Extended warranty refund…

Status
Not open for further replies.
I'll never buy any of that stuff. Just extra money in the F&I guy's pocket. I suspect your insurance company may be able to offer you gap insurance for less.
 
Sad part is that many dealerships screw military members over without hesitation to pad their pockets.

Remember the Army guy who bought the 2013 Dodge Dart.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Of course the Finance Guy begged you to buy both coverages ....

They are both big $$$ makers for him.




F&I guy = keep your hands on your pockets.

I never buy ANY of that stuff, nor do you need to feel the obligation to do so. If anything the salesman is the one you should give some consideration to. These guys make nothing unless the sell a vehicle for the most part and if it is a low profit margin vehicle they MIGHT go home with 50 bucks in their pockets.

If I have a long business relationship with a salesman at the dealership I might give him a dining gift card for 50$ after buying a lower priced new car.
 
Originally Posted By: jimmy87

^^^ this, all three things are going to be prorated and refunded, basically the checks in the mail, just got back from the dealer.

So now I'm left wondering is gap insurance really necessary, what about the extended warranty? See the 09 I bought used, that's how I justified the purchase of both the gap and the ext warranty, I just purchased a new truck two days ago and I declined both the gap and the extended warranty, finance guy [censored] near begged me to purchase both but believe it or not I was smarter than that this time around. To answer my own question I believe that the gap and ext warranty were justified on a used vehicle that is almost out of factory warranty and if it totaled I'm almost sure I would have ended up with negative equity (that's my justification for gap). What do you guys think?


GAP INSURANCE:
Purchasing gap insurance depends on your situation. If you didn't put a substantial down payment on the vehicle, maybe you rolled some cash from another vehicle into the new one, etc... the end result is you owe a LOT more than the vehicle is or will be worth if you are in a serious accident with it in the foreseeable future. It takes a while to catch up and get even/ahead on value of the vehicle in a total situation unless you put a lot down.

Some insurance companies provide a sort of GAP clause with a regular policy for the 1st year you have the vehicle( new anyway - my policy from Metlife comes with a 1 year full payoff ). Most don't. So if you drive off the lot with a vehicle that you owe more than say 75-85% of book value on, and it gets totalled within the 1st couple years, you will end up owing more to pay it off than you get from the insurance company. That is where gap insurance helps you out.

Gap pays the difference between what the regular insurance company pays on the total and what you still owe on the vehicle so you don't have to. This can be a substantial amount of money depending on what you owe vs what the vehicle is worth at the time it is totalled. If you put a lot of money down it would be a waste of money. However if you put very little down, no money down, or even rolled money into the purchase gap insurance is a no brainer. Many times these days you can't even get the loan in a situation like that without getting gap as well.

On a new vehicle unless I put a LOT of money down I would definitely have got the gap. The second you drive off the lot it takes a huge depreciation hit. All you will get from insurance( even if the other person is at fault and pays you )is book value. You would then be on the hook for the remaining balance you owe which can be thousands of dollars even with a small or modest down payment. My BIL had a 3 day old brand new Dodge Dakota he put some cash down on get seriously damaged by a lady who ran a red light with no insurance. His insurance wanted to total it which would have left him owing over $3900. I managed to get my body guy to repair it( replaced entire frame )for what the insurance was willing to pay and saved him that financial disaster. Trust me it can happen to anyone. He now gets gap insurance.

Also, the cost of the gap insurance policy will be related to how much you borrow on the vehicle vs it's value. The less you have to borrow the less the policy will be. Gap insurance is just like any other insurance policy( auto, home, health, etc... )you buy it with the hopes you never need it. It is NOT a waste of money as some say if it is appropriate for your situation.

Most who say it is a waste of money have the financial reserves to absord a multiple thousand dollar hit if their new vehicle was totalled and they got less than what was owed from insurance. Those people more than likely bought the vehicle outright anyway or put a big deposit down so gap wouldn't make sense for them. Most people don't have that kind of flexibility in their finances or the money to buy a vehicle for cash or make a huge down payment however. For them gap is a smart investment.

EXTENDED WARRANTY:
A 2013 Sierra( I assume Sierra as you didn't say anything other than you got rid of the 09 for a 13 )has a base 3 year/36,000 buumper to bumper warranty and then a 5 year/100,000 powertrain warranty. That is good basic protection but after the 3 years is up it leaves a LOT of expensive items uncovered.

If you plan to keep the vehicle beyond the 3/36 base warranty an extended warranty is a great idea IMO( as long as it is reasonable priced ). An extended warranty is like insurance. You are paying a little now to protect against a big financial hit down the road or even multiple hits. Modern vehicles have a LOT of expensive to repair items that are not powertrain related. Electronics, ABS system components, and dash repairs are 3 very common and expensive areas powertrain warranties do not cover. One or two repairs in those areas after the 3/36 expires have you even or ahead on your warranty cost.

