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A bumper-to-bumper warranty provides comprehensive coverage that protects nearly all vehicle systems if your car faces an unexpected mechanical breakdown. Automotive Engine Accessories
Find the best car warranty by comparing plans from Endurance.
Alex Carver is a writer and researcher based in Charlotte, N.C. A contributor to major news websites such as Automoblog and USA Today, she’s written content in sectors such as insurance, warranties, shipping, real estate and more.
Rashawn Mitchner is a MarketWatch Guides team editor with over 10 years of experience covering personal finance and insurance topics.
Most new vehicles come with a bumper-to-bumper warranty and a powertrain warranty. A bumper-to-bumper warranty is the highest level of car warranty coverage available and pays for most repair costs in the case of a mechanical breakdown.
In this article, we at the MarketWatch Guides team will explain bumper-to-bumper warranties, including costs and which vehicle systems are usually covered. We’ll also recommend some of the best extended car warranty companies on the market today.
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A bumper-to-bumper warranty, also called a comprehensive warranty, covers most vehicle parts between your car’s front and rear bumpers. New cars often come with either a three-, four- or five-year bumper-to-bumper warranty that’s part of a limited vehicle service contract offered by the dealership.
Note that new vehicle limited warranty plans only pay for damages needed because of a mechanical breakdown, defective car parts or faulty workmanship. Bumper-to-bumper coverage comes standard on new vehicles along with powertrain, drivetrain, corrosion and rust warranties.
Here are some of the most common bumper-to-bumper warranty lengths offered by automakers under a limited factory warranty :
Typically, a bumper-to-bumper warranty covers repair costs for the following components:
While a bumper-to-bumper warranty offers comprehensive coverage, it won’t cover items like your vehicle’s actual bumpers or body panels. Here are some other standard exclusions:
Bumper-to-bumper warranties aren’t meant to cover damage from car accidents, instances of theft or vandalism or severe weather incidents. You should be able to find coverage for these through a reputable car insurance company instead.
While you get a free bumper-to-bumper warranty when you purchase a vehicle, it rarely lasts for long. You can extend your coverage by either getting a plan from the selling dealership or from a third-party provider like Endurance. Having reviewed all major extended auto warranty companies, we’ll cover some of the best bumper-to-bumper plans here.
If you want an impressively comprehensive bumper-to-bumper warranty, check out Endurance Supreme. The plan is similar to a factory warranty in that it covers any mechanical breakdown except for a short list of exclusions. Endurance also provides rental car coverage, trip interruption and roadside assistance. Plus, you’ll get one year of Endurance Elite which offers extra benefits such as key fob replacement and $1,000 toward total loss replacement.
Autopom! keeps its coverage options concise and provides customers with their choice of three plans. The company’s bumper-to-bumper plan, Platinum, covers repairs for most systems and components in your vehicle, excluding maintenance items, batteries and tires. Autopom! coverage is affordable and backed by some of the highest customer review scores in the industry. Policies come with deductibles between $0 and $200 and a 30 to 60-day money back guarantee.
Titanium is the highest coverage option from Carchex. Like a factory warranty, it covers a wide range of mechanical breakdowns on many vehicle systems unless they’re specifically excluded. Carchex also offers trip interruption, rental car reimbursement and 24-hour roadside assistance. Rental coverage is limited to $100 per day and extends to rideshare companies Uber and Lyft for up to $60 per day while your car is at a repair facility.
Extended car warranty costs vary greatly even between bumper-to-bumper warranty plans. We’ll compare prices from manufacturers and dealers with those from third-party companies.
Sometimes, manufacturers and dealerships provide affordable bumper-to-bumper extended warranties. In other cases, however, manufacturer coverage can be quite expensive. You could pay anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 in total for warranty coverage.
Our research shows that HondaCare® is an affordable plan that comes with a variety of term lengths. However, other companies can charge thousands for only a year or two of additional coverage.
Some manufacturers offer plans backed by the a third party. For example, the vehicle protection plan from GMC is administered by Safe-Guard Products International, while Dodge warranties are serviced by Mopar. However, these extended vehicle service plans still use original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts and specific repair shops for covered services, similar to manufacturer-backed plans.
Our research team found that bumper-to-bumper plans from third-party companies cost an average of $977 per year. So, if the plan lasts for three years, the average cost would be around $2,931 as a rule of thumb. You can use this to estimate whether a coverage plan you find is affordable or expensive compared to the industry norm.
Below are a few sample quotes for bumper-to-bumper plans from third-party providers. The quotes below reflect coverage for a Toyota Tacoma, Kelley Blue Book’s midsize truck Best Buy of 2024. Your rate may vary based on the type of vehicle you want to cover. You’ll also likely notice that the CarShield Diamond plan and Carchex Titanium plan each have an unlimited term length. These providers work somewhat differently and charge a monthly rate for as long as you keep the warranty.
The two most common types of warranties are bumper-to-bumper and powertrain warranties. It’s important to know the difference between the two and what they provide, as most dealerships offer both types of new car warranties.
A powertrain warranty covers your vehicle’s most essential components — the engine, transmission and drivetrain. A powertrain warranty that’s part of a manufacturer’s warranty typically lasts longer than bumper-to-bumper coverage, usually with five years or 60,000 miles of protection. You can purchase extended warranty coverage to obtain additional protection that moves past the bumper-to-bumper or powertrain limits through either your dealership or a third-party provider.
