I want to buy and extended warranty for my VW Toureg but I’m not sure if the company is reputable. Their name is Royal Administration Services and they are offering me an “Exclusionary Policy” which does not cover maintenance and normal wear and tear. They claim to pay the dealer directly with a corporate credit card and I pay a $100 dedcutible. The total cost is $3658.00 for 4 yrs or 100,000 miles
The reputation of all of these companies is under fire by state Attorney’s General and other consumer groups. Most reject more claims than they pay, even if there are covered in the contractural language. Others wiggle out on fine print legal technicalities. Unless this warranty is backed by Volkswagen of America, I would not venture into the agreement.
I also don’t think that you will probably get your money’s worth from any extended warranty. Your choice, but if you think this car will need a substantial amount of work, why not purchase a more reliable model in the first place?
These warranties come up all the time here.
I’m a firm believer that these are NOT worth it…no matter who you buy it from. I guarantee the warranty is NOT 4rs or 100k miles…it’s 4yrs UP TO 100K miles. It’s not for ANOTHER 100k miles AFTER the manufacturers warranty runs out. It’s NOT 4yrs AFTER the warranty runs out.
Extended warranties are nothing more then just a very very very expensive insurance policy. They are NOT worth it. Keep the money and put it in a bank account. $3,600 in repairs is very very high for a car with less then 100k miles.
Put your “legal lawyer hat on” and read the fine print in the warranty. Those warranties are written to give the company every option it can to not cover your repairs. What you think you’re getting and what you actually get - are very different.
As jayhawkroy noted, many of these 3rd party warranty companies are fly-by-night operations. They’re in business for a while, enough to collect lots of payments. Then when they see themselves needing to do lots of payouts, they simply close up shop and open up under a new name.
As MikeInNH noted, they are not worth it. Put that money in the bank.
Follow Jayhawkroy’s Advice.
Price out the policies offered by Volkswagen, not some after-market outfit. Some of these policies are designed to do what they say they do . . . extend the manufacturer’s warranty. Be sure you understand what you’re getting. Look for deductible charges and exceptions.
Otherwise, put the money in the bank and self-insure. The extended warranties are not portable. Should you have more than one vehicle, only one would be covered. Cash is portable. It covers any vehicles you own.
CSA
I would only buy one from VW. Many horror stories about being refused coverage after paying thousands to 3rd party warranty companies. I have no experience with this particular company, but with so many problems in the industry, why risk it?
How’s your home appliances working for you? You could go buy a large capacity fridge and washer and dryer for that kind of money. You’d get a lot more for your money by buying those instead of the warranty.
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 peop;le 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
The BBB ratings are high, but only 2 of 83 complaints were closed where the customer acknowledged that the settlement was fair. Here are some folks that don’t like them:
https://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/-Royal-Administration-Services-.aspx