This article will go over why you should get an aftermarket warranty for your Audi. Many customers buy used Audi automobiles with aftermarket warranties to hedge against repair and maintenance bills. In our experience the quality of aftermarket warranty companies can vary wildly in respects to what they actually cover and how reasonable they are in what they cover. Some companies are a pleasure to work with and only require typical paperwork and diagnostics from our end in order to approve the work. Other aftermarket warranty companies require a lot of jumping through hoops on our part and even once all they require is completed it is still questionable whether they’ll approve the work.
The quality of aftermarket warranty companies vary greatly
There are many companies that offer aftermarket warranty contracts at varying price ranges. The best thing we can recommend to a customer who is considering an aftermarket warranty is to read the contract very carefully and make sure that you fully understand what you are buying. There many customers who bring us their Audi or other European luxury car for repair who then have their claim denied by the aftermarket insurance company because the fine print on the contract specifically excludes the type of repair required. Other times the insurance company can put us and our customer in a Catch 22 dilema. This happens when we suspect some sort of internal engine damage. Then aftermarket insurance company will require us to send them pictures of the internal engine damage. In order for us to do that we have to disassemble the engine. The engine disassembly takes time and resources from our shop to perform. If we do the work of disassembling the engine to show the damage there is still a chance the insurance company can deny the claim and our customer would get stuck with the bill of the engine disassembly.
How long can you afford to be without your car?
Another thing to consider is that with an aftermarket warranty the repair process can be more lengthy. We have to diagnose, get the warranty information from our customer, then we have to call the aftermarket warranty company to see what they require in order to approve or deny the repair. The warranty company might want to send out an inspector to confirm the diagnosis or make any other requests that keep our customers waiting. This can take a couple of days to even a few weeks if they don’t have readily available agents. This can keep our customer without a car for a long period of time. A good warranty company would provide a rental car during this period. Most warranty companies do not. How long can you afford to be without your car?
Use common sense when buying an aftermarket warranty
If your aftermarket warranty contract is inexpensive (under 3k) and you don’t closely examine the fine print then don’t be surprised when something expensive breaks on your Audi and your claim is quickly denied. We always recommend that you fully read and understand the policy you are buying and check the company’s reputation online. Bad aftermarket warranty companies tend to have terrible reputations online and depend on people not researching. You don’t want to waste money buying an aftermarket warranty that won’t cover any substantial repair. If that happens you’ll end up paying more as you will have paid for a worthless warranty and you’ll have to pay for whatever repair they denied out of pocket. There are many things to consider when buying a German luxury car and if you have any questions feel free to contact us at S-line Autoworks.
