Brogan Woodburn is a writer for USA TODAY Homefront and has read dozens of extended auto warranty contracts, including the fine print that will tell you whether your car insurance covers slashed tires or can get you a new engine replacement. His editorial experience in the auto industry includes work that appears on MarketWatch and Motor1.com.
Brogan is based in Prineville, Oregon, and enjoys exploring the outdoors in his free time. Having studied guitar at Berklee College of Music, he also performs classical guitar for local events and weddings.
Editorial note: Homefront (defined in the Disclosure below) may earn a commission from affiliate partner links featured on our site. This commission does not influence our editors’ opinions or evaluations.
Imagine that you’ve just spent a couple of hours at the car dealership comparing vehicles, test-driving them and negotiating with the salesperson. You’re almost ready to sign on the dotted line when the salesperson starts to pitch you an EasyCare warranty. You just want to be done, but is the warranty a good idea?
As Michael Chung, senior director of market intelligence for the Auto Care Association, said, “If you’ve ever bought a car, you get the price, then you get to the finance department and then you feel like you’re having to haggle again. In that moment of pressure, you might get scared or intimidated. But knowing that you have other options can be valuable.”
EasyCare has been around since 1984, and it offers a good coverage range at dealerships nationwide. However, EasyCare warranty reviews show some customers have issues getting claims covered. We’ll cover the ins and outs of EasyCare’s warranty plans in this article. We’ll also compare it with some of the best extended car warranties we’ve reviewed.
Endurance offers coverage for up to 8 years or 200,000 miles, but it only offers long-term plans.
Our team rates EasyCare 4.0 out of 5 stars overall for providing a good range of coverage options and having a long history in the industry.
EasyCare’s four plans all cover at least some electric vehicle components, and its highest plan covers all main EV systems. Not all extended warranty companies offer electric vehicle coverage, and of the ones that do, some only offer one plan or require a coverage upgrade.
EasyCare is also a direct warranty provider. This means it administers its vehicle service contracts and handles claims in-house under its parent company Automobile Protection Corporation (APCO). Many other warranty companies are brokers that sell plans administered by other companies. Using a direct provider means you work with the same customer service team for everything.
EasyCare’s plans are only available through dealerships, and it doesn’t offer sample contracts on its website. This means it’s hard to find the warranty’s fine print until you’re sitting at the dealership getting sold on the plan.
Looking at customer experience, some EasyCare reviews say the company doesn’t cover what’s outlined in its plan. These customers felt the company’s agents found ways to avoid paying for claims.
While we rated EasyCare 4.0 overall, we ranked other companies such as Endurance and Autopom ahead of the provider.
EasyCare offers four extended warranty plans that cover a good range of repairs. However, because it only sells plans through dealerships, its website is missing some details, such as how long the plans last and which vehicles are eligible. You’ll get those details if your dealer offers EasyCare plans.
Here are the details of EasyCare’s four plans:
EasyCare’s plans all cover at least some electric vehicle components. Some companies don’t cover EV parts or only offer one plan that does, so this is a nice perk.
EasyCare can also cover commercial vehicles, rideshare vehicles, lifted trucks, medium-duty trucks, snow plows and Canadian vehicles.
You can also find more types of coverage with other EasyCare plans. For example, the company offers prepaid maintenance, guaranteed asset protection (GAP), appearance protection, paintless dent repair, key care and more.
Most warranty companies provide extra perks beyond breakdown coverage, and EasyCare is no different. All plans come with the following benefits:
Roadside assistance, rental coverage and trip interruption are fairly standard for the extended warranty industry. Fewer companies offer tire and wheel protection as an included benefit.
EasyCare warranties exclude several parts and situations from coverage. These are common among extended warranty companies. See the list below:
You can cancel an EasyCare warranty within 30 days for a full refund. You’ll get a prorated refund minus a $50 fee for cancellation after 30 days. Since you can only purchase an EasyCare plan through a dealer, it’s possible to roll the plan’s cost into your auto loan. But be aware that your lender will receive the refund if you do this since it was the entity that originally paid for the warranty.
You can also transfer an EasyCare contract to a secondary buyer of your vehicle. This requires a $50 fee and written evidence of maintenance.
EasyCare warranty costs are based on the vehicle and coverage plans available from the dealer. You’ll have to get in touch with a dealership to see what a plan costs and what your deductible choices are.
We’ve compared rates from multiple extended warranty companies and found the average plan costs about $848 per year of coverage. You can use this to see whether an EasyCare quote is a good deal.
It can be tempting to add an EasyCare plan to your car when you’re sitting in the finance room at the dealer and want to be done with the sale. But this isn’t the best time to get a warranty plan. There’s so much paperwork involved with buying a car and financing it, are you going to take the time to read through the warranty’s fine print?
Besides not having much time to understand what the plan covers, you don’t usually get to compare plans from different companies while sitting at the dealership. The finance manager explains your plan option and that it will increase your auto loan payment by a small amount. However, that means you’ll pay interest on the warranty plan, too.
EasyCare has an A+ rating with accreditation from the Better Business Bureau (BBB). This means it responds to complaints on the platform and resolves customer issues. That said, the company has a BBB rating of 1.2 out of 5 stars from over 100 customer reviews.
The few positive reviews all mention claims being covered. But the overall consensus from reviewers on BBB is that EasyCare doesn’t cover the breakdowns it promises to.
While EasyCare has a small number of reviews overall, many of them mention the company not covering claims. Some customers feel EasyCare agents find any excuse they can not to cover claims.
A few customers had their claims denied because they had the repair shop complete work before getting authorization from EasyCare. Most extended warranties exclude unauthorized repairs except in the case of emergency repairs. However, one customer on BBB said their emergency repair was denied.
While EasyCare has been around for a long time and offers many levels of warranty coverage, it doesn’t have the best track record for covering claims. If your dealer offered you an EasyCare warranty plan, take some time to compare it to other options.
The best extended warranty companies offer transparent contracts and easy quote processes. You can compare quotes from our top picks below.
We analyze, rate and rank top vehicle service contract providers to help you discover the right one for your needs. The best auto service contract companies offer transparency, affordability and expansive coverage options, among other qualities.
We rate companies using our objective scoring methodology. We assess brands on factors that are important to consumers like you — including cost, coverage, market standing, trustworthiness and customer experience. After scoring companies on a 100-point scale, we simplify final scores into the 5-star ratings you see in our content.
BBB scores are accurate as of March 2024.
Editorial note: The name “Homefront” refers to the alliance between USA TODAY and Home Solutions that publishes review, comparison, and informational articles designed to help USA TODAY readers make smarter purchasing and investment decisions about their home. Under the alliance, Homefront provides and publishes research and articles about home service and home improvement topics.
Homefront has an affiliate disclosure policy. The opinions, analyses, reviews or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the Homefront editorial staff alone (see About Homefront). Homefront adheres to strict editorial integrity standards. The information is believed to be accurate as of the publish date, but always check the provider’s website for the most current information.
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