An Extended Warranty for cars are extended service contracts that pay for car repair expenses and other expenditures that a car demands after the manufacturer's warranty has expired. Extended auto warranty is a great option for people who want to buy used cars as usually these are the ones who don't have the manufacturer's warranty protecting them. New or used, cars need extended warranty that's for sure. But how does it work, is it the same as insurance covers? What's different about extended warranty for cars?

 All these questions have one answer – the procedure for paying your car repair bills. The extended warranty for cars begins from the very day it is purchased. The extended warranty policy you have bought is dependent on your choice and comes into play when there is a breakdown of the car.

Extended warranty for cars is valid only if the car is being taken to a licensed mechanical authority. Or else the extended auto warranty company has the right to cancel your claim if they feel the need. The company who shall be paying your car expenses is called the administrator. Before the administrator agrees to cover the expenses under the extended auto warranty policy – the car will be checked by the mechanic at the workshop who shall then report it to administrator along with the extended warranty documents.

The administrator then examines the whole car, gives his or her inputs, prepares the list of repairs to be made and then gets a repair approval. After this the administrator will pay directly to the mechanical repair shop, if not then you would have to pay initially and get the reimbursement later (which is a head ache). Therefore, it is always better to have the administrator pay the service department directly without any intermediates.

Time involved in Repair & Cash Approval

Usually extended warranty for cars do not take much time if the case is strong and the claim genuine. As soon as a car is taken to a service station, the next steps are call up the extended warranty company, explain the situation and wait for the positive report. There have been incidences of people not being able to cash out their administrator approvals due to violating the terms of extended warranty contracts (worst case scenario). All this does not take time at all if all the documents are in order.

The car will get repaired within the time that has been mentioned by the servicemen. However getting the repair started is something that consumes the maximum time in the whole extended warranty process. Once the extended warranty procedure has been initiated then it does not take much time.

It doesn't really involve rocket science and whether it's a woman or a man, at the time of crisis, they are bound to get a little nervous but extended warranty for cars is something that works the best to protect your vehicle. Just have your extended warranty papers ready and you are good to go.

An extended used car warranty contract may be duplicated sometimes that is covers almost the same things that are/were part of the manufacturer's warranty. If this happens, then the customer will be at a loss. Duplication of used car warranty contracts as well as for the new ones can be easily avoided by playing only a bit smart. Again, it does not involve any rocket science but loads of common sense and alertness so that no extended warranty provider can fool you.

 To avoid duplication of extended car warranty contracts, you have to be fully educated with the following:

• Manufacturer's warranty – What does the manufacturer's warranty contain and what is the maximum and the minimum coverage offered in the service contract. Also check when will the manufacture used car warranty will expire if you've bought it before the expiry of the manufacturer's warranty.
• Extended used car warranties – Now coming to the present scenario be thorough with the contract in hand. Check the date of effect of the used car warranty (generally it will be immediate, right after the purchase). In this you have to look for the coverage scope, the cost and then compare it with the current used car warranty you're under – which may be the manufacturer's warranty.
• Warranty coverage – This is what is covered in your new used car warranty and what was previously covered. Analyze both and look for duplication.
• Duration of Coverage – If your manufacturer's or a previous extended used car warranty is not over yet, then make sure you first check the period of overlap of the two used car warranties and see if both are offering the same thing for that particular period of time.

Duplication of used car warranties happens very rarely as buyers are much more alert and cautious when investing in extended auto warranty. It is something which can be easily avoided and be saved from. Paying twice for the same set of services is sheer foolishness and nothing else. Hence be very careful of duplication of the used car warranty contract.

There are more chances of duplication of service contracts when the used car warranties are bought from the dealer who will not always make a genuine sale. And can even try to sell the extended used car warranty as an additional to the manufacturer's warranty. This is something which has to be very carefully noted by the car owner or the buyer. Chances of duplication of used car warranty contracts increases in new cars than in the older ones.

To extract profit and benefit out of your extended used car warranties, the purchase you make has to be fool proof in terms of choice of extended used car warranty and the kind of warranty coverage plan you have opted for.

