at the same time. However, you can still find other reliable solutions, which is why we presented to you all the available options. So, do not wait and find out about your vehicles extended warranty now using the best methods mentioned in the article!
About Jace
I am an automotive enthusiast who loves to be around cars and pickup trucks. Applying innovative car care products and installing different latest car accessories are my hobbies. Also, I love sharing my adventurous experience with car lovers.
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Recall Repairs Are Always Free With And Without A Warranty
Some defects can make a car unsafe to drive. When a manufacturer learns of a serious safety defect, federal law requires them to issue a recall order, attempt to contact every owner to notify them of the problem, and repair it for free.
Recall repairs are always free and never expire. If you learn that the manufacturer recalled your car to fix a safety defect 22 years ago, you can still bring it to the dealership to get that problem fixed at no cost.
You can use our Car Recall tool to check if a recall has been issued for your vehicle.
RELATED STORY: Re-recall: Hyundai Recalls Ioniq Again Over Fire Risk
How Much Does A Used Car Warranty Cost
The price of a used car warranty depends on your specific vehicle as well as on your level of coverage, length of protection, and deductible amount that you select. We conducted a car warranty survey in 2021 that polled 1,000 consumers and about half claimed to pay between $1,500 and $2,500 for their extended car warranty plan.
To find out exactly how much you can expect to pay for an extended warranty, call the team at CARCHEX. Well tailor each available Extended Vehicle Protection Plan to make sure that our options suit your specific needs and budget.
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Reasons Not To Get An Extended Car Warranty
Dealers will strongly push for you to get an extended warranty with the car, but if youre buying a brand new car, it already comes with a 3 year/36.000 miles warranty. Effectively, you could postpone the purchase of the extended warranty by 2.5 to 3 years and still get full coverage.
The reason why dealers are so persistent in their attempts to sell you the extended warranty is that it makes them the most in commissions. Up to 50% of the sum you spend on the extended warranty goes directly into the dealers pocket, which means that the cost of the policy is double what it should be.
Think about your purchasing habits are you going to keep the car for three, five, or ten years? You dont need an extended warranty if youre going to sell before it even takes effect. For some used cars, the cost of the warranty can be as much as the value of the car itself, making the warranty pointless.
While an extended warranty may give you peace of mind, it will become a good purchase only when its used to cover an expensive repair.
Ive heard of an idea that makes a lot of sense when you think about it. If youre buying a car from a brand known for its reliability, like Honda or Toyota, instead of purchasing the extended warranty, set that money aside. Should you have a breakdown, youll have the cash for repairs, but it is far more likely that by the time you sell the car, youll get to keep most of the savings.
