Preferred Warranties Inc.
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Preferred Warranties Inc. offers extended auto warranties for used vehicles, including power sport vehicles. Its six plans range from powertrain to exclusionary coverage. Plans with greater coverage also come with better benefits, like longer rental car reimbursement. The company guarantees that all claims are paid within five days.
BOTTOM LINE
Preferred Warranties Inc. offers six car warranty plans, but the company requires a large upfront payment. The benefits aren't always as good as its competitors, but some reviews praise the customer service and coverage.
PROS
- Powersport vehicle plan
- Roadside assistance
- Coverage for used vehicles
CONS
- Weak benefits
- Large upfront payment required
Top Preferred Warranties Inc. Reviews We Found
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2006 F-150 Had an issue that at first seemed like an easy fix, but turned out it wasn't covered in the plan I purchased. PWI still decided to pay for partial part of just because they wanted to help me out as best they could. Thank you PWI so much, you covered something didn't even have to cover.
Read full reviewI've had actual Honda warranties refuse to pay for anything. Usually have to fight tooth and nail. Not with PWI. If you are considering purchasing an aftermarket warranty I highly suggest Preferred Warranties Inc.
Read full reviewWhat is Preferred Warranties Inc.?
Preferred Warranties Inc. is a company that sells extended warranties for used vehicles. The company's warranties range from three years/26,000 miles of coverage to 10 years/100,000 miles. Preferred Warranty Inc.’s plans require a large upfront payment, and the benefits don't necessarily compare well with what's offered by some of the company's competitors.
Preferred Warranties Inc. cost
Preferred Warranties Inc.’s Base plan costs about $1,500, but customers must pay the full cost upfront. This is rare in the industry — one benefit of buying a car warranty is the option to divide the cost into small monthly payments and manage your budget to avoid significant expenses. Preferred Warranties Inc.'s plans have deductibles that typically range from $50 to $100.
Preferred Warranties Inc. plans
Preferred Warranties has five plans for used cars and one plan for motorcycles, ATVs, boats and snowmobiles.
- Powertrain plan
- The Powertrain plan is Preferred Warranties Inc.’s most basic plan. It covers:
- Engine
- Transmission
- Four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive
- Differential
- Seals and gaskets
- Base plan
- The Base plan covers everything in the Powertrain plan plus:
- Additional engine coverage
- Electrical
- Drive axle
- Steering
- Brakes
- Plus plan
- The Plus plan has coverage for everything in the Base plan plus:
- Even more engine coverage
- Turbocharger
- Additional transmission coverage
- Additional drive axle coverage
- Additional steering coverage
- Electrical/high-tech systems
- Fuel delivery system
- Air conditioning
- Extra Mile plan
- The Extra Mile plan covers everything in the Plus plan as well as the anti-lock braking system (ABS).
- Premier plan
- The Premier plan from Preferred Warranties Inc. offers exclusionary coverage, meaning it is easier to list what it doesn’t cover rather than what it does. The Premier Plan does not cover:
- Regular maintenance services
- Door panels and handles
- Structural framework
- Bumpers
- Sheet metal and flexible body parts
- Paint
- Convertible tops
- Upholstery, trim, moldings, windows and headlamps
- Anything not installed by the manufacturer
- Hybrid vehicle battery
- Repairs made to meet emission standards
- Powersports plan
- Preferred Warranties offers a Powersports plan for motorcycles, ATVs, boats and snowmobiles. The Powersports plan covers the following parts and systems:
- Engine
- Transmission
- Primary drive
- Final driveshaft
- Steering
- Brakes
- Gauges
- Suspension
- Electrical
- Fuel systems
- Four-wheel drive mechanics
Preferred Warranties Inc.’s benefits
Preferred Warranties Inc.'s benefits include 24/7 roadside assistance with every plan. Rental reimbursement varies depending on the plan’s level.
| Plan | Rental car reimbursement |
|---|---|
| Powertrain | None |
| Base | 3 days |
| Plus | 5 days |
| Extra Mile | 5 days |
| Premier | 6 days |
| Powersport | None |
Preferred Warranties Inc. FAQ
- Can I use any repair shop when I have a Preferred Warranties Inc. warranty?
- Yes. Preferred Warranties Inc. works with your regular repair shop to resolve your claim. If you don’t have a preferred shop, it can recommend one.
- How do I file a claim with Preferred Warranties Inc.?
- If you have a claim to file, simply call or open a claim online.
- Can I set up a payment plan with Preferred Warranties Inc.?
- No. Preferred Warranties requires full upfront payment for its auto warranties.