The question of deductibles may have plagued you vis-a-vis the vehicle service contract. There are confusing and the buyer needs sufficient assistance in explaining to him what are deductibles and which among the options is the best choice. Deductibles are what you pay to the extended auto warranty provider. These can be set either at per visit or per repair. A used vehicle service contract depends basically on three things – the make and model of the car, year of manufacture and the mileage. After these three things have been examined by the extended vehicle service contract provider then, he will offer you to set the deductibles for your choice of policy.

 Now the deductibles have to be very carefully chosen. The range of deductibles offered is from $0 to $100 with $50 as the average deductible that can be opted for. It is also important to note that if you are choosing a higher deductible policy then the cost of your extended vehicle service contract will automatically get lowered but if you are opting for a lower deductible coverage plan then the cost of your new or used vehicle warranties will be higher.

The choice of deductibles depends on the pay module you want to keep I.e you want to pay the deductibles per visit or per repair. If you want to be protected against all repair costs that is amounted per visit then a $0 deductible is the right choice however if you think that your car won't be requiring so many repairs and only one big repair cost will suffice then $100 deductible is something for you to consider.

Deductibles are very important to set as these influence the cost that you have to pay and the vehicle service contract provider pays for your car's repairs. Many a times people do not think through the relevance of deductibles in used vehicle warranties and settle for $0 without realizing they may have to pay much more in the longer run if the car repairs are few and far or may be a single one.

Apart from the characteristics of the car, deductibles in an extended vehicle service contract should be chosen according to:

• Repair Workshops – The company must cover repairs conducted at any licensed repair shop and not just mentioned by them.
• Transferable Extended Warranty – See if the used vehicle warranties are transferable or not and then choose your deductible accordingly.
• Cancellation of Vehicle Service Contracts – This feature is highly important as it awards much freedom to the buyer.
• Coverage Choices – The buyer must be given ample coverage choices in the new or used vehicle service contract.

With these mind and any other relevant information you get from elsewhere, choose your deductibles and hence choose beneficial used car warranties.

Time and again the emphasis has been laid on what all is covered under extended auto warranties but as an informed buyer you need to be aware of all that is not covered in extended auto warranty too. A vehicle warranty contract legitimacy is as much depended on what all it covers as on what all it does not cover. A valid contract is one that lays out all that is yes and all that is no. So next time you go to an extended auto warranty provider don't just be content with what all he mentions as 'yes-its-there' but also inquire about the exclusions.

Vehicle warranties are generally inclusive still there will be many parts of your vehicle which won't be covered at all. Following is the list of items that no vehicle warranty will cover. These include:

• Sealed bulbs
• Moldings
• Bright Metal
• Upholstery
• Paint
• Exhaust systems
• Tires (although exceptions may be there)
• Air Bags
• Batteries
• Windshield Wipers
• Brake Pads
• Shock Absorbers
• Glass
• Lenses and other tit bits.

Apart from these sometimes part of the fuel transmission are also excluded. To get the cooling systems, turbo-charged engines, diesel, conversions included in your vehicle warranty, you would have to pay more. Car owners can even have the navigation systems, electronic accessories etc. covered but they would again need to pay extra. Some vehicle warranties may already offer a package deal to have all these included before itself.

The best way to get a good idea about what is covered and what is not covered in your extended warranty or vehicle warranty is ask for itemizing or categorizing from the extended vehicle warranties guy. Most of the companies have it as part of their induction and introduction but some don't. So it is always better to ask if they're not mentioning it themselves.

Wear and Tear & Mechanical Breakdown Must be Included too:

This needs to be confirmed before purchasing the extended vehicle warranty. Ideally these two should be part of the vehicle warranties offered but different companies have different policies regarding the inclusive items.

Vehicle warranties is a great option for both used as well as new cars. However the trick to get the best vehicle warranty is after much research and understanding of the field. There is voluminous information available online about extended auto warranty and vehicles warranties which will help you buy the best vehicle warranty for your car – one that is affordable and offers maximum coverage.