My complaint is both with Fidelity Warranty Services and the many dealerships that peddle FWS's so called "extended car warranties" ... in my case, the Coggin Auto Group.

Let me be very clear ... DON'T be fooled into thinking you are buying something you are not. These FWS warranties are NOT what you think and NOT what the F&I salesperson leads you to believe.

What they are is an illusion, delivered masterfully by dealerships to unsuspecting car buyers who are overly vulnerable to believing the illusion. Price of admission ... around $1, 000 - $3, 000 depending on coverage options and greed of your dealership. So why an illusion?

Well, first, in spite of all the dealership jargon, these extended warranties aren't actually warranties at all ... the contract itself says it in plain English. You are NOT extending the legitimate factory warranty of your car. These are actually "service contracts", but you wouldn't pick that up immediately because the company is misleadingly named "Fidelity Warranty" ... hmmm "fidelity" and "warranty" ... how warm & fuzzy sounding.

Secondly, you need to fully understand the concept of "wear & tear" because anything that breaks on your car due to "wear & tear" is NOT covered after 50, 000 miles. So part of the illusion is that you think your car is covered say up to 90k or 100k miles, but in actuality breakdown resulting from wear & tear is not covered after 50k miles. In case you aren't getting it yet, everything in your car undergoes wear & tear the minute it leaves the production line ... And history tells us that around 50k miles is when wear & tear starts taking a toll on cars. It's no accident that FWS bails on you precisely at the time you need them. Some may say, well, at least I'm covered up to 50k miles, but guess what ... your free factory warranty covers most cars up to 36k - 50k miles anyhow, and the FWS contract dictates that the factory warranty pays first.

Oh, sure, FWS will pay claims for "faulty" workmanship or "faulty materials" (even after 50k miles), but part of the illusion is that those items invariably show up early in a vehicle's life and would again be covered under the free factory warranty, not FWS. Good luck convincing some FWS claim rep that your bad transmission survived the first 50k miles with no problems and then suddenly failed at 51k miles due to faulty workmanship or materials.

Even if you're lucky enough to find some window of opportunity after the factory warranty expires and before your FWS contract terms out, you still need to clear 18 exclusions in the contract. And, oh, by the way, if you haven't serviced your vehicle to the exact letter of the law in your service manual AND have ALL the service records to prove it, FWS can and will deny your claims on that basis. Sorry, Mrs. Smith, you missed an oil change back in 2008 ... claim denied!

The internet is full of complaints about people saying that FWS doesn't honor its warranties, but actually FWS does exactly what it's contract says it will do .. which is to deny your claims under its carefully crafted exclusions. The problem is that no one has the time or inclination to read a 6 page contract (on top of the other 15+ pages of misc car buying paperwork) while undergoing the car buying process ... So, instead, people listen and trust the F&I guy who is throwing out words like "peace of mind", "extended bumper to bumper coverage", "best warranty in the business", etc. Next thing you know, you're out $2000 bucks for a warranty that's not worth the paper it's written on.

And don't expect a class action lawsuit or a trial in front of a judge or jury to save you because you waived your right to both of those when you signed Fidelity's contract ... ooops! Wonder why Fidelity's lawyers felt it so necessary to deny you customary legal courses of action.

While Fidelity may undoubtedly pay out many claims per year, the fact remains that there are big misconception gaps between what people think they are buying and what Fidelity's contract actually is. The contract is masterfully written to avoid as much liability as possible while simultaneously exploiting people's desire for peace of mind and protection from out of control repair costs. And of course the car dealerships (yes, even those reputable dealerships with friendly staff and nice F&I managers) are more than happy to expand and exploit these misconception gaps for their own profitable gains and at their own customