Section of an Auto Extended warranty you need to know about.

Wear and Tear Protection - Roadside Assistance - Overheating - Car Rental
Trip Interruption - Nationwide Protection - Choice of Deductibles -  One Deductible per Visit - Transferable - In-Service Date - Maintenance

A word about Bumper to Bumper

Wear and Tear Protection:

This means that your warranty plan covers  the parts that break as well as those
 that wear out past manufactures allowable tolerances.
 
A Piston Ring will wear out, normally, not break for example.
All  good Warranty plans should include a Wear - and -Tear provision.

A lot of warranties have wear-and-tear exclusions, such as struts, piston rings, valves or other
expensive components that wear out and will not be covered.

 You want wear - and - tear protection.

Roadside Assistance:

You want a plan that offers a FREE Nationwide Roadside Assistance plan. You want to be covered per occurrence. Not an out of pocket reimbursement plan, that is tied to only covered repairs. Also you want it to include

Emergency Tire Service  Battery Assistance  Gasoline Delivery

Emergency Lock-out Service and Nationwide Coverage
Toll Free 800 Number.....24 hours a day 365 days a year

Overheating: A lot of warranties have this provision as an exclusion. You want your warranty to have overheating protection included in the warranty coverage.

Car Rental:
You want this provision in your warranty plan. Your car may have to stay over night for repairs. Also it can mean completing a trip or vacation.

 

Trip Interruption:
If you travel a lot this can be an important provision.  Normal coverage under most warranty plans include re-imbursement for lodging and meals. Warranty plans that include this usually start at 100 miles away from home and the repair has to be covered under your contract,

Nationwide Protection:
You want to be able to have repairs made at any repair facility in the US or Canada. This is important if you are traveling, breakdown on a holiday, weekend, or if you move.

Choice of Deductibles:
Warranty plans deductibles are normally $0, $50 and $100.The higher the deductible the less the plan cost. You always want your plan deductible to include the clause "one deductible per visit" Not "One deductible per item". The reason is if you take your car in for a overheating problem and the repair shop determines you need a water pump and radiator, with a service contract with and item deductible you pay two deductibles with a per visit you pay one deductible.

Transferable:
You want the ability to transfer warranty when you sell your vehicle, which will increase your car's resale value.

In-Service Date:
You want the start date of the plan to be when you purchase your warranty plan, NOT the original in-service date of when the car was bought new. Some plans offer what they call a new warranty plan or a used warranty plan on a used car. The difference is the New Car Warranty Plan will retrovert to the original in-service sales date of the first purchaser of the car. I have seen people really stuck with this. You think you have bought a 3 year 36,000 mile warranty on the two year old car you just got with 30,000 miles on it only to find out when you needed your car repaired at 40,000 miles after owing it for 13 months your warranty expired at the 3 year or 36,000 mile mark from original in-service date.!! BE CAREFUL !!

Maintenance:
While there are a very few, very high cost  warranty plans that do include maintenance items such as oil changes. The reason I have included this section is to tell you to follow your manufactures suggested maintenance scheduled in your owners manual.
Also keep your receipts. This save you worlds of hassle when you need a repair done.

KEEP THOSE RECORDS they are Important.

Bumper to Bumper Coverage:
This is an unfortunate phrase that is thrown around too often by unscrupulous salespeople to get you buy.
 It insinuates everything between the bumpers is covered.

Look whoever tells you this in the eye and tell them to put it in writing and have the person SIGN in front of a Notary Public. There will be a Notary Public in the place you're buying the car or close by. If you can get this signature in front of a notary public Please keep it in a safe place.

This is simply not true of ANY extended warranty plan I have ever seen or administered in 25 years. By definition, a bumper to bumper plan is exclusionary; that is, it will list only the few components that are not covered. Typically these include paint, trim, brake shoes/pads, tires, glass maintenance items and the bumpers. ALWAYS READ what is not covered,  If you don't understand something "ASK" and if a salesman, when asked  "What does it cover" Responds with "everything" or "bumper to bumper" see above.