- Where can I buy a Preferred Warranties Inc. car warranty?
- You can purchase a Preferred Warranties Inc. car warranty from participating dealerships.
Is Preferred Warranties Inc. worth it?
Although an extended auto warranty is helpful to cover unexpected repairs, Preferred Warranties Inc. doesn't always stack up well with its competition. We don’t like that the company requires a large upfront payment. A key benefit of buying an extended auto warranty is the option to make a small monthly payment. Many reviews also state the benefits are not as good as those offered by other companies. If you want to purchase an extended auto warranty, we recommend you continue researching other companies before making a decision.
Preferred Warranties Inc. Reviews
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I have purchased 3 contracts for my family and have had claims. PWI treated them very well. No delays in repair work. Quick and responsive and always professional. Will buy from them again. Very pleased with them.
Thank you for the 5 star review. So happy to hear that PWI was able to help when you needed to get back on the road quickly. Thank you for your loyalty.
I truly wish that I had checked the reviews on PWI before purchasing this policy! Now, after reading these reviews, it just substantiates my thoughts on this company even more. Their responses says that they pride themselves on their customer service, but in my opinion, just because you speak very nicely on the phone, doesn’t mean you have great customer service.
Customer service is taking care of the customers concerns with a situation. This company had no intentions of customer service. I am glad to see that some people have been lucky enough to have them meet somewhere in the middle, but in my case they won’t budge at all. I have a $0 deductible and the only thing they can say is that if I didn’t want to pay money out of my pocket for a covered repair I shouldn’t have taken it to a Ford Dealership! I should have taken it to an independent shop instead. Terrible customer service! Buyers be forewarned, you are not getting what you think you are getting when you buy a warranty from PWI! There are far better choices out there to spend your money on!
I am sorry to hear about your negative experience with PWI. We would like the opportunity to review your claim but do not have any contract information. Please let us know the best number and day/time to reach you so we can talk further about your experience. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Kim K
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Apparently, when my dealer contracted with PWI, they made sure that refunds would be provided. I received a check today. However, I would still recommend being aware upfront about the refund policies. They used an explanation that, although the company name has "WARRANTY" in it, it's a Service Contract. In CT, service contracts don't have to be refunded.
Paid $2400 for a policy in 2019. Owned the car for a year and traded it in. Called to try and get a refund (policy was good until 2022) and was told that in CT, I would have had to have traded in my car within 30 days. Nothing on the contract about that, could not find ANY refund information on the website. The write up is correct - you have to pay for this thing up-front and with no ability to recover an unused portion, it's a complete waste of money. I should have been refunded about $1800, but nope - they got my $2400 and thank you very much. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THEM AT ALL.
Hi Ray – thank you for updating your review. While we’re disappointed that you are still not satisfied with PWI after we worked with your dealer to make an exception for your refund, we do hope that you will consider PWI in the future.
This is the worst insurance! Bad customer service. They dig to find a reason not to cover the claim. They do not return calls. We kept calling trying to find out the status of the claim. They never called us to tell us the claim was denied because they believed the damage occurred before the purchase of the insurance contract. They never inspected the vehicle. All this was done over the phone. Instead, they called the repair shop and told them and the repair shop told us. They will not answer any calls. Do your research!
It was recently discovered that the vehicle you purchased was not eligible for a PWI Service Contract due to the service contract being issued after the date of purchase of your vehicle. We hope this has helped to better clarify the current situation. Please contact the selling dealership directly for refund inquiries related to the subject Service Contract. Thank you.
I purchased a used vehicle from Ducky Cars. The dealership offered various warranty options by Preferred Warranties Inc. for the vehicle so I did not have the vehicle checked out by a mechanic prior to purchase. I chose a one year full warranty with unlimited miles. Upon leaving the dealership and getting on the highway I noticed that the vehicle swayed when I got above 50 mph. The next morning I noticed some stains in my driveway.
I took the car to a mechanic and a number of issues was found. A lot of them major. Preferred Warranties Inc. (PWI) was contacted and they denied the claim. They said the dealership should not have sold the vehicle in such a condition. This is part of the "agreement" between PWI and Ducky Cars. As such Ducky Cars violated the "agreement" and the warranty was voided.
The dealership refused to make any of the repairs saying that the warranty company was responsible for the repairs. The warranty company refused to cover any of the repairs saying Ducky Cars should fix the issues. There has been a back and forth and nothing got resolved. Now I cannot get my money back for the warranty because Ducky Cars says they gave it to the warranty company (PWI) and the warranty company says they never received any money for my warranty.
So, the current situation is this:
I have a vehicle that I cannot drive.I do not have any kind of warranty.
