Auto Warranty News

How do you avoid a financial loss when your car is totaled?

 

New and used car buyers are potentially losing thousands of dollars when their vehicle is totaled after an accident or theft.  Many do not know that they can acquire an additional insurance policy when they first purchase the car.

 

Some auto warranty providers believe the reason many drivers do not take out Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) Insurance from their selling dealer is their lack of understanding the benefits of these policies.

 

Almost a million cars are written off in the US each year and many drivers are left owing a lot of money to their finance company as the insurance payout is far less than the outstanding finance balance on their car loan.  On higher value used cars this could amount to a few thousand dollars, especially if the car was recently purchased.

 

GAP insurance pays the difference between the insured value of the vehicle and the outstanding finance balance.  Recently there was a situation where a very expensive luxury car was written off following an accident. The difference between the insurance pay out and the outstanding finance balance $13,000 because the car was only three weeks into its finance contract term.  Because the owner had taken out GAP insurance the policy paid out the difference and he was able to buy another car without any additional out of pocket expense.

 

Many used car warranties purchased with the vehicle have their own built Gap Insurance as the extended warranties are cancelable on a pro-rata basis.  This is just another reason that a used car warranty turns out to be a very smart purchase.

Many consumers that believe they have to spend big money for a luxury car may not want to consider the autos on this list.  That is clearly their loss.

 

If you want to pay over $37,000 for a BMW Z4 Roadster and you can cruise around town in a two seat roadster that will allow you to control the drop top automatically while listening to your favorite music with a superb ten speaker audio system.

 

The $35,000+ Lincoln MKX crossover utility vehicle (CUV) has many standard features like heated memory mirrors, leather-wrapped wheel with wood accents, and 4-wheel disc brakes with ABS. Options include a voice-activated DVD-based navigation system.

 

The Volvo XC70, at just over $36,500 is a mid-sized wagon and is loaded with many advanced safety and security features like hill descent control and side curtain airbags.

 

This list was derived from Strategic Vision’s Total Value Awards list. This list measures classes of cars including their reliability, manufacturer’s auto warranty, and future cost of extended auto warranty, solid resale values, and ownership experience.  Only cars with the highest scores were counted.

Vincentric, a research firm helped by providing maintenance costs calculated over a 5 year period. The vehicles with the lowest costs, including oil changes, wheel alignments, wiper blades, etc. made the list.  Finally, the list was capped at vehicles that were under $50,000 which allowed a wide range of vehicles, from coupes to large cars.

Mitsubishi Motors is trying to build on the excitement that has been generated the launch of the new Lancer Evolution and brand new 2009 Galant.  The new Galant made its debut today at Chicago’s Auto Show and comes with hopes that they can raise themselves up from the lack of attention their predecessors had gotten.

 

Mitsubishi is trying to cover all the bases in what is a very complex and competitive mid-size market segment by offering the 2009 Galant in several different trim levels.  It will also have a choice of 4 or 6 cylinder motors.  The top of the range for the 3.8L V6 is available in the Ralliart-Tuned Galant and offers a hefty 258 horsepower output. Also available are a 230 horsepower V6, and a 2.4L 160 horsepower 4 cylinder engine. All engines come with Mitsubishi’s Sportronic transmission.

Mitsubishi vehicles are backed by short term new vehicle limited auto warranties. The Eclipse, Lancer, Galant, Endeavor and Outlander also come with a 10-year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty along with a 5-year/60,000 mile bumper-to-bumper auto warranty. This still leaves a void in the later years when many typical failures occur.  This is continued proof that an auto warranty is a necessity on these high powered mid-sized cars.

With vehicle manufacturer’s current drive for safety innovation, extended auto warranty coverage requirements are changing rapidly.  Honda, one of most safety conscious vehicle manufacturers is proving that they have what consumers are looking for in vehicle safety standards.  Honda’s distribution of many of their 2007 and 2008 models include safety feature packages that sty within this frame of mind.  As drivers look at the many protective qualities of the newest cars and trucks, the other concern for consumers is vehicle care and extended warranty coverage.

Safety for inhabitants of a vehicle during a collision runs parallel to auto warranty coverage.  A driver can access more available safety features and auto warranty coverage flexibility than ever before. Consumers should be researching car warranties to protect the safest cars and trucks being built so far so that they can guarantee the upkeep and safety implementation for their vehicles whenever the need should come.

Lexus’ new pre-collision system is an important innovation to current automobile manufacturing and design.  Toyota/Lexus, in an effort to put safety at the forefront and add it as a strong selling point, are creating systems in cars that prospective vehicle buyers are demanding.  They are clearly on the bandwagon for safety and innovation. Vehicle buyers should research new car warranties to protect the new safety innovated cars being produced today.  This will help to build confidence in their cars and continually guarantee their upkeep and safety implementations when the needs arise.

An extended auto warranty can protect your automobile and is well worth the money spent to warranty these new safety features.  To keep your investment on the road for many years to come and keep it functioning properly dependable new car warranties are clearly the answer.  They will allow driver’s to get the amount of coverage needed to so that important repairs can be done when necessary.