I would not buy a new modern vehicle with so many expensive items to repair without an extended warranty if I planned to keep it beyond the factory bumper to bumper warranty.
31.gif
 
Last edited:
I bought a 2007 Corolla used in 2008 and bought an extended warranty on it. In 2010, I traded it for a 2011 Camry, and the dealer refunded most of the cost of the warranty I bought.

We bought a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country new in 2008, and paid to have the powertrain warranty upgraded to a lifetime warranty (they had a program for that at the itme). We sold the van right out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty ended and got most of the lifetime warranty money back from Chrysler.

You CAN get extended warranty money back, but it probably depends on the dealer/manufacturer. If you bought it through a third party, you're probably out of luck. If you bought it through a manufacturer or a dealership, they might work with you.
 
I got an extended warranty on my first used VW, ended on needing it once so kinda worth it I guess.

I also got a maintenance plan, basically prepaid oil changes. I decided I could do them myself after 2 or 3 at the dealer. Got a prorated amount back. I would have gotten a refund on the gap insurance on the last Forester but I never wrote down the mileage it was sold at and it had to be notarized. So I lost about $200 on that.

I have been actually heavily debating the need for the extended warranty we purchased considering how down right reliable the last Forester was.
 
Last edited:
I don't know if you guys remember me, I'm the op by the way, in 2011 I bought a brand new 2011 gmc sierra crew cab. I put $3000 down and got something along the lines of 1.xx apr, the total value of the loan was $27k , after an extended warranty and ttl I would say I owed something along the lines of 90% of the loan, I knew nothing about gap so I opted not to get it. Well this last January I was up in Dallas and somebody took a red light, I manged to maneuver the truck so that the oncoming car wouldn't have slammed into the side on which my wife and 2 year old son where on, I ended up under an overpass up against a pillar. The guy that took the red light drove off, still haven't heard anything since. Well my insurance picked up the bill and the adjuster totaled and valued my truck at $25k and it just so happens I only owed 19k, I guess I got lucky…

Soon. Afterward I bought the used 2009 truck but I regretted trying save some $$$ and buying a used vehicle, that's why I traded in.

So yesterday the dealer confirmed that I would be getting a prorated refund for the gap and ext warranty of the 2009, and well the extended warranty of the 2011, well I got to go back to the town I got it from and start that up…

I've made some [censored] decisions especially with the 2009, should have just bought the 2013 right from the get go.

take easy on me guys…
 
Don't worry I've sold numerous cars I should have just kept...

and should have walked away from a couple used cars as well...

It's only money and the only way to learn is by doing.
 
Originally Posted By: LT4 Vette
Are you still in the military ?



No, my terminal leave ended two months ago.
 
Originally Posted By: jimmy87
Ok so back in February I purchased a 2009 GMC sierra, two days ago I traded the 09 in for a 2013. For the 09 I purchased gap insurance, extended warranty, and after recently reviewing my paper work the dealer some how sold me some sort of life insurance ( if I were to die, I guess it would keep the bank from burning a dead mans credit, I don't know?). Anyhow am I entitled to a refunded ( not a full one, at least a prorated one) from the dealer that originally sold me the 09, keep in mind I purchased the two trucks from two different dealers. I paid for the gap, extended warranty, and the life insurance cash, I put down $5000, I only owned the truck 4 months, bought it with 31k miles traded it in with 36k miles. The way I see it/calculate it the dealer owes me at least 3/4 of that money back ( I know the refunds will probably come back from the warranting/insuraning company/s, but I will have to go through the dealer either way). Ext warranty was $2400, can I expect maybe $1800 back? Gap was $700 can I expect maybe $450 back? And that darn life insurance was $300, maybe $200 back from that?


Well guys, I received two checks in the mail this past week, one for $2000 (extended warranty), and another for $348 (that darn life insurance), still waiting on the gap insurance cancelation refund. The dealer where I purchased the vehicle is responsible for issuing the checks, not the actual insuring/warranting companies, makes me wonder why it took a month, why couldn't they just issue the checks on the spot. Oh well…
 
Originally Posted By: jimmy87

Well guys, I received two checks in the mail this past week, one for $2000 (extended warranty), and another for $348 (that darn life insurance), still waiting on the gap insurance cancelation refund. The dealer where I purchased the vehicle is responsible for issuing the checks, not the actual insuring/warranting companies, makes me wonder why it took a month, why couldn't they just issue the checks on the spot. Oh well…


Dealer most likely was waiting to be reimbursed from those companies 1st. You paid the dealer and the dealer then paid the insurance company( well it was part of your financing ). The dealer wasn't getting that money for themselves. They may have been responsible for issuing the refund check but the funds would come to them from that other company. Sounds like they waited to get paid before paying you. Seems reasonable to me.

I have had the above scenario happen before. Have also had the dealer wait for the start of the next month so the refund was applied to a different financial cycle for them. My dealer has done this but they asked if it was ok with me 1st.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom