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Your warranty (service contract) may be worthless....PLUS, two car buying scenarios that many face but few handle well
Your warranty (service contract) may be worthless....PLUS, two car buying scenarios that many face but few handle well
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About this episode
Exploring the nuances of car warranties and service contracts, this episode highlights the pitfalls of aftermarket agreements that aren't manufacturer-backed. A cautionary tale of a lengthy repair process illustrates the importance of maintaining thorough records. The discussion also covers two car buying scenarios: an elderly father surprising his daughter with a vehicle and an octogenarian seeking advice on what to purchase. Listeners will gain insights into evaluating needs, financial considerations, aesthetics, and timing when shopping for a car.
Topics:
warranty pitfalls
extended service contracts
car buying advice
record keeping
vehicle needs assessment
financial considerations
aesthetic preferences
timing for purchase
Email Lennie at [email protected]
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Too Afraid to Ask
Car
Ford F150
"at least four feet of space between the wheel wells in the bed. And if you're going to be doing a lot of that, is a F-150 better than a Maverick? Yeah, it is."
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Jeep Grand
"...on dealer lots? If I'm trying to, you know, buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I'm going to do a little research. I'm ..."
Car
Ford Bronco Sport
"...at's one of the reasons Bronco sells so well. And Bronco sports and the Maverick and the F-150 even because they'..."
Car
Ford Explorer
"...he was suggesting, well, maybe you wanna drive an Explorer, maybe you wanna drive this."
Select text to request an explanation
Hey, folks, welcome back to another edition of My Car Guru, where I think you're going
to find incredibly satisfying ways to keep your money in your pocket and not throw it at a
car dealer or an independent repair shop or a body shop or whatever that you shouldn't.
And so that's what we're going to be talking about in certain different scenarios today.
One is really kind of a sad repair scenario backed supposedly by an extended service contract
that happens to not be backed by the manufacturer.
We're going to talk about that.
We're going to talk about an elderly father buying a new vehicle as a surprise on Daughters
Day for a relatively young, well, mid-40s in my book.
That's young.
But yeah, he's buying a car for her.
And then an octogenarian, you know what that is?
That's an 80-year-old asking me, Lenny, what should we buy?
And the process that I have to go through, really it's basically a four-step questionnaire
that I do.
And somebody sits in one of my overly padded chairs in my office and says, hey, Lenny, I
want a car, but I need you to tell me what to buy or a car or a truck or an SUV.
So I go through this little process, and maybe it will be helpful to you if you don't know
what to buy, okay?
So that's what we're going to be talking about today.
So first, let's talk about this warranty situation.
Well, there I go again.
It's not a warranty unless it's backed by the manufacturer, and this is not a warranty.
It's an extended service contract.
So she goes to a Ford dealer, not me, to a Ford dealer not too far from here and buys
what she's calling a warranty.
It's an extended service contract.
It's an agreement between you and an insurance company, in this case, that if you have
a covered repair that needs to be done on your vehicle, then they'll pay for it subject
to a $100 deductible.
But there's a lot of nuance there.
One of the things that folks, if you buy, well, even if you buy a factory backed extended
service contract or an aftermarket extended service contract, if you buy it, you better
maintain your vehicle according to the manufacturer's minimum requirements.
Because if you don't, you are subject to a claim denial.
And personally, I think that's reasonable.
You know, if you're supposed to have your oil changed, either when the light comes
on and tells you to change your oil, or, you know, if you're disciplined and you
get it done every 5,000 miles and get your tires rotated every time, like I recommend,
then you keep those records.
You will never have a problem getting a warranty claim covered unless it's just not listed
as the things that are covered.
You know, they'll deny a claim if it's not on there, but it has to be on there.
So if it is on there, then you will not have a problem if you've done all the recommended
maintenance.
Now, are they going to gig you if you don't replace your cabin air filter on time?
No.
That does not affect engine performance, but if you don't change your oil, if you don't
change your coolant at the recommended time, and specifically if you don't get the work
done at a certified shop where they write repair orders, you get copies of it, you stick it
in your glove box or in a file, whatever, just you have the records.
You keep them.
That's part of being responsible.
And the reason you have to do this is because it's so doggone expensive to get
things fixed.