I do not have the money I paid out for the warranty.
In the state of Georgia there is no protection for used car buyers and these companies know that. I would not have purchased this vehicle if not for the warranty.
Although we feel for your unfortunate situation, per your signed-contract, PWI does not cover any failure which existed at or prior to the purchase date. As we discussed during our earlier conversation, the issues of your vehicle were pre-existing prior to purchase and therefore are prohibited from PWI coverage. We did not receive payment from the selling dealer so we suggest reaching out to the dealer for your refund.
This is my second claim with them and I am in another fight for my life. The first claim I wound up agreeing to paying 1/2 the cost. Now my mechanic is telling me that there is an issue with my oil pump and timing chain (a known problem with my car that I did NOT know about) yet PWI is INSISTING on a tear down at my cost to determine the cause. My mechanic has said that won’t show the cause, because this is a known defect. I know that PWI is trying to find a reason to NOT pay this claim too, and in the meantime I don’t have use of my vehicle because the engine may blow up due to the malfunction of the oil pump and chain.
My mechanic also said that the engine WILL go at some point, so it would actually save PWI money to just replace the whole assembly now...but I can’t even get them to pay for the diagnostic they are insisting on! I cannot emphasize this enough....DO NOT BUY ANY PRODUCT FROM THIS COMPANY!! They will find any reason NOT to pay a claim. I will NEVER buy another warranty from them ever. Big waste of money.
Hi Lisa,
I happy to hear that PWI was able to reach out to you and address your concerns and send you reimbursement for repairs. Please let us know if we can be of any assistance in the future.Thank you.
I will only state facts in this review. Read the Preferred Warranties' contract in its entirety before purchasing this warranty and it will change your mind. The way the warranty is setup, the buyer will lose money. They indicate that they will replace with used/recycled parts and consumer is responsible for paying the difference if new parts are used. They indicate that they will pay a certain amount of the diagnosis fee, but they also indicate that the repair company must show where the failure exists. Note, this this is difficult for intermittent issues such as mine. My car has codes that are being shown through diagnosis, but Preferred Warranty is requiring me to ask the Infiniti dealer where the shop is to go further with their diagnosis by dropping the transmission pan at my expense, which is additional money out of my pocket that will not be covered by Preferred Warranty's miniscule $115 diagnosis reimbursement.
Not to mention, I could spend the money for the additional diagnosis and Preferred Warranties can still deny the claim. I am now fully convinced that Preferred Warranty extended warranties are money grabs. Including the cost of the warranty, there's the potential that I could spend more money on this valve body replacement than Preferred Warranties. Overall, it would have been cheaper for me to not buy the warranty and instead pay the cost out-of-pocket. I guess that's a good business model for them, but a horrible one for the consumer. Ultimately, I, the consumer will lose. Don't buy products from this company.
Hi Wilmani,
PWI is eager to discuss your concerns. One of our claims representatives has been trying to connect with you. Please call our Claims Department at 800-334-4841 so that we can chat with you. Thank you.
I still had to pay out of pocket some but at least Michael was able to get it to $90 hours for labor charges. I’m just glad after 4 different shops my car is fixed.
My husband and I have been having a check engine light on our car since Dec. We took it to our trusted mechanic. After seeing metal flakes (which he was able to show us) in my oil. He said our car needs a new engine. We have been going through Hell ever since. He suggested that we don’t drive it but tow it to the Chevy dealership across the street because he doesn’t repair engines. When the dealership called our warranty company (PWI) they played phone tag for almost a week. We also called and was told they were waiting for us to call in order for them to speak to the dealership. When the dealership finally got through to PWI, the customer service told them we hadn’t called yet so we both had to start all over. No one at the customer service was noting the account correctly.
Finally yesterday the dealership called at 6am. The dealership told them their labor charge was $150, but willing to go down to $125, and got a message that they will not negotiate labor charge it’s $90 and needed to speak with me again. My husband and I spoke to Rob at around 7:15a who was VERY RUDE to us inform me that the dealership hasn’t called and they need them to say what’s wrong with the vehicle and the average labor charge in Vegas is $90. (Mind you I spoke to someone yesterday who told me the the average cost was $85 but he knew a show that’s in my area that $95 and they will pay him. We went by the shop when we hung up. The shop mechanic spoke Russian and do foreign engine in a hole in the wall location.)
So back to my story, my husband and I got up and drove to the shop. After pulling up to the dealership the manager Wayne showed proof that he called. I picked up my phone and called back at that very moment. I was now speaking to Chris. He again informed me at 7:58a that there weren’t any notes of the dealership calling. Chris said there were only 4 agents working today. So I told him I have at dealership so finally what did they want to know. On speaker Wayne and Chris talked about the car and Chris said PWI needed proof of the problems and an estimate of charges. So Wayne said, "Are you giving me permission to break the engine down." Chris said, "No we just want proof." Wayne said, "It doesn’t make sense unless we look at what’s wrong."
Chris said, "Ok we will hear from you on Monday latest Tuesday." I was then informed that IF PWI decide NOT to pay then I the customer will have to pay $600 (cost of the breakdown) JUST to find out what’s wrong with my car and I have metal flakes. I called right back spoke to Sky (who didn’t know ANYTHING) quickly got me back to Chris when I mentioned his name. I asked him about the $600 fee if they decide not to pay. He insured me that if there is flakes it’s most likely an engine change but they need proof. I wanted to see if they can negotiate the labor rate $125 or at least $100. As nice as Chris was I fear I will have to start all over next week. All I want is the labor charge to be negotiated and for my PWI not to have me going in circles.
I don’t understand why PWI would want their clients to go to a hole in the wall shop just to save money and one I, as a client, wouldn’t feel comfortable with. We’re a military family and I expect to feel safe when I go drop off my car if my husband is not around. Also getting the run around like I’m a criminal or a bill collector is NOT PROFESSIONAL AT ALL!!!
Hello Samantha,
I understand Michael was able to reach you and address your concerns. Please let us know if we can be of any help in the future.
Kim K
Bought a used Truck and the PWI Warranty ($1100) and 9 months later the Power steering pump needs replaced. The warranty company told the dealership service department that the steering pump is not covered. Please READ every single line of your warranty contract before buying because if you don’t you will most likely be wasting your money. Do not make the same mistake that I made spending your money on a piece of paper that is useless.
I’m very sorry to hear about your negative experience with PWI.
Customer satisfaction is of the greatest importance to PWI. I’d like to learn more about your experience with PWI and see if there’s a way we can help.
Please let me know the best number and day/time to reach you so we can talk further about your experience.
Sincerely,Kimberly K
I had a few follow up calls with representatives from Preferred Warranties and had a satisfactory resolution. With a minimal amount of hassle we were able to come to a settlement amount that covered a reasonable portion of the valve cover repair. While I kind of wish that was my experience off the bat, I am at least glad that the reps managing the web presence of PWI are much more rational than the folks who were manning the phones when I first called. I upgraded my review to 4 stars instead of 3 stars only because PWI had been responsive on my previous two repair claims. This particular incident and resolution was really a 3 star experience but I averaged my other two 4 to 5 star experiences in with this one to come up with the overall 4 star rating.
I purchased Premier coverage for a used BMW 535i. Back in March I needed a valve cover repair which should have been covered by the policy. When the repair shop contacted Preferred Warranties they had a very specific conversation about internal gaskets and valve cover not being covered. When I recently went through the policy, it clearly stated that valve covers were a covered item. I called Preferred Warranties to inquire why the repair which had already been completed was not covered even though it should have been.
They stated that it should have been covered but since the repair had already been done, they would not honor a claim. They then went on to state that they never talked to the repair shop even though the service owner had relayed to me very specific details about the conversation he had with them. Rather than acknowledge that the car was under warranty for a repair that should have been covered and make good on the claim - the PW reps pointed to the fine print in the contract that since they didn't have a claim approved in advance, that there was nothing they could do.
The experience got worse when the call was redirected to a supervisor. The first rep accurately stated that the call should be between the service center and Preferred Warranties. The supervisor instead stated that I should have called PW about the claim that they did not enter. Not sure how I would know that they did not record the conversation and not enter the claim. While to me this looks like it should be an easy to fix administrative oversight by one of the parties, PW uses it as a rationale to deny rightful claims. This has been a very disappointing experience and I definitely will not be shelling out thousands of dollars for a warranty that Preferred Warranties Inc. has little interest in honoring.
Customer satisfaction is of the greatest importance to PWI. We'd like to learn more about your experience with PWI and see if there’s a way we can help.
One of our claims supervisors will be in contact with you to further discuss your concerns.
Sincerely,Kim K
Preferred Warranties Inc. Company Information
- Company Name:
- Preferred Warranties, Inc.
- Year Founded:
- 1992
- Formerly Named:
- Preferred Warranties, Inc.
- Address:
- 200 PINEBROOK PL.
- City:
- Orwigsburg
- State/Province:
- PA
- Postal Code:
- 17961
- Country:
- United States
- Phone:
- 5703666523
- Website:
- www.warrantys.com
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