Extended car warranties can leave Utah drivers with denied claims

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Utah drivers face denied claims on extended car warranties, causing frustration.
Complaints reveal denials often due to technicalities like fuel quality or parts.
Experts advise understanding warranty terms; some companies settle misleading advertising claims.

SALT LAKE CITY — Buying a car comes with plenty of decisions, including that last-minute pitch for an extended warranty.

In the past few years, the KSL Investigators have received a slew of very similar complaints about car warranties and denied claims. Utah driver after Utah driver has told us about similar frustrations after making an extended car warranty claim, only to have it denied.

"It sounded promising from all the TV ads and positive testimonials," Scott Dumas told KSL.

Daniel Waters said he wanted "approximately $2,500 or $3,000 back" after his claim was denied that same year.

Gene Allen said his trouble began when "the engine blew up. I started having problems with it."

The reasons for denials have varied.

"Pre-ignition, pre-detonation, low quality of fuel," Allen said.

"The manifold is covered, the bolts are not," Waters said.

For Dumas, the potential repair bill was much bigger.

"New engine, 12-thousand," he said.

The KSL Investigators hear the complaints, and so do the folks at CarEdge, a company that says it helps consumers negotiate vehicle purchases.

So, are extended car warranties a rip-off?

"There are many extended warranties that are not a ripoff, but then again, there are many that are," said Ray Shefska, who co-founded CarEdge.

His advice: "Do your due diligence." That begins by understanding there are two different types of warranties. An exclusionary warranty tells you what is not covered. An inclusionary warranty tells you what is covered.

"Exclusionary warranties typically are a little more expensive because they cover more," Shefska said.

He also warns consumers not to focus only on what the warranty adds to a monthly car payment.

Shefska said warranties are often "sold to the customer based on what the monthly payment for that coverage is going to be." These are contracts. Before buying, consumers should understand the clauses that could allow the warranty company to deny a claim before they ever need the company to pay one.

And because they are contracts, if you feel the terms are not being honored, it may be worth complaining.

Last year, one popular warranty company paid $10 million to settle claims that its advertising was misleading.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.