Kyle's Warranty Thread
11-05-2016, 01:29 PM
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Kyle's Warranty Thread
This post will be kind of an intro thread and the start of my warranty experience. I own a 2007 GL 450 with 53,000 miles on it currently.
I read a lot of threads on this forum related to aftermarket warranties, and whether they are worth the purchase or not. I used Dave's warranty thread heavily when researching the aftermarket company I would go with, so I figured I would start a thread documenting my experience with the company I purchased a contract through.
The Contract:
After hours and hours of research I decided to buy an aftermarket warranty through Carchex. Carchex is simply the front man selling the warranty for the administrator. They sell warranties for several administrators including royal administrator services, assurant, and The Warranty Group. After lots of research I knew I wanted to buy my policy with the administrator being the warranty group. They are one of two or three administrators who service the Carmax warranty which is known to pay out on claims, the other Carmax administrators are Fidelity warranty services and I believe easy care. I also consulted my service advisor at Fletcher Jones who said that the warranty group is a good company to work with. Obviously in a perfect world I would have gone with fidelity warranty services as they are the best in the business, but their policy for an exclusionary coverage plan on my car for four years was $20,000 and had to be purchased through Fletcher Jones (lol).
It is important to note that the only aftermarket warranty contract worth purchasing on cars like these is called exclusionary coverage. Exclusionary coverage means that the company has to list out in writing the components that they will not cover. If it is not written, the component is covered under the warranty. When I was purchasing the warranty through carchex I demanded that the warranty group be my administrator, and I wanted their highest level of exclusionary coverage which is called titanium coverage. I had them send me the contract and I read it line by line to understand exactly what is not covered under my warranty. I looked for things that I know will fail on my car like the airmatic suspension and various other things.
So I purchased a four year 51,000 mile coverage plan through the warranty group. I paid $5000 for the policy.
My Experience:
The warranty has a cooling off period of 30 days and 1000 miles before you can make a claim. At Day 35 and 1400 miles I got a check engine light and heard a big bang from the front right corner of my car. I got out in the front air suspension was riding on the wheels. I thought to myself oh boy here we go, better get ready for battle. I towed the car to Fletcher Jones here in Las Vegas, and I gave my service advisor all of the necessary information to start the claim (this was Thursday). Yesterday, I called my service advisor to get a status update. He told me that the check engine light was an upstream O2 sensor, and that my front passenger side airbag had a gaping hole in the side of it. He told me he called the warranty group to make the claim and that they had flat out denied the air suspension but were looking into the O2 sensor. I told him that was ridiculous, I had purchased exclusionary coverage and there is no exclusion for air springs or air suspension in the contract. He said that the warranty group representative told him I have platinum coverage (stated component) and that if I had titanium coverage the entire claimwould be covered. I immediately got on the phone with the warranty group to clear up what was evidently a clerical error in my contract. They told me I needed to contact carchex to resolve the issue. After hours of going back-and-forth between carchex and the warranty group and spending massive amounts of time on the phone with the warranty group supervisors they cleared up the issue and admitted defeat in saying that I do in fact have titanium coverage which is their highest level of exclusionary coverage. They corrected the error on my profile and all was right in my world. My service advisor called them back and they approved the entire claim which I'm sure will be a hefty tab. Other than the clerical error and having to fight to get that resolved, my experience has been very good so far. I will use this thread as a running tab of all of my warranty claims over the next four years, and my warranty experiences. I hope that my experience and what I have written here can help some other MB owners have a little insight into what to do and what not to do when buying an aftermarket warranty. You need to negotiate hard and do lots of research upfront, but the peace of mind is worth every penny knowing the repair bills can be massive.
Claim #1: upstream O2 sensor and right front air spring. Total: $3600
I read a lot of threads on this forum related to aftermarket warranties, and whether they are worth the purchase or not. I used Dave's warranty thread heavily when researching the aftermarket company I would go with, so I figured I would start a thread documenting my experience with the company I purchased a contract through.
The Contract:
After hours and hours of research I decided to buy an aftermarket warranty through Carchex. Carchex is simply the front man selling the warranty for the administrator. They sell warranties for several administrators including royal administrator services, assurant, and The Warranty Group. After lots of research I knew I wanted to buy my policy with the administrator being the warranty group. They are one of two or three administrators who service the Carmax warranty which is known to pay out on claims, the other Carmax administrators are Fidelity warranty services and I believe easy care. I also consulted my service advisor at Fletcher Jones who said that the warranty group is a good company to work with. Obviously in a perfect world I would have gone with fidelity warranty services as they are the best in the business, but their policy for an exclusionary coverage plan on my car for four years was $20,000 and had to be purchased through Fletcher Jones (lol).
