I am about to buy a Honda Odyssey from an independent dealer. He is offering me an AUL extended warranty for 3 years 50k… I have found some complaints about this company (AUL) but is that just the vocal minority? Any mechanics or people have experience with them good or bad?
Thanks.
I would never buy one from anyone except the car manufacturer (even then they’re a money losing proposition on average). There are too many horror stories out there about failure to pay that make 3rd party warraties (like the one you describe) worse than useless. Ignore what the dealer says, he wants to make BIG money by selling you the warranty.
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Well any car can have major expensive repairs.
The profit to the salesman and company is usually over 50%. So for every $1,000 you spend the insurance company has less than $500 to pay for repairs or they will loose money, something insurance companies do not do. Some people will get nothing back and some will get a lot more than they pay. Most will get far less. In addition you need to keep in mind that the insurer has worded it to eliminate as many expensive things as they can.
Remember that the seller is out to make money and they get to write the rules and set the price. They are not going to sell them at a loss so one way or another they are going to have you pay more than they will pay out.
Would you gamble with a car dealer who gets to set all the rules and knows all the odds?
Your decision has to do with the value of the piece of mind it gives you. If that is worth the cost then buy it. Don't expect it to cover everything however, most are written to keep cost down and exempt what they know will cost them money.
Good Luck
What year Odyssey? Some of them had transmission issues that you should avoid.
That said, avoid this warranty BS too. Pretty much guaranteed it won’t pay if you need it to. They’ll either claim that you didn’t do something you needed to do (that was in 4 point print on page 37 of the warranty contract telling you you had to bring the car in once a week for a check-visit or some such BS) or they’ll claim that whatever breaks is not one of the covered parts because of a technicality that they will make up on the spot.
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Agree; your chance of collecting on one of these is slim. Put he money in the bank and look for another car at a different location.
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These things are so 'iffy" a person would have to read the exact contract offered in order to give an answer (other than don’t do it, that answer can be given without reading the contract).
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My problem - even if I read the exact contract, and it says something is covered, I doubt they’ll live up to it, so it’s worthless. C&D had a good article on it:
http://www.caranddriver.com/features/09q4/extended_car_warranties_peace_of_mind_or_something_else_-feature
You should NEVER buy one…even one from the manufacturer…They are nothing more then a very very expensive insurance policy and should avoided like the plague.
My vote is with everyone else; avoid policies like this and that includes policies from electronic stores such as Best Buy, etc. It’s a waste of money, could possibly lead to much grief when your view of a covered repair does not match theirs, and you’re better off just setting up an interest bearing slush fund with the money that would have been spent on the warranty.
I’ve worked for car dealers and we refused to perform any repair on a billing basis with any non-factory authorized warranty company. When these things first came into being shops would perform the work, send the car down the road, and then get stiffed by the warranty company. This led to a cash up front from the customer situation and then let the customer fight it out with their warranty company.
These companies are also known to pop up for a few years, collect a fortune in fees, and then fade to oblivion, only to resurface a week later under another name after the lawyers do their job of reincorporation.
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I recommend putting that money into a separate bank account designated for major car repairs. If you can, add a bit of money each month. Use it only for major, non-routine repairs. Chances are good that over your lifetime you’ll build up that fund. You assume the risk, not the insurance company.
In general aftermarket warranties are a exactly what you saw posted.
I would stick to either no warranty or getting one backed by the car maker itself. The aftermarket ones have a nasty habit of making difficulty to collect, not paying or going out of business.
It sounds like you are buying a used Odyssey. While I have not read they warranty, I would guess that they do not underwrite wear and tear on the van. As mileage mounts, almost everything is wear and tear (maintenance). For instance, it has a timing belt, which should be replaced around 100,000 miles. That is maintenance and will cost you around $1000. Suspension repairs will be maintenance, too. An engine failure might be covered, depending on how it was maintained before you bought it (as well as after). There are a lot of repairs that won’t be covered. And since AUL is making money on it, most buyers will never get their money back. If the car is in excellent shape, I would not buy the warranty. If it’s not, the don’t buy the car.
Hey I bought a year warranty through a car lot it was through aul and I’m so thankful I did about 3 months after I got the car the transmission messed up it was on a 2013 ford edge 2.0 aul took care of it no problems the parts and labor was 3600 aul bought and sent the transmission to the shop which the shop said it’s the same place he gets his and he warranties them for 3yrs all I had to pay was a 100$ deductible not bad lol
I didn’t realize this was 9 yrs ago lol
It’s easy to make that mistake as the time stamp is a bit light and easy to overlook.