Extended Warranty Conundrum

[The Sting]

I planned on purchasing the Kia Platinum Protection Plan extended warranty when I bought my Stinger GT2 AWD in March. Unfortunately, the dealer only offers a third-party warranty (Obligor: Marathon Administrative Company in IL; Administrator: Certified Car Care in IN). I am uncomfortable trusting these unfamiliar companies. I stopped at another local Kia dealer and they too only offer a third-party extended warranty through Allstate. I view them as a reputable company and am considering purchasing their coverage.

I reside in the Chicagoland area and am looking for suggestions regarding the best warranty to pursue. Obviously, Kia's powertrain warranty is terrific, although I'm not sure if the twin turbos are covered under it. I am looking for an extended warranty that covers, among other things, the tech in the vehicle (e.g., navigation, HUD, etc.).

If the Kia warranty is recommended, do you know how I can find a local dealer that offers it? If there is a better warranty, can you kindly provide some information? I plan on keeping this awesome car for approximately ten years.

Thank you in advance for your help!

 

[Weareblondi]

No sure, but was under the impression that kia has a ten year/100k warranty.

 

[Got_Stinger]

Every warranty I have EVER had has found more ways to try and void it rather than fix whatever the issue was....SAVE YOUR MONEY! kia has the best factory warranty in the business in my opinion!

 

[Frank Zrinsky]

I feel the dealer is not being honest with you. Kia absolutely offers their own in house warranty to extend the electronics from (3 years, 36k miles) and bumper to bumper (from 5 years, 60k miles) to a full coverage of 10 years / 100k miles. Any kia dealership can sell you the in house warranty, but I find you ALWAYS get the best deal at time of purchase. I find it very odd this dealer is not offering you the kia warranty, my guess is much higher margins on the third party warranties. Especially in the car warranty industry, third party warranties are simply not worth it. Whether it be Audi, Kia, Toyota etc I have always had nothing but good experiences with the actual manufacturer extended warranty. Good luck!

 

[phxgt]

No sure, but was under the impression that kia has a ten year/100k warranty.

You would not believe the disclaimers the finance guy was throwing at me at closing. He was saying that breakdowns of a part were not covered. Only if the part was actually found to be defective.

 

[Ucinn]

I never get the extended warranties, most problems will reveal themselves before the 5/60

 

[mldavis2]

I'm not sure if the twin turbos are covered under it.

Yes, the turbos are covered under the 10/100,000 warranty in the U.S. They are listed specifically.

 

[The Sting]

Yes, the turbos are covered under the 10/100,000 warranty in the U.S. They are listed specifically.

That's terrific! Thanks for confirming.

 

[The Sting]

I find it very odd this dealer is not offering you the kia warranty, my guess is much higher margins on the third party warranties. Especially in the car warranty industry, third party warranties are simply not worth it. Whether it be Audi, Kia, Toyota etc I have always had nothing but good experiences with the actual manufacturer extended warranty. Good luck!

Thanks for the information! I agree that the dealer I purchased from is only selling a third party warranty to try and increase their profit margin. I am going to pursue an extended warranty from Kia. Will probably start by reaching out to corporate so I don't have to go on a scavenger hunt to find a dealer willing to sell it, as so far I'm 0-2. Thanks again.

 

[Weareblondi]

just a thought, but the only time in all my years of buying cars, the only time that a dealer had offered a third party warranty coverage was when the car was used. it had 84 miles that the mgr had put on the car, they were selling it at a ridiculously low price and when i went it, they never said it was used nor did they mention the factory warranty. being that the car was used, in their eyes, the amount of money kicked back from the third party vendor probably made up for the price difference. hoping that isn't the case here.

 

[mldavis2]

You have to read and understand extended warranty very carefully. Factory warranties are essentially no-brainers because they cover what they say they cover and there are few exclusions, most of which are understandable (ex: your tires are worn out after a weekend at the drag strip.)