A group of state and national aftermarket associations filed a lawsuit versus the California Air Resources Board, aka-CARB that challenged their proposed regulations that requires vehicle manufacturers to extend auto warranties on emissions parts to 10 years and 120,000 miles which would keep replacements running through their dealer networks.

One of the plaintiffs, the Automotive Service Association aka-ASA, said the action by CARB to extend auto warranties for this extended term will cause massive economic damage to independent aftermarket auto warranty providers and service facilities in the California and is not likely to provide any clean air or consumer benefits.  Another plaintiff in the case, Automotive Service Councils of California, said because vehicle owners will not know whether a needed repair indicated by the malfunction indicator light is covered by the extended auto warranty, they will need to return to the dealer for almost all repairs. 

The lawsuit states that CARB provides no real evidence that extending emissions auto warranties will effectively motivate manufacturers to build a more durable emission system, or that it will motivate a driver to seek emissions-related repairs when they are indicated.

Do you need hybrid car auto warranty coverage? 

Paying top dollar at the gasoline station is hard for consumers, commercial institutions, and government agencies alike.  The recent drop in fuel prices being temporary at best doesn’t help matters for anybody.  Especially because deep down, we know it’s more than likely true that prices will go up again soon. It’s no wonder then, that hybrid and other recently improved cars are in such enormous demand. 

What does this mean for your budget?  Gas will continue to be a ridiculous amount of your spending.  It also means auto warranty coverage is going through some changes specific to the new emissions reducing technology.  Both hybrids and energy efficient vehicles require more costly new energy efficient parts and hopefully will be far more expensive to repair.  Don’t get caught with one of these very high repair bills, put a high priority on purchasing solid hybrid auto warranty coverage to keep your environmentally efficient vehicle on the road as long as possible.

One of our clients, we’ll call him Al Smith who asked for our assistance.  He purchased a 2002 Volvo with 58,000 miles form his local dealer.  Included with the purchase he also got an auto warranty.  It was one of the used car warranties offered by an insurance company.  Last December Al noticed a funny sound, since diagnosed as a pinging.  An Volvo specialist found a crack in his cylinder head, the gasket was blown over two rings, and it had a burnt engine block.

After inspection, the insurance company said that the damage was due to Al’s negligence and that he should have noticed the problem mush sooner. The insurance company said they will pay for the gasket, but not the balance of the repair which was more than $5,000.00.  He wanted to know if he had any recourse?

Answer: I don’t believe insurance-based used car warranties offer very good service or value for what they cost.  It would have been very difficult to detect any loss of power or misfiring of the engine, overheating, and the vehilce was taken in as soon as the pinging noise was heard. The argument that this is owner negligence just doesn’t make any sense.  If the vehicle had been fully serviced then his claim was legitimate. Get an independent engineer to write a report on the exact cause of the engine damage so that the claim can be brought to arbitration.  Used car warranties should always be written clearly. It always pays to spend a little more for a top rated auto warranty from a quality provider.

Australian auto-makers are now only three now that Mitsubishi closed its Adelaide plant yesterday.  The closing will effect the community as it has cost it 930 jobs.

Even after receiving millions of dollars in government grants Mitsubishi said its Australian plant and operation had lost over $1.5 billion dollars during the past 10 years leaving no choice but to close its Adelaide manufacturing plant effective next month.

Repercussions  and jobs lost among car parts suppliers and other businesses that relied on the plant will be significant.  Australia’s Innovation and Industry Minister said the pullout was seen coming for quite some time and was immminent. Nevertheless, it was still very disappointing.

Mitsubishi manufacturing closure in Australia comes 16 years after Nissan’s closure of their plant in Victoria.

The industry’s fear now focuses on Ford which is one of three remaining car-makers left operating in Australia in addition to Toyota and General Motors.   Mitsubishi has assured owners of its cars and trucks, including the 380 model, that they would continue to provide parts, auto warranty and service support from its network of dealers.

The company also said that past and future buyers of the remaining 380s would automatically get an extension of the original 3 year auto warranty to 6 years.

Do used car warranties that are transferable really boost resale values or do they just build buyer confidence?  

Everybody assumes that used car warranties have some value, but nobody really knows exactly how much? Some new car manufacturer’s have come out with longer powertrain warranties and have made them transferable to a vehicle’s second owner.  This may soon be able to help provide the auto warranty industry with a real answer. 

Some of Chrysler’s models sold after they started their transferable warranty program will soon be resold, and many of those new owners will need to pay the $50 fee to continue with the balance of the factory warranty. The question that remains is will they also pay a higher price to the car’s seller because the warranty is transferable?  

It is a difficult question to answer, but a leading authority and editor of a major automotive publication noted that a vehicle under warranty is most certainly worth more than a vehicle that’s not. It seems like common sense, and we always see a marked drop in vehicle’s resale value once it is out of warranty. 

There is no question that used car warranties will definitely enhance your vehicle’s resale vale.  Just make sure the plan you purchase is transferable.