Does Your Extended Warranty Cover Your Brakes?

A quick tap on the brake pedal is all you really need in order to tell when your brakes are starting to go bad. They might squeal loudly, stop unevenly, or even worse, cause you not to stop at all if you’ve abused them enough.

Here’s the thing though: while your brake pads or rotors might be bad, they are far from the only part of your brake system. It’s easy to take brakes for granted, even though they’re a central part of your car.

Depending on what type of car you have, you’ll either have disc brakes, drum brakes, or some mix of both. With that said, your brake system is composed of your pads, your brake rotors, your brake calipers, and the brake disc.

When you step on the brake pedal you activate the master cylinder of the brake which multiplies the force of your foot. Brake fluid flows from the master cylinder through brake lines to the brake caliper assembly (if you have a disc brake system) and the wheel cylinder (if you have drum brakes). The master cylinder applies just the right amount of pressure to the front and rear systems so you’ll be okay if one system fails.

The pressure forces into your calipers or cylinders which then forces the brake pads to move towards the rotors or brake shoes to separate and press into the brake drum which is what causes you to decelerate.

Now, if you take good care of your brakes where your continuously checking your brake fluid as well as replacing it in accordance with your car’s maintenance schedule, you should only have to replace your brake pads and your brake rotors.

Does Your Extended Warranty Cover Brakes?

Most extended warranties don’t cover what’s are known as “wear and tear” parts. Wear and tear parts are parts of your car that are expected to wear out and be replaced at regular intervals. Your brake pads and rotors are considered wear and tear parts, and almost universally won’t be covered by your extended warranty.

In our experience, this is usually what people are asking when we hear “are brakes covered by our warranty plan?”

The good news is, brake pads and rotors aren’t expensive to replace. The total cost is almost always less than $500 at the very highest.

However, as we’ve established, your brakes aren’t just your pads and rotors. There’s your master cylinder, disc brake calipers, and a number of other parts to your brakes that may be covered by your extended warranty.

To make this a little easier on you, we’ve gone ahead and compared the minimum, median, and maximum coverage plans for the top 4 extended warranty companies as well as what brake components they cover.

Protect My Car

Direct Contract Provider: Yes

Essentials Coverage Plan: Driveline

Brake Systems Covered: None

Medium Coverage Plan: Select

Brake Systems Covered: Master Cylinder, Vacuum Assist Booster, Disc Brake Calipers, Wheel Cylinders, Compensating Valve, Hydraulic Control Unit, Wheel Speed Sensors, Hydraulic Pump / Motor Assembly, ABS Pressure Modulator Valve/ Isolation Dump Valve and ABS Accumulator.

Maximum Coverage Plan: Supreme

Brake Systems Covered: Master Cylinder, Vacuum Assist Booster, Disc Brake Calipers, Wheel Cylinders, Compensating Valve, Hydraulic Control Unit, ABS Wheel Speed Sensors, ABS Hydraulic Pump/Motor Assembly, ABS Pressure Modulator Valve/Isolation Dump Valve and ABS Accumulator.

Notes: Our lowest-cost plan, the Driveline, does not cover brake systems. However, our more comprehensive plans Select and Supreme cover almost all of your brakes minus the pads and rotors.

Endurance Warranty:

Direct Contract Provider: Yes

Essentials Coverage Plan: Select Plus

Brake Systems Covered: None

Medium Coverage Plan: Secure Plus

Brake Systems Covered: Master Cylinder; Power Brake Cylinder; Vacuum/Hydro Assist Booster; Disc Brake Caliper; Wheel Cylinders; Compensating Valve; Brake Hydraulic Lines and Fittings; Hydraulic Control Unit; Hydraulic Trailer Brake Assembly and its Components. The following ABS Parts are also covered: Electronic Control Processor; Wheel Speed Sensors; Hydraulic Pump/Motor Assembly; Pressure Modulator Valve/Isolation Dump Valve; and Accumulator.

Maximum Coverage Plan: Supreme

Brake Systems Covered: Master Cylinder; Power Brake Cylinder; Vacuum/Hydro Assist Booster; Disc Brake Caliper; Wheel Cylinders; Compensating Valve; Brake Hydraulic Lines and Fittings; Hydraulic Control Unit; Hydraulic Trailer Brake Assembly and its Components. The following ABS Parts are also covered: Electronic Control Processor; Wheel Speed Sensors; Hydraulic Pump/Motor Assembly; Pressure Modulator Valve/Isolation Dump Valve; and Accumulator.

Notes: Endurance’s basic coverage, Select Plus, is closer to power train coverage and does not cover brake systems like the Secure Plus and Supreme do.

Car Shield:

Direct Contract Provider: No

Essentials Coverage Plan: American Auto Shield Power Train

Brake Systems Covered: None

Medium Coverage Plan: Enhanced Powertrain

Brake Systems Covered: None

Maximum Coverage Plan: American Auto Shield Platinum

Brake Systems Covered: Master cylinder, power assist booster, vacuum assist booster pump, wheel cylinders, combination (proportioning) valves, disc calipers, self-adjusters, actuators.

Notes: Brakes are only covered in the most comprehensive of Car Shield’s plans. Car Shield is also not a direct provider and sells contracts that are administrated by American Auto Shield.

Carchex:

Direct Contract Provider: No

Essentials Coverage Plan: CARCHEX Care By Royal Bronze

Brake Systems Covered: None

Medium Coverage Plan: CARCHEX Care By Royal Silver

Brake Systems Covered: None

Maximum Coverage Plan: CARCHEX Care By Royal Titanium

Brake Systems Covered: Master cylinder, power assist booster, wheel cylinders, combination valves, metal hydraulic lines and fittings, disc calipers, backing plates, springs, clips, retainers, and electronic anti-lock brake system (ABS) and relays. Parking brake linkage and cables, and rear actuators.

Notes: CARCHEX’s low and medium-cost plans do not coverage brakes. CARCHEX is also not a direct contract provider, and instead sells the plans of Royal Administration Services, Allegiance, and American Auto Shield.

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 Extended Warranty For Your Brakes? Choose Protect My Car & Save

While the brakes are covered with most extended warranty companies, Protect My Car is far from “any” extended warranty company.

We’re able to cover your brakes at a lower price than our competitors because we’re a direct warranty provider, which gives us a number of advantages as we’ve previously mentioned above. We don’t have to bend to another company that sets our price.

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 brakes 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 hundreds for expensive brake repairs ever again.