Expert Review

Endurance has been a big player in the extended warranty game for quite some time, and it shows. From the first call through to purchasing and the claims process, every employee we talked to was able to answer just about any question we could throw at them. And, on the rare occasion that they couldn’t, they immediately connected us with someone who could. Since Endurance is their own administrator, everyone has to know their stuff inside and out. After all, they’re the ones processing the claims. Being an administrator also means they have a bit more flexibility than a lot of their competitors: Endurance has a variety of plans to choose from, covering just about every vehicle and budget. In fact, the sales team was willing and able to accommodate our monthly budget by letting us spread payments over 12, 24, or even 36 months.

No matter which plans you choose, if you go with Endurance, every plan comes with a free year of Endurance Elite. None of the other competitors in this field are offering anything like Endurance Elite right now, and it’s one of the reasons that we’ve ranked Endurance Warranty so high. The total value of a year of the Elite program is at least $2,000. That means, bang for your buck-wise, Endurance outclasses comparable services by a long shot. 

Here are all of the perks of the Elite program, broken down:

• Key Fob Replacement: They’ll replace lost and broken key fobs up to a maximum value of $500.
• Tire Repair and Replacement: Elite members get up to two tires per year repaired or, if necessary, replaced, with an individual value per tire up to $125 ($250 total). Worth noting, however, that this only applies to tires damaged by road hazards.
• Personal Concierge: Endurance Elite includes a 24/7 Personal Concierge service, which is life, human help with anything related to your Endurance policy, whether you’re having an emergency or just need help booking a rental car. (They even give directions, which could be handy if you find yourself somewhere with just a bar or two of cell service and no Internet connection.)
• Roadside assistance: This is a big one since it’s something a lot of us pay for separately. Endurance Elite includes 24/7 roadside help in the case of a breakdown. And, again, a year of Elite is included free with any extended warranty plan.
• Gift Cards: Interestingly enough, Elite membership – including the free membership offered with your first year – includes $250 in gift cards and vouchers, plus additional coupons. And not just at car-related merchants. These ‘Member Rewards’ include actual dollars towards groceries, online shopping, and travel.
• Repair Financing: If you have a problem that isn’t covered by your plan, Endurance Elite will help you take out a loan to cover the cost and break it up over monthly installments, up to $5,000. The idea is that, even when you have an issue they don’t cover, they still don’t want you to be left totally high and dry.
• Identity Theft Protection: This is kind of a funny one. It doesn’t really have much to do with your car, but it’s still a very handy feature. Endurance Elite also comes with identity protection to help you restore your credit and get reimbursed up to $25,000 in the case of identity theft. They have a team of Fraud Specialists on hand to help you in case you have your identity stolen. Neato.
• Endurance Protect App: Last one! The app is meant to be an easy way to track your benefits and rewards, connect with customer service, and request roadside assistance. That said, on further inspection, we found it to be less than intuitive. But we’ll get to that later.

All of this is to say, the Elite membership was what tipped Endurance over the edge for our top pick. We loved these extra benefits because they eliminate the need to pay for extra services like AAA to protect you during a breakdown, and they just provide so much additional value. In the long run, pretty much every company we tested offered roughly comparable coverage with prices largely equal to or higher than Endurance, but no one else had anything even close to Endurance Elite when it comes to added benefit and value. For us, Endurance goes above and beyond just a solid extended auto warranty, while also being high quality and affordable option just for your warranty needs. Comparable prices, but with way better benefits – what’s not to like?

The claims process was simple enough to figure out. But, what we really loved about their claims department (not a sentence we ever thought we’d say) was their easily accessible customer service and, in particular, the “Auto Advocate Team.” Essentially, Endurance has a team of ex-mechanics on staff, and that team speaks directly to the mechanic working on your vehicle when you go into a shop with a problem. This is a great asset if you’re the type of person that tends to get taken advantage of in a shop or just doesn’t know too much about the ins and outs of cars. They can assess what’s actually necessary and they know about standard pricing, so they can help make sure you don’t pay more than you should or for add-ons you don’t need. Plus, Endurance is one of the companies that pay the mechanic directly rather than having you pay out of pocket then reimbursing you, which is a huge plus when it comes to claims. 

OVERALL IMPRESSION

Overall, Endurance is definitely one of our front runners – probably our number one choice overall. They have extensive coverage options for a wide variety of budgets, and Endurance Elite is a huge benefit you won't find anywhere else. The sales associates are responsive, we loved the Auto Advocate Team, and the claims process is as pain-free as you are going to get – though not totally pain-free. (It’s still a cousin of the insurance industry, after all.)