Boxster back window? Warranty?

Geoffie · 12-06-2003, 09:22 AM

Hi..I used your great input to buy a 2000 Boxster S with only 13,000 miles on it...for a heck of a deal and I have fallen in love. I have two pressing questions now that I am an owner. (1) The back window seems a bit hazy..is there a good cleaner anyone can recommend? (2) I have 4 months left on the warranty. I've heard it's a good idea to buy an extended warranty (MBI) from a 3rd party company. Anyone have any feedback about this?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

DANNOV · 12-06-2003, 01:39 PM

On the 3rd party extended warranty look at the thread started on 9/15/03 "Extended Coverage". There are some problems with this extened warranty business, i.e. financially weak insurance companies that may not make good on claims. I don't know how you can pick out the good from the bad.

Geoffie · 12-07-2003, 01:44 PM

Thanks..I have a few good leads and was more concerned about whether they were "worth the money". Anyone have feedback? Also, any recommendations about a cleaner for the back window? Thanks!

craigster · 12-08-2003, 03:32 AM

Go to a Porsche dealer - they sell an excellent product for this very purpose.

rink PA · 12-11-2003, 07:05 PM

Just purchased a 2000 Boxster with 20,500 miles. Looking into an extended warranty. I am considering Continental Warranty. 6 year 100,000 miles for 2398.00 This is their top or the line policy. It seems to be one of the better ones available. Taking the policy to my local Porsche dealer for their review.

Geoffie · 12-12-2003, 09:42 AM

I'd love to hear how it goes with the feedback from your dealer about Contintal. I have a 2000 with 14,000 miles and want to pull the trigger soon as well.

rink PA · 12-12-2003, 03:42 PM

Went to the local Porsche dealer today to speak with their financial manager. He handles extended warranties. He reviewed my paperwork from Continental and was impressed. None of his warranty programs could touch it for price and length of service. I have 20 days left to decide yes or no in order to get a 100% refund. If interested I can give you their number on the west coast. They service all 50 states.

Geoffie · 12-12-2003, 03:44 PM

Please do send me their info or post it if you'd like. I live in CA and need it soon as well. Thanks!

Geoffie · 12-12-2003, 03:47 PM

Nevermind...Continental does not cover CA at the present. I guess CA makes extended warranty companies go through a heavy screening process.

DANNOV · 12-12-2003, 05:02 PM

Be careful, I just did a search of publicly held companies for Continental Warranty. It is not a public company nor is it a subsidiary of a public company. What does that mean? It means that we have no idea just how weak or strong they are. It means that we know nothing about them. If you go to their website we discover that Contniental Warranty is a division of something called MGC Enterprises. A search of that name turns up nothing. I have a real problem sending $2K+ to a company or companies that no one has ever heard of and that cannot be found in the public record. Their policy may look just fine, but when you buy any insurance policy it is claims paying ability that should be the prime consideration. I don't know whether Continental Warranty is good or bad, that is the problem, we don't know! If this was the warranty sub of GE I might have more confidence but I don't know anything about MGC Enterprises. You might want to do a very, very complete web search on Continental Warranty and MGC, perhaps I have missed something. But I am not a believer in using unknown insurers for protecting me or my possessions. Why don't you just send me a check for $2,500 and I will warranty your car. Sounds silly, but it might be the same as sending it to Contential.

DANNOV · 12-12-2003, 05:46 PM

A follow up to my last post. If you look at the website of Warranty Week they discuss Continental Warrany and MGC. Apparently this company has a reputation as an internet spammer. Also, Warranty Week says: they do not recommend buying extended warranties from dot.com companies that do not publish a physical address or the names of executives. They mention Continental and MGC in this context. I don't have the time to go further with this investigation but beware of "no-name" and "fly-by-night" enterprises. I would need a lot of info to get comfortable with this company and it just does not seem to be available. Also, beware of dealer recommendations, dealers are collecting a fee for selling this stuff. Who trusts car dealers?

