Are Auto Warranties Worth It – Editorial Note: This content was researched and produced by the review expert team. The links in this article may earn us a commission, but they do not affect our advice or recommendations. learn more
Aftermarket auto warranty is protection you buy for your vehicle after the manufacturer’s warranty expires to help pay for repairs.
Are Auto Warranties Worth It
Best coverage 4.6/5 Cost: Various discounts available Coverage: 6 plan options, from routine maintenance to full coverage Reputation: Smooth claims experience as a direct provider
Harley Davidson’s Extended Warranty (2020)
Best monthly payments Cost 4.5/5: Flexible month-to-month contracts Coverage: 6 plan options, some lasting up to 300,000 miles Reputation: Most popular warranty provider
Best for used cars 4.4/5 Cost: No down payment required Coverage: 6 plan options, highest similar to manufacturer’s warranty Reputation: Strong Better Business Bureau (BBB)
Between monthly payments, car insurance, and car repairs, owning a vehicle isn’t cheap. With a new car, you have some protection against mechanical failure with the factory warranty, but what happens when that coverage ends? The best option to cover repairs would be an aftermarket car warranty, also called a vehicle protection plan or vehicle service contract.
With so many options to choose from, you have to do your research to find the provider that fits your needs. We’ve done the work for you by researching for 1,475 hours everything there is to know about auto warranties, including the best providers. We’ve compiled our results to explain the best extended vehicle warranty companies. Compare quotes from some of these top-rated providers.
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Why You Can Trust At , we’re dedicated to providing car owners with the well-researched and proven information they need to make informed decisions about auto warranties. Our team analyzes vendor offerings and customer insights so you can feel empowered to make the best choice.
An aftermarket warranty provides protection once factory coverage expires. You can add it at any time, not just when you buy the vehicle. Aftermarket car warranties can also be called extended car warranties, although technically, both are vehicle service contracts that are often offered by third-party providers.
These auto protection plans cover the cost of repair parts and labor, just like the manufacturer’s warranty, and are a common source of vehicle protection, especially for used and older cars.
You can get an aftermarket car warranty from a dealer or a third-party company. Our research team reviewed 46 different warranty providers to help find the provider that best suits your needs.
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With the dealership, you have access to original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts and factory-trained technicians. Normally, you should take your car to the manufacturer’s service center. This can be an advantage or very limiting.
A third-party auto warranty offers more flexibility. You can go to any authorized repair shop and visit a mechanic of your choice. Obviously, not all of these companies will provide the same level of service. We also cannot guarantee that they offer the right guarantees for your needs. That’s why it’s important to shop around and compare different providers.
Aftermarket car warranty providers have many different elements that determine whether they are right for you. We create an overall review score for each provider based on their ratings in five key areas: industry position, coverage, cost, transparency and customer service.
To provide you with the most up-to-date information, we update our review standards several times a year. Below are more details on what we look for in each rating category:
Are Extended Car Warranties Worth It?
Suppliers receive a high score in this category based on any award, rating or recognition from trusted warranty appraisers such as Kelley Blue Book, CARFAX or the Better Business Bureau (BBB). We also consider customer reviews on sites like BBB and Trustpilot and how much experience a warranty provider has.
Providers that offer several different coverage options are rewarded with a higher score in this category. If a company offers plans with long term limits and multiple benefits, its coverage score increases.
Providers that offer affordable coverage plans and deductible options can expect to see a higher score in the cost category. If these same providers offer discounts, your score will increase.
When it comes to this category, if a company offers a money-back guarantee and allows customers to view sample contracts on the coverage plan pages, it will receive high marks. Your website also needs to be relatively clear and easy to navigate.
Extended Car Warranties: Are They Worth It?
Strong online customer reviews give providers high scores in this category. If a provider has a mobile app and offers an online chat option for customers, their customer service score will also increase.
If you’re looking for additional car repair coverage, Endurance, ForeverCar and Olive.com™ are extended warranty providers that should be on your shopping list. All of these providers allow car owners to visit their favorite auto repair facilities, choose deductibles starting at $0, and enjoy a variety of perks.
Of all the companies we reviewed, Endurance topped our list for its six versatile aftermarket warranty plans that offer different levels of protection for drivers with different needs. As a direct provider, Endurance manages all the plans it sells. This makes the claims process much easier as you are working with the same company for the life of your protection plan.
Endurance Extended Warranties also include a free one-year subscription to Endurance Elite benefits, which include roadside assistance, key replacement, identity theft services, tire replacement and more. Endurance Warranty reviews are mostly positive with reports of excellent customer service. Find out why and get a free quote from Endurance below.
Best Extended Car Warranty Companies Of 2023
Reputable extended car warranty company that offers six levels of coverage and has excellent customer reviews. It’s our pick for best coverage and our overall top pick for extended warranty providers.
Although ForeverCar is not as experienced as industry giants like Endurance or CARCHEX, this aftermarket warranty provider makes up for it by offering significantly cheaper aftermarket warranty plans.
ForeverCar offers a 30-day money-back guarantee for all four of its different levels of protection. These warranties run for 3 years/unlimited miles and have sample contracts on the plan page of the ForeverCar website, demonstrating that ForeverCar is transparent and upfront with drivers about what it offers.
Despite being less than 12 years old, ForeverCar has more than 5,000 reviews on Trustpilot, with 97 percent of them very positive. ForeverCar’s track record of customer satisfaction combined with its affordable coverage options make it a top three recommended aftermarket warranty provider.
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Olive doesn’t offer as many coverage options as ForeverCar or Endurance, but their auto warranties offer very comprehensive coverage. Olive is our best choice for the best online warranty in the industry. The company is unique in that coverage for customers begins as soon as you purchase your plan online.
It also uses a subscription-based billing model that customers can use to cancel at any time. Olive offers a price-lock guarantee and is one of the best digital experiences in the industry with an easy-to-navigate website that is clear about each of its plans. That’s why in our Olive warranty review, we give the company the award for best warranty online.
These are just our top three recommendations, but none of them are guaranteed to give you what you need for you and your own vehicle. That’s why when you buy an aftermarket vehicle warranty, you need to decide what’s most important to you. Maybe you really want roadside assistance or a $0 deductible, or maybe you just want the simplest powertrain coverage for some expensive vehicle components.
We conducted a survey in 2022 to find out which companies customers purchased aftermarket warranties from. Although 56 percent of respondents chose CarShield, other popular companies were CARCHEX, autopom! and Protect my car. All of these companies also have fairly long mileage limits on their protection plans.
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Aftermarket car warranties come in many different varieties. Like factory warranties, limits are set by year and mileage, and the plan expires when one of the limits is reached. For example, a 5-year/60,000-mile plan would expire for these two scenarios: the car is 5 years old and has 40,000 miles, or the car is 4 years old but has 60,000 miles.
The best providers allow drivers to choose from a number of different coverage lengths. They also allow drivers to choose which items are covered by service plans. Many companies have around five basic coverage options that follow a formula like this:
Aftermarket car warranties also offer more flexibility compared to factory or dealer warranties. For example, extended factory warranties usually have to be purchased before the standard warranty expires. In some cases, you have to get an extended warranty at the time you buy your new car – how would you know if you need it so soon?
Conversely, aftermarket car warranties can be added at any time. They can also last much longer compared to factory extended warranties. For example, Toyota’s longest extended warranty coverage lasts up to 125,000 miles, but the plans on our top aftermarket picks
The Truth About Extended Car Warranties
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