It’s just like buying umbrella insurance in that you are buying an extended period of coverage for your car. You hope you will never need it but when the rains come and the umbrella is broken you want one. The problem? In most cases, people take their coverage without reading for a second a review. It’s a costly mistake. If you are comparing warranty options get started with Extended Car Warranty Reviews.

Let’s start with the big ones. Autopom!, CARCHEX and Endurance are all reputable companies that receive positive reviews from consumers. That is, Endurance deserves credit for their direct to consumer pricing, meaning they do not consume any of your coverage. Customers have even gone on to say that the claims are processed quickly and reimbursements are not that bad. That sucks. Like parking it in downtown Manhattan.

However, this gets more complex. A lot of these warranty’s have a lot of holes in the fine print. As one user on Reddit wrote, he had his transmission repaired, which was $3,200, and was ultimately denied the coverage because one sensor was not included in the the “covered components. Painful. That trend is seen again and again in Trustpilot and Better Business Bureau reviews. The lower monthly payments can mean less coverage. Buyer beware, you get what you pay for, or less.

They are not all created equal. Some are simply shady, they take premiums and then fold before you file a claim after 18 months, and other larger companies, thousands of people have contracts that are essentially worthless as per American Warrior Shield and other short lived companies. That’s why you must always make sure that the company you do business with has the financial support and BBB rating before you get involved. One tip: just type the name of the company followed by “complaints. The first thing that appears is all you need to know.

Then what are you looking for? Wear-and-tear, not just catastrophic failures. If you are going to sell, obtain a contract that you can transfer A 30-day money-back guarantee Preferably the 24 hours a day roadside assistance as part of the deal Look at the number of reviews that are posted by the actual customers not promotional ones included by the company in their website they’re as good as a 200,000-mile car that’s listed as runs great Do your research look around at least three vendors and don’t be rushed into any decision by a high pressure salesperson There is a correct warranty It’s a matter of some digging.