The nitty gritty on extended warranty refunds
This blog is not intended to be a spammy promotional tool for Warranty Refund, but this one post will be about the details of getting a refund on your auto extended warranty.
Let's take the fictional account of Rose, a new car buyer, as an example.
Rose had a station wagon that she just couldn't stand any more. The kids tore it up, there was a ding in the passenger door, and it didn't like to start on really cold mornings. One weekend in 2003, after Rose found out the old wagon needed a $350 brake job, Rose bought a brand new Chrysler PT. It was perfect for her. A little sporty, a little utilitarian.
Rose was easily convinced by the finance person that she should buy an extended warranty to protect her new investment. She didn't want to face another "brake job" incident anyway. Plus, the $1,200 cost was rolled into the financing package and didn't cost her but a few extra dollars per month anyway.
The extended warranty was good for 100,000 miles, or 10 years, whichever came first. Well, 2006 came first, and Rose wasn't so excited about her PT Chrysler anymore. The new car smell was long gone. The thing was reliable, but wasn't very fun for her to drive. There wasn't enough storage space in the back, and she didn't really like the way it looked any more.
Rose went back to the dealership and bought a brand new Chrysler Town & Country minivan. After three years, the PT was almost paid off, and she took good care of it so she got a decent trade-in value. She drove off the lot and on with her life.
Rose completely forgot about the extended warranty that she purchased three years ago, because she never used it! Rose's story happens thousands of times every day. We buy a car for the long run - pay extra for the extended warranty - and then get a new car before the extended warray is expired. Rose drove off the lot, paying a lot more for her new car than she should have. $840 more than she should have, to be exact! Rose had 7 years (or 70%) left on her 10 year extended warranty. 70% of $1,200 is $840. That's the refund - or credit toward her next car - that Rose should have gotten.
$840 is NOT worth forgetting about! The dealership didn't "forget" about it - they just overlooked it! They just took advantage of Rose's ignorance on the subject!
This law is valid in 50 states. In California, the exact law says:
California Civil Code Section 1794.41, if you have owned an extended auto warranty contract for more than 60 days, your cancellation right (at the time of trade-in/sale to a dealer) entitles you to a partial refund from the warranty provider based on elapsed time and/or mileage, regardless of whether you have filed a claim or not.
Now, this law does not apply if you sell your vehicle to a private-party. In that case, the warranty coverage transfers to the new owner. Most private party transactions don't take value of the warranty into consideration, but that's another cause!
So knowledge is half the battle. If your situation is anything like Rose's, perhaps Warranty Refund can help you. We will research any claim for free. We'll call the dealership, we'll call the warranty provider. We'll file the paperwork, we'll push it through the system. We'll take a cut of the eventual refund to cover our costs, but in the end you'll get the money that you have coming to you!
Let's take the fictional account of Rose, a new car buyer, as an example.
Rose had a station wagon that she just couldn't stand any more. The kids tore it up, there was a ding in the passenger door, and it didn't like to start on really cold mornings. One weekend in 2003, after Rose found out the old wagon needed a $350 brake job, Rose bought a brand new Chrysler PT. It was perfect for her. A little sporty, a little utilitarian.
Rose was easily convinced by the finance person that she should buy an extended warranty to protect her new investment. She didn't want to face another "brake job" incident anyway. Plus, the $1,200 cost was rolled into the financing package and didn't cost her but a few extra dollars per month anyway.
The extended warranty was good for 100,000 miles, or 10 years, whichever came first. Well, 2006 came first, and Rose wasn't so excited about her PT Chrysler anymore. The new car smell was long gone. The thing was reliable, but wasn't very fun for her to drive. There wasn't enough storage space in the back, and she didn't really like the way it looked any more.
Rose went back to the dealership and bought a brand new Chrysler Town & Country minivan. After three years, the PT was almost paid off, and she took good care of it so she got a decent trade-in value. She drove off the lot and on with her life.
Rose completely forgot about the extended warranty that she purchased three years ago, because she never used it! Rose's story happens thousands of times every day. We buy a car for the long run - pay extra for the extended warranty - and then get a new car before the extended warray is expired. Rose drove off the lot, paying a lot more for her new car than she should have. $840 more than she should have, to be exact! Rose had 7 years (or 70%) left on her 10 year extended warranty. 70% of $1,200 is $840. That's the refund - or credit toward her next car - that Rose should have gotten.
$840 is NOT worth forgetting about! The dealership didn't "forget" about it - they just overlooked it! They just took advantage of Rose's ignorance on the subject!
This law is valid in 50 states. In California, the exact law says:
California Civil Code Section 1794.41, if you have owned an extended auto warranty contract for more than 60 days, your cancellation right (at the time of trade-in/sale to a dealer) entitles you to a partial refund from the warranty provider based on elapsed time and/or mileage, regardless of whether you have filed a claim or not.
Now, this law does not apply if you sell your vehicle to a private-party. In that case, the warranty coverage transfers to the new owner. Most private party transactions don't take value of the warranty into consideration, but that's another cause!
So knowledge is half the battle. If your situation is anything like Rose's, perhaps Warranty Refund can help you. We will research any claim for free. We'll call the dealership, we'll call the warranty provider. We'll file the paperwork, we'll push it through the system. We'll take a cut of the eventual refund to cover our costs, but in the end you'll get the money that you have coming to you!
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