And you bought the extended service contract because you didn't want to have to pay for expensive
repairs later, right?
Well just keep good records, and you'll be good.
So in this particular situation, she bought this service contract.
It's an aftermarket company.
It is not backed by Ford, and they are just putting her through the ringer big time.
Our car has been sitting in our dealership, and I hate to admit it, for five weeks.
And all of that time has been waiting for an adjuster.
We are having to slowly disassemble this thing.
Every time they say, well we need to see this, and now we need to see this, we're
having to disassemble a little bit more.
And we want to get paid for all this work as well.
And if this warranty falls through the cracks and doesn't pay this claim, this
lady is in for a shock.
She really is, because she owes us for all this work that we've done already, and then
she's going to have to pay for a new engine as well.
And it shouldn't be that way.
I hope she has her maintenance records.
It's a 2019 model vehicle, and I'm just hoping that she's been responsible.
You know, most people aren't, and they don't keep records.
But in this particular case, you know, it's always a good idea.
Like I usually say on this program, because of resale, if you have detailed maintenance
records, then if you're trying to sell your vehicle to somebody, they're going to be
real happy to see those records.
Because that just indicates to them that you are a responsible person, and you've
taken care of this vehicle.
So I mean, I think you've got to keep any kind of warranty ROs or regular maintenance,
you know, that you're having to pay for, and especially all your oil changes.
And it's even better if you write it down in a book.
But I'll tell you, if it's just written down in a book, and you don't have the actual
repair orders, the warranty company could kick it because of that, because they don't
trust you.
How do they know that you just didn't make all that stuff up and write it all down
with different colored pens last night?
But I'll tell you what, if you get it done at a new car dealership, and they keep
records, and every time you go in there, you insist that they write a repair
order, even when it's no problem found, you want a copy of the complaint, and you
want it to say NPF, or no problem found, because you have a record that you were
in there in case you ever have to have a lemon law situation or whatever.
So these are just little things that you will learn from a real live new car
dealer with a twist, and that's me.
If you are uncertain or going through something like this and don't know
what to do, just send me an email.
Tell me the story, Lenny Lawson, 2020 at gmail.com.
That's how you get to the guru, or you can send me a text to 423-552-2020, and I'll
coach you through it and tell you what you need to do, but just, you know, on
the front end, do what you're supposed to do.
Maintain your car, maintain it.
According to the manufacturer's recommendations, 99 times out of 100, you
won't have a problem.
Okay, I'll be back in just one minute.
Okay, so if somebody comes into my office, they're octogenarians, that means
they're 80, and they say, what should we buy?
So you know, there's this process that I go through.
I've got to grab my process.
It's right here beside me.
Yes, there are four areas that have to be, I guess, evaluated.
Number one, physical.
Why do they want a particular type of vehicle and what attributes and features
are important to them?
Are you buying it because you need to haul four by eight sheets of plywood?
Well, that's going to indicate probably that you need a pickup truck that has
at least four feet of space between the wheel wells in the bed.
And if you're going to be doing a lot of that, is a F-150 better than a Maverick?
Yeah, it is.
But is a Maverick designed to be able?
Does it have the capability to handle a four by eight sheet of plywood?
Yes, it does, but it's just not as safe.
And so these are things you have to diagnose.
How many people are going to be riding in the car?
Are you going to be traveling in it?
Is fuel economy important?
You know, what are the features, benefits, attributes that this thing needs to have
in order for you to love it and enjoy paying for it?
You know, when you write that check, that monthly payment check, that you don't feel regret.
So that's important.
Speaking of monthly payment checks, the financial side, how are you going to buy it?
Are you a cash buyer, finance buyer, lease buyer?
How much can you afford?
How much are you willing to pay?
How much should you pay for this car?
You know, is it something that's not selling very well on dealer lots?
If I'm trying to, you know, buy a Jeep Grand Cherokee, I'm going to do a little research.
I'm going to see how they're priced on cargo rues.
And I'm going to go on dealer lots, not on their lots, but, you know, on their
internet website.
And I'm going to check around and see if they're discounting them, see what kind
of prices are going on.
I'm going to do some research.
I'll just Google.
How are Jeep Grand Cherokee selling new ones?
And you'll get an answer.
