Better Business Bureau for Extended Auto Warranties

If you are going to decide to purchase an extended auto warranty, I would recommend checking out the local better business bureau database which covers the provider. This is the first source of unbias info. I'll start off with one big provider of automotive extended warranties. In the future, I'll post more of this info for other providers.

Warranty Direct

333 Earle Ovington Blvd. #700

Uniondale, NY 11553

NY BBB Page on Warranty Direct

This BBB site shows that this business has been around for awhile. It's original business start date is 1/1/94. This BBB gives the following information: "Based on BBB files, this company has satisfactory record with the Bureau."

BBBOnLine Page on Warranty Direct

I would consider listing on the BBBOnLine as a secondary piece of info that should only supplement the info listed at the local BBB. In fact, one of the requirements to be listed on BBBOnLine is that the business is a member of the BBB where the company is headquartered.

Information with No Conflicts of Interest

One thing that makes it hard to find unbias information on extended automotive warranties is all the affiliates that exist on the internet. Affiliates get their money when they refer someone to an extended warranty provider and the person buys the policy. Affiliate websites can be set up very cheaply. Thus, the web is filled with these types of sites. When you search on Google, these affiliate sites will make your search for unbias and quality info very difficult. This is why I started this blog. I thought there needed to be a source of unbias info.

As an example of the conflicts of interest that exist on the net, I found the following disclaimer from autowarranty.cc. At least this site has a disclaimer:

Conflict of Interest: I receive revenue from warranty companies based on the amount of traffic I send to their web sites and the number of resulting sales. While this does represent a conflict of interest, I believe that these companies represent the best of the best on the web.

On this blog, no money will be made if you buy from any provider. I intend to just provide the facts.

Are Auto Extended Warranties Worthwhile?

Auto extended warranties are just one of many of the extended warranties that are sold for just about every product imaginable. There's always the worry that the product will go bad, and it'll cost a ton to get it repaired. A good salesman can always convince you that an extended warranty makes sense.

Clark Howard is a famous consumer advocate who has a popular syndicated radio show about helping people save money and avoid getting ripped off. In addition to his show, his website offers lots of tips. One section is on Extended Warranties. For most products, Clark advocates against extended warranties. This is especially true for computers, printers, and other computer peripherals which go down in value very quickly. The amount you spend on an extended warranty will likely be able to buy you a whole new product in 3 years.

However, for cars, Clark is neutral on the manufacturer's extended warranties. He prefers auto extended warranties from the manufacturer since it's pretty much guaranteed that they'll be there when you need them. The only problem that I have with the manufacturer's extended warranty is the cost. To extend my warranty just for two years, GM was going to charge me anywhere from $500 to $1000 depending on the policy. That's why I looked elsewhere. But I still remember Clark's advice, and that's why I wanted to get as much information about the auto extended warranty company as I could.

Warranty Acceptance Corporation

My dad almost purchased an auto extended warranty from this company. They must have some good brochures. It convinced my dad to buy a policy. He had the check in the mail box when I sent him what I found.

First I checked their report on the Better Business Bureau of South Alabama. They seemed to have a less-than-stellar report. Second, I investigated the Warranty Acceptance Corporation web page. The website doesn't necessarily prove it's a business that'll be there for the long term since anyone can construct a website that looks professional. However, if a website lacks professionalism, then something is suspicious. When I checked their web site, half of it was under construction. After several months, I checked back and still lots of it was under construction. Here is their FAQ Page which is still under construction as of today's posting.

After my dad read my email, he was able to retreive his check from his mailbox before the mailman had arrived. I can't say for sure if Warranty Acceptance Corporation is legitimate, but neither myself nor my dad felt comfortable with them. It never hurts to check out what the BBB says and what their website looks like.

Auto Extended Warranty Resources

Last year my factory warranty for my Chevrolet expired. So I made the decision to get an extended warranty. The dealership's extended warranty was quite pathetic. It only insured the car for 2 more years. I was a little worried about getting an extended warranty from the internet. You can never be sure if those companies are reputable and will stay in business over the years. I did find one that seemed to be good deal and seemed to be from a reputable company.

One thing I noticed during the warranty search was how hard it is to find useful information on companies. When searching google, there seems to be two main places where you can get information. The first are affiliate sites. The problem with these sites is that they get a commission if they lead you to a warranty site and you make a purchase. So you can't really trust them in giving you unbias information. There's no incentive for them to say anything bad about the company. The other place for information are message boards. This is at least unbias. However, the information on these boards is spotty.

So I've decided to start a blog dedicated to automotive extended warranties. The intent is to help you find the lowest priced extended warranty that you can trust will be there for you when you need it. I'm not associated with any affiliates, so you know the information here is totally unbiased.