Re Thanks for the interesting report *NM*

All, I am a lurker but posted a about 18 months ago (can't find the post) that I purchased an extended warranty from Paragon Motor Club.

The warranty I purchased provided an additional 5 years or 100,000 miles for major mechanical. this would take me to 2016 or ~180,000 miles whichever come first. I paid a discounted price due to my employer, cost was about $1800.

The vehicle in question is a 2002 Boxster S.

This story begins with a early 2011 claim from my Porsche dealer (Hennessy, Atlanta GA) because the water pump was making a noise while they were fixing a engine light issue due to a bad sensor. Sensor not covered, water pump covered by warranty.

Hennessy did a claim, and while it was paid took 36 hours and I had to fork over $75 becuase I wanted to use a Porsche part (not remanufactured etc.). Cost to Paragon was $900 of whereabouts.

Then my friends, things got interesting!

My clutch failed in September of 2011. Original clutch and car was @ 85,000 miles. Upon inspection Hennessy says flywheel is toast too. looking at close to $3000 to fix. While clutch is a "wear" item the warranty specifically covers "Transmission case and all internally Lubricated Parts; torque converter; flywheel/flex plate; and vacuum modulator. Seals and gaskets are only Covered when required in connection with the replacement of a Covered Part."

Hennessy makes a claim for the flywheel/flex plate and it is immediately denied. I call Paragon (or rather 3rd party who services their warranty) and am told that my dealer said the clutch caused the flywheel to fail. Their customer service people are clearly trained to say no. I spoke to four of them and all refused to escalate to a manger. Hennessy says no we did not say that. Regardless of why it failed, it is a covered part @ $1100 bucks from porsche.

So I pay my $3000 (including couple items like engine mount out of my owns pocket) and then go to [www.bbb.org] and file a complain with BBB as Paragon markets their product as being BBB A+ etc. This is October 2011.

January 17, 2012 due to lack of response as to my claim, Paragon has their accreditation put on hold. the next day I get a call from Paragon pleading ignorance, we only sell we do no service warranty, the 3rd party provider did not respond all their fault etc. I make point that Paragon markets BBB accreditation with this product so I will be happy when you cover my failed part. A couple days later they ask for my service record for repair (I offer to ship them the flywheel, which I have in my garage), I fax them and then told that the original claim was denied due to lack of documentation (ah, based on my four calls and my dealers calls at the time, bullshit)) and that it is now approved. A week later I get a check for $2205 to cover parts and labor.

My dealer says anytime these warranty reach a certain point (over $1000 for me) the servicer denies everything.

So there you have it. I have meant to post this for a while as when I posted questions before as to extended warranty, i committed to update my experience.

Regards,

Joe in Atlanta



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/05/2012 04:54PM by macnjam. (view changes)

First off, I'm amazed anyone would sell an extended warranty on a 8 year old Boxster with 85K on it; if you don't mind me asking --roughly--what was the premium and was there a big deductible?

Glad to hear they actually paid on the claim, but it seems to underscore why there are so many skeptics out there with regards to the wisdom of buying an extended warranty. You paid the premium and then had to fight to get them to pay the claim, despite language indicating that the part was covered--that isn't how its supposed to work.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that, with a discount through his employer, the premium was $1800, and the deductible, when he used a garage of his choice, was $75.

But, that's just a guess.

The deductible was $150. And the warranty started short of 80k mikes, around 78k. Yes this was cheap and I went in knowing they documented the flywheel and expected over life of the warranty that it would need replacement. I also recognized the business practices for these types of business are shady.

And correction total premium was $1950, I just looked again at my contract. Confused caused I paid it over 12 months zero interest with a initial downpayment.

I am really posting this so some future Boxster owner will see a real world example of a extended warranty experience. I took two things away 1) these guys are shady and 2) BBB certification (which includes a commitment to arbitration) has value.Now BBB did wait much longer than rules they documented to suspend Paragon's certification, as they (Paragon) had a commitment to respond to my claim within two weeks, and did not over 90 days. so it took followup to push this to conclusion. That said it was not that much work.

I also noted the product I purchased is no longer on paragon website. I assume they change their products alot based on market demand.

What is good is my $1950 has been covered and I also have a water pump on top of that. My claims are just over $3000 now for a $1950 investment.

Joe in Atlanta

Glad it worked out.
One thing that bothered me about their website was Pat Goss of Motorweek pushing this product as the best thing since sliced bread. Having watched him for years on the program, I've always thought he was a pretty straight shooter, but being linked as a frontman for an outfit like this won't due his reputation any good.

1. $1800 for 100k / 5 years is just amazingly cheap. I would almost buy it if it *knew* they were crooks.
2. What a surprise, they denied a claim. Read "the client"?
3. But, thsi is better than the one my dealer bought me to extend my coverage - they went bankrupt. oops.
4. barring bankruptcy, i expect you will get your $1800 back once more over the remaining life.

For the record, the policy they bought me, whcih was factory warranty terms extension, was like $1800 for 2 years on a new car.

Do everything in writing, IMNSHO.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com