Car Warranty Scam finally gets FTC Probe!!!

[Poopsicle]

For a little cliff notes: You get the scam call on your cell phone or home phone and it shows a phony phone number on your caller ID. A robot warns you that your warranty is expired. You had the option to avoid future calls, but they keep calling and calling. One time I was in a hotel and they called my room phone at 3:00 am!!! It scared the heck out of me.

Why did it take so dang long for the action to take place!?!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

http://www.mail.com/layoutengine.as...-Calls.xml&cat=money&subcat=business&pageid=1

 

[ctrcbob]

I always tell people to "never buy an extended warranty unless it comes from the manufacturer". I.E. Manufacturers Extended Warranty. I've been seeing one company advertizing a lot on TV lately, using a couple of NASCAR drivers as spokesmen. I also get offers in the mail, telling me that my factory warranty has expired and "this is the last chance for me to get an extended warranty". It all goes into the trash. Aftermarket extended warranties are not worth the paper they are printed on. If the company does not first go out of business first, when you make a claim, they often reject the claim for various reasons. Just a big scam. Here in the Orlando area, one of the TV investigators found that they were rejecting claims and that there was nothing the customer could do about it. The dealer you purchased it from will tell you that "they were also scammed" and the dealer will do nothing for you. (Even though the dealer made a huge amount on the sale). ONLY BUY THE MANUFACTURERS EXTENDED WARRANTY if you must buy. One Service Manager once told me that they always have problems collecting from these companies, plus those companies want the repair shop to install "used parts", or non standard parts.

In addition, when I purchased my Genesis, (as much as I like my dealer), they took me to the F&I guy who tried to sell me an extended warranty. When looking at the paperwork he gave me, first thing I saw was that it was from some fly-by-night company, not Hyundai. When I pointed out to the F&I guy that Hyundai already has a great warranty, he pointed out to me that the DIS, and radio is only warrantied for three years. I told him that for what they want me to pay for their (fly-by-night) extended warranty, I can chance that nothing will happen to the system while I still own the car, and will probably trade it around that time. (These F&I guys make a lot of money for dealerships [and themselves]).

 

[warp08]

Bob,

Good point, concerning the stereo equipment. For example, BMW CPO warranties (for pre-owned certified BMWs) do have a small print stating that they don't cover the nav/stereo/iDrive components at all, even though the warranty supposed to be an extension of the new car bumper-to-bumper warranty applicable to the first owner. Repairs of these complex components could run up a large bill for these unsuspecting customers.

I would think that if there is an issue with the stereo/nav system in the Genesis, it should present itself within the first few months of ownership, depending on use, so I wouldn't "prepay" the eventual repair even if it happens. Every platinum-level extended warranty I have purchased for previous cars was a waste of money. If something broke, it just happened to be a non-covered item for one reason or another. That was just my experience, your mileage may vary...