Extended Warranty

Last updated: April 3, 2000

Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 07:33:22 PST
From: "C. MALAVE" (malave@hotmail.com)

>cars are covered, but the FD is rarely really covered. What you
>HAVE to do is find out who the real warranty company is, and
>call them, and ask if FD's are covered. Do not deal just w/ the
>warranty reseller.

I agree. And that is what I did when I recently purchased my warranty through autoconnection.com. If anyone needs a warranty, has over 60k miles (mine has 96k bone stock), and needs their seals and gaskets covered, these people have the package. I was going to wait to make a claim before I recommend them but through the Better Business Bur. they have had no complaints in 9 years. Granted they are the reseller, but I called up the main insurance company and they "assured" me that the FDs are covered. Everything! ANd the guy was very knowledgeable about the 3rd gens! If anyone has any experience with them, feel free to comment.

>Always pay w/ credit, so that if this happens you can have your creditcard 
>company fight them.

Again I agree and that is what I did. I have had to go to my credit card company before for a false charge and they helped out a lot.

>warranty companies will not cover the car if ANYTHING is different

This warranty does state in the fine print that if you had any "performance" modifications, the claim may be rejected.

>Make SURE they cover seals and gaskets.

You have to pay a little more (its worth it!) but this warranty company offers this option.

>Most warranties also have a 1000 mile and 1mo time period
>before the warranty really goes into effect.

This one had it too. I had my FD completely reviewed by a Rotary mechanic right before the warranty went into effect. I sent them a copy showing nothing is wrong with the car. This will prevent them from trying to say this was a previous existing problem (such as turbos).

I talked to the President (Gail) of the company yesterday & I told her about the list. She said if you mention my name, she will work with you as much as she can because I talked to them quite often. I hope this helps.

________________

Date: Sat, 11 Oct 1997 09:36:17 -0500
From: Martin Crane

Listed in order they were posted as highest to lowest. I don't know anything about them.

Warranty Companies:

1. Ryan Warranty 1-800-621-2130
2. Chrysler Service Contracts 1-800-521-9922
3. ESC 1-800-233-5819 (Ford)
4. GE Capital 1-800-322-3933

much farther down on the list:

Service Guard 1-800-723-1156
Motorists Assistance 1-800-642-7000 (General Motors)

Also, two warranty web sites are:

Warranty Gold ask for 5% discount

Warranty Direct

I bought mine from the dealer with the car when it was new. The company is First Extended Service Corporation. They can be reached at:

800-527-3426
214-387-8658
214-788-4865 Fax
13455 Noel Rd # 900
Dallas, TX 75240

I have no idea if they are any good or not. I just bought it on the spur of the moment when the dealer mentioned it to me. I feel a bit ashamed at having bought it that way, but it's water under the bridge now. Maybe they will be good. --Steve

Date: Wed, 8 Sep 1999 21:33:24 -0400,BR> From: sopiela@nycap.rr.com

Awhile back, Warranty Gold quoted me around $1,500 for a 3 year/36,000 mile warranty on my '93 base (31,400 miles)

Today, I called National Protection Services and they quoted me $759 for the same coverage, which to me sounds like a decent price since I just spent $1,000 to replace my differential.

Date: Mon, 24 Nov 1997 10:54:40 -0600
From: "Jones, Trey"

The guys at Pettit said that they have good luck with claims from owners with Fidelity extended warranty.

__________________

Date: Thu, 27 Nov 1997 16:30:23 -0500 (EST)
From: BRADDOGG1@aol.com

My warranty company is Fidelity and yes they were pretty good when my engine blew. They agreed to pay for the engine but only at retail cost. The problem being is that dealers like to jack up the price on their engines for us warranty work people, resulting in us paying the difference. Luckily for me, Madza agreed to pay instead of having the warranty company pay. Therefore saving me the $400 overcharge.

