Waste of money

[Lpherr]

We've heard and read the bs stories, but have actually experienced for ourselves.

FCA sold out to Stellantis in 2023 and everything FCA has went in the crapper.
When we purchased our vehicle, we did extensive research and found nothing but great reviews on the MaxCare warranty. Plenty of people on forums vouched for it and had used it several times without issue. We were convinced it would be a wise investment with all the modern gadgets, so we purchased.

Now that the factory warranty has expired, we actually need the MaxCare for a failed suspension compressor. There have been many reports that the MaxCare claims have been being denied since Stellantis bought the FCA brand. We have been waiting three months for the compressor and unable to drive the vehicle. After almost five hours on the phone today, with various channels, we found that the order was canceled three times by the claims dept.

After voicing my anger over this whole situation, I was finally told that our dealer is going to bypass protocol (decided by local rep.) and ordered the parts. He claims they will be in next week. We will see.

We had plans to purchase a RAM truck next year, if things worked in our favor, but that has changed. I will never own another Stellantis product, and intend on dumping this one as soon as the opportunity allows.

/rant

 

[firecadet613]

We've heard and read the bs stories, but have actually experienced for ourselves.

FCA sold out to Stellantis in 2023 and everything FCA has went in the crapper.
When we purchased our vehicle, we did extensive research and found nothing but great reviews on the MaxCare warranty. Plenty of people on forums vouched for it and had used it several times without issue. We were convinced it would be a wise investment with all the modern gadgets, so we purchased.

Now that the factory warranty has expired, we actually need the MaxCare for a failed suspension compressor. There have been many reports that the MaxCare claims have been being denied since Stellantis bought the FCA brand. We have been waiting three months for the compressor and unable to drive the vehicle. After almost five hours on the phone today, with various channels, we found that the order was canceled three times by the claims dept.

After voicing my anger over this whole situation, I was finally told that our dealer is going to bypass protocol (decided by local rep.) and ordered the parts. He claims they will be in next week. We will see.

We had plans to purchase a RAM truck next year, if things worked in our favor, but that has changed. I will never own another Stellantis product, and intend on dumping this one as soon as the opportunity allows.

/rant

I've not heard this, but it wouldn't surprise me. Anything Stellantis touches seems to turn to $%@^.

What year is your truck?

I bought a MaxCare for my truck and used it on new power mirror a few months ago, without issue. I rarely drive the truck so I'm not worried, but if I had to replace it today it'd be with a Sierra Denali Ultimate. I've had a few F150s and the fit n finish of the Ram was well above Ford, but GM has upped their game lately...and doesn't have the foreign ownership that Ram has now.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

I still have the lifetime on the-technically-still-mine-but-actually-my-son's 2012 Ram. I only bought it because lifetime and planned to keep it forever. So far I'm well behind financially. Had I taken the same money and put it in ladder CDs...

You can try to reach out to RamCares on various social media. They post on ramforum.com if you don't use any socials other than forums.

Generally, I recommend against purchasing warranties for the same reason I recommend against playing slot machines. Over the long term, there's always more money going in than coming out or they wouldn't offer them. The fact some people win sometimes doesn't alter that. Money in the bank and self-insuring remains the best peace of mind, retains the most flexibility, and is the most likely to result in financial gain over the long term.

 

[dieselrealtor]

It has been over 2 decades since I was in the automotive industry, so my memory is a bit foggy.

There were a lot of different extended warranty companies in the late 90's, some much worse than others but only 1 that I considered to be a good warranty. I don't remember which company it was but wouldn't matter now anyway.

One company in particular would send an "inspector" (hack mechanic) to look for a reason to deny the claim. When we saw him come in we knew the customer was going to be out of luck, every time without fail.

I am persuaded that they have all declined since that time and that none are worth spending money on.