AI will tell you, or, you know, Google, something will come up from some type of industry
analyst that will tell you they know these things are really stacking up on dealer
lots.
They're not turning.
They're not selling.
I mean, that's something you can go into the dealership and buy for invoice or
below.
Maybe give the dealer give up half of their hold back.
So it's important to know that.
You don't want to go in there thinking, well, this thing's rare, man.
These things are hard to find.
No.
They've got plenty of them.
They're hidden around back.
They want you to think that they're rare, but they're not.
Okay.
So that's the financial thing.
Then the aesthetical, yes, that is a word.
I looked it up, aesthetics.
It's how things look, the appearance, the shape, the color.
You know, it seems like most women these days like boxy vehicles.
Why is that?
You know, they've kind of gotten away from real swoopy lines and curves and stuff
like that.
They just like boxes.
And that's what's selling.
That's one of the reasons Bronco sells so well.
And Bronco sports and the Maverick and the F-150 even because they're angular.
You know, they're not rounded off.
That's a big thing right now.
You know, they've actually found that a lot of these angular shapes are more
aerodynamic than curves.
I would have never thought that.
But yeah, the aesthetics, you got to make sure that what are they looking for?
I mean, do they want some?
The color is that important?
Because to most people it is.
Very seldom will I get a customer in here that says, yeah, I don't care what
color it is, just as long as it drives good.
No, they want white or red or ginger moon dust.
You know, some crazy color.
OK, and then you have the chronological issues, timing, what sequence of events
are they looking for?
You want to do it now?
You want to do it today?
You want to wait?
You thinking about ordering something?
Would that work to get exactly what you want?
You know, I'm finding more and more people ordering vehicles now because
they do want to get exactly what they want.
During the pandemic, it just didn't work at all because we couldn't get
hardly anything.
Before that, it was typically eight to 10 weeks to get a car in, unless
you're buying something from overseas.
And then, well, of course, you don't order Japanese cars.
Did you know that?
Japanese cars, Korean vehicles, anything that comes from Asia?
And even if it's an Asian vehicle manufactured in the United States,
you do not order those cars.
You cannot order them.
They don't give you that option.
They will find one.
They have limited equipment groups, and so it makes it easier for them.
The domestic car makers have not figured that out yet.
They give you too many options, and it creates almost a situation
where you have to order the vehicle to get exactly the options
that you want on it.
Now, the Germans, especially like Mercedes-Benz, Porsche,
you can still order those vehicles, BMW.
But you're still, your options are somewhat limited,
unless you're talking about Porsche or Mercedes.
And then, I mean, if you want a different color stitching
in your leather seats, like you want yellow stitching
in your black leather seats, you can get it.
It's just amazing how you can customize those things.
It's crazy.
For example, I wanted Speed Yellow on my new one that I have.
Well, it's not new anymore.
It's a 2024 model.
And the paint, the standard paint,
is obviously no extra cost.
They have only five colors.
If you want to go to another set of colors,
it's $1,300 upcharge.
If I wanted Speed Yellow,
it was $13,200 extra to get Speed Yellow.
Guess what?
My car is silver.
I know it's boring, but it is pretty.
Okay, so I take this seriously.
When somebody comes in, they just don't know
what they want.
Direct me, sell me something.
You know, it's just, it's a lot of pressure.
So I don't just go out there
and start walking around the lot with them.
Now, I will nail down the kind of things
that they're interested in,
and I try to coach them a little bit,
make sure they stay on the track,
because they'll get out there in that lot,
or on the lot, and they'll say,
oh, that's pretty.
And it is nothing like what they were looking at,
or what they were talking about.
And I'll say, okay, yeah, that's really pretty,
but you know, it doesn't have the third row seat
that you said was essential.
Yeah, but it's just, I love the wheels.
You know how long that lasts?
Not long.
And they're coming back in six months
and saying, why did I buy this?
I said, why did you sell this to me?
Well, I tried to talk you out of it.
So I don't like to go down that road.
So we'll nail all those things down,
because I understand then
what they really need to accomplish.
And I can get them back on track.
They want me to do that.
They just won't admit it sometimes.
You're being awful bossy, Lenny.
Well, I'm not really,
I'm just kind of going by what you told me
was important, you know, on your list of must haves.
