Does Your Extended Warranty Cover Your Air Conditioner?

You want to know what’s not fun?

Driving around in the Florida heat without air conditioning. It’s not so much the heat that’s bad, it’s the humidity. And boy oh boy, does Florida have that in spades.

Unlike other repairs in your car that you can ignore, if your air conditioning is out, you’re going to know it.

Sometimes the repair can be as simple as clearing up a blockage – or a leak. Unfortunately, it can spiral out of control from there and include radiator trouble, or even worse, a blown compressor, which is going to cost you a pretty penny.

Unfortunately, I’ve had that happen two times in the last 2 years – on both my car and my wife’s. Luckily though, we both have extended warranties because we would have been looking at a $500+ repair bill for a new compressor.

If you’re potentially in the same situation, the first step is diagnosing that you have a problem. If you know what to look for, you can often catch it before it becomes a problem and you find yourself sitting in rush hour traffic over an hour from home on a 93-degree day with ample sunshine in your brand new dress shirt.

Yeah, I’m still not over it.

What Are The Signs My Air Conditioning Is Busted?

1. Weak Airflow: If your air conditioning suddenly isn’t pushing air like it used to, chances are something is wrong inside. Your evaporator core could be clogged by mold or mildew. It’s also possible that the blower house or evaporator core seal is compromised, or that the compressor is running on its last legs.
2. Leaking Dashboard: If you notice that there’s a visible stain on your mat, it can indicate that your compressor is leaking. Older A/C units can leak often, and this is a sign that you need to replace it immediately. However, leaks can also be caused by things like your heater core, as we’ve discussed previously.
3. Not cooling (duh): If your air conditioner isn’t cooling your cabin, it’s not working by definition. Hopefully, this only happens when you’re not wearing a new dress shirt.
4. Leaking refrigerant: Check underneath your car for an almost sickly sweet scent. This can be caused by your a/c compressor leaking its coolant which is certainly a reason for your ac not working.
5. A/C goes from cold to hot: This could be anything from a blown fuse, or a leak, to a damage compressor clutch inside your air conditioning.
6. Rattling noises: The rattling noise is often caused by a broken belt or debris inside the fan. Don’t ignore the noise- take it to be investigated.
7. Smelly A/C: Your cabin air filter probably needs to be replaced if your car is starting to smell like those old gym socks that have stuck to the bottom of your bag for god knows how long.
8. Leaking Oil: Your evaporator, compressor, condenser, lines, and fittings could be the culprit here. Leaking oil isn’t always easy to see, but it can certainly be a symptom of a busted A/C unit.
9. Burning Smell: If your cabin suddenly smells worse than a freshman dorm room after burning some popcorn, your wires may be fried. The only way to get around this problem is to fix the entire unit.

If you’re noticing any of these signs, or a combination of these signs, take your car to an ASE certified mechanic to get a further diagnosis, as the only true “smoking gun” is when your air conditioning unit is weak, or doesn’t work at all.

Does My Extended Warranty Cover Air Conditioning?

The answer is a resounding YES, if you have a policy from Protect My Car. All of our extended warranty plans, including the Driveline, Select, and Supreme cover your air conditioning. 

And we’re not alone! Our competitors also cover your air conditioning. To make this a little bit easier on you, I’ve gone ahead and gathered a list of which plans from the top 4 extended warranty companies cover air conditioning.

Protect My Car:

Plans that cover air conditioning: Driveline, Select, Supreme

Direct Warranty Provider: Yes

Notes: Even our lowest cost plan, the Driveline covers air conditioning repairs. We’re the only extended warranty company on this list that covers air conditioning with our lowest priced plan, because we’re located in Florida and we get how miserable it can be to drive without air conditioning!

Endurance Warranty:

Plans that cover air conditioning: Secure Plus, Superior, Supreme

Direct Warranty Provider: Yes

Notes: Endurance’s Secure policy, which they say is their most affordable, only covers the compressor with a premium add on. The Secure Plus, Superior, And Supreme are their mid to upper level policies, which means they may cost more.

