If you are purchasing a new car, dealers will always offer to sell you a factory extended warranty plan as part of your "closing" process.  This job is normally handled by the F&I salesperson, which standards for Finance and Insurance. 

The F& I salesperson will educate you on financing rates, warranty costs and any third party accessories or treatments that can be applied to your new car.  These could include Lo-Jack, paint protection coatings or windshield breakage insurance.

When considering extended warranty plans, you first must understand if you are being offered a plan direct from the manufacturer or from a third party.  This is a critical piece of information that must be obtained before purchasing an automotive extended warranty plan.

Factory direct plans are your best option if you are concerned about a company being in business a few years down the road that will pay for repairs.  If you purchase a Ford Extended Warranty plan, the coverage will remain in effect unless Ford goes bankrupt.  Factory direct plans are have the full backing of the Ford national dealer network.

Factory plans normally are sold for list price.  With the Internet changing the sales rules for all goods and services, consumers need to understand that they can purchase genuine factory extended warranty plans at save up to 30% off of list price.  These discounts are normally not offered by your local dealer. 

For example, consumers who are looking for a Toyota Extended Warranty can save hundreds of dollars by purchasing their warranty online and shopping around.  We compared a number of online factory warranty websites and the savings can be up to $900 off, which in today's economy should not be overlooked.

Consumers can purchase an extended warranty after they purchase their new car.  There is no penalty.  In fact, consumers can purchase factory extended warranty plans months after they purchase their new car.  Infiniti Elite Extended Warranty plans can be purchased as long as the car has less than 60,000 miles and less than 4 years old.

So, don't feel pressured to pay list price for factory extended warranty plans.  Shop online and you can save hundreds or even over a thousand dollars. One Nissan Extended Warranty website shows the discounts online as you pick your plan.  With these discounts, there is no advantage to purchase a third party warranty plan that you cannot practically investigate as far as the underwriter's financial stability. 

I am sure that some third party extended warranty plans are effective but there are some many email, phone and postcard scams surrounding third party extended warranty programs, consumers are most likely best served from a factory plan.

This article has given four examples of websites that can save you hundreds of dollars of automotive factory warranty plans and there are many more.  Do you homework and compare prices.  Just don't have an impulsive decision on the day that you are purchasing a new car.  The difference is coverage costs can be significant.