khk811

I was getting ready to buy an extended warranty for Warranty Direct and found out they no longer sell extended warranties in California. Anyone have any insight on this?

From researching the forum, Warranty Direct appeared to be the most reccomended... Any other aftermarket extended warranty companies that anyone here has had good experience with??? How is Mercury? Thanks.

rlee02135

mercedes extended warranty is the best way to go...

Moviela

California law requires automobile warrantys ONLY be sold through licensed car dealers. The state wants to prevent companies from selling worthless polcies from outside the state jurisdiction. I have no experience with any third party companies, and cannot suggest a good one.

yeuchau

my friend has aftermarket extended warranty and it covers more than factory extended warranty, let me see if i can reach him, cause he is not in the States now

deltadude388

Anyone head of them? When I was looking at a used car, the dealer was pitching them.

zada

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I SIGNED UP FOR PLATINUM COVERAGE (TOP OF THE LINE) FOR 4 YEARS 60000 MILES FOR $2,OOO.
I HOPE NEVER TO USE IT. I HOPE NEVER TO NEED IT,HA!

slammedcclass

i just got the extended warranty to 100000 mile warranty and they said they will send me something that i have to put in my car and then i have to do oil change in 45 days what the hell is that for does any one know????

and im also 4 days late for service B and im gonna be late till they send me that thing does any one know if its bad to be say like 1 2 3 weeks late for service B????

SlvrC230SS

Do you mind if I ask where you got your warranty from and how much?
I'm looking for one myself.

Buellwinkle

Extended warranties are no good. First, the money, they are selling you an insurance policy that's worth at most $100/yr (Geico charges about $80/yr) for a lot of money, huge markup. Second, they (MB or WD) pay the dealers bottom dollar for repairs so dealers don't like to do any. Most cars are brought in for intermittent problems, not worth it for dealers to mess with so they put the car out on the lot to get some sun, and return it as unable to duplicate problem without even looking at it. Check engine lights, they just reset and see if they come back. These were confessions of an MB dealer mechanic, reality, not sales hype you get buying it. Lastly, if there's a repair done, it's the minimal required to fulfill the job, so hopely it last until the warranty is done, in some cases, used parts. Also, they have been know to tell you that a repair is common maintenance, not a defect or worse, a certain part is not listed as covered.

I know it's a tough call, you bring it in for a CEL and it's an easy $800 but on the otherhand, if you have a warranty they may never fix it or fix it marginally. The best bet is find an independant mechanic you trust after the 4/50 warranty is up and also learn to do some repairs/diagnostics yourself.

SlvrC230SS

Any good independent shop you'd recommend in OC?

spankdoggie

I think this is exactly the problem I experienced when the bi xenon went out on the driver's side of my wife's 2003 c230 coupe... They only replaced the lamp, 10 weeks before the warranty was going to expire, but they failed to replace the compromised housing of the bi xenon... It failed last week, 2 weeks after the warrany expired, and they want me to pay $2000 for the housing...

Granted, I finally got a call back, and they will give me the $1700 part for free if I pay $300 for the install... I am willing to do that, as the service guy saved me a lot of time writing letters and stuff; we will see, because I pick the car up later this week.

Buellwinkle, I have watched and learned from you for years; thanks for all you do.

yeuchau

few weeks later for service will be ok
won't do anything bad for the car

Buellwinkle

My buddy has been going to Elite Motors on Via Fabricante, MV for years. Seems like nice knowledgeable people and prices are fair. I use a guy in San Diego in Sorrento Valley, a long way to go from O.C. but he opens at 5 AM so I can still make work by 9 AM. It's a one man shop and he charges real hourly rates, not book rates, so a MAF sensor for example, he may charge half hour labor where the dealer goes by the book and charges 2 hours labor or he may have to remove a part that's bad while working on something else and then he won't charge labor to do it where the dealer charges everything as though it was a separate task per the book.

shazbot

I've been looking to buy an extended warranty from warrantydirect as well, and just saw that they've discontinued their CA program... Anyone know of other reputable warranty providers in CA? or any idea on when warrantydirect will reinstate their CA program?

shazbot

update:

I called warranty direct, and they said that they expect to reinstate their CA program within 2 weeks, so thats good news.

SlvrC230SS

Thanks. I'll keep the info in mind.

aussiechick28

I agree with those who say not to purchase the MB extended warranty. I purchased it on my SLK 230 and then next to nothing was actually covered by it. I ended up paying a few thousand out of pocket anyway even though i had the extended warranty.

The only good thing about it was that i got a refund for the unused portion of the extended warranty when i traded the car in.

khk811

thanks for the responses guys, I'll wait out the two weeks and get the ext warranty, if anything, to make sure major parts are covered