My review of Preferred Warranties, Inc.
I recently decided that I wanted to move on from my old Ford Explorer (aka Death-At-The-Next-Sharp-Turn) and get a fresh, newer car. Being the frugal guy that I am, decided to sit and patiently wait for the perfect deal on an Infiniti G35. Consumer Reports really likes them and they seem to go 0-60 in really fast (metric). So I hopped on Craigslist and searched for a G35 and then stuck the RSS feed into my Google Reader list. The initial results brought up mostly 2-3 year old G35s that went well beyond my entry-level budget.
And then it appeared.
One month goes by. Five months go by. Almost a year goes by with no good deals on the G35. With the sale of a G35 few and far between on CL, were the owners reluctant to give them up? The answer to that question is yes. This car is worth keeping around well after the bank takes your house along with your Nokia 3310.
Just when I was about to settle and get a 1990-something Ford Taurus that came with a freakin sweet spoiler on CL, the G35 I was meant to own appeared in my RSS feed. I emailed the dealer as soon as it came up and made an appointment the next day to check it out. One thing lead to another and I signed papers to claim the beast that day. It had everything I was looking for.
The upsell
After handing them my bank account on a faux-silver platter, the realization that this new car that I just signed for is seven freaking years old hit me. I wasn't even sure what college I was going to attend when this car hit the streets. The dealership who I bought the car from convinced me that a three year warranty for about 5% of the car's price was a good deal. After reading over all the details, I ended up with the "Base" plan that included coverage on air conditioning, powertrain, and most of the engine parts. I read the fine print and knew exactly what I was getting myself into. In the end, I felt very comfortable with the entire package.
The Instigator
Fast forward about five months and the driver's power lock actuator goes. Who actually uses a key to unlock the door now a days? Keyless entry is the new standard seat belts. I could not go another week stabbing my G35 in hopes of getting the key into the lock (am I the only one?). Guess what's covered under this warranty of mine? That's right. The actuator. You can find it in group 7 on their brochure - right under "That damn cupholder that never breaks." I was actually pretty interested in seeing how Preferred Warranties followed up on their end of the contract.
The Exercise
I really love my job. I have a lot of autonomy and have projects lined up for the next seventeen years, so I didn't see myself taking sick or vacation time getting this settled. I decided to spend a Saturday morning at my local auto shop. The Wednesday beforehand, I called up the nice folks at PW and informed them of my attempt at calling their bluff. To my suprise, the call only lasted maybe five minutes as the claim was started and the only thing else needed was a call from the shop with the numbers. Smooth, PW. Real smooth.
Are waiting rooms ever fun?
Saturday rolls around and I'm essentially the first customer of the day - not counting the old guy who left his car there over night just to get his oil changed. I was guaranteed my car fixed by close of business. Great. Now I have another business I just have to test. After reading through the local gazette approximately three and half times, i was told by the mechanic the price it would be to fix - labor and parts. I took that moment to slip in the fact that I wouldn't be the only person who would be paying this bill today. He failed to flinch and took the idea in stride.
The conversation that I heard being only maybe 8 feet from the mechanice calling PW was very enlightening. Not only does that auto shop use AllData, but so does PW! I had never heard of it before, but it seemed they were talking a common language - those two businesses. It turns out PW will only reimburse the parts cost that is found in AllData. So if a local shop has a 300% markup, PW will only cover the base cost, and the extra markup is all on you (this is where some haggling comes in handy). Fair enough. PW is actually very generous with the labor coverage, so there is no overage on that end.
The Maths
All told, I ended up paying: Deductible + (smaller)Parts Markup. Preferred Warranties was able to pay the auto shop their amount that Saturday before I left the shop. From my point of view, this was a very smooth ordeal. I only had to call them ahead of time for starting the claim, and then notify the mechanic that PW will be contributing to his paycheck. Not bad, Preferred Warranties.
Now that my new G35 responds to my remote key, I can once again open the driver door without looking like a janitor stuck in the wrong building.
