My first thought was the ever-faithful Consumer Reports, but they have
no rankings of warranties available on the Web site. Subscribers have
access to archives These two articles
(http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=19359&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=18151&bmUID=1045782900564
and http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv2.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=22207&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=21135&bmUID=1045783006763)
may be useful to you. Here’s the magazine’s bottom line on warranties:
“In our judgment, extended warranties aren't worth the money,
especially if you buy a reliable car--one whose predicted reliability
we rate excellent or very good--or plan on keeping the car only three
or four years. Yet salespeople, who are compensated for selling such
warranties, will push them on new car buyers. If you plan on keeping a
car for at least five years and feel you must have an extended
warranty for peace of mind, we recommend one backed by the vehicle
manufacturer, not by an independent insurance company. In our
experience, manufacturer-backed warranties are often better than the
independents', easier to make claims against, and have less fine
print.”
A lot more information is available to subscribers,, including four
years of archives, and you can subscribe for $24.00 a year or $4.95 a
month at (http://www.consumerreports.org/main/commerce/agreement.jsp?FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=25031&CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=25035&bmUID=1045783485805).
In general, the auto warranty business is pretty slimy, and rankings
are only as good as the integrity of the ranking organization. That
said, here are two possible sources for your rankings:
Auto Warranty Reviews Online (http://www.autowarrantyreviews.org/)
bills itself as “a consumer-oriented service dedicated to bringing you
advice and information regarding extended maintenance warranties or
service contracts for your car or truck.”
I can’t vouch for their objectivity, but they do offer a list of
warranty providers. The Top 10 providers, based on a proprietary
rating system, can be found at
(http://www.autowarrantyreviews.org/top_ten.htm). For a more detailed
list without rankings, check out
(http://www.autowarrantyreviews.org/library/complete.htm).
The reason I won’t vouch for Auto Warranty Reviews Online’s
objectivity is because the site gets a referral fee for purchases from
top-ranked providers, and much of the information is out of date.
Carbuyingtips.com offers a bunch of useful advice about buying
warranties and recommends a couple of companies on this page
(http://www.carbuyingtips.com/warranty.htm). These companies are just
the site’s picks, but here’s what the author, Jeff Ostroff, says about
them: “Warranty companies pay to have their banners here. It keeps
the site running, after all how much did you pay to use this site? I
interviewed major companies then choose the ones that we thought were
the most honest, up front, had the best coverage, and a track record
of paying claims. I recommend sites I know will do good for you.
Dealers may tell you I'm trying to make a buck off you with scare
tactics. We are here to keep you from getting scared! This page was
up since 1997, before I had advertisers.”
Here are some sites that offer good advice about how to select a
warranty and how to avoid being rooked:
Car analysis site Edmunds offers plenty of advice on warranties at
(http://www.edmunds.com/advice/?tid=edmunds.g.home.header.advice.4.*”
At (http://www.carbuyingtips.com/scams.htm) you can learn how to avoid
warranty scams.
The next site I cite (http://www.cartruck.com/faq.htm) is the site of
a warranty seller, so keep that in mind when you read. But some of the
information is good advice.
For general advice on car buying, this Consumer Reports page
(http://www.consumerreports.org/main/detailv3.jsp?CONTENT%3C%3Ecnt_id=25035&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=25031&bmUID=1045783368210)
is excellent.
Search strategies:
Auto “extended warranty” “best of”
Auto “extended warranty” rank |
