WE’VE BEEN TRYING TO REACH YOU…
We’ve all gotten these phone calls recently…a LOT of calls…trying to get us to extend our expired auto warranties. And while we’re not going to talk exactly about that subject here, getting a warranty and understanding the guarantee it provides on the auto repairs that you’ve had done IS a good idea.
Choosing the right auto repair shop can be a daunting task. How do you know who has the most skilled technicians? How can you tell who’s honest about what’s actually needed and what’s been done? And what about a warranty on the work they provide? It can certainly be difficult to separate repair shops from one another, however, a good warranty can shed light on a shops abilities and ethics right from the start. The better the warranty is, the more confidence a shop has in the quality of the parts used and the people they hire to provide both diagnostics of the problem and the labor needed to fix the issue.
Here’s what you need to know: When you buy parts for a vehicle, there can be unforeseen defects in manufacturing. This could cause issues in a day, a week, or even a few years after installation. Of course, many parts themselves come with a manufacturer’s warranty that the purchaser can be reimbursed for, once the defect is verified by the manufacturer. However, you're only reimbursed for the cost of that part, not for the time spent to find the issue, or the labor incurred to remove and reinstall the new part. Plus, there is the time it takes to get the replacement…
We spoke with Trent Pickering of Pickering’s Auto Service in Lakewood, Colorado Arvada, Colorado Westminster, Colorado, and he confirmed this as fact and then helped us understand how warranties may differ. “That’s correct. Many independent auto repair shops might tell you that they provide the car owner a warranty on any repair they do, but that might only be on the parts that were used. So this isn’t THEIR warranty – it’s the part’s manufacturer’s warranty. The repair shop may not cover the cost of the labor for them to reinstall that warranted part. The diagnosis needed to confirm that the issues was actually caused by the warranted part may not covered either.”
He also gave us this advice. “Another thing to think about is if you travel outside of your repair shop’s service area and your car breaks down due to a faulty repair. On most warranties, you’ll have to pay to have the vehicle towed back to the original shop. In other words, you get a repair in Denver for a trip that you’re taking to Iowa. You break down in western Nebraska. You’ll need to pay out-of -pocket to have the vehicle towed back to Denver, or pay the shop in Nebraska to fix the same problem again! That can cost a lot of additional money.”
So what should you look for in a warranty when having a major auto repair done?
- Ask about how many miles and/or months the warranty is good for
- Confirm that the warranty covers parts AND labor of any needed repairs/replacements
- Ask if there are any services that are not covered by the warranty
- Make sure to find out if there is an additional cost for the warranty
At Pickering’s Auto Service, we offer a 36 month (3 year) or 36,000 mile (whichever comes first) nationwide warranty on most all repairs.
As an example, if you had your car repaired at Pickering’s – who is a certified NAPA shop – and you experienced a problem with a repair that they preformed outside of their 50 mile service area, you could simply take the car to ANY NAPA AutoCare Facility nationwide and you’d STILL be covered!
So as they say – “you get what you pay for”, but in the case of a NAPA Auto Care provider like Pickering’s Auto Service, you also get what you DON’T pay for!
For mor information on aftermarket warranties or extended warranties, check out our blog.
For quality repairs that will last, visit Pickering’s Auto Service or book online!