And so nail those down, and don't forget them.
It's physical, financial,
aesthetical, which is a word,
and chronological.
And if you will sit down and think about those four things
before you go car shopping,
I think it will help you make a better decision.
It covers pretty much all the bases.
Okay, so the other scenario.
You've got more money than Jed Clampett.
And you know, remember him?
Beverly Hillbillies.
And Mr. Driesdale is saying,
Jed, you need to spend some money.
Why don't you buy Ellie May a really nice car?
So Jed goes, okay, I'll go buy her a nice car.
So they go car shopping.
Ellie May has no clue what to buy,
but Jed has been directed to go to the Rolls-Royce dealership.
And so he's determined to buy her a Rolls-Royce
because it's the best.
Wee doggies, remember him?
And this is kind of what happens
because sometimes what you wanna buy for your loved one
is not what they need.
It's not the best choice.
So the scenario to hear at the dealership
is a gentleman had plenty of funds
and he wanted to buy her what she had talked about wanting.
And so still we have to sit down with him
and just, I think it's our fiduciary responsibility
to help somebody make a good decision.
Now we get overridden a lot
because with a lot of people,
logic has nothing to do with the decision.
It's an emotional thing
because it is exciting to buy a car.
Now this particular customer was very positive,
very appreciative and knew what she wanted.
And so he was helping her do that
and he was suggesting,
well, maybe you wanna drive an Explorer,
maybe you wanna drive this.
No, no, she wanted a Bronco
and that's really what she's,
she locked in on and she test drove it at our insistence
and then test drove another one.
Wanted to see what the difference the tires made
because one of them had really big monster tires on it
and the other had normal highway tires.
So she just really didn't see that much difference
between them as far as the ride
and the comfort and getting in and out of it.
So she really liked the way the bigger tires look better.
So that's what she ended up with.
And actually ended up changing colors.
She saw one in the showroom said,
oh, no, wait a minute, that is me.
You know, when you can lock in on something like that
and you've done the homework beforehand,
then you're probably gonna make a good decision.
And then we came back and negotiated a deal
and everybody's happy.
So I know there's probably a lot of people out there,
grandparents, maybe even parents that think they know
what the kids or the nephew or whatever,
whoever you may be buying a vehicle for.
You know, I've seen totally unrelated people
get new vehicles for someone who just in need.
We've seen that a lot.
And you'd think that if somebody's paying,
gonna pay for a vehicle that you would just take
whatever they point to.
And in some cases, that's what they do.
But still, you need to get what you want.
You need to get something, not necessarily what you want,
but what fits your lifestyle.
Because what happens is even with somebody
who gets a free car, they can go sour on it
after six months if it's the wrong vehicle.
If it doesn't ride right, if it's too much wind noise,
too much road noise, it's not comfortable.
You know, so you wanna nail that down.
You wanna be appreciative for the gift and I get it,
but you also don't wanna be trading three months from now
and then have to come up with a bunch of money
to pay difference.
It's just not a good thing.
Okay, I'll take my last break
and I'll be back here in just a minute.
You know, I can't cover every single scenario.
Well, maybe I have.
I've got 450 episodes on the podcast.
If you go to Google Podcast or Amazon or Apple Podcast
or whatever podcast or Spotify, what's the other one?
iHeart Radio.
If you go to any of those and go to the search,
you can just type in MyCarGuru podcast
and boom, 450 episodes.
It's just unfathomable.
That's not a word.
I tried though, too many syllables,
but I would highly recommend
that you get a copy of the MyCarGuru guidebook.
It is a 32 page.
It's not really a book,
but it's much more than a pamphlet.
It's 32 pages long and it has packed with information
that will help you in your car life.
Just text me your email address to 423-552-2020.
And if you don't use email or cell phones,
then just call the dealership at 423-639-5151
and tell the receptionist that you need a copy,
a printed copy of the MyCarGuru guidebook.
I will run off copies for you,
folded up, sticking an envelope and you'll have it
in printed form.
They need your address so we can mail it to you.
Well, it's been my pleasure to be with you.
See, just like Chick-fil-A.
And to give you the car advice
that you didn't even know you needed.
Well, thanks for listening
and I'll see you on the next episode of MyCarGuru.
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