After market warranty

[john at westcoastgarage.net]

Robert Myers wrote:
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> Hi Y'all,
>
> Been seeing a lot of TV advertising by US Fidelis for their after 
> market warranty service.  Several questions come to mind:
>
> Do you have experience with the company?
>
> Are they reputable and dependable (i.e. do they pay for what they 
> claim to pay for)?
>
> Is their coverage adequate?  Etc?
>
> Should I consider a warranty  purchase for Miss Piggy (95.5 urS6) or 
> should I just run away?
>
> Their quoted price is $2675 for an added 5 years and 100K miles (on 
> top of present 12x K miles - that would get me to May of 2014 and 22x 
> K miles).
>
> Bob
>
>
> </div>
>
As a shop owner, I've had dealings with aftermarket insurers for 30 
years.  It is good to remember that such companies, like all businesses, 
exist to make money for their shareholders.  The more of your money they 
can keep, the better off they are.  Insurance is the guy with the 
product betting the odds against having to pay anything out.  Therefore, 
he's going to put all kinds of restrictions on the coverage he offers.  
Read the small print, and ask as many questions as you can.  In the long 
run, I firmly believe you're better off banking the money and waiting 
for something to break.  It's been my experience that the things they 
cover are apt to be things that don't have much chance/history of 
breaking, and when they do break, they do so in a way that is outside 
the listed covered causes.  For example, if you have an oil filter that 
decides to develop a leak, and you run the engine out of oil, ruining 
the bearings, they might well tell you it's not covered because the 
filter is a service item.  If a rod bolt breaks all on its own, you're 
probably covered, but how often does that happen? 

John