BillK2632
Well-Known Member
You know when you buy a car and you are in the with finance person completing all the paper work etc, and they always try to sell you paint protection, fabric guard etc etc. I am pretty good at saying no to all these extra service contracts, about everyone tries to sell them to you - Sears tried to sell me a contract on a $25 hand saw I bought recently! Two months ago we bought my daughter a 2013 Volvo S60, replacing the 2001 S60 that that has been in the family since new. The new S60 is a great car by the way.
The car has the certified pre-owned factory warrant to 100k, but in a weak moment when I was closing the deal at the Volvo dealer I bought this protection plan that covers paintless dent removal, wheel/tire damage, windshield chips and key replacement. I figured young woman driving the car, she is in the medical field and constantly parked in hospital parking lots, outside at her apartment complex, figured I would get my money out of it on the paintless dent removal and tire repair - she has a habit of rubbing curbs from time to time. She is taking great care of the car - tells me she really likes it so I was having some buyers remorse over the $500 I paid for the service plan. Until this week - she lost a key fob while out jogging Tuesday night. We were particularly concerned because it was lost on the Wake Forest campus that her apartment backs up to. Very likely someone found the key and it would not take much driving around and pushing the buttons to set off the alarm on the car it goes to. Apparently this happens more than you would think, especially around places like a college campus. So it turns out Volvo is proud of those key fobs - $408 to replace it! But guess what, turns out the little contract I was stressed over paid for it 100%, not deductible, no hassle. Dealer treated it like a warranty claim. Boom! I still don't think I would recommend these plans, but in my case it has paid off - I know over the next 5yrs we are going to have a few dent removals and probably a wheel repair - I am pretty particular about the cars. So I think I might get ahead on this one.
The car has the certified pre-owned factory warrant to 100k, but in a weak moment when I was closing the deal at the Volvo dealer I bought this protection plan that covers paintless dent removal, wheel/tire damage, windshield chips and key replacement. I figured young woman driving the car, she is in the medical field and constantly parked in hospital parking lots, outside at her apartment complex, figured I would get my money out of it on the paintless dent removal and tire repair - she has a habit of rubbing curbs from time to time. She is taking great care of the car - tells me she really likes it so I was having some buyers remorse over the $500 I paid for the service plan. Until this week - she lost a key fob while out jogging Tuesday night. We were particularly concerned because it was lost on the Wake Forest campus that her apartment backs up to. Very likely someone found the key and it would not take much driving around and pushing the buttons to set off the alarm on the car it goes to. Apparently this happens more than you would think, especially around places like a college campus. So it turns out Volvo is proud of those key fobs - $408 to replace it! But guess what, turns out the little contract I was stressed over paid for it 100%, not deductible, no hassle. Dealer treated it like a warranty claim. Boom! I still don't think I would recommend these plans, but in my case it has paid off - I know over the next 5yrs we are going to have a few dent removals and probably a wheel repair - I am pretty particular about the cars. So I think I might get ahead on this one.
Last edited: