Protect My Car

I've had to do two claims with them, and both of them were covered. For my 2013, the cost in owning that contract is already paid for the year and got it back with two fixes it had had that went over $1,000 for both fixes. Me being in the automotive business, I knew the CV axle blew the boot apart because of the malfunctioning axle, the bearings in it. At first, it wasn't going to be covered. I called Protect My Car. I got an agent who looked it over and said they made a mistake, and that would be covered. I've already contacted the repair facility to tell them that it's covered and to go ahead with the work. They even fix their mistakes, if they make one, so that's awesome.

To know what's covered in an extended warranty is very important. Most of the companies will cover engines and transmissions, the main components of the vehicle, really expensive. But most of them don't cover all of the other stuff that is connected up to that, whereas Protect My Car will do. They cover everything on the suspension of the vehicle. The only thing they don't cover are wearable items, like brake pads. But they'll replace a brake caliper which holds the pads if the caliper’s bad. Plus, they give three oil changes a year for free. They also have roadside assistance. I had to use that to get my vehicle towed for a flat tire from a campsite. I used it for my 2003 also, and they were on the spot. Quickly, had a vehicle out there, towed it to a local shop, and it was fixed on the same day.

And as far as the inspectors, they are the same. They just go out, look at the vehicle, and say that they're going to put the claim in. But when they put the report in, it still kicks back to the customer service rep, who has no background knowledge in what's going on. The mechanic was telling me that the reason why my transfer case went out was because my car is an all-wheel drive and the ball bearings were bad, which relates to the transfer case because that made tires drive differently.

So, if the ball bearings can go out and will cause the transfer case to mess up and break, then they should cover the ball bearings as well, because the transfer case was more than the ball bearings. It will come out cheaper for the company versus having to pay for thousands of dollars for a transfer case when you can pay for $90 for a ball bearing. If you stop the problem before it starts, then it will not be a bigger problem. But they didn't cover the ball bearings.

By me trying to explain that to the customer service rep, he was pretty much saying that it was not in my drivetrain and that's not what's covered. He told me that I needed to look at my policy and he sent me eight emails about my policy. But I already have the policy right here. At the end of the day, I don't know what a drivetrain is because I'm not a mechanic. But that's what he was telling me pretty much, that I'm at fault because I'm not a mechanic and I don't understand the lingo. But as far as the product itself, the product is good because I benefit from it personally. I get my oil change at Valvoline and by me having this warranty now, I get free oil changes.

I've had problems with coverage and it's not just with Protect My Car. I've had it with other companies too. One time, something broke and I had it fixed. When you're under stress with your car, you have to take your car to get something taken care of and it's a major part, you're not thinking that you have this extra coverage. I spent $800 to have that done then, I realized it. I called the company. They said, “We can't cover it now because of the fact you’re supposed to call us before they did it.” That pissed me off. That was early, so I try to remember. Certain things they say, “Well, that’s wear and tear,” and I can understand that part. However, when they're telling me they're not gonna cover what they told me they covered because I didn't contact them before the shop worked on it, that’s not nice at all.

The other day, I had to get my inspection done. Not thinking, I left my car at the shop and went home. The guy called me and said, “Your ball joint on your tire need to be replaced.” I’m not gonna pass inspection by that part being bad, so I said, “Well, go ahead and do it." I needed my car inspection to be done then after I was done paying the guy and got home, a day later, I realized maybe I could’ve used the warranty to pay for getting that part done. I don’t know if that is considered one of the wear-and-tear parts, so I never called them back.

The only one thing I have been doing on a regular basis is getting my oil changed. With the first couple ones, they said, "Rotate the tires,” and it was done. They paid the people that did the work and I didn’t see any issues with them. If I did, I’m the type of person who will tell people about it. They get my oil changed, but in essence, it’s not free because I’m paying for it every month that I put out $70-some.

I still have the service and I’m okay with it. Everybody I spoke with since then has been wonderful. I finally used it maybe two weeks ago and it went wonderfully well. I had to have my motor mount repaired and there was a piece that the mechanic told me that had to be added on, and it wasn’t covered. That should’ve been covered because it was part of the mount but maybe I didn’t understand the mechanic. I’m okay with it and I got it done. The mechanic place and the representatives were fine but the person who sold me the policy was not anybody who impressed me. I told him exactly what I thought about him and his customer service skills, and that he needed to do a little better than he was doing. He needs to listen. I explained to him that I've been doing this and customer service is very important.

I have been a customer service representative for the majority of my career and it’s in the way you talk to people, answer them and allow them to ask questions. If you’re good, I wanna speak to your supervisor because I wanna compliment you. If you’re bad, I’m gonna do to you what you think you would. But other than that, I’ve had no issues with Protect My Car. I love it. My battery died on me and they came out and did that. I’ve said to a lot of people that they need to get the warranty. It’s worth having.

I've seen Protect My Car twice. Once, there was something with my engine. It was $900 and I ended up paying 425, which was when I decided to go with the top tier they had, which you pay 25%. This last one that I had, my brakes and I had to get a couple of things done and the total was 1,800 but I ended up paying 25% of that. So, the warranty helps. They take out $79 a month but it pays off in the end when I need to take the car in and get it fixed. So, it is worth it. Protect My Car is a good service, especially if your car's getting a little older and you're going to need some major maintenance. If you want to save some money, go with Protect My Car because they got some good programs and you choose whichever one that is eligible for you. You should go for the high tier. You pay less and it's not bad. Plus, I'm a veteran, so I got a discount.