Why Vehicle Protection Plans Can Bring You Peace of Mind

What’s covered in a vehicle protection plan?

When you purchase a vehicle — whether it’s new, certified pre-owned or used — you’re making both an emotional and a rational decision. Your emotions are telling you how nice it’s going to be to slip behind the wheel of your newly purchased vehicle, and enjoy all of the features that your old car didn’t have. On the rational side, you’re making an investment, hoping to avoid costly maintenance that can add up to huge costs when the years and miles start to rack up the car.

Save money in the future

When you’re making an investment in a new car, why make an even further investment in a vehicle protection plan? Because that additional investment is likely to save you money in the future.

If you went back 25 years ago, cars were essentially similar to what they were in the 1960s and 1970s. They had on-board computers and electronic fuel injection and some had anti-lock brakes, but for the most part, they were relatively unsophisticated and fairly simple to maintain.

Sophisticated Computer Network

Today’s vehicles are an incredibly sophisticated computer network that just happens to have four wheels. Consider just one advance: Adaptive Cruise Control with Stop & Go (ACC+) that’s available on several Chrysler vehicles including the Pacifica minivan: using a network of radar and sensors to monitor the Pacifica and traffic in front of the vehicle, the vehicle can be slowed automatically, maintaining a safe following distance. When traffic begins moving again, the system applies the throttle and follows safely until it reaches a preset speed.

This system requires advanced computing power, a radar system and sensors to operate. If any of it fails and your vehicle is out of its original three-year, 36,000 mile warranty, you’d be on the hook for the cost of replacement.

Peace of Mind

Vehicle protection plans — especially those backed by the manufacturer — extend that peace of mind well beyond the original warranty. With a nominal deductible, a plan like Chrysler Warranty Direct’s Added Care Plus plan can extend your warranty up to eight years and unlimited mileage, and covers more than 800 components. That provides a lot of peace of mind for the major systems at work getting your vehicle down the road.

A step up to a vehicle protection plan like Maximum Care means that you’ve got bumper-to-bumper care, stretching all the way out to eight years and 125,000 miles, covering over 5,000 components: not only the major systems that make the car go, stop and steer, but the sophisticated sensors and networks that made advanced safety features work, too.

When you’re making the decision to purchase a vehicle protection plan, it’s important to understand not only the parts and labor covered, but who is providing the coverage. A service plan backed by the original equipment manufacturer and usable at any one of its thousands of franchised dealers across the country is your ticket to years of reliable service.