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I had an extended third party warranty on my last car. I needed the transmission rebuilt, at a cost of about $2400. The warranty would cover repairs up to $2000. I contacted the company and wanted to see if the repair would be covered. They sent a representative out to the repair shop (the rep was a private contractor), he inspected the transmission, and OK'd the repair to the warranty company.
This is where you need to be careful. I called the warranty company up at this point asking them if they were going to cover the repair. They said yes, but I wanted it in writing (didn't want to put $2400 of my own money out (UP FRONT) and then have to wait for them to reimburse me). I felt at this point they could just decide not to pay me even after I had paid to have the work done.
With persistence I got a letter in writing faxed to me at work and also to the shop saying that they would refund $2000 plus tax once the repairs were completed and proof of payment was received. At this point I OK'd the shop to continue with the transmission rebuild. I had agreed to pay them $400 for the transmission removal and teardown so they could inspect the transmission to see what was wrong.
I always subscribe to the CYA theory (Cover your a@@), so I try to get everything in writing so if there is a problem it isn't "so and so told me this" and "so and so told me that" then so and so decides to forget what he/she told me or they change jobs.
3rd party warranties are less expensive because they don't generally have a brand name or product to stand behind, unlike factory warranties (although I have heard horror stories with Saab factory warranties). So they can afford to screw people over without having to pay for it. If I were you I'd contact the 3rd party warranty company, fax them the estimated repair bill and get them to okay the repairs and fax back a letter saying that they would pay for the repairs (or whatever portion of the repairs they agree to cover).
It took me about a week to get the transmission torn down, inspected, and a letter to agree to coverage. The car was finished in about another week; I paid the full bill at this point. It then took me another 30 days to receive the check for $2120. All told it was about a 6 week process, but it saved me a lot of money.
posted by 68.45.24...
, Mon, 15 May 2006 12:07:54
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