I recently decided that I wanted to move on from my old Ford Explorer (aka Death-At-The-Next-Sharp-Turn) and get a fresh, newer car. Being the frugal guy that I am, decided to sit and patiently wait for the perfect deal on an Infiniti G35. Consumer Reports really likes them and they seem to go 0-60 in really fast (metric). So I hopped on Craigslist and searched for a G35 and then stuck the RSS feed into my Google Reader list. The initial results brought up mostly 2-3 year old G35s that went well beyond my entry-level budget.
And then it appeared.
One month goes by. Five months go by. Almost a year goes by with no good deals on the G35. With the sale of a G35 few and far between on CL, were the owners reluctant to give them up? The answer to that question is yes. This car is worth keeping around well after the bank takes your house along with your Nokia 3310.
Just when I was about to settle and get a 1990-something Ford Taurus that came with a freakin sweet spoiler on CL, the G35 I was meant to own appeared in my RSS feed. I emailed the dealer as soon as it came up and made an appointment the next day to check it out. One thing lead to another and I signed papers to claim the beast that day. It had everything I was looking for.
The upsell
After handing them my bank account on a faux-silver platter, the realization that this new car that I just signed for is seven freaking years old hit me. I wasn't even sure what college I was going to attend when this car hit the streets. The dealership who I bought the car from convinced me that a three year warranty for about 5% of the car's price was a good deal. After reading over all the details, I ended up with the "Base" plan that included coverage on air conditioning, powertrain, and most of the engine parts. I read the fine print and knew exactly what I was getting myself into. In the end, I felt very comfortable with the entire package.
The Instigator
Fast forward about five months and the driver's power lock actuator goes. Who actually uses a key to unlock the door now a days? Keyless entry is the new standard seat belts. I could not go another week stabbing my G35 in hopes of getting the key into the lock (am I the only one?). Guess what's covered under this warranty of mine? That's right. The actuator. You can find it in group 7 on their brochure - right under "That damn cupholder that never breaks." I was actually pretty interested in seeing how Preferred Warranties followed up on their end of the contract.
The Exercise
I really love my job. I have a lot of autonomy and have projects lined up for the next seventeen years, so I didn't see myself taking sick or vacation time getting this settled. I decided to spend a Saturday morning at my local auto shop. The Wednesday beforehand, I called up the nice folks at PW and informed them of my attempt at calling their bluff. To my suprise, the call only lasted maybe five minutes as the claim was started and the only thing else needed was a call from the shop with the numbers. Smooth, PW. Real smooth.
Are waiting rooms ever fun?
Saturday rolls around and I'm essentially the first customer of the day - not counting the old guy who left his car there over night just to get his oil changed. I was guaranteed my car fixed by close of business. Great. Now I have another business I just have to test. After reading through the local gazette approximately three and half times, i was told by the mechanic the price it would be to fix - labor and parts. I took that moment to slip in the fact that I wouldn't be the only person who would be paying this bill today. He failed to flinch and took the idea in stride.
The conversation that I heard being only maybe 8 feet from the mechanice calling PW was very enlightening. Not only does that auto shop use AllData, but so does PW! I had never heard of it before, but it seemed they were talking a common language - those two businesses. It turns out PW will only reimburse the parts cost that is found in AllData. So if a local shop has a 300% markup, PW will only cover the base cost, and the extra markup is all on you (this is where some haggling comes in handy). Fair enough. PW is actually very generous with the labor coverage, so there is no overage on that end.
The Maths
All told, I ended up paying: Deductible + (smaller)Parts Markup. Preferred Warranties was able to pay the auto shop their amount that Saturday before I left the shop. From my point of view, this was a very smooth ordeal. I only had to call them ahead of time for starting the claim, and then notify the mechanic that PW will be contributing to his paycheck. Not bad, Preferred Warranties.
Now that my new G35 responds to my remote key, I can once again open the driver door without looking like a janitor stuck in the wrong building.