Fidelity Warranty Company
1-800-327-5172
305-429-2500
Fax 305-429-2660

__________________

Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 21:54:43 -0500 (EST)
From: GREDDYRX7@aol.com (Jason)

Fidelity Warranty Services, Inc.
P.O. Box 8567 Deerfield Beach, FL 33443
1-800-327-5172

Date: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 21:57:09 -0500
From: Rob Robinette

I just received a check for $1606 from Ryan Warranty Services (800 621-2130) for my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gear synchro replacement. I purchased the extended warranty from the dealer when I bought the car new in February 93. I was very pleasantly surprised with the company. I assumed I would have to argue with the company for the authorization for the repair but when the company rep came to the Mazda dealer to test drive the car he agreed that the synchros needed replacement (the 3rd gear synchro replacement was the dealers suggestion!) Later, when the dealer didn't document the authorization number for the repair I was afraid Ryan Warranty would try to deny that they authorized it but when I called them they found my record and gave me the number so I could complete the warranty claim form. It took almost a month to get the check but they said that for such a large check it has to be approved by upper management. Just wanted to share my positive experience with you. I know I was apprehensive about dealing with a warranty company.

Date: Thu, 26 Feb 1998 17:49:29 -0500
From: Keith Meier

Just thought I'd let you know that I signed on to Warranty Gold today. Chris the Manager was very helpful. It ended up @ $950. for 7/70 coverage with $50. deduct per visit. As I stated earlier, I drive real easy so they may get the better of me. He did mention an offer of $100.00 that would enable me to recover 85% of my money at the end of the contract if I did not have one single claim. Also, if anybody buys a warranty from them, ask for Chris M. (can't remember his last name). He said mention my name and the RX-7 list and get 25.00 off.

Date: Sat, 11 Jul 1998 05:44:41 -0500
From: Martin Crane (snip)

Warranty Directs cut off is 60K. This is what I still have available.

I contacted Warranty Direct, Warranty Gold, Advantage Warranty, and a few others listed above. Only these three would warranty our cars after the factory warranty expired.

The Chrysler and Ford warranties are only available on Chrysler and Ford.

When I asked this question before, those list members with G.E. Capitol and Ryan were very satisfied, but these were only available to vehicles currently under warranty or through a dealer.

The numbered portion of the list above is customer satisfaction in order of highest to lowest as supplied to me.

Warranty Direct and Warranty Gold's coverage's both seem similar. I went with Warranty Direct at 59K due primarily to cost and coverage information I was able to attain. Advantage was cheapest, but I couldn't get as much information about them. Some on the BMW list reported the brochure received at the dealer and that received from Advantage were identical.

Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 01:11:58 -0700
From: Tim Stiles

If you have an extended Mazda warranty and you take your car into the dealer do you think the service writer cares how much of Mazda's money he spends fixing your car? Especially since he earns a commision on all the repairs he writes up? No. That's one big reason the factory warranty is better.

When you buy an aftermarket warranty the hope going in is that you'll never have any claims, or hopefully a small claim. And that's the way most policies go. I could write an essay on this but I already have---its just not in my outbox for some reason.

There are some good aftermarket companies out there--but never forget they are in this to make a profit....not to ensure your car works!

That in mind I would suggest:

1) read the whole warranty package, read the contract front and back

2) know who's cutting the check for your repairs

3) perform all scheduled maintenance and KEEP THE RECORDS, that means the oil and oil filter receipts etc if you do the work yourself (almost all contracts stipulate that the vehicle be maintained in accordance with manuf requirements

4) if you've done a lot of mods on your car remove what you can before taking it in for repair (remove any reason they might dig up to deny the claim)

5) and if you're car blows up at the dragstrip/track etc wash or remove the numbers and racing decals on your car before taking it in (we had one car come in with quarter mile times and a car number still on it written with white shoe polish) Guy blew his motor at the dragstrip and we denied his claim using the no abuse clause in his contract ; we had another car come in...a 5.0 Mustang where the guy installed Nitrous and hooked the trigger up to his horn buttons--he didn;t think he needed any of the metering hardware so he just cut a hole in the intake hose and plumbed the nitrous in unmetered--his crankshaft went through his radiator!!

Those are extreme cases but in both cases if the people had taken the time to restore the vehicles appearance we would have most likely paid the claims.

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