I HEART Warranty Direct!!!

I'm not much one for advertsing people's stuff on here, but I gotta sing some praises here.

I've been sucked in many times by extended warranties for various stuff. I have wasted so much money for extra protection on telephones, dvd players, stereos, etc. I'm a sucker for the sales pitch. While I rarely ever need one (in fact, I've never cashed one in to date) and they generally run out of time, never used, the one time I didn't buy one on a dvd/vcr combo, I needed it. Then I bought a replacement (sans warranty), and it died again (different brand). I finally bought a refurb from Overstock.com (their service contracts are dirt cheap - and I bought one) and I have had no problems with it. But the time I didn't buy one, I could have used it, so I'll continue to be a sucker for them unless they're incredibly outrageous.

There are times that they are warrented - like a computer. Ok - I fibbed. Every tower computer I have ever owned has gone back at least once under the service contract, and the laptop has gone back once, but that's it. Anyway, I bought an auto warranty for the first time with my Neon. I generally don't like long-term auto financing (too much stuff goes wrong during the duration of the loan), but I had to finance it for 4 years, so I opted for 3 years, 36,000 miles. The Neon's were notorious for engine troubles. I only ever had one problem that might have been covered, but they wouldn't cover it. And the Neon is still going strong, despite being largely devoid of paint.

So re-wind to last March, when I bought the KIA. KIA offers fantastic warranties, but not if you buy used. I got 12 months or 10,000 miles. That ran out in November, when I hit the cap on miles. We had declined the warranty that the dealer offered us. It would have added too much to my payment. I was firm in that I didn't want to finance for more than 3 years, and I wanted a payment of less than $200/month. When we divided out the cost per month, they were asking a lot for the warranty they were offering. It just wasn't worth it.

During the time that we had a warranty, the car was in the shop for a loose heat shield (it made a rattling noise - we didn't know why), a malfunctioning panic alarm that fired at will, and some transmission noise (which turned out to be nothing). While these were minor problems and I didn't consider any of it adding up to a lemon, I slightly regretted not getting the extended warranty. That, and unlike the Neon, the KIA isn't something that Nelson, or any of his mechanic friends, can easily work on.

In December, anticipating some nice overtime and a generous bonus, I began to shop for extended warranties. Most looked shady at best. That's when I found Warranty Direct. They came highly recommended by many auto makers who do not offer extended warranies through their company (Lexus and Porche, to name a few), and I could find only two complaints online after exhaustive searches (and the complaints I did find were unreasonable). My salesman - John Crumbliss - was fantastic, and answered every tiny annoying question I had. They require a car inspection (something I actually thought was a great idea), but they will deduct the car inspection fee off the cost of the policy. The policy covers almost everything (sans paint, tires, mufflers, stereos, window glass/windshields, brake pads and similar things like that), goes for 37 months or 37,000 miles which will more than cover my financing, and takes the car to almost 100,000 miles. Considering the travelling we do, it seemed like a good idea. It offers rental cars, and great travel interruption service. And your card will get you discounts on things the warranty doesn't cover. Total cost of the contract: around $1700. I put a nice chunk down, and pay the balance in monthly increments through December.

I have the KIA in the shop for it's 60,000 mile maintenance. It's actually at almost 65,000 miles, but the shop neglected to tell me it was due (and noted my service records that they neglected to do so). Thank heaven for the stimulus check, as half of it went for this expensive service. It's not expensive in the context of what they do to the car, but I don't randomly have $600 laying around.

Long story short (I know, TOO LATE), I got a call telling me that they noticed my water pump was "going bad". It's beginning to leak slowly. Parts wise it wasn't bad, but involved tearing a big chunk of the engine compartment down (so does the 60,000 mile maintenance, albeit a different part, hence the cost), so I knew labor would kill me. I got nervous for a mintue (figuring I could kiss the rest of my stimulus goodbye, which had been earmarked for vacation), then I realized that I had a warranty, and looked up online whether it was covered via Warranty Direct's website, and then gave him my contract number, and their phone number. He balked at dealing with a 3rd party company, but I assured him that they pay via credit card at time of service, so he relented.

On a whim, I explored their site about 10 minutes later (something I hadn't really done), and I noticed my claim listed - approved and everything. They're paying almost $500 after my $100 deductible ($0 deductible plans are availble, but they cost more). I'm SO glad that I had this done now. I'd have been in a world of hurt if the car crapped out while on vacation. Granted, I do have great trip insurance with my policy, but it still would have been a real issue.

So yay for Warranty Direct! It's already paid for 1 years worth of it's contract in one fell swoop. They get the Funky-Rat Seal Of Approval! **






**void where prohibited by law