Powertrain warranties are cheaper than bumper-to-bumper warranties because they cover fewer parts and offer stated-component coverage rather than an exclusionary contract. See the infographic below for a comparison between powertrain and bumper-to-bumper warranties:
According to Tom Patterson, vice president of products and services at Protect My Car, an extended car warranty can be worth buying because “it prevents you from having to pay for a large repair cost and also provides peace of mind.” However, there are two things to consider before purchasing extended coverage: Your vehicle’s reliability and your finances.
You can check reliability and dependability ratings for your vehicle and its manufacturer through websites like RepairPal and J.D. Power. If you had issues with your car while it was under a factory warranty, you may want to consider purchasing extended protection to avoid paying thousands of dollars for expensive repairs out of pocket at the repair shop.
Most dealerships and third-party providers offer a wide variety of protection plans and term lengths. You can typically negotiate with manufacturers and independent warranty providers to find a plan that fits your budget.
Besides protecting your car over the long term, extended auto warranties often come with extra benefits. Most dealers and third-party companies offer the following perks:
After your factory bumper-to-bumper warranty expires, we recommend looking at some of the best third-party providers. Endurance, autopom!, CarShield and Carchex are great choices to start with when searching for a high-quality bumper-to-bumper warranty.
Since there are so many options for extended car warranty coverage, it’s wise to compare companies before making any decisions. We recommend checking out the following third-party providers, all of which ranked high ly in our review of the best car warranty companies .
Endurance offers six coverage plans, including an exclusionary option that covers all components except for those specifically mentioned in the contract. The company is unique because it’s a direct administrator, meaning it handles all quotes, contracts and claims itself without third-party involvement. In addition, Endurance offers one free year of Endurance Elite Benefits, which provide perks such as roadside assistance and tire repair or replacement.
Endurance currently holds an A- rating with the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This is an improvement from the company’s recent ratings decline on the platform, and stems from the company’s efforts to address customer complaints. Endurance currently has a customer review score of 3.6 out of 5 stars with the BBB. On Trustpilot, 74% of its reviews come from a combination of four- and five-star ratings.
Keep reading: Endurance Warranty Review
Our first choice for comprehensive warranty coverage.
In our review of more than 40 insurance providers, we ranked autopom! second-best provider and gave the company our award for Best Customer Service. Autopom! boasts some of the highest customer review scores of any car warranty company, both on Trustpilot and the BBB.
Autopom! offers three levels of coverage spanning from stated-component powertrain to a bumper-to-bumper exclusionary plan. All autopom! coverage options include rental reimbursement, trip interruption, interest-free payment options and 24-hour roadside assistance. Select plans also include tire protection. Autopom! has a waiting period of 30 days and 1,000 miles after contract purchase.
Keep reading: Autopom! Warranty Review
A warranty company with strong customer service and a simple claims process.
Carchex is one of the industry’s most well-known extended warranty providers. The third-party warranty company is backed by industry leaders like Kelley Blue Book, Edmunds.com, RepairPal and Carfax. Carchex offers five customizable plans that include both bumper-to-bumper warranties and powertrain coverage.
You’ll find perks such as 24/7 roadside assistance, towing services, rental car reimbursement, gas deliveries and trip interruption benefits with Carchex. The company holds accreditation and an A+ rating with the BBB and gets four or five stars from 83% of the reviewers on Trustpilot.
Keep reading: Carchex Warranty Review
Coverage for vehicles up to 250,000 miles and excellent customer service.
CarShield is great if you’d rather avoid the long-term commitment of an extended warranty plan due to its month-to-month contracts. You’ll find a bumper-to-bumper warranty, five standard CarShield plans, specialty coverage for motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) as well as a plan for electric vehicles.
We like that CarShield’s coverage extends to high-mileage vehicles with up to 300,000 miles, making it a solid pick for an extended warranty for cars over 100,000 miles. Keep in mind that CarShield currently holds an A rating from the BBB, and reviews on Trustpilot indicate a high level of satisfaction, with 76% of over 46,000 reviewers giving it either four or five stars.
A reputable extended warranty provider with industry-low rates.
Here are some frequently asked questions about bumper-to-bumper warranty plans.
A bumper-to-bumper warranty does n’t cover vehicle parts that break down over time like the brakes, brake pads, windshield wipers and tires. These warranties also do n’t cover routine maintenance like oil changes and tire rotations or parts that are damaged by an accident or improper maintenance.
A bumper-to-bumper car warranty could be worth it because it can prevent you from paying for large repair costs out of pocket, providing peace of mind.
Although cost data isn’t readily available from all warranty providers, our research team conducted a survey of 1,000 people and found that the median total extended warranty cost, as reported by survey respondents, was $2, 500 . Half of the respondents said they paid a total of between $1,600 and $3,200.
Because consumers rely on us to provide objective and accurate information, we created a comprehensive rating system to formulate our rankings of the best extended car warranty companies. We collected data on dozens of auto warranty providers to grade the companies on a wide range of ranking factors. The end result was an overall rating for each provider, with the companies that scored the most points topping the list.
Here are the factors our ratings take into account:
*Data accurate at time of publication.
View Plans For Our #1 Provider – Endurance
If you have feedback or questions about this article, please email the MarketWatch Guides team at editors@marketwatchguides.com.
Alex Carver is a writer and researcher based in Charlotte, N.C. A contributor to major news websites such as Automoblog and USA Today, she’s written content in sectors such as insurance, warranties, shipping, real estate and more.
Rashawn Mitchner is a MarketWatch Guides team editor with over 10 years of experience covering personal finance and insurance topics.
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