Car Shield:

Plans that cover air conditioning: American Auto Shield Enhanced Power Train*, American Auto Shield Comprehensive, American Auto Shield New Car

Direct Warranty Provider: No

Notes: The American Auto Shield Enhanced Power Train does cover some parts of the air conditioning, like the compressor, but ignores other important parts like the temperature control unit, and air conditioning compressor clutch. Car Shield is also not a direct warranty provider, and sells American Auto Shield’s policies instead.

Carchex:

Plans that cover air conditioning: American Auto Shield Powertrain Plus, CARCHEX Care By Royal, Royal Administration Services Centennial, Allegiance Silver, Allegiance Select Elite, American Auto Shield Deluxe, CARCHEX Care By Royal, Royal Administration Services Preferred, Allegiance Gold, American Auto Shield Platinum, CARCHEX Care By Royal, Royal Administration Services Premium, Allegiance Platinum, CARCHEX Care By AAS Titanium Plus, CARCHEX Care By AAS Titanium, American Auto Shield Diamond, CARCHEX Care By Royal Titanium, Royal Administration Services Ultimate, Allegiance Ultimate

Direct Warranty Provider: No

Notes: The silver level plans such as powertrain plus, and centennial don’t cover all the components of your air conditioning like the upper level platinum and titanium coverage plans do. This is fairly normal for lower priced coverage, with the exception of our driveline plan.

What Is A Direct Warranty Provider?

So you’re probably wondering what the direct warranty provider bit is above. It’s an important distinction that is worth talking about.

A direct warranty provider is a warranty company that administrates and services its own claims, legally speaking. What that means, is when a direct warranty provider sells you an extended warranty, they are responsible for paying your claims, as well as handling any customer service issues that arise.

Direct providers can offer lower prices for their plans and better customer service because everything is handled in house. 

Currently, only Protect My Car and Endurance are direct warranty providers.

Other extended warranty companies aren’t selling their own plans.  When you buy a policy with them, they then transfer the responsibility for your future claims to a 3^rd party finance company. They get paid, and then that finance company that you didn’t choose becomes the legal entity responsible for paying your claims.

This can be a huge hassle. Claims take longer to get paid, and we’ve seen prices that are more expensive.

That’s not to mention that the 3^rd party finance company has no connection to you as a human being and has every financial incentive to pay as little as possible on your claim.

With over 13 years in this business, everyone will tell you that choosing a direct warranty provider is the best way to go. You’ll avoid getting a run around from claims agents, and instead will get help from a real person who wants to see you off smiling.

Want To Get The Best Value On An Extended Warranty For Your Air Conditioning? Protect My Car Can Help

While the air conditioning is covered with just about any extended warranty, Protect My Car is far from “any” extended warranty company. Our lowest-cost plan, the Driveline covers more than the basic coverage you’ll get from other extended warranty companies, including your air conditioning, and important bits like your alternator, windshield washer pump, and starter.

Best of all, we’re able to do this at a lower price than our competitors because we’re a direct warranty provider.

As a proud direct warranty provider, you’ll never be mistreated when you join us. There’s a reason our average review score (TrustPilot, Consumer Affairs, BBB) is a 4.3/5.0, and I want you to find out why.

We know there are a number of other great extended warranty companies out there, we know we’re the best and we want to prove it to you.

That’s why, for a limited time, we’re giving away $50 dollars in rewards just for getting a quote with us. From there, you’ll be able to shop all of our different plans, online, with no phone call needed. You can even buy the driveline in less than 5 minutes and have your air conditioning covered and ready to go.

Because we’re a direct warranty provider, you may find that our plans are significantly cheaper than what you’re paying right now.

So don’t wait, get your free quote today and claim your $50 dollars in free rewards. You’ll be one step closer to not having to shell out thousands for an expensive air conditioning repair.