It is important to note that the only aftermarket warranty contract worth purchasing on cars like these is called exclusionary coverage. Exclusionary coverage means that the company has to list out in writing the components that they will not cover. If it is not written, the component is covered under the warranty. When I was purchasing the warranty through carchex I demanded that the warranty group be my administrator, and I wanted their highest level of exclusionary coverage which is called titanium coverage. I had them send me the contract and I read it line by line to understand exactly what is not covered under my warranty. I looked for things that I know will fail on my car like the airmatic suspension and various other things.
So I purchased a four year 51,000 mile coverage plan through the warranty group. I paid $5000 for the policy.
My Experience:
The warranty has a cooling off period of 30 days and 1000 miles before you can make a claim. At Day 35 and 1400 miles I got a check engine light and heard a big bang from the front right corner of my car. I got out in the front air suspension was riding on the wheels. I thought to myself oh boy here we go, better get ready for battle. I towed the car to Fletcher Jones here in Las Vegas, and I gave my service advisor all of the necessary information to start the claim (this was Thursday). Yesterday, I called my service advisor to get a status update. He told me that the check engine light was an upstream O2 sensor, and that my front passenger side airbag had a gaping hole in the side of it. He told me he called the warranty group to make the claim and that they had flat out denied the air suspension but were looking into the O2 sensor. I told him that was ridiculous, I had purchased exclusionary coverage and there is no exclusion for air springs or air suspension in the contract. He said that the warranty group representative told him I have platinum coverage (stated component) and that if I had titanium coverage the entire claimwould be covered. I immediately got on the phone with the warranty group to clear up what was evidently a clerical error in my contract. They told me I needed to contact carchex to resolve the issue. After hours of going back-and-forth between carchex and the warranty group and spending massive amounts of time on the phone with the warranty group supervisors they cleared up the issue and admitted defeat in saying that I do in fact have titanium coverage which is their highest level of exclusionary coverage. They corrected the error on my profile and all was right in my world. My service advisor called them back and they approved the entire claim which I'm sure will be a hefty tab. Other than the clerical error and having to fight to get that resolved, my experience has been very good so far. I will use this thread as a running tab of all of my warranty claims over the next four years, and my warranty experiences. I hope that my experience and what I have written here can help some other MB owners have a little insight into what to do and what not to do when buying an aftermarket warranty. You need to negotiate hard and do lots of research upfront, but the peace of mind is worth every penny knowing the repair bills can be massive.
Claim #1: upstream O2 sensor and right front air spring. Total: $3600
Last edited by NVDevPartners; 11-07-2016 at 11:12 PM.
The following users liked this post:
clvincent (11-06-2016)
11-07-2016, 06:15 PM
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
UDATE FOR CLAIM #1:
Final tally is (2) O2 sensors and two air springs. Total cost was $3600, and my responsibility was my $250 deductible. Picking the car up tonight.
Final tally is (2) O2 sensors and two air springs. Total cost was $3600, and my responsibility was my $250 deductible. Picking the car up tonight.
11-13-2016, 11:38 AM
#4
Good to hear you got the coverage you wanted and were able to hold them accountable. I'm surprised anyone will provide warranty coverage for a 9 year old car. I think I'm more interested in the story behind the 2007 with only 53K miles on it! 
Last edited by YodaSyrup; 11-13-2016 at 11:55 AM.
12-09-2016, 11:51 AM
#5
Senior Member
I have a 2012 GL350 with 48,800 miles. I am looking at 3rd party warranties after deciding to keep my vehicle for a few more years.
Has anyone had experience with Trustmark Warranty and what is your opinion of this company for a GL350? What 3rd party warranty company best serves my vehicle regarding diesel issues, electronics and air suspension?
Thanks
Has anyone had experience with Trustmark Warranty and what is your opinion of this company for a GL350? What 3rd party warranty company best serves my vehicle regarding diesel issues, electronics and air suspension?
Thanks
12-10-2016, 01:53 PM
#7
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Obviously that is your call to make, but when it comes time to sell my car I would rather have a stack of receipts showing all work done at a dealer rather than trying to tell someone I did this did that etc. and there are other things that will go wrong. To each their own, but I would rather be covered during my time of ownership. I work to hard to spend my weekends under my car trying to fix things lol, lot of other things I would rather be doing.
