It’s like an extra warranty you can buy for your car. If something breaks that the plan covers, the contract helps pay the repair bill, but it usually has limits and fine print.
Term
defray the cost
It means the plan helps cover some of the money you’d otherwise have to pay yourself. So your repair bill feels smaller.
An adjuster is the company representative who reviews your repair request. They decide if the repair is covered, so shops may have to wait for their approval.
A deductible is the fixed amount you pay yourself when you use the warranty. After you pay that amount, the warranty covers the rest of the covered repair.
A CV axle is the drive shaft that gets power from the transmission to the front wheels. It’s designed to keep working smoothly as the wheels turn and the suspension moves.
All wheel drive (AWD) means the car can send power to more than one set of wheels. The host is saying the problem happened on an AWD vehicle, not just a front-wheel-drive one.
The CV joint is the part that lets the drive axle bend as the suspension moves. If the rubber boot tears, the grease can leak out and the joint can start making noise and wear out faster.
Whether a repair is paid for depends on the exact wording of the contract. If the part or type of failure isn’t listed as covered, the company may refuse the claim.
When you buy a new car, the manufacturer usually includes a warranty for a certain number of years or miles. The host is saying that factory coverage is often better than extended plans.
“Bumper to bumper” means the warranty is supposed to cover a lot of the car. But it can still have exclusions, so you should read the contract details.
This type of warranty is meant to help with mechanical breakdowns, not everything on the car. What’s covered depends on the exact plan and wording in the contract.
These plans are usually offered in different tiers. Higher tiers may cover more, but you still have to check the contract to see exactly what’s included.
Car Shield sells extended warranty-style coverage for car repairs. The host is saying their coverage didn’t end up paying when someone had an engine problem.
An extended warranty is extra coverage you buy so repairs cost less later. The host is arguing that some plans don’t actually help when the car breaks in a covered way.
Engine failure is when the engine has a serious problem and can’t run correctly. It’s the kind of breakdown people expect a warranty to help with, so it matters whether the contract actually pays.
This is about how warranties often require you to keep up with scheduled maintenance. If your service records show you waited too long between oil changes, the warranty may not pay for the repair.
The rear differential helps the rear wheels turn at different speeds when you’re cornering. It needs the right fluid changes to keep it working properly.
The transfer case is a component on 4WD/AWD cars that sends power to both the front and rear wheels. It also needs fluid maintenance like other drivetrain parts.
The oil change interval is how often the car expects you to change the oil. If you go too long between oil changes, a warranty company may refuse to cover related engine problems.
Maintenance records are your receipts or logs showing you did the required services on time. Warranty companies use this paperwork to decide if they have to pay for repairs.
A factory warranty is the warranty that comes with the car from the manufacturer. If you need to make a claim, you typically have to show you kept up with the required maintenance.
Some warranty plans can refuse to pay if you didn’t keep up with maintenance on time. In this case, the denial is tied to the gap between oil changes being longer than the plan allows.
“Internally lubricated parts” is contract language that usually means parts that are cooled and protected by the engine’s oil. If your issue isn’t considered one of those parts, the warranty may deny coverage.
The big takeaway is that you can’t rely on assumptions—you need to read the warranty/service contract. The fine print determines what’s covered and what isn’t.
Concept
trusted repair facility
A trusted repair shop is one you already know and trust to do the work correctly. With warranties, the shop’s process and paperwork can affect whether a claim gets approved.
An extended warranty is extra coverage you buy after the original warranty ends. The host is saying you have to read the fine print to see what’s covered and what’s not.
Silver Rock warranty is a company that sells extended coverage plans for repairs. The host’s point is that you should be careful, because these plans may not pay for the repairs you actually need.
Carvana is a company that sells used cars online. The host is saying that if you buy through Carvana, you may end up with a specific warranty provider—and that warranty may not be great.
Online car buying means buying a car through a website instead of just walking into a dealership. The host is warning that the warranty you get with that purchase may not be as good as you expect.
A GMC Terrain is a small SUV. Here, the owner’s engine failed and tried to use an extended warranty to pay for it, but the claim didn’t go the way he expected.