But be very careful about non-factory warranty coverages. They are essentially insurance policies with deductibles. And since I do not buy any of them (I prefer and can afford to self-insure and have never, ever needed one) I am not up to date on what they cover and more importantly what they do NOT cover.

Let me use an out-of-date example from my days as a service manager (GM-Subaru-BMW.) The extended warranty sold by GM dealers covered all kinds of nice things like engine, transmission, differential, etc. But there were some very nasty exclusions - namely electrical components such as the ECM, coils, wiring and any electrically-operated toy on the car. They also excluded seals and gaskets, and that was a monster....

Think about that. Almost every engine failure was the result of a blown head gasket, oil pan gasket leak, front or rear main seal or waterpump seal. Likewise many transmission failures can be traced to a pan gasket, output shaft seal or other loss of transmission fluid. Differentials were often trashed by a leaking wheel seal or input shaft seal. FWD cars with failed CV joints were usually due to dirt contamination from broken or split CV boots. The exceptions were often more numerous than the items covered. The component failed because the SEAL or GASKET failed. We often overlooked some of these if we felt the situation warranted (pun intended) a repair, but we always had a legal "out" if we didn't want to perform the repair under the warranty, and of course if we violated the exceptions often enough and had a higher than average warranty repair rate, the insurance company would call us up and want to know what we were doing bypassing their loopholes.

I'm not saying don't buy an extended warranty. I'm saying that if you do buy one, read everything and understand under what circumstances the warranty might be worthless. Caveat emptor.

 

[Jayce]

Thanks for the information! I agree that the dealer I purchased from is only selling a third party warranty to try and increase their profit margin. I am going to pursue an extended warranty from Kia. Will probably start by reaching out to corporate so I don't have to go on a scavenger hunt to find a dealer willing to sell it, as so far I'm 0-2. Thanks again.

I'm sure that's what it is. My Kia dealer goes through some third party as well. I initially purchased it, but then found a way to get the same one that Kia uses through this dealer that sells them online. When I went back to cancel their warranty, the finance guy was like, yeah we used to use that one but they were denying too many claims. My response was, well hopefully I'll never need it. Think they just wanted that extra money lol.

 

[mldavis2]

Extra money, yes. Think about these extra warranties a moment (and my apologies to those who like them and trust them and paid for them.)

First, you don't know who the company is that provides the insurance. You don't know their track record for weaseling out of paying claims.
Second, people who do not take pristine care of their cars are the ones who benefit from extra coverage, so there is a built-in adverse selection factor that is a higher than average rate of claims. On the average, people who expect to use them, buy them and those who take care of their stuff don't.
Third, after-market warranties are often limited to use only generic parts for repairs, not factory parts which are more expensive.
Fourth, both the dealer selling the extra warranty and the insurance company selling the extra warranty must make a profit which is figured into the cost.

Opinions may vary. This is just my impression as a service manager having to determine what these warranties cover, and then explain to angry customers why sometimes they don't.

 

[MrSting]

I would go with Gold Standard Automotive Network if you are considering one of these warranties. I recently purchased one for my Stinger - it is a 10-year, 50,000-mile warranty. It has a $0 deductible at any dealer, offers included roadside assistance, oil changes and other routine maintenance are included, and it was easy to set up. I researched other options from JM&A, Zurich, Allstate, and a few others, and a friend of mine who is in the dealership business told me that Gold Standard is the crème de la crème when it comes to claims and ease of use. I feel better having it! (It's also worth noting it was a lot less than quotes from the other guys, too.)

 

[phxgt]

Thanks for that. Looking at the Gold Standard program it looks to be a maintenance card rather than an extended warranty. Is that correct? I could see having that on 5 years but why now?
I put on quite low miles. About 5k per year. So I struggle to see how the maintenance program is worth about $600 per rear (if I purchase the 5 year package). I could see having it for years 6-10.

Am I missing something?