The first instalment of a three-part series about my customer service experiences with car dealerships.

I drive a 2011 Volkswagen Jetta.

I love my car.

It’s my fourth vehicle, after a 1991 Toyota Tercel, a 2003 Ford Focus, and a 2005 Hyundai Accent.

Technically, I don’t own it—it’s a lease—but I like it so much that when the lease ends in a little under nine months, I plan to get another one.

This time, I’ll buy it.

One of the biggest selling points for me was Volkswagen’s warranty and maintenance schedule.

Being able to go 12 months (or 15,000 kilometres) between oil changes is fantastic. And a four-year comprehensive warranty not only exceeds the industry standard, it covers the entire term of my lease.  

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No Extra Products

When I signed the lease, I made one thing perfectly clear:

I wasn’t interested in any add-ons.

No fabric protection.

No rust protection.

No glass protection.

No “new-car smell” protection.

No extended warranty.

I also didn’t need extra kilometre coverage because I had no intention of exceeding my lease allowance—and I haven’t. In fact, I’ll probably return the car with more than 10,000 kilometres to spare.

There was a reason I was so firm about this.

I’d been burned before.  

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The Lubrico Warranty

When I bought my first car—a Ford Focus from a used car dealership that has since gone out of business—I also purchased a Lubrico extended warranty.

If memory serves, it cost around $1,000.

Then I missed an oil change.

Not by years.

Not because the engine failed.

I simply exceeded the required oil change interval by more than three months.

The result?

The warranty was void.

Completely.

No partial coverage.

No leniency.

No forgiveness.

Just…

Voided. Gone. Kaput.  

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My Mistake

To be fair, that one was on me.

The fine print clearly stated that failing to have the required maintenance completed on time would void the warranty.

I hadn’t followed the terms.

The warranty company had.

It was an expensive lesson.

One I wasn’t about to repeat.

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More to Come

Unfortunately, that experience was only the beginning of my frustrations with the automotive industry.

In the next instalment, I’ll explain how an extended warranty from Hyundai became, in my opinion, money wasted.

Then, in the final post, I’ll describe my customer service experiences with Volkswagen.

Stay tuned.