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Woman Buys GMC. 6 Months Later, She Tries To Use The Bumper-To-Bumper Warranty

"I bought the bumper-to-bumper warranty, so..."

Woman Buys Used GMC. 6 Months And 30K Miles Later, She Tries To Return It

Photo by: Shunkina/fandiguyphil/tashatuvango

Stacy Fernandez

By: Stacy Fernandez

Sep 1, at 8:00pm ET

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Buying a car isn’t like picking up an item at a retail store where you generally have 30 days to return it. You typically put money down and take out a loan with its own terms and conditions.

Just because you change your mind or find that the car isn’t quite what you expected it to be doesn't mean you can walk back into the dealership, hand over your keys, and get your money back.

One woman seemed to think that returning her car would be that easy because she had a warranty. But she was in for a surprise.

Now people are confused about why and how she had such a thorough misunderstanding of what a warranty does and doesn't cover.

Hi, I’d Like to Return My Car

In a viral clip with more than 190,000 views, content creator and car salesperson Phil Harris (@fandiguyphil) shared a conversation he had with a woman who’d left him a voicemail asking about her warranty.

In the video Harris gives the woman a call back and she explains that she bought a used GMC from the dealership about six months earlier and now wants out.

“It's just, it's not working. It's not, it's not what I thought it would be. And, honestly, my husband was more involved in the decision-making than I was. So I want to get out of it, but I bought the bumper-to-bumper warranty, so I just had to make sure that I can return it,” she said, seemingly under the impression that her warranty gives her the right to return the car.

Harris asks whether she means returning the vehicle or simply canceling the additional coverage. She means the vehicle.

“I bought the highest warranty, so I’m assuming that means that I can return the vehicle, right?” she asks. “Like, I can get at least what I paid for out of it?”

As Harris explains, that’s not quite how things work.

“Not necessarily. No,” Harris responds. “We do sell exclusionary coverage. That wouldn’t cover you in the case of returning it.”

He explains that nothing in the contract says the coverage can be used to return the vehicle because the buyer no longer wants it. The woman says her husband led her to believe the bumper-to-bumper plan included that option.

“I mean, I’ve only had it for six months. I’ve only put about 30,000 miles on it,” she says.

It bears mention that the average person puts about 12,000 miles on their car per year, according to Kelley Blue Book. That means she drove more than five times the distance the average person would have in the same amount of time.

The woman tells Harris she needs to get out of the vehicle without losing money. “I’m kind of shocked, I genuinely thought I could, you know, return it,” she added.

“Sorry, I'm just at a loss for words really, I've never come up into something like this,” Harris says.

He asks whether she would consider trading the GMC. She says she wants the dealership’s 2024 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy, which has everything she wanted before she bought her current vehicle.

“But my husband doesn’t care about me, I guess,” she adds.

“Oh,” Harris responds.

“No words,” he wrote in the caption.

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What Does “Bumper-to-Bumper” Coverage Mean?

Cars.com says that plans commonly called used-car warranties are a bit misleading in name because what these vehicles actually come with are often service contracts that cover certain mechanical breakdowns after purchase.

A powertrain plan typically focuses on the engine, transmission, and drivetrain. Bumper-to-bumper coverage is broader and may include those systems along with electrical components, and some other more extensive protections.

But bumper-to-bumper does not mean every inch of the car is covered. It doesn't usually cover normal wear and tear like worn brake pads and tires or routine maintenance like oil changes.

The plan may also have you pay a deductible, require the use of an approved repair facility, or make the shop obtain authorization before beginning work. Some plans also have a waiting period or a mileage or time limit.

Can You Return a Car You Just Bought?

Autotrader reports that federal law does not give car buyers a universal period to cancel a dealership purchase. The federal three-day cooling-off rule generally applies to sales made somewhere other than the seller’s normal place of business (like door to door sales).

There are limited exceptions. A dealer may voluntarily offer a return or exchange policy, but the terms need to be in writing and usually come with strict time, mileage, and vehicle condition limits. A buyer may also have options when financing falls through or when a serious, repeatedly unfixable issue qualifies under the buyer’s state lemon law.

Otherwise, changing your mind does not reverse the contract. Once the car is titled, registered, and driven off the lot, the dealer generally treats the sale as final.

Your options then become refinance, sell the car, or trade it for something else.

Commenters Are Shocked

People in the comment section couldn’t wrap their heads around why the woman was so off about what a warranty would cover. They were also surprised by the amount of mileage she’d put on the vehicle in a relatively short period of time.

One wrote, “30k in six months is kinda a lot.”

“Just upsell her to a Jeep Gladiator. No one ever returns those,” a person said.

“Has to be a skit. No one is that stupid,” another wrote.

What do you think?

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Comments

“Am I the dumb one? Bc I thought a warranty was like for fixing things? Like if the A/C stopped working and was under warranty I could get it fixed with minimal cost…. Never in my life did I believe a warranty was for returning a car,” a commenter added.

Motor1 left a message for Harris’ dealership and reached out via contact form. We’ll be sure to update this if it responds.

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