Best advice I have, keep up on the maintenance with quality fluids, keep good records & if a failure happens outside of factory warranty ask for the factory rep to give some customer goodwill. Some of the Japanese manufacturers were really good about that.

I wouldn't trust Ford to honor anything after my inlaws had a complete fuel system failure to the tune of over $12k just outside factory warranty with a known issue.

 

[JTKelly]

Extended warranty is ALWAYS A SCAM, no matter what the product is.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Extended warranty is ALWAYS A SCAM, no matter what the product is.

The only big boy "corporate" job I ever had was for an extended warranty/insurance company. I whole-heartedly endorse this message. I hated it and the more I learned about it the more I hated it. They pay a lot of money to actuaries to make sure the odds are in their favor and pay a lot of many in legal fees to make sure everything still tilts in their favor if the actuaries were wrong.

 

[d.kaufman]

Extended warranty is ALWAYS A SCAM, no matter what the product is.

I'll disagree with the "ALWAYS" I get to deal with aftermarket warranties often enough. There are some that are absolutely horrible, and some that are phenomenal to work with. Some that will drag on a claim for months. Others that approve a claim within 4 hours. And I'm not talking about a crank sensor or water pump, but a major transmission repair, and any more that can be 3-7k plus

Do your research before buying an extended warranty, but there are some good ones out there.

And please don't buy a warranty after the issue arises and think it will go smoothly when you try to file a claim 1 or 3 months after buying said warranty. Warranty claims within, especially the first 3 months are more heavily scrutinized.

Do not buy a warranty you see an ad for on TV, especially if said ad is on after midnight

 

[Lpherr]

The research was done and every single person I spoke with said they never had any issue getting anything repaired... when it was FCA. Now that Stellantis bought them, the game has changed.

ANYTHING over $1,000 requires an authorization email and most claims are being denied.
As for the lifetime...good luck getting anything covered. No one I've talked to, has been approved for any repair using the lifetime.

Stellantis is headquartered in the Netherlands and simply don't give a s**t about any of their customers.
There are plenty of reviews of the issues people are having all across the US, even trying to use the factory warranty. And the dealers are becoming a joke with the better techs moving on, for reasons such as, but not limited to, the dealer selling. There has been two local to us that have sold, and the dealer we purchased our warranty through, has also sold.

They aren't only losing their techs, but also many customers, including myself. I will never own another Stellantis product. They have ruined the brand.

I have never purchased a warranty on any vehicle we've owned, and only did so after all of the great reviews. This is the only vehicle I haven't serviced myself and we had no issues with repairs, until FCA sold.
After this repair is complete, the warranty pays for itself (actually the repair will put them in the red on this vehicle), but I don't anticipate any future covered repairs.

 

[OutdoorDad]

The research was done and every single person I spoke with said they never had any issue getting anything repaired... when it was FCA. Now that Stellantis bought them, the game has changed.

ANYTHING over $1,000 requires an authorization email and most claims are being denied.
As for the lifetime...good luck getting anything covered. No one I've talked to, has been approved for any repair using the lifetime.

Stellantis is headquartered in the Netherlands and simply don't give a s**t about any of their customers.
There are plenty of reviews of the issues people are having all across the US, even trying to use the factory warranty. And the dealers are becoming a joke with the better techs moving on, for reasons such as, but not limited to, the dealer selling. There has been two local to us that have sold, and the dealer we purchased our warranty through, has also sold.

They aren't only losing their techs, but also many customers, including myself. I will never own another Stellantis product. They have ruined the brand.

I have never purchased a warranty on any vehicle we've owned, and only did so after all of the great reviews. This is the only vehicle I haven't serviced myself and we had no issues with repairs, until FCA sold.
After this repair is complete, the warranty pays for itself (actually the repair will put them in the red on this vehicle), but I don't anticipate any future covered repairs.

Every state in the union has an insurance commissioner. It makes things more expensive by having 50 duplicated offices... but it comes in handy in circumstances like this. Call your's.