rink PA · 12-12-2003, 07:04 PM

Continental does service California. Their California office is in Malibu at 800-929-2694. I researched the Better Business Bureau in Washington/Oregon from where the sales call originated and found that forthe past three years there have been no complaints. I was told that they have 1.5 million customers. I agree with Dannov as to his concerns and that is why I have done some internet research on Continental and MGC plus their insurer and reinsurer. Giving up 2398.00 is not an easy thing to do without a strong belief that all is on the up and up. So I am continuing to check them out. Their coverage ( Hard copy sent to me for my review with the list of exclusions) does read to be very inclusive. The wear and tear items that are not covered all seem to acceptable. hope this info helps. Also, I did some internet comparsion shopping and found that Continental does have the better (cheaper) price for their top of the line coverage than other vendors.

craigster · 12-13-2003, 07:21 AM

No complaints at the BBB does NOT mean they are good. Just means no one has filed a complaint. May be a jurisdictional issue. As for 1.5 million customers, where does this information come from? Is it audited by a reputable firm? As Dannov said, any one of us could say we had 1.5 millon customers and who could prove us wrong?

By the way, does your Porsche dealer agree to direct bill to Continental and waive all claims on you if they don't pay...or will they ask you to pay and then you claim back from Continental after?

rink PA · 12-13-2003, 12:00 PM

I do not plan to get into the "what ifs" with you. I am not trying to sell Continental or any other warranty product. There are well over one hundred warranty companies available. I tried to do my homework and checked out 6 that were well rated. I did check with my dealer and they will contact Continental for Authorization, per the written Continental procedure, and bill them directly. Continental will pay the bill directly to the dealer minus the 50.00 deductible per visit. Should Continental fold up they are backed by two insurance companies that have agreed in writing to cover the in-force policies.

DANNOV · 12-13-2003, 12:52 PM

Rink
You might want to check the ratings (use A.M. Best Ratings) of the two insurance companies that reinsure Continental. This will give you a sense as to the strength of the company, i.e. a strongly rated insurance company is not going to back another company's policies unless that company (Continential Warranty) has some financial substance itself. Also, did you do a Google search of: "Continental Warranty" claim problems complaints. You get one hit from a December trade magazine called Warranty Week which only mentions Continental Waranty slightly. But you then get the very ugly story of Warranty Gold and Smart Choice Warranty. Both are in bankruptcy and there is some question about how claims are going to be paid. Most importantly the article explains the whole auto warranty business and how in some states the dealer who sold the policy is liable if the insurance company cannot perform. In my opinion this business looks like a can of worms with offshore insurance companies and backup insurers of dubious strength. There are some "sharks" in this business. I'm not sure a normal - non financial - person can figure this out.

Britwrench · 12-18-2003, 08:37 PM

I am extremely suprised that your dealer will bill the insurance company. Virtually no other business I know now does that, unless the company can pay by credit card. We do not let cars out of the shop without the invoice being settled. So waiting for the check to arrive (one recent repair involved the customer waiting TWO months for payment) before allowing the vehicle to be collected could be a less than pleasant excercise for you.

rink PA · 12-18-2003, 11:56 PM

In researching several extended warranty companies their procedure is to pay the Porsche dealer directly via "a company credit card" minus the deductable.

Britwrench · 12-19-2003, 05:08 AM

We work with the insurance companies that pay by credit card. Please note however, that you are still the repair shop customer and will be required to authorise the repairs. It's not usual for any diagnosis or machine work to be covered and oher items such as "shop supplies" are the customer's responsibility. In the event of the claim being denied the vehicle owner will have to settle the invoice. We work with several warranty companies and have never had a problem, but not everything that fails is covered.

rink PA · 12-19-2003, 12:04 PM

Thanks Britwrench..I am up to speed on your advice. My local body work garage and owner gave me some additional advice to consider. Still considering my options including doing nothing at all but with a Porsche that may be the wrong option to choose. This is my third car in the family and will not generate a lot of miles per year so I probably do not need the expensive 100,000 warranty. My last convertible was a fair weather car that saw only 1000 miles between Pennsylvania yearly inspections. I would expect that the Boxster will see limited fair weather only miles. Time to do further research.