The check engine light comes on when the car’s computer finds a problem. It can be important for diagnosis and for getting repairs approved under a coverage plan.
A cam phaser helps control when the engine’s camshaft opens the valves. If it goes bad, the engine timing can be off and the car may need costly repairs.
A V6 engine has six cylinders arranged in two groups that make a V shape. When mechanics talk about the “front bank,” they mean one side of that V. Which side you work on can change how hard the repair is.
The camshaft is like the engine’s timing controller for the valves. It decides when the valves open and close. If something on the camshaft or its timing system fails, the repair can require taking off covers and removing parts.
This is a device that helps control when the engine’s valves open. It adjusts timing so the engine can work well at different speeds. If it breaks, the engine may not run right and repairs can be expensive.
Gemini is the name of a company being mentioned in the warranty discussion. The host is talking about how their warranty/benefits process works for repairs.
GeForce Automotive is the shop/company sponsoring the podcast. The host says they’re certified to work with a warranty program, which is why they’re mentioned here.
AutoValue is mentioned as the partner that certifies GeForce Automotive. The host says that connection is what qualifies certain warranty coverage for customers.
ShareGuard warranty is the name of a warranty plan/company. Since the show is about extended warranties, the host is likely using it as an example of how a specific warranty performed.
Struts are suspension parts that help the car ride smoothly and control bouncing. They wear out with age, so some warranty plans won’t pay for them unless they’re specifically included.
Control arms are suspension links that help hold the wheels in the right position. They can wear out, so some warranty plans may not cover them unless the contract clearly includes them.
A service contract is like an extended warranty. It only pays for repairs that match the rules in the contract, and many plans won’t cover parts that wear out normally.
Brake rotors are the discs the pads press on to slow the car. They can wear out, and many warranty plans don’t cover that unless it’s clearly included.
Calipers are the parts that clamp the brake pads onto the rotors. Some extended warranties cover calipers more readily than they cover brake pads and rotors.
ABS is the system that helps prevent the wheels from locking up when you brake hard. The ABS unit is the control part that makes that happen, and it’s often treated differently than normal brake wear.
“Lines” here means the metal tubes that carry brake fluid. They can corrode over time, and some warranty plans won’t pay for that kind of deterioration.
Monroe makes aftermarket suspension parts like struts. Whether a warranty pays can depend on whether the plan allows aftermarket parts from brands like Monroe.
GM, Ford, and Stellantis are big car companies. Their dealerships often sell extended warranty plans, and those plans can be different from other warranty providers.
Chrysler is a major automaker mentioned here as part of the big dealership brands. The point is that big-brand dealers often sell extended warranty plans.
A Mini Cooper is a small car, and some repairs can still cost a lot. Here they’re using a 2014 Mini Cooper to show how an alternator replacement can get expensive.
An alternator is the electrical generator that charges the battery and powers the car’s electrical systems while the engine is running. If it fails, the car may lose power to electronics and can eventually stall, making it a common “big-ticket” repair item.
Original equipment parts are the same type of parts the car maker would use. They usually cost more than cheaper aftermarket parts, which is why repair costs can jump.
A service department is where the dealership actually fixes cars—diagnosing problems and doing repairs. It matters because it affects how smoothly the work gets scheduled and completed.
A Jeep Wrangler is a popular off-road Jeep. Here they’re saying that if you put big tires on it, you can wear out the suspension parts sooner—so you want those parts covered by the warranty.
Suspension parts are what help the car ride smoothly and keep the tires planted. If you add bigger tires, those parts can get worn out faster, so you want to make sure the warranty covers them.
The GM 6.2-liter L87 is a particular engine used in some GM trucks. The host is saying it was involved in a recall, which is why it matters when choosing an extended coverage plan.
An engine recall is when a manufacturer identifies a safety or emissions-related problem and issues a fix for affected vehicles. Recalls can be a big deal for extended service contract decisions because they may indicate known failure risks or specific repair procedures.
Term
ticking time bombs
“Ticking time bombs” is a dramatic way of saying something could fail unexpectedly. Here, the host is warning that some people think the engine could cause problems.
