Hello everyone,

My 50,000 miles/5 year factory warranty expired last month. I have a 2003 Audi A6 3.0Quattrowhich I got in March 2007. It has 49,000 miles on it. I got a post card in the mail last week from Auto One Warranty Specialists (17752 Sky Park Cir, Irvine, CA 92614 - Ph: (949) 475-9500 - http://www.autoonewarranty.com/default.html)asking megive them a callto get a quote on extending my warranty. I did call them today and they quoted me a price of $1583 (payable interest free over 12 months) for an additional 100,000 miles/5 years which I think was pretty reasonable. They cover everything from timing belts, to CV joints, to transmissions, to control arms etc. and there is no deductible on anything. The agent said that they also pay the garage directly in case of repairs and I would not have to pay anything myself and wait for reimbursement.

The only caveat is that the agent said they are going to send a'magic' fluidtested by NASCAR in the next couple of weeks which I will have to put in the cooling system of the engine of my A6 for the extended warranty to take effect and if I don't put this in my car, the warranty won't even kick in. He said it has been extensively tested and that it brings down the engine running temperature, thus increasing life of parts. It is a one time deal that I have to do before the warranty begins. I am not so sure about this 'magic' fluid though.

Anyway I did sign up for the extended warranty and I should get the contract within the next 3 weeks. I have 30 days after I receive the contract and the special fluid to cancel this warranty and get back my down payment ($395) if I don't like something. I can always challenge the charge on my credit card or go to BBB if something goes wrong.

My questions:

1) Does anybody have any experience with extended warranties from Auto One Warranty Specialists? Are they reliable and trustworthy?
2) Anyone ever hear of this 'magic' fluid bringing down engine temperatures?
3) What is a resonable cost for extended warranties for 5 year/100,000 miles for an A6 3.0L? I have seen people talking about paying anywhere between $1800 to $2500.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

 

Caveat emptor. Never heard of the company and cannot comment, but if they are not affiliated with Audi (and I bet they are not) I would be suspicious. Also, warranties usually cover failures, not normal maintenance. Your timing belt and assorted related parts need to be replaced somewhere around 80-100k miles. This is routine maintenance that will cost $1000-1500 depending on who does it. Find out if it is covered under this warranty, or if they only cover repairs if it fails.

Also, I don't believe in magic fluids. (I also don't believe anything I hear and only half of what I see.) If they claim you have to add any mystery fluids to the car, I would run like hell. Can you conceive of an Audi extended warranty requiring this?

I received a lot of junk solicitiations like this for the last two cars I purchased new (a 2002 Saturn Vue and a 2005 Chrysler Crossfire). I ignored them. The Saturn required a wheel bearing at 100k miles, the Crossfile nothing so far (at 22k), and my Audi only had one part fail (the alternator at 60k, which cost $600 to replace) that would have been covered under warrantly. Since I chipped the car, the problems I had with the clutch/flywheel would have been blamed on that.

Last, verify whether they are selling you a warranty from 50 to 100k or from 50 to 150k. Your message kinda states the latter, but I don't believe they'll take the warranty that high. Going over 100k is very rare.

IMHO, put the $1500 in a bank CD for future repairs, do all the required maintenance religiously, and treat the car gently.

 

Several companies have sent me the same notices for my Nissan...I usually let them go on about their warranty program...then I tell them I still have 5 years/50,000 miles left on an extended warranty I bought for the dealership for $800.00
My guess I will be receiving the same type of notices for my A6....which has the CPO warranty.
I would never have bought a warranty from any company that calls up or sends a card...best would have been get one through the Audi dealership.

Looking at the domain name registration information...I think that company is based outside the US? [:-] and it is a brokerage for warranties.

 

Thanks guys for your inputs.

@ppgoal: The warranty they offered covers me for an additional 100,000 miles which means I willbecovereduntil149,000 miles. I am a really smooth driver and I don't push the car at all. I put on about 1000 miles every month, half the time driving on freeways. I plan to do the required service and maintenance regularly. Anyway in hindsight, I think I rushed into the deal without researching enough. I think I am gonna send back their mystery fluid and ask a refund for my down payment.

@RyuukoGo: This is my first nice car. I drove a 12 year old Nissan before I got my Audi couple of months ago. I didn't know that you get these kinda offers in the mail (I thought it was genuine), because I can't think of anyone even getting my information this fastbecause I have had the car for less than 60 days. But I guess I was wrong. Anyway just wondering, how did you find out that this company is outside the US, because when I did a 'reverse phone' on their number on whitepages.com, it gave me a California address.

I appreciate the feedback.

 

I did a whois look up for autoonewarranty.comat Networksolutions.
The admin for the domain name has a contact number +1.5105952002 which is definitely not a local number. [:'(]

FYI [&:]

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,17024526