Vehicle Protection Plans

78

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It was many years ago the last time I shopped for one of these. Eight months later, when I dialed the company with my first claim, the automated greeting announced that no claims would be processed while the company was in receivership. I apparently had missed the tiny little disclosure in fine print: Domiciled in the Cayman Islands. Ugh.

There are a crapload of companies vying for the market space now. Endurance, Fidelity, Warranty Group, CARCHEX, ACS, AA Auto and lots more. But one thing hasn't changed. The business model is based on basic weasel principles: Find a way, any way -- hell, lie if you have to -- to avoid paying claims. Just don't pay 'em.

I'm shopping a pre-owned. I won't mention what, but let's just say I don't want it to be uncovered. It has a complicated transmission, so convoluted it's actually referred to as an automated manual transmission. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

Dear God, almost a week later, no one can figure out if it's coverable or not, and I'm not joking, which is kind of driving me crazy. I went to the mat with two companies, both under the same administrator, with one insisting it wasn't covered and the other insisting it was. I politely asked the sales agent from the company which offered to cover it for additional proof -- like a manager or underwriter or his signature in blood. He offered the manager, who turned out to be the director of sales, which is like saying if this guy effs up, we'll have to pay the claim regardless. Or so I hope.

I am very familiar with your transmission as I have a transmission that works similar.

The R tronic transmission has multiple functions; it can function automatically or it can function manually; however, both of those functions are still run by computers and control modules. You ARE manually shifting a paddle or a gearbox; however, that is just a switch that tells the computer when to shift the gears and/or ratio’s is some other R tronic type transmissions.

The contract excludes manual and hydraulic clutch (sic) assembly’s. Your clutch assembly is still electronic, you just have switches that speak to the computer and tell it when to engage different gears.

To which an agent for his competitor, with whom I shared the email (hey, I wanna know if this guy's trying to dupe me), replied:

I just spoke with ****** at Royal. It is not covered and he laughed when I told him someone else was claiming it was. It is a manual clutch run by a computer. Your representative at Carchex needs a little better training.

So I went back to the director of sales and said, hey, obviously someone's wrong here, I'd prefer to be buying from Mr. Right, can we consult with Mr. Underwriter? Well, it turns out it is viewed as an automated manual but it's still got two clutch plates in the middle operated by hydraulic fluid, and regardless whether a computer's pressing the buttons, they're wear items and likely excluded from coverage. But he has a sister company that for a few more bucks will cover these kinds of transmissions. "I'll let you know on Monday."

The car, meanwhile, had $1,875 in services done to it at the expense of the selling party, which is wondering if they sunk money into inventory or a car that is being purchased by a persnickety customer from Florida.

The moral of the story being, you can probably trust Hillary before you can trust a company that sells vehicle protection plans.
 

Durty South Swamp

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I had one for my tundra for a few years, had zero issues with them. They replaced my auto door locks, fixed an issue with my electronic seats and put a new set of brake shoes and calipers on the front end bc the old ones were sticking and burning the shoes up.

Never had to argue and never cost me a scent. I think it was like "gold care" or something like that.
 

78

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I've had good luck with some. Fidelity comes to mind. You sometimes get inconvenienced waiting for the field adjustor to inspect the car before approving the fix.

I'm looking at exclusionary coverage, which is the most comprehensive because it covers everything that isn't specifically named in the contract.
 

G 2

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My car has a dual clutch automated manual transmission and I had no issue getting exclusionary coverage. Even Porsche's PDK transmission is covered without issue. So maybe the problem is they don't want to cover the make of car you're looking for? After all those Ferrari's SATs aren't cheap. ;)
 

grengadgy

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I had one for my tundra for a few years, had zero issues with them. They replaced my auto door locks, fixed an issue with my electronic seats and put a new set of brake shoes and calipers on the front end bc the old ones were sticking and burning the shoes up.

Never had to argue and never cost me a scent. I think it was like "gold care" or something like that.
a new set of brake shoes and calipers on the front end ,

hmmmm, an interesting concept
 

78

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My car has a dual clutch automated manual transmission and I had no issue getting exclusionary coverage. Even Porsche's PDK transmission is covered without issue. So maybe the problem is they don't want to cover the make of car you're looking for? After all those Ferrari's SATs aren't cheap. ;)

Haha! They'll cover the tranny, it's the two hydraulically controlled clutch plates they probably won't cover. Small problem. It costs $8,000 to replace those two plates, most of it labor because you have to pull the motor.
 

crosscreekcooter

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Haha! They'll cover the tranny, it's the two hydraulically controlled clutch plates they probably won't cover. Small problem. It costs $8,000 to replace those two plates, most of it labor because you have to pull the motor.

Is this a rear engined car?
 

78

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G 2

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Midengine.
Good choice
Haha! They'll cover the tranny, it's the two hydraulically controlled clutch plates they probably won't cover. Small problem. It costs $8,000 to replace those two plates, most of it labor because you have to pull the motor.
I've heard of the pressure plates not being covered on standard factory warranty due to it being a wearable item.
 

78

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Good choice

I've heard of the pressure plates not being covered on standard factory warranty due to it being a wearable item.

Appears to be technicality in my case. It's because they're hydraulically operated. It's not the end of the world. I've talked to three dealers who've said they've yet to have a car brought in with worn plates. But they are expensive if they go.
 

G 2

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Appears to be technicality in my case. It's because they're hydraulically operated. It's not the end of the world. I've talked to three dealers who've said they've yet to have a car brought in with worn plates. But they are expensive if they go.
Goodluck and whenever you get your new ride, I'm sure we all would love to see pics. :cool:
 

stephenPE

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Not a car but in 84 I bought a new RCA video camera. Maybe $1800. Well, I paid the $200 for service over the next 5 years. SAVED ME A Fortune. And then right when the warranty ran out that company went bankrupt. I probably was the reason.
 

L-boy

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I've only ever bought a car warranty once. Many years ago with my wife's new Honda Accord. Bought it at the dealer. Got to 105k miles and catalytic converter went out. Not cheap. Warranty went to 100k. I raised hell because I had it in for service with issues before 100k but they misdiagnosed the problem. After raising holy hell and them escalating it to regional management they finally gave me some warranty relief on the repair.

We tend to put a lot of miles on cars 25 to 30k per year. Rarely have I ever had a significant issue before 100k so the warranties seem worthless. Sometimes we buy used cars.

I look at pretty much all warranties as scams and not worth it. To me you insure what you can't afford and we can afford car maintenance. The one exception on product warranties is on my daughters electronics. I tend to buy them for sheer peace of mind because she doesn't take care of her crap and destroys it. In spite of that I have never had to actually use the warranty.
 

78

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Well, the electrohydraulic transmission is covered but not the clutch plates, which causes a bit of a dilemma. The manufacturer, at least according to the dealer I spoke to, doesn't sell the clutch plates separate. You have to buy a whole new transmission.

Cost? $21,000.

Learned another thing as I went back and forth with the sales director for the fourth day. Absent consequential coverage, you can have a part go bad and cause failure to subsequent parts and only be covered for the original part failure. Also, be wary about a contract that aggregates claims. Once the aggregate figure exceeds the car's cash value, you're kaput.
 

G 2

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At some point its a matter of whether you can afford the car or not. Have to pay to play.
 

oxrageous

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For God's sake 78, tell us what the car is. It's obviously not a Honda Civic.
 

78

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:lol: Let's not get carried away. It's a pre-owned Audi.
 

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