They’re talking about a 2024 Chevrolet Silverado with a 6.2-liter V8. They mention it had a recall, and they’re explaining how warranty coverage can depend on exactly what the recall fixed.
A recall window is basically the scope of the recall—what it was meant to fix. The speaker is saying that even after a recall repair, other related problems might not be covered if they happen outside the recall’s specific scope.
An exclusionary plan covers a lot of repairs, but it has a list of exceptions—things it won’t pay for. The exclusions are the part you want to read carefully before you buy.
A vehicle service contract is like an extended warranty you buy to help pay for repairs. It only covers specific parts and situations, and it usually has a list of things it won’t pay for.
LIVE
The following is a production of Gear Head Media.
All right, welcome back to the All Automotive Podcast.
I'm your host, Matt Clausen.
I'm a 20-year shop owner,
and I'm also an ASC Master Technician.
So I know how to fix them.
So today I wanted to talk about extended service contracts.
What is the best extended service contract,
extended warranty for your car?
Well, we'll get to that.
We'll go over that stuff.
And along the way, I'm gonna tell you
and answer questions that I get asked on a regular basis
about what is the best one to get?
What coverage should I get?
Should I buy it at the dealership?
Should I buy it when I buy my used car?
Should I talk to the bank?
So I'm gonna answer those questions
in the next 30 minutes or so.
So sit back and relax, fasten your seatbelts.
I thank you all for being here
and welcome back to the All Automotive Podcast.
All right, so a question I get asked
probably multi-times a week
is what extended service contract do you think
is the best one?
I'm looking for something to defray the cost
of getting these repairs.
And let's face it, folks,
the repair costs have gone up significantly
in the last couple of years, really, since COVID.
And nationally, we've had a lot of inflation,
which has created some issues there.
And not only with the tariffs
that our current president has invoked
on some of the parts that we get
from other parts of the world,
that's certainly making things difficult for us
as we move forward too.
So with the rising cost of what it takes
to fix your car nowadays,
a lot of customers are enlisting the help
of extended service contracts.
Some of these contracts are better than others.
And like I said, I'm gonna go over some of the ones
that I think are the better ones to give you some help.
So in the continental US,
I know I've got a lot of listeners across the world.
And well, I would assume that some of these
are sold in your necks of the woods.
But primarily, I'm talking about
the continental United States, including Alaska and Hawaii.
So what we're looking at
as far as extended service contracts is,
I get asked this question,
what, Matt, which one is the one I should get?
And just for fun,
I sucked this into my favorite AI generation thing
on the internet.
And I said, what I asked was,
what company has the best extended service contract
for my vehicle?
Now, Mr. Smarty Pants, I use Gemini.
I'm part of the Gemini world in Google.
And that's the one I use.
You can use ChatGPT or whichever one,
OpenAI or Copilot, whichever one you wanna use.
I would assume that it's gonna be around the same stuff
because it's searching the same things on the internet.
So I just asked it,
what's the best extended service contract for my vehicle?
Now, this Smarty Pants Gemini tells me
that the best overall is endurance warranty.
So if you go back a couple of episodes,
we did talk with the creator of that, Richard Holland.
And he brought endurance warranty
into the forefront of extended service contracts.
Now, there's some things that we all need
to kinda look at too.
And it's not just me telling you
what extended service contract is the best
because as a repair shop owner,
there are some that are on television all the time
and have very high level actors
promoting their products that aren't good.
I'm sorry, folks.
And like I said, I'm gonna go over some of the ones
that I think are good and that you should go for and do
and research them yourselves.
And it's like anything else.
You just wanna do your research on your own.
But if I can give you some help
and some pointers as a shop owner,
and these things, they take time for us
as service individuals to number one,
we diagnose your vehicle.
And then we have to call this company,
most likely sit on hold for 15 to 20 minutes
while we wait for an adjuster.
We speak to this adjuster.
We give them the parts and labor and tax and rundown.
And then they put us on hold for another five minutes or so
while they check all the stuff to make sure
what we're telling them is what they're coming up with
on their end, which that's fine.
They're paying the bill.
And most of the time we're very accurate with our estimate.
It's just they're not very accurate
with what they wanna pay us.
So if they don't pay what the shop charges,
then there could be an additional cost to you, the customer.
So the better warranty that you get
and endurance is one of these that pays the shop's rate
and will also pay a decent markup on the parts.
And we can have it, that's a whole podcast in itself
is how and why we do the things we do as a shop.
And pretty simply, I can just put it to you,
we're in business to make money
and we're not here as a charity or as a hobby.
We're here to get your vehicle fixed
and get you back on the road so that you're safe
along with everyone else that's around you.
Because we don't wanna put something on your car
that's substandard and you unfortunately have an accident
and you not only hurt yourself,
but you hurt someone else that's not even involved
with anything that we're doing.
So that's something you wanna keep in mind too
is that we're not only trying to protect you,
we're trying to protect the guy that's driving past you
on the other side of that yellow line.
So again, so getting back to endurance warranty,
endurance warranty will pay our labor rate,
pay our parts price and they will also pay the tax.
You most likely will have a $100 to $500 deductible
depending on your contract.
It's kind of like health insurance.
But the difference between that and health insurance
would be that you have a deductible
every time you come and bring your car in.
If it's a covered repair, the deductible will apply.
If it's not a covered repair,
then be prepared to pay that shop for their diagnosis.
Like we've had a vehicle in last week
and it needed a CV axle in the front.
It was an all wheel drive vehicle
and it needed a axle shaft.
It was making noise, the boot ripped
and all the grease flew out of the CV joint.
So they said they had an extended service contract.
So we compiled the estimate, contacted the company
and they came back after our rundown of the parts
and labor and they checked and they were like,
well, the contract states that it doesn't cover this part.
Okay, so that's something that we need to do.
We need to look at two,
is when we're looking at these contracts,
we want to get the most comprehensive one that you can get.
And none of them are gonna be as good
as your three or 36,000 mile warranty
that you get when you buy your car brand new.
It's not a quote bumper to bumper coverage
of things on your car.
So if it's a mechanical warranty
and there's several different levels
and a lot of companies will use like silver, gold,
platinum, ultimate, there's several different things
but you have to take a copy of that contract
before you sign it.
And let me just say this to you in clear words.
Before you sign, please make sure that you know
what it covers because some of the commercials
that are out there, not any different than anybody else
that come home from work and we watch TV
and there's a certain company called Car Shield
that has commercials on all the time.
Why?
Because they're trying to make money
by getting you to buy a contract
that doesn't cover anything.
It's kind of like they hope that you're like the person
that signs up at the gym and doesn't go.
They want you to not, hopefully they're betting on you
not having to fix your car
or not having to pay for any repairs.
So I use, I'm gonna just,
let's just talk about Car Shield for just a second
or, and I'll elaborate on that.
We've had nothing but trouble with Car Shield
and Car Shield would be one that I would not recommend
simply because we had a customer come in
with a engine failure and we contacted the customer,
told them what was going on.
Oh, I've got this warranty through Car Shield.
Okay, great.
We've never had very good luck with Car Shield
but we'll call them to see if they'll participate
in any part of this repair.
So Car Shield says after we tell them what's going on,
they're like, okay, well, we're gonna send an adjuster out
to take a look at this vehicle, which that's fine.
It's kind of like an insurance.
Shingles fly off your roof on your house
and adjuster has to come out and take a look at it.
No problem, I understand that.
And they're, again, they're paying a large bill
and engine repair is not a cheap thing.
So they come out and they look at the car
and they give their opinion.
And most of the time these are third party inspectors.
There's a couple of them that they've come in before
on different warranty companies.
But Car Shield employs the ones
that will give them the most ammunition
to deny your claim.
So in this particular instance,
they required maintenance records.
What was the engine taken care of?
Did they change the oil?
Well, they did.
They did.
In the time they had that vehicle,
they changed the oil three times.
And this is something that I've talked about before
on this podcast, is that if you don't keep
your documentation of said repairs.
We will be back after a short break.
Subscribe to the All Automotive Podcast.
We're on Apple Podcasts, Spotify,
or wherever you're listening now.
Especially maintenance work like oil changes.
This is critical for your success
in getting a repair covered.
And it doesn't matter if it's your transmission,
your drivetrain, the rear differential,
the transfer case, anything powertrain,
you wanna make sure you're maintaining the fluid
that makes everything go inside.
So this person had all their documentation.
We had to make copies of it, faxed it in.
You know what their reason was?
There was too much time between oil change two
and oil change three.
And oil change three was just about done
and needed to be serviced again.
It needed to be serviced again.
It was due for its oil change, which, you know,
the adjuster and I caught that.
I'm like, well, let's do, but how many of us
have gone over our oil change interval?
A lot of us.
But if you have an extended service contract
and your vehicle is 2005 or newer,
2005, 2015 or newer, you've most likely
got an extended service contract
or you were offered one when you bought the car.
Now, if you're comfortable with fixing your car
without having to have any help,
then that, then you don't have an issue.
But again, it's maintenance records.
And I've talked about this before.
Like I said on my podcast before,
it's very important that you keep the documentation
about anything that you're doing,
especially if your vehicle's under warranty,
especially if it's under a factory warranty
or these kinds of warranties.
Don't let your guard down just because you think
everything's gonna be okay.
Some things don't work out the way we want them to,
but so they denied the claim because they said that
the distance between or the time interval
between oil change two and oil change three was too long.
That they claim that the engine wasn't taken care of
or wasn't maintained properly.
Oh, and you wanna tell,
let me just tell you how bad of a position
that puts us in as a shot.
When you have an extended warranty
and you have this expectation of,
well, they're gonna cover it because it's the engine
and the engine's covered.
Any internally lubricated parts of that engine are covered.
Well, again, it's in there.
You just gotta read it to find it.
And whether you say, I'll come back tomorrow
because I need to read this in its entirety,
or, hey, Matt, I was at the dealership
and they're offering me this extended service contract.
Can you take a look at it really quick
and tell me if it's a good one or not?
If you have a trusted repair facility that you deal with,
you know what, most of the time, we know.
All you have to do is walk in our door and say,
hey, Matt, do you recommend car shield?
No.
And my service manager and all my technicians know
the same thing.
And now don't buy your car online
and think you're gonna get a warm and fuzzy blanket either.
The most popular online car buying site
starts with car and Enzenvana,
doesn't like to pay their shops to repair their cars either.
They do everything they can to not pay for things.
So we do not recommend silver rock
who is part of silver rock warranty is what you get
if you buy a car from Carvana.
And they are not good according to myself
and that's my opinion.
And I bet you if I called 10 of my shop owner friends
across the nation, they would probably agree with me.
So beware of online car buying as well.
But please take the afternoon or the evening
it's not a decision, buying a car is not a,
well, I'll just go to the dealership and wham bam, we'll done.
No, it's not.
It's look at it, drive it, talk to the,
it's a long process.
I could go on and on.
But if you take the time to read it and read through it
and see what the exclusions are or what the provisions are
of the warranties, then you know what you've got.
Cause a lot of these companies,
they know that the car has got this particular issue.
So they exclude it from their contract
cause it's a common issue on this car.
That's not your fault.
It's the fault of whoever designed it
or whoever manufactured it.
It's not our fault either, but we, like I said,
this is puts us in a very bad spot.
So now we had to call that customer back
and tell him that it was not covered.
And consequently, the customer canceled their policy.
And I don't know if he used the refund that he got from them
to help pay part of the repairs to get his engine replaced.
It just turned into a bad situation
that we really didn't have to deal with
if we were dealing with a different
extended service contract company.
Now I'm not saying that the ones I'm going to recommend
are high and mighty and do everything right
cause they don't, but there are ones
you really need to stay away from.
And another quick story about Car Shield
and this unfortunately hit home and hits close to my,
myself as my uncle had my uncle Robert lives in Maine,
had a GMC terrain and I see him maybe once or twice a year.
He comes down to visit my mother and we try to get together
so that we could see him.
And he's telling me this story about how his engine blew
on his GMC terrain and that he had this extended warranty
and that it should cover it and all this stuff.
And then cause I think he was in the process
if it was at the shop and they were going back and forth
but his claim got denied too
because of they claimed it lack of maintenance.
And so I was really, really sad for him
because he was in a position to where he had to now
pay out of pocket for something that he thought was covered
and they were going to pay some of it.
He goes, why didn't expect him to pay all of it?
But he knew that he could get some sort of coverage
because he'd had that warranty
since right after he bought the car.
So again, I feel really bad for him because I believe
I spoke to my mother and I think he ended up just trading
the car in with a blown engine
and took a significant loss
and then just had to get a different vehicle.
And folks, there's another horror story
about that particular warranty company.
And my intent with this is to educate you as a consumer
on what ones, which way to go instead of not the most
popular in your face option.
Cause they do, I mean, they got good good marketing.
I mean, iced tea and whoever else they got car shield.
You know, they're on the TV all the time.
You can't watch, you can't watch Law and Order
or one of these other TV shows without seeing iced tea
on a commercial too for car, car shield.
So we've gotten two, there was two that aren't the greatest
car shield and Silver Rock.
So you Carvana people beware.
I would just say buy the car from Carvana
and then go to your bank and say,
you do loans for cars all the time, right?
Yep. Do you deal with an extended service contract
company or warranty?
What do you recommend?
Now I've had several different scenarios come up
and we've got a local credit union that does a very good job
and they have their own, they get together with the
use car lots in town, the dealerships in town
and they have a annual car sale.
And during this car sale, you pick out, everybody shows up
and it's in one of the big parking lots
where all the stores are and stuff.
So they use this, so they take all their,
so you just go to one place and you can walk around
and see all these dealership cars.
Great idea, right?
Yeah.
So the bank makes out because they get car loans
and the dealerships make out because they sell cars.
But you as a consumer make out
because they usually give you a good deal
but then they also, the bank wants to protect that interest,
protect their interest in loaning you the money
because they deal with an extended service contract
company that is very reputable, pays the shops rate,
pays the parts, all you have is a deductible.
If it's a listed item on the contract, no problem.
Here's your claim number, send it in, we'll get you paid.
And they pay us with a credit card or a check
just like you would, they pay us with a company check
but they pay us exactly how you would.
We fax it in, they send us over a one time use credit card.
Bam, life is good, we move on.
So one of the things I wanted to talk about too
is not only read this contract but make sure that
if you know that this car has specific issues,
you know, the internet's out there, do your research.
You'll find out that there are certain things
that this car has problems with.
You know, you can get maintenance contracts,
you can get things to cover the tires,
things to cover your seats.
There's all kinds of contracts out there.
It's just, does your car fit the criteria
for them to give you or, I said give,
for them to sell you an extended service contract?
Well, maybe, maybe not.
So let's get back to this Google thing.
So I asked Gemini, so top rated providers in 2026,
we already talked about endurance.
I disagree with their next choice
which we talked about car shield.
So I disagree with that.
They say it's best, or Gemini says it's best
for high mileage cars, which not a good scenario.
Zurich has a good one.
They have one of the best claims processes
that I think we deal with.
They have an online portal.
We log in, we punch in what's wrong with it,
condition, cause, and correction,
check engine lights on, we check the system,
found that it need a cam phaser on the exhaust cam
of the front bank of cylinders, it's a V6.
We need to pull the front cover off,
pull the camshaft out, replace this actuator phaser
on the end of the cam.
And put everything all back together.
And here's the labor, the parts,
all the stuff we're gonna need, and we hit send.
No talking to anybody on the phone with this company.
And pretty quickly, they will get back with us.
I mean, we tell our customers 24 to 48 hours,
sometimes that's a reality, most of the time it's not.
They get back to us by at least the end of the day.
And if there is an issue, if they do take issue
with something that we've put in there, they call.
They'll call and they'll say, hey, why does it need this?
Okay, well, this is because X, Y, Z.
Oh, okay, well, that's not covered.
Okay, fine.
So this part, gasket or seal or something, wasn't covered.
All right, fine.
That's a customer's expense now, that's cut and dry.
But it's very simple, they'll send us back the approval,
we're good, we can just move forward.
