Extended Warranty Companies

My experience with automobile extended warranty companies has been pretty good but I know that is not the norm.  I understand that if you see one advertising, they are usually frauds.  Many have gone under and restarted under a new name.  I have read that only the extended warranty companies that are offered through dealers and credit unions are not in the fraud business.  My experiences have always been with such firms, and with very good results.  The extended warranty on a Plymouth Neon my wife owned paid for itself 4x over.  (The Neon was a neat car, when it ran.)  The one on my Corvette paid for itself easily.

My daughter bought a Dodge Journey recently and the extended warranty has turned out to be useless.  The transmission case cracked.  "Sorry, we cover transmission failures, not transmission case failures."  (Not the first such "not my problem" from them.)  Unlike the plans that I have had, there is no way for her to transfer it to the next owner or get a refund on the unused portion.  My wife's 2001 Malibu was totaled and we received a prorated part of the extended warranty cost back.  (But make sure you do this if you total a car.  Many people don't even think about this.)

Why am I ranting today about this?  Today I have received the same call from Texas, California, and Washington State area codes, warning me that my opportunity to buy an extended warranty is about to expire!  I have Jaguar's extended warranty out to 7 years, 100,000 miles.  Of course there's no one that I ask to quit calling me; these all seem to be IP-spoofed phone numbers.