Extended Auto Warranty-ENSURALL

[kalg1975]

Greetings all,

Well, I have read through a few post regarding this, and I know generally speaking, most folks are VERY against any third party extended car warranties, however I am looking into it just the same.

I just bought an 05 Acura MDX, and it is a US vehicle. So, not only does the remainder of the manufacturers warranty not carry across the border, the widely accepted best 3rd party extended warranty company....Warranty Direct...will not insure cross border vehicles.

The I am aware that these 3rd party extended warranties can be a bit of a pain (and the one I am currently looking at ENSURALL has a silly 5000 km/3 month oil change policy...hardly THAT big of a deal...but still silly) however in speaking to my mechanic (who has been/is great to my wife and I ) almost all the repairs on Acuras come at a substantial premium, and for $1500 for 3 years it does not seem like a huge rip-off.

Anyways, all this to ask, for those that aren't completely anti-extended warranty, have you had any good/bad experiences with any 3rd party auto warranty companies. Thanks all in advance for any replies

[Pete_Coach]

I am not anti extended warranty at all. I think they are very useful for the peace of mind of an individual who has limited knowledge and ability when it comes to vehicles.
I do want to express concern about third party warranty's though. If you have a mechanic that you and your Wife really trust and will be taking the work to him, he is the person to ask about this company.
This guy is the one who will be spending time on the phone asking (pleading sometimes) on your behalf to get the work authorized and paid for. If this guy is willing to do that for you then get the one he has dealt with and had success with.
remember that the service manager of mechanic or shop owner has to spend a considerable amount of time getting the OK's and he is not getting paid for spending that time on the phone. If it starts to take too long, or if they have to start faxing or emailing photos, I can assure you that the mechanic is gonna get fed up real fast and you, the car owner, will lose.
In the end, ask your mechanic for the company to go with, he knows who pays out and who doesn't.
As an aside, my Son is a service manager at a dealership and deals with customers and warranty companies all the time. A belligerent customer gets minimal assistance. Sometimes the service guy just cannot get the warranty company to pay out and you need to understand it is not the service guy who is at fault.

[kalg1975]

Thanks for the reply Pete.

You bring up a good point in talking to my mechanic and see if he has had any issues in the past with any of the companies I am looking at. Thanks....not sure why I didn't think of it.

To be honest I have no real desire to purchase this warranty, but for the price it seems like a nice bit of security should I have purchased the dreaded used-car lemon.

[sanjayshroff]

Does anyone have any opinion of ensurall

Is it a good, reliable company...Do they take interest in helping & paying back the customer genuinely....Is it a big company or more like a mom & pop shop ripoff opeartion...
I recvd below quotes from them for my Nissan Xterra.

Quote Prepared for:

Vehicle Make: Nissan
Model: Xterra
Year: 2006
Warranty Packages:
Option Plan: ($100 Deductable)
Including Manufacturers Warranty:
Expires Jan 2011/100,000 KM: $671.65
5 Star ($100 Deductable)
Including Manufacturers Warranty:
+5 Year / +100,000 KM: +$1949.50 (Expires Jan 2016 or 200,000 KM on Odometer)
+4 Year / +85,000 KM: +$1591.43 (Expires Jan 2015 or 185,000 KM on Odometer)
+3 Year / +65,000 KM: +$1299.12 (Expires Jan 2014 or 165,000 KM on Odometer)
+2 Year / +50,000 KM: +$1222.01 (Expires Jan 2013 or 150,000 KM on Odometer)
+1 Year / +25,000 KM: +$1067.79 (Expires Jan 2012 or 125,000 KM on Odometer)
Deductable Options:
$50 Deductable: ADD $100.00
$0 Deductable: ADD $150.00


Do you believe this can be further bargained. I am surprised that in every communication/article I see of this company, the only name that shows around is that of "Shadi Jarjoura", thus am wondering is this is just a small shop with one salesman/owner or is it genuinely a company which will be around. Many of these folks just start up company and vanish off with the $$$$..Please do offer your genuine opinion. I am planning to get the 3+ year warranty on my Nissan Xterra.

Thanks

[sanjayshroff]

From googling...I figured out that Veri-cheque the parent company of Ensurall is a small operation of 130 people ( I guess Ensurall maybe 5 or 10 people). From what I read, they sell around 1000 warranties each month, roughly $1500 a piece....Its easy for such a company to fold/bankrupt and vanish away (no federal backup insurance too) ...Thus, my question to experts here is....Is Ensurall worth trusting in purchasing extended auto warranty..and paying $2000 to such a small unknown operation?

Thanks,
SS

[Jucius Maximus]

Some extended warranties have a maximum $amount they will pay out per incident and there is a deductible. Furthermore, they force you to go to the affiliated garage. In some cases, these affiliated garages will vastly inflate the price of the repair over the maximum value covered per incident so you are paying a lot out of pocket anyway.

No only that, some warranties have a maximum total payout that they will give during the life of the warranty, and this is not much higher than 3-4X the amount you paid!

And to make things even more fun, sometimes you have to get the mechanic to fill out these postcard things for each oil change (which has to be done at your own cost at often a more frequent interval than what the manufacturer requires) and then you have to mail them by registered mail to the warranty company. Otherwise your coverage is shot.

[Pete_Coach]

sanjayshroff, you seem to be more concerned about the size of the company and the number of employees as opposed to the coverages and what it can do for you in the event of a component failure?
To add to Jucius Maximus response, some after market third party companies also have a limit on the amount of times you can make a claim each year as well as a financial limitation for each claim and for the year. You will also be bound to the explicit (fine print) for the term of the warranty and in your case you are thinking 3 years bringing you to 2014. That is a long time to have to pay so close attention. If you break one article in the contract, you lose everything, not just that specific repair. The whole contract will be void.
My comment to you would be exactly the same as to the OP, ask your mechanic who he deals with and if there is anyone he would suggest you stay away from.
As an aside, it seems to me, in these bad economic times, that the only area of growth in the automotive sector, is these third party warranty companies. I have concerns with this because if so many companies are springing up, there must be profit in it...big profit...for them, not you the consumer.

[cottagepeople]

The opinions of the various posters are appreciated, but I am curious, whether anyone out there has actually had any positive or negative experiences with making a claim with Ensurall.