Does anyone have any actual claim experience with Great Lakes Warranty Company?
http://www.greatlakeswarranty.com/

I requested a quote from Warranties 4 Wheels and they came back with this company for the best rates.

It was $2100 for 4 years unlimited mileage for pretty much anything outside of normal wear items (brakes, belts, hoses, oil changes), and included rental car coverage. The vehicle is a '99 Disco II with 94,000 miles.

I'm not about to drop $2100 extra bucks until:
a) I hear directly from customers with EXCELLENT experiences.
b) That means NO rejection of reasonable claims.
c) NO partial coverage of parts or labor when there should be full coverage.
d) NO requirements to have USED parts installed instead of NEW.
e) Rebuilt parts ONLY if new are not available.
f) NO bickering, arguing or fighting to have a covered item paid for IN FULL.

I also plan on talking to the local independent Land Rover shop here in town to hear their take on extended warranties and this company in particular.

As I am a do it myself guy, I'm not completely sold on spending another 30% of what I paid for the Disco on a warranty, and won't hesitate to turn it down flat if the warranty company doesn't have a stellar reputation.

Thanks,
Craig

 

I just boughtan '03 disco II with 51K miles on it and also got a quote from Great Lakes through Warranties 4 Wheels. They quoted me just shy of $2,700 for the 4 year comprehensive (exclusionary) coverage.

I'm not jumping on it just yet as I read the policy and they seem to limit the labor rate $$$, plus they require oil and filter change every 3,000 miles or 3 months (not a huge problem but I can imagine accidentally letting it go over 3 months and then have the warranty be worthless). Is this similar to what they offered you?

I got another quote from Auto Advantage Inc., roughly same cost for 4 years with 75k miles limit (not a big problem for me as I only drive about 5k miles a year) which seems to have no limitations on labor rate and only requires the vehicle be maintained per standard factory schedule. You might also want to get a quote from them.

I'd also be very appreciative if others would share their experiences with 3rd party warranty providers such as Great Lakes and any others you'd recommend. Any experiences with either Great Lakes or Auto Advantage?

Craig, everybody I've talked to has told me in no uncertain terms -- get a warranty. I'm pretty handy with a wrench, but even just the parts for a rover are spendy. (just ordered brake pads, rotors, plugs and oil/air filtersfrom British Atlantic and the total exceeded $400!).I think the question is which warranty to get?

Best regards,

-Keith

 

I, too posted on this site about feedback from extended warranties and did not get much feedback. You might also check aaautowarranty.com. I just talked too them, they offered a warranty from buyers choice called factory plus, it covers almost everything except a cracked engine block and your radio, they pay rovers labor rate too,not like greatlakes that just pays 75hr. They also pay the dealer direct so you don't have to pay acheck. They qoted me 1700 for 5yrs 100,000. Going to do more research before jumping in. If anyone knows anything about buyers choice, give a shout.

 

Sounds like my quote was probably the same policy you were quoted Keith. (The Silver Advantage Plan)
The labor paid, at least according to the policy copy I have is $65/ hour. Diagnostic max payout = $90

They also say you must maintain your vehicle according to manufacturer mileage interval services, but as you say oil must be changed at 3000 mile intervals. They say in the contract that they will at their discretion check receipts/ invoices against current mileage in the event of a claim to make sure maintenance has been performed.

This does cause some concern. They leave themselves an out to say for example; "you missed your 105k mile service by 5000 miles, so we are not going to accept this claim".

Keith, I've heard the same thing from most people about getting a warranty. On the other hand, my Dad has owned this Disco for 7 years and maintained it religiously. All he has done on it for the past 4 years are brakes/ rotors, tires, belt, new bulbs and fluid/ filter changes. In the case of the last 4 years of this Rover's life, the extended warranty would have been a big waste of money. Hindsight is of course 20/20. $2000.00 could buy a lot of parts if you shop around. It's insurance. You never know if you are going to need it and you gamble or you don't. I still haven't decided if I'm going to be a gambler.

Thanks Tbriska, I'll check out aaautowarranty.com

Edit: I just checked out aaautowarranty.com and they wanted $400 more for the exact same Silver Advantage Plan I was quoted by Warranties 4 wheels. The other plans they offered ranged from $3000 for 1 year to a $5000 4 year policy. They were sky high, at least on my vehicle.

Craig

 

I too had asked about extended warranties. We went with extending Land Rovers factory warranty which is quite expensive. We have 42,000 miles on our 03. The warranty adds 2 mores years and up to 100,000 miles for about $3,500. So we're covered until 09 or 100,000 which ever comes first.

 

For whatever it's worth, I came across the following site last night:

http://www.rangerovers.net/rrwarranties.htm

It talks about a few different warranty companies, including Warranty4wheels and auto advantage. It says there have been no complaints about either, but both are site sponsors so that has to be weighed too.

I'm also still on the fence. I'd feel like a total fool if I got socked with a whopper if, say I drop a sleeve or the ABS packs it in after all my friends told me so. On the other hand, the warranty cost is an awful lot of money up front, especially after just buying a car.

I think I'm going to look further in to starting up the auto advantage warranty and feel my way through how trustworthy/customer oriented they seem. I can't find any legitimate complaints about them posted on the 'net, and it would seem they write a lot of policies. I've dropped the idea of the Great Lakes due to the limitations on the labor rate and the non-standard maintenance requirements.

I'll keep everybody posted as to how auto advantage "rolls."

In the meantime, everybody please post experiences with 3rd party warranty companies -- successes / horror stories. For us still on the fence, it would be a help. ;-)

 

D2, look into buyers choice plus from aaautowarranty .com, that is the one I am leaning towards. They pay land rover labor rate,nothing in the contract about oil change every 3000, so they don't have a out there. Alot is covered except for the radio, cd player. If engine block cracks it is not covered, craked cylinder heads or cylinders are not covred. Basically it gives you alot of coverage,and for the things I just mentioned it would be double the price to cover it so it seems like a good deal at 1800. I am thinking about it. You can go to thier web and look at the contract. aaautowarranty.com... let me know what you think

 

I have Great Lakes policy on my 2001 Disco. Good results so far, though I have had to cough up a few bucks beyond policy coverage. I've submitted two claims to date and their payout has equalled more than half of my premium. Good customer relations folks there and my Stealership said that GL is one of the few "aftermarket" insurance companies they will even deal with. Work covered was coil pack replacements and a major ABS Three Amigos issue.

ChuckD

 

Thanks Chuck
Good feedback there.

Could you tell us what you had to pay for? Also, what labor rate does your policy pay?
Did you have to submit any proof that you had been keeping up with services and oil changes?

Thanks,
Craig

 

Been shopping around for an extended warranty for my 03 disco.. got a quote from continental for $2048 for 4 years..anyone had any experience with them..i still have to compare coverage and restrictions etc but it seemed like a decent quote. got a quote from great lakes for their titanium coverage plan for $2800..