And Gemini also says,
the best maintenance benefits is Omega AutoCare.
If I could log in to my shop software,
I could probably tell you one of the other ones
that I would recommend.
And let me just pull this up,
if I can get the customer's name, bear with me here.
She brought her Jeep in and we did some work to it.
We will be back after a short break.
Hey everybody, Matt here, wanted to take a minute
to talk about our main sponsor, GeForce Automotive.
Did you know that they're a certified service center
through AutoValue?
What does that get you, you say?
Well, that gets you three years or 36,000 mile warranty
on select repairs.
Want to know more about that?
Visit their website at www.geforceautomotive.net.
Click on that banner that says make an appointment
and make your appointment today.
We're proud to have them on board
as the main sponsor of the All Automotive podcast.
So now let's get back to it.
More of the All Automotive podcast.
And, oh, what is it, 21, yeah, let's just look here.
It's a Luxe, here it is, let's just look at that.
The company that was called was a ShareGuard warranty.
And man, that was a 800 number, we had to call in,
no big deal, we got her vehicle diagnosed
because she came in and I was a little skeptical at first
but she was like, well, I called them
and they said that the struts and these control arms
and stuff were covered.
And I was like, okay, well, a lot of times struts
aren't because it's a normal wear item.
A lot of service contracts do not cover suspension parts,
brake parts, lots of other stuff that they don't cover
because it's a normal wear and tear item,
brake pads, brake rotors, you know,
but the hard brake parts like calipers, ABS units,
but they don't cover lines that could rust
or deteriorate over time.
Anyway, she was talking about these control arms,
which I would assume that the control arms
would have been covered and also
she was talking about the struts were covered.
Okay, so we brought her car in,
verified the concerns that she had
and again, it was a 800 number, I called in,
no problem, everything's covered,
what's your prices on this, what's your labor rate,
we told them the labor rate
and then we told them the prices on the parts
and this particular extended service contract was like,
well, what's the list price of the Dodge part?
Or the Jeep OE manufacturer part.
And he goes, wow, let's look that up really quick.
I, you know, if this is, we can't be over that.
And I was like, okay, well, that's fair.
So we looked and the list price of the struts
were more than the ones that we put on that,
you know, we use Monroe, a very reputable company
that's based, part of their operations are based,
not very far from our shop.
So local guys selling local stuff,
keeping local people employed, right?
So we put these Monroe struts on it for it
and those were covered.
And her contract was very comprehensive.
So a sure guard warranty is one of my other ones
that I would say would be a good one to get.
But if you do go to one of these bigger car dealerships,
if you're talking about at least the big three
and what I mean by that is GM Ford and Stellantis
or Chrysler.
You know, you're gonna, we all know the drill, right?
We've got the car picked out.
We've got our, all the stuff we've agreed on a price.
And now you go into the finance manager's office.
And I should have, I should call my old friend Mickey
and see if he would be willing to be on this show
because he was in our finance office for a long time.
And he was a, he was in sales at first
and then transitioned to the finance.
But as a salesperson at heart,
Mickey's one of the best on the job doing that job
because he's very personable, very good with customers,
cracking jokes and telling things.
But he would take the time to tell you
what was covered with this warranty
and what not was not covered with this warranty
because, you know, we put an alternator on a 2014 mini Cooper
and the original equipment alternator was $1,600
just for the part.
Not to mention the fact that it's buried in there
and took us three and a half hours to replace it
because it's not in a very good spot.
So that turned into a very big expense for that customer.
So think about that kind of thing.
Also, when you're doing that, you're at the dealership,
do they have a service department?
And take that car, walk out there
and talk to the guys out there,
especially if it's something that's under their,
their name plates out front.
If you're going to a Jeep place to buy a Jeep,
you better go back to the service department and say,
hey dude, I'm buying this car out here.
What do you see going on with it?
Maybe they're gonna be honest with you, I would hope so.
It's like, well, you know, the Jeep's suspension parts,
you know, Wranglers, people put these big tires on
and expect these little suspension parts to hold up.
So make sure the suspension's covered.
Hello.
You know, is this on?
Yeah.
So again, just make sure, you know, like,
and let's get back to Mickey.
Mickey was such a good ambassador for the dealership too,
but he also would explain those things to you and say,
look, this contract costs this much
between this, this and this,
it's gonna be three times what you pay for this warranty
and these items are covered under your warranty.
And one of the most popular things back,
I don't know, early mid 2000s,
when I was working at the dealership,
was alternators, starters, wheel bearings,
common things, because you know,
we live in Michigan, their wheel bearings take a beating.
We have potholes everywhere.
So keep that stuff in mind, folks,
when you're deciding on an extended service contract,
you know, we talked about a couple that were not the greatest
and we talked about a couple,
three or four of them that were really good.
And so getting back to this question,
I asked Gemini about what was my vehicle.
Cause that's the question I asked.
I said, what's the best extended service contract
for my vehicle?
And because Gemini knows me,
he's like, the paragraph after it says what the,
his choices were for the top contracts was,
for vehicles equipped with high performance engines
like the GM 6.2 liter L87,
that's the engine that was recalled.
It's in my truck that, you know,
for some of my fellow Silverado buddies
are quote unquote, ticking time bombs.
So be careful what you ask for,
because I got what I asked for.
It's telling me what I should do with my vehicle.
It knows I have a 24 Silverado with a 6.2 liter V8
that was recalled.
While recent recalls have addressed
specific manufacturing issues such as bearing failures,
these repairs often do not cover secondary damages
or failures that occur outside the specific recall window.
Choosing a supreme or exclusionary plan
which covers nearly all mechanical parts
except small listed items excluded.
Is often recommended to ensure primary engine components
are protected against future breakdowns.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
So keep that in mind when you're out there
trying to pick out your next vehicle service contract.
Let's review.
We read the contract, we look and see what it covers
and what it doesn't cover.
What exclusions are on this contract?
Don't try to be an Uber driver
and expect to get paid on a claim on your engine
or transmission because you drive people around
for a living and use it as a taxi.
Pizza delivery, accidents.
That's one of the first two or three questions I ask you
when we call in.
Is it used for commercial, is it have commercial use?
No, or yes, it does.
Something else to think about too.
So read it, see what's covered, what's not covered,
what exclusions are there.
And by all means, do your research on what the name
of the company is and what kind of reputation they've got.
Do they have a reputation for denying claims?
It's a simple question that you can ask any one
of these AI generated things.
Take it with a grain of salt
because you should make your own educated decision
based on friends, family,
the repair shop that you go to,
the dealership that you go to.
We're here for you, I'm here for you.
Send me a message, send me some fan mail,
ask me a question, we've done that before.
Ask Matt, we're gonna do another one of those.
So it's pretty much buyer beware and buyer be educated.
So get the facts, know your facts
and make the best decision for you, your budget
and everybody else that drives
on the other side of that double line.
All right, that's gonna do it for another episode
of the All Automotive Podcast.
Thanks for hanging out with me today.
Hope you got some insight
on some extended service contracts.
Did you guys know that we're on Spotify, Apple Podcasts
and Amazon Alexa, look us up.
Hey, hit us up on our social media
at All Automotive on both Facebook and Instagram
and until next time, I'm Matt Clausen.
Hey, keep that greasy side down, would ya?
About this episode
Matt Clawson breaks down extended service contracts and extended warranties by starting with the big question—what’s the best option and where to buy it. He connects rising repair costs to why people buy coverage, then walks through how claims actually work: diagnosis, adjusters, deductibles, and what happens when the contract excludes a part or underpays the shop. He also calls out weaker providers (including Car Shield, Silver Rock, and Carvana-linked coverage) and shares practical buying advice like reading exclusions and keeping maintenance records.
In the episode Matt revisits extended warranties. What their purpose in life are. What ones are good to purchase. He answers that question and gives his personal insights and expierence on ones to stay away from. As a shop owner he'd know right? Do you have question about extended warranties? Send us some fan mail or hit us up on our socials.
All Automotive is a production of Gearhead Media.
All Automotive is a repair shop owners insight into the world of auto repair. Join us!
Thank you to our main sponsor of All Automotive. Visit their website www.gforceautomotive.net
