8 Extended Warranty Promises That Don’t Hold Up for Michiganders

Michigan’s licensing board had more than 100 companies registered to sell vehicle service contracts as of September 2026.

Those are the plans many drivers simply call an extended warranty.

Complaints about these contracts turn up in Michigan and across the country.

These are the extended warranty promises that often don’t hold up for Michiganders.

Note: This is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Contract terms, coverage, and the insurance company backing a contract vary by seller and are subject to change, so confirm the specifics with the Michigan Department of Attorney General.

1. Bumper-to-Bumper Promise

Extended warranty ads sell Michigan drivers on one idea: Pay the premium, and the company pays for every repair on the covered list.

CarShield, a nationwide seller of vehicle service contracts, made that same promise in its ads.

CarShield agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $10 million in 2024 to settle charges over exactly this claim.

The FTC alleged CarShield promised free repairs to every covered system, then many of those same repairs came back denied once the paperwork was filed.

Exclusions buried in the fine print made those denials possible.

Not exactly bumper-to-bumper.

Coverage on paper isn’t coverage at the shop.

Michigan’s Department of Attorney General hears the identical complaint from the state’s drivers.

Drivers report buying a plan only to learn a needed repair was never covered in the first place.

2. Any Mechanic, Any Shop

CarShield’s extended warranty pitch promised more than covered repairs.

Telemarketing scripts told buyers to take the car to any mechanic, any shop, no matter where they lived, according to the FTC’s complaint.

In practice, many repair shops refused to accept CarShield’s plans at all, leaving customers to hunt for one willing to deal with the paperwork.

Not every shop plays along.

Michigan’s Department of Attorney General lists this same pattern among its extended warranty complaints: A plan becomes void the moment a repair happens somewhere other than an approved facility.

Ask before you sign, not after the tow truck shows up.

3. Free Rental While You Wait

A free rental car often rides along with an extended warranty’s other promises, and CarShield leaned on exactly that pitch in its national ads.

A rental car would be waiting the moment a covered vehicle broke down, the ads claimed.

CarShield tied the rental benefit to an approved claim, so a denied repair meant no rental car either, according to the FTC.

No approval, no ride.

A Michigander stranded on I-96 with a denied claim pays for a rental car out of pocket, the same as a driver with no plan at all.

4. Fake Dealer Calls

Extended warranty telemarketers sometimes open with a claim instead of a pitch: They’re calling on behalf of a Michigander’s dealer or the automaker that built the car.

The FTC’s 2022 case against American Vehicle Protection Corporation alleges the company did exactly that, telling consumers nationwide it was calling on behalf of their automaker.

It had no affiliation with any manufacturer at all.

No dealer, no automaker.

Michigan’s Department of Attorney General warns residents to be skeptical of urgent notices claiming a warranty is about to expire, the kind stamped “final notice” to force a fast decision.

The pressure is the tell, not the news it delivers.

A caller who already knows a car’s make and mileage can still have nothing to do with the company that built it.

5. Money-Back Promise

An extended warranty sale often closes on a safety net: A full refund if the buyer changes their mind.

American Vehicle Protection Corporation advertised exactly that, telling buyers nationwide they could get a full refund within 30 days if they weren’t happy, according to the FTC.

The FTC’s consumer alert says that refund turned out to be hard to collect.

Not as easy as advertised.

The company sent the written contract, exclusions included, only after buyers had already paid a deposit.

Michigan’s Department of Attorney General flags the same blind spot closer to home.

Sellers calculate a cancellation refund without spelling out the formula upfront, so the number a buyer expects and the number a company sends can land far apart.

Ask for that formula in writing before signing, not after.

6. Wear-and-Tear Gap

Extended warranty ads talk about protecting a vehicle from expensive repairs, and normal wear and tear is exactly the kind of repair drivers picture.

The FTC’s guidance on service contracts says these plans typically don’t cover wear and tear at all, only sudden mechanical breakdowns.

Michigan’s Department of Attorney General names the parts that fall into that gap: brakes and clutches, common repairs generally left out of vehicle service contracts altogether.

That’s a wide gap.

Those are two of the parts every car eventually needs.

A plan that skips them skips a lot of what goes wrong with an aging vehicle.

7. $150 Roadside Cap

CarShield markets 24/7 roadside assistance as part of its extended warranty, telling drivers they’ll never worry about being stranded after a breakdown.

CarShield’s posted terms for that benefit cap every tow, tire change, battery jump, or fuel delivery at $150 per incident.

The plan pays out on no more than three of those calls in a benefit period, and a driver has to be with the vehicle when help arrives.

Three calls, then nothing.

A call placed within 20 days of enrolling doesn’t count at all.

$150 covers a short tow near a Michigan exit ramp, not a long one off a stretch of I-75 with no exit in sight.

8. Still in Business

An extended warranty is only worth the money if the company selling it still exists when a repair finally comes due, sometimes years down the road.

Michigan's more than 100 registered vehicle protection product warrantors, as counted in September 2026, aren't a fixed list.

Companies merge, fold, or stop renewing their registration every year.

Michigan's Department of Attorney General warns that a buyer is left without recourse when the seller behind a contract goes out of business.

The FTC says the same thing in plainer words: Some of these sellers won't be in business by the time a buyer needs one.

No company, no coverage.

A contract from a company that no longer exists is worth exactly nothing.