After Market Warranties

[ggilligan]

I recently purchased a 2010 Carrera 4S Coupe with two months of factory warranty left and 15,000 miles from the original owner.  I have been looking for an aftermarket warranty and so far have found many horror stories. I would like to hear from Porsche owners who have/are experiencing good results from their after market warranty and who those companies may be. Costco no longer offers warranties on Porsche. The local Porsche/Audi dealer offers Fidelity Warranty Services, however, in checking the Web for reviews, they have received some very bad press. I would appreciate hearing some success stories as I want to get coverage soon. A CPO warranty is out of the question as I bought it from the original private owner. Thanks.

 

George G.

[White987S]

Save your money. Put the +$4,000 in your sock drawer for unscheduled maintenance only. You'll come out ahead. Usually.

[JFP in PA]

I recently purchased a 2010 Carrera 4S Coupe with two months of factory warranty left and 15,000 miles from the original owner.  I have been looking for an aftermarket warranty and so far have found many horror stories. I would like to hear from Porsche owners who have/are experiencing good results from their after market warranty and who those companies may be. Costco no longer offers warranties on Porsche. The local Porsche/Audi dealer offers Fidelity Warranty Services, however, in checking the Web for reviews, they have received some very bad press. I would appreciate hearing some success stories as I want to get coverage soon. A CPO warranty is out of the question as I bought it from the original private owner. Thanks.

 

George G.

 

The horror stories are common for good reason, a lot of aftermarket warranty deals are not worth the paper they are written on.  Many exclude critical items (like RMS or IMS issues), and try and dictate how much the shop can charge to do a repair, which alone has resulted in many shops refusing to get involved.  Be very cautious and read the fine print several times before you part with any money.  Ask your preferred shop if they will accept any plan you might be considering.  Some have paid out thousands only to get little if anything in return.

[1schoir]

Most of the "Vehicle Service Contract" companies have earned a very bad reputation, a very well-earned one.

 

You will find that they appear to honor the contract on relatively small items and that they get very creative in the manner in which they disclaim coverage as the cost of the particular repair increases.

 

There are some that are particularly dishonest (U.S. Fidelis comes readily to mind) and others that just exemplify the insurance business model: collect premiums, try not pay claims.

 

If you must get one, at least make sure that there is an insurance company backing them up.  By law, that insurance company must be listed in the Vehicle Service Contract.  That gives you some assurance that you have some recourse but that recourse is usually only meaningful when a lawyer gets involved.

 

The suggestion to put the money that you would spend for a service contract aside and perhaps invest it while you are waiting for needed repairs to pop up is a good one and you will usually come out ahead with that approach.  You will definitely have a lot less aggravation.

 

I have represented a number of Porsche owners with these claims and the horror stories you hear are not without justification, so tread carefully.

 

Regards, Maurice.

[ggilligan]

Thanks for the responses. Putting money aside for anticipated repairs is a good idea. I also plan on speaking with my  local Porsche dealer to see what warranties they honor, the warranties they prefer to work with, and the relationship between them and the warranty companies. The last thing I want to do is get into a situation where I have to fight with some out of town warranty company. 

George G. 

[Silver_TT]

+1 skip the "insurance" and just pocket the money, which is substantial, for repairs.  As White says, you will come out ahead $ much more often than not.  Not to mention saving yourself the stress of fighting with a company that writes deals that aren't worth the paper they're written on as JFP says.