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Car Warranty Keeps Screwing Me Over - Do I Have Any Legal Precedent?

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ZenZielke

New member
What is the name of your state? California - Issue happened in Oklahoma.

Hey Y'all, I'm a first time poster.

My girlfriend and I were on a road trip from California and just outside OKC my truck started acting up. Figured out it was a cylinder 3 misfire and figured it'd be easy enough to swap out the spark plugs and ignition coils. We took it to a dealership to get it sorted out, but after a week they still barely knew what was happening with it. This entire time I was talking to my warranty (independent warranty company) about what I should do. They said that I would just have to let them know before the claim happens so they can approve or deny it. I also gave the number and email of my claims specialist to my service specialist at the dealership. The dealership finally figured out what was wrong with it, and long story short I need a new motor. Good thing I have the warranty, right? Not really... After already being stuck several states away they started giving me the run around. They said that the dealership wasn't giving them the correct information they needed, so I called up the dealership and had the service specialist forward me all the emails they sent to the warranty. The warranty had the information (for 5 whole days) that they needed included price breakdowns, labor costs, part costs, part numbers, etc... I had to call the claims specialist to which he proceeded to berate me for half an hour on the phone about how dumb the service people are and how they can't send over the information, but once I said that they forwarded me the emails and I had everything they said to each other, he said he'd send it over to the inspector. The inspector ended up coming out and everything was fine, it got approved. Now they're saying that they don't want to pay for all of it since the labor fees and part prices are too much. I got a couple friends that are mechanics back in California and asked about the pricing (labor, parts, etc...) and they said it all looked about standard. The warranty now wants me to cover $2800 for the rest of repairs.

This is all after me waiting on the dealership for over a week to figure out what was wrong, which was then said to be only about 4-5 hours of labor, even though they had it for well over 100 hours. I'm not too upset with the dealership, but the warranty has kept delaying time and time again, berated me and the service people, and are now delaying it even more with them wanting me to cover $2800 for the rest of the repairs. In total with time lost, money spent to stay out here, and loss of income I'm down about $8000. With the covered charge it would be close to $11,000.

My question is, do I have any legal standing to do something about the warranty?

Thanks everyone!
 


adjusterjack

Senior Member
First of all, now you know that those warranties are rip-offs.

Second, you'll have to read the warranty contract carefully and thoroughly to see if there was a breach of contract. Can't help you with that.

You may have to resign yourself to paying, get you and your truck home, and deal with it there.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
What is the name of your state? California - Issue happened in Oklahoma.

Hey Y'all, I'm a first time poster.

My girlfriend and I were on a road trip from California and just outside OKC my truck started acting up. Figured out it was a cylinder 3 misfire and figured it'd be easy enough to swap out the spark plugs and ignition coils. We took it to a dealership to get it sorted out, but after a week they still barely knew what was happening with it. This entire time I was talking to my warranty (independent warranty company) about what I should do. They said that I would just have to let them know before the claim happens so they can approve or deny it. I also gave the number and email of my claims specialist to my service specialist at the dealership. The dealership finally figured out what was wrong with it, and long story short I need a new motor. Good thing I have the warranty, right? Not really... After already being stuck several states away they started giving me the run around. They said that the dealership wasn't giving them the correct information they needed, so I called up the dealership and had the service specialist forward me all the emails they sent to the warranty. The warranty had the information (for 5 whole days) that they needed included price breakdowns, labor costs, part costs, part numbers, etc... I had to call the claims specialist to which he proceeded to berate me for half an hour on the phone about how dumb the service people are and how they can't send over the information, but once I said that they forwarded me the emails and I had everything they said to each other, he said he'd send it over to the inspector. The inspector ended up coming out and everything was fine, it got approved. Now they're saying that they don't want to pay for all of it since the labor fees and part prices are too much. I got a couple friends that are mechanics back in California and asked about the pricing (labor, parts, etc...) and they said it all looked about standard. The warranty now wants me to cover $2800 for the rest of repairs.

This is all after me waiting on the dealership for over a week to figure out what was wrong, which was then said to be only about 4-5 hours of labor, even though they had it for well over 100 hours. I'm not too upset with the dealership, but the warranty has kept delaying time and time again, berated me and the service people, and are now delaying it even more with them wanting me to cover $2800 for the rest of the repairs. In total with time lost, money spent to stay out here, and loss of income I'm down about $8000. With the covered charge it would be close to $11,000.

My question is, do I have any legal standing to do something about the warranty?

Thanks everyone!
I echo AJ. I think that you are going to have to do what you have to do to get your car fixed and to get home. Once you are home you can explore whether or not you have a valid case to make against the warranty company.
 

ZenZielke

New member
First of all, now you know that those warranties are rip-offs.

Second, you'll have to read the warranty contract carefully and thoroughly to see if there was a breach of contract. Can't help you with that.

You may have to resign yourself to paying, get you and your truck home, and deal with it there.
First time getting a third-party warranty, and probably the last. I'll probably end up getting it fixed up and figuring it out back home. I'm going to check through the contract and see if there is a breach. Thanks for the advice AJ!
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I had a $2,300 warranty that covered the expenses for a $3,500 engine repair, and also a $700 rear axle seal repair. They aren't necessarily "scams", but the odds of it paying off are against you.
 

ZenZielke

New member
I had a $2,300 warranty that covered the expenses for a $3,500 engine repair, and also a $700 rear axle seal repair. They aren't necessarily "scams", but the odds of it paying off are against you.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I'm still getting a majority of it paid by the warranty, but you'd think "Full Service Contract" would include full service.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that I'm still getting a majority of it paid by the warranty, but you'd think "Full Service Contract" would include full service.
Depends on the terms of the actual agreement. Even a "full service" agreement wouldn't likely cover tires or oil changes...
 

ZenZielke

New member
Depends on the terms of the actual agreement. Even a "full service" agreement wouldn't likely cover tires or oil changes...
That's true. I was thinking more in the sense that it would fully cover the services that they say it would cover - Engine, transmission, etc... Instead of having to cover the rest out of pocket.
 

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