Hello All,
In November last year I was getting regular service for Acura MDX 2013(oil change etc.) at Acura. I told them that every now and then I hear a sound that seems to come from right front side. It was diagnosed as bad wheel bearing that needs to change. I have him my warranty card and he was supposed to call back. He never did. I tried to communicate with him a couple of times and was never able to
Get in touch with that agent. In January I went out of country for a month and came back mid February. Sound was still there and then one tire got a big nail stuck in it in March and I went back and saw the same agent. He got the tire fixed and was not sure of what happened to wheel bearings issue with warranty. Anyhow he did passed on the information to Warranty this time as they called me next day to inform me that since the vehicle remained in use after the diagnosis therefore they are not covering it.
Car is currently at Acura and they run the diagnostics again and now I am being told that left front and right rear needs to be changed as well and they have discussed with warranty and they are not covering the other two as well.
Question is :
is it normal to face this kind of issue?
Acura says that even if we accept (CarGuard)Warranty’s reasoning with one wheel bearings; it should not be the reason for other two. Can one bad wheel bearing lead to other wheel bearings’ issues?
3)what should I do?
Yes it’s extended warranty and it was supposed to cover wheel bearings. I am being given the reason by Car Guard Warranty that the vehicle remained operational even after diagnosis and thus I violated the contract and therefore they are not responsible.
Acura says that this is the first time they are hearing warranty being denied due to communication failure and even if they are not covering right front wheel bearings for that reason; they should still cover the other two.
Acura Service Agent says that he tried to communicate with Warranty and was never called back. Warranty says that they were never contacted in November.
It sounds like CarGuard is an after-market warranty company, not an Acura extended warranty. Same advice to avoid non-manufacturer’s warranties. Yeah they are wrong but will use any means possible to avoid paying.
Most extended warranties like this are scams. They don’t cover nearly what you’d expect them to.
Frankly it shouldn’t even be legal to call them warranties, because anything where you have to submit a co-pay for service isn’t a warranty, it’s a service plan.
After market warranty companies have loop holes so large, you could drive a Freightliner through them
They’re essentially worthless, except for one thing
Even if your agent had called them that same day . . . which he apparently forgot to do . . . and even if the car had been “out of service” while the case was pending, CarGuard would have probably found a way to weasel their way out of their obligations
Their reasoning for denying the initial claim makes no sense. It had bad wheel bearing. You drove it. It still needs only a wheel bearing. You did not cause any additional damage by driving it. There was no additional collateral damage. You’re not asking for anything more than you originally did. They should cover it.
It’s not uncommon for the other bearings to fail shortly after the first. They all lived the same life and were subjected to the same stresses…
Yes that was my reasoning with them. It was to be changed in November and it needs to change now. What difference does it make? But I agree as people have mentioned above … that they were just looking for an excuse.
Assuming the car is still covered by this CarGuard warranty . . .
you and the agent should sit down with a carguard representative next week, and have them point to the fine print that supposedly allows them to deny coverage for the wheel bearings
Keep something in mind, though . . . even though it is possible that this ridiculous fine print actually exits, and they can point to it on a piece of paper, it’s possible the root cause of your particular problem is your agent.
What if the fine print says if a problem isn’t addressed immediately . . . meaning the car isn’t driven until the repairs are completed . . . otherwise coverage is denied, then it might be that your agent dropped the ball by not following through. It is a service writer . . . or agent, or whatever you want to call him . . . it’s his job to deal with insurance, aftermarket warranty companies, and so forth
I was hoping that he (and Acura) would take at least some responsibility but unfortunately they did not. His supervisor informed me that she had proof that he contacted them in November and it was not his responsibility to follow up with me as he had no information to share
Unfortunately, you are finding out firsthand why most people recommend against buying any so-called “extended warranty” from any entity other than the manufacturer itself. Most of these “extended warranties” are a type of pseudo-insurance, which is designed to do nothing but make money for the company selling the “insurance”. Most of these “extended warranty” companies try every excuse possible in order to weasel out of paying legitimate claims.
The Acura dealer is correct. There is no possible way that one bad wheel bearing could damage anything else, unless the bearing fails completely (seizes up or breaks apart) while the car is being driven. Since that has not occurred, CarGuard’s reasoning is silly. We are not talking about a failing water pump or leaking radiator, or some other part which if not replaced promptly can cause substantial additional damage. We are talking about worn-out wheel bearings. You needed new wheel bearing(s) 3 months ago, and you still only need new wheel bearing(s) today. No additional damage has occurred.
I suggest reading the terms of this “extended warranty” to find out exactly what components are covered. If the policy only covers major powertrain components, then perhaps wheel bearings are not covered. If there is no such exclusion, and wheel bearings are covered, then you will need to contact the company to complain/appeal their decision. For $1000, it’s probably not worth taking legal action, unless you have a friend who’s an attorney, or are skilled enough to file a lawsuit pro-se.
I have been performing warranty and extended warranty repairs for 30 years and I have never experienced something like this, normally there is a valid reason to deny the warranty repair.
Perhaps there is a communication problem here, did you discuss the problem with your warranty provider?
For example if the vehicle was still covered by the factory powertrain warranty in November the warranty company would not approve the claim. By now the 6 year powertrain warranty must have expired. Why did you pick up the vehicle before the repairs were completed?
Service contract with warranty is in the car at Acura service center but I am sure per contract wheel bearings were covered otherwise Car Guard could have used that excuse instread of “continuous use of vehicle” . But I will recheck.
Yes Nevada_545 , I did discuss with Car Guard and from their stand point there was no way they are going to cover it when I am the one who violated the contract.
As I said in November I was only there as walk-In for regular service (oil change etc.) There was no courtesy car available and I was not aware of that clause that warranty will not cover it if it remains in use. Acura Agent did not give me an impression that it needs to be fixed right then and it was decided that he would talk to Car Guard and will get it approved and I will be informed and then I was going to make the appointment. That never happened and unknowingly I stayed in dark till March when I learnt that I was not supposed to keep using the car.
In my mind I thought that other two wheel bearing are now malfunctioning because of the first bad one but after learning from you guys I will talk to Warranty again on Monday and ask them to cover the other two at least. I will update here after listening to their reasoning.
Sometimes even the service writers . . . or agents, if you will . . . sell aftermarket extended warranties, because it’s profitable for them to do so
If your agent is in fact the one who sold you this CarGuard warranty, you’ve got a beef with him, because he sold you something without fully explaining the details
