USAA Extended Warranty Reviews

In 2018, USAA discontinued enrollment into its extended warranties for new customers, but continues to honor contracts currently in place. As far as we know, USAA has no current plans to recreate a new extended service contract program. 

USAA used to offer two bumper-to-bumper protection plans: Comprehensive Protection or Manufacturer Wrap Protection. The provider did not offer any powertrain plans, which are typically offered by most warranty companies. The chart below compares and contrasts what is normally covered by the two most common types of warranty plans. 

If you bought an extended warranty from USAA before 2018, chances are that you have one of the following coverage plans:

Comprehensive Protection

USAA’s signature bumper-to-bumper warranty, the Comprehensive Protection plan takes care of repairs for nearly all components of your vehicle, including the most expensive parts like the engine and transmission. As a bumper-to-bumper warranty, Comprehensive Protection is an exclusionary coverage, which means that if a component is not listed in the contract, you can consider it covered by USAA. 

Manufacturer Wrap Protection

If the bumper-to-bumper warranty from your manufacturer was shorter than your factory powertrain warranty, the Manufacturer Wrap Protection plan helped close up that gap. The Manufacturer plan covered nearly everything except the components covered under whatever factory powertrain warranty your automaker provided.

This means that the Manufacturer Wrap Protection plan does not cover the engine, transmission, or drive axles. Drivers used to be able to buy this USAA service plan as long as they were 30 days or 1,000 miles from the expiration of their factory limited warranty.

Added Benefits

USAA extended warranty plans for military personnel and their families came with certain of benefits we haven’t seen offered by other companies. Below are some of the benefits offered by USAA’s previous plans:

• Rental car coverage: If you end up without a car for an extended period of time, you can get up to $50 every day in rental car reimbursement for as many days as needed.
• Roadside assistance: If you break down on the side of the road, USAA provides services such as tows, fuel deliveries, and lockout assistance.
• Deployment coverage extension: During deployment, USAA will suspend the service contract for up to 15 months. When you get home, USAA will extend the expiration date of your agreement by the length of time you were deployed.

While most other providers provide rental car reimbursement, the norm is to reimburse for about $30 per day up to five days. USAA is the only company we know of with an unlimited number of days for rental car reimbursement.

Assurant Solutions was a third-party warranty provider that partnered with USAA and administered the insurance company’s extended service contracts. Assurant Solutions ended this partnership in 2018, and no longer administers these extended warranties. Normally, Assurant Solutions would be the company to handle the claims process.

If you’re a current USAA extended vehicle service contract holder and you need to file a claim for a mechanical breakdown, follow these steps:

1. Take the vehicle to the nearest repair facility. With USAA, you can take your vehicle to your favorite local ASE certified facility or back to your dealer. When there, provide a copy of the warranty agreement. 
2. Inform the repair facility that it will need to contact the administrator listed in your USAA warranty contract. It could be United Service Protection, Inc., a subsidiary of Assurant Solutions. The claims number should be written in the contract.
3. Review with the repair facility what will and won’t be covered by the agreement. It’s always good to be familiar with the exclusions in your contract.
4. Authorize the inspection of your vehicle by the repair facility. The administrator should get a copy of the signed authorization.
5. After the repair facility has completed the car repairs, review the work.
6. Pay the deductible and the costs for the non-covered repairs. If you’re required to foot the entire bill, the administrator will reimburse you for the covered repairs. If the repair facility gets into contact with the administrator early, the administrator will reimburse the repair facility directly.
7. Submit all repair orders and documentation to the administrator. This should be done within 90 days from the date the covered repairs were completed. Your submitted documents should contain the following information:
   • Your vehicle’s current odometer mileage
   • Your contract number
   • Your complaint
   • The cause of vehicle failure and your corrective action
   • The cost of the repair
   • The last eight digits of your vehicle identification number (VIN)
   • Your phone number

While car owners can no longer get extended warranty coverage from USAA, there are plenty of great independent warranty companies that our reviews team has heavily researched. On top of getting quotes from these companies, our team has surveyed over 2,000 extended warranty customers and combed through hundreds of online reviews on trusted industry sites like Trustpilot and the Better Business Bureau (BBB). Below are some of our top options for extended car warranties: Endurance, CARCHEX, and CarShield. 

Endurance

We’ve given Endurance our award of “Best Coverage” because we believe that the warranty provider has the most versatile set of protection plans on the market. Endurance offers six different coverage options that can work for drivers with different vehicle needs. It also offers vehicle service contracts for motorcycle and ATV drivers.

Endurance is one of the most popular warranty companies in the industry, with an overall rating of 4.0 out of 5.0 stars on Trustpilot. Part of its popularity is owed to its unique one-year package of Endurance Elite benefits, which include up to $500 in collision repairs and up to $1,000 in total loss replacement. Another reason for Endurance’s popularity is the fact that it is a direct provider, meaning it works directly with repair shops and there is no broker as a middle man. 

Keep reading: Endurance Warranty review

CARCHEX

We award CARCHEX with “Best for Used Cars” for having a variety of plans to cover cars with higher mileage. CARCHEX offers affordable coverage on average, earning a 4.0 out of 5.0 stars in our cost category. The company is also well regarded within the industry, earning a stellar A+ score from the BBB as well as being accredited by the institution.

CARCHEX offers 5 levels of coverage, including a powertrain warranty and an exclusionary plan.

Keep reading: CARCHEX warranty reviews.

CarShield

CarShield is one of the most seasoned warranty providers from our recommendations, having logged fifteen years in the industry. While CarShield is a broker and not a direct provider like Endurance, the company offers month-to-month contracts at fairly low prices.

According to an extended warranty survey our team conducted in March of 2022, out of 1,000 respondents, 56 percent reported getting an extended warranty from CarShield. Its large popularity is attributed to its high number of protection plans. The broker has plans that can go to 300,000 miles, in fact–which makes CarShield one of the longest-warranty-term providers in the industry.

Keep reading: CarShield reviews
Compare: CarShield vs. Endurance

If you currently have a contract with USAA’s old extended service program, it’s either Manufacturer Wrap Protection or Comprehensive Protection. If you don’t have a warranty with USAA, you’ll have to turn to another company. 

Endurance, CarShield, and CARCHEX all have great reputations among industry rates and customers. Each offers great coverage at relatively affordable rates. It’s important to get quotes from these companies to compare providers.

Below are some common frequently asked questions about USAA’s extended warranties: