Buying a new vehicle means knowing you have to invest a lot of money at the beginning, not only what the vehicle itself costs but everything that comes with it. And that is not exactly what happened to the protagonist of this story, who thought that by buying a $70,000 car everything was included… And no.
And yes, even if your car comes with a warranty because you spent $70,000, it is essential to get insurance, and if you did not know, we are telling you.
We repeat, this man did not want to pay for insurance because he assumed that if something went wrong, the warranty would cover it. And of course, when something did go wrong, he discovered the hard way that it does not work like that, this is capitalism, my friend!
He went on a trip with the car, took it through dirt roads, hit rocks and left the underside of the car destroyed. Then he showed up at the dealership, demanded that they repair it without paying a cent… and that is where the show began.
Warranty vs. Insurance
The car warranty is to cover manufacturing defects, not accidents. If something breaks that should not have broken (like a defective part or an electronic failure), the manufacturer takes care of it. But if you decide to go off-road without knowing where you are going, that is not a “factory defect”, that is your fault. And that is what insurance is for.
And insurance: for when you mess it up
Insurance covers what the warranty does not: crashes, accidents, natural disasters, fires… If you crash, your garage floods or a tree falls on you, insurance responds. If you do not have insurance, you pay. In most countries, driving without insurance is also illegal. So this man does not have much of an excuse.
“It drives weird” he said
When this man took the car to the shop, he said he felt something strange while driving. The mechanics lifted it up and found a massacre: the bottom of the car was destroyed, with dents everywhere. Then the man confessed that he had gone out into the countryside and hit several rocks along the way.
They explained to him that he would have to talk about that with the insurance, that it was not a failure covered by the warranty and… that is when the party started.
Shouting, tension and… police
The man did not accept the answer. He started shouting, demanded they fix the car for free, accused the dealership of being scammers because he had his warranty (George, the warranty does not cover that!!!). Until they decided to call the police (what was the police going to do there?). When the officers arrived and heard what had happened, it did not take long to tell him the obvious: without insurance, the repair was coming out of his pocket, there was no other way. And no, the bill was not small at all, we would have also gotten quite nervous!
Witnesses say the man broke down when he understood the situation. A new car, $70,000 with less than six months of use and a repair that could cost tens of thousands more. All for not getting insurance.
Pay the insurance, first warning.
This case is the perfect example for people to stop confusing warranty with insurance. A new car is not only an illusion, it is a serious investment. And protecting it only with the warranty is like jumping into the void with an umbrella thinking it floats, a complete mistake!!
The warranty helps you if the car comes defective from the factory. Insurance is for everything else. Life does not warn you when it is going to twist. And when it twists, it is better to have the right backup than to be left shouting in the shop while the police arrive…