Times have changed and there are far more opportunities and choices for car warranty insurance plans, and just as many opportunities for scams and cheaters. While car buyers now have many more opportunities to protect an expensive and important investment in a vehicle, they must know about their options and how to judge good and bad providers.

Don’t assume that a car dealer is your only source of information for car warranties or extended warranties. They will normally offer what their manufacturer provides, but you may prefer more coverage or longer periods than they offer. If you buy coverage mostly to extend the manufacturer’s warranty, the earlier you buy this, the cheaper it will be so don’t wait until the original one is about to expire. Ask the dealer, of course. Most will have good information and it is to their benefit to give you honest and complete information to make you a happy customer, but those bad jokes about used car dealers have a grain of truth, so be cautious. You should have checked with the local BBB to make sure your seller is legitimate and ethical, but check online for reviews and complaints as well, and do the same for car warranty providers.

Read all contracts thoroughly and be sure you understand them before signing anything! For cars with very high mileage or poor overall reliability ratings, you may only have one or two choices and the rates may be so high that it is not worth buying them. Be sure you are dealing with an actual warranty company and not just a third party broker for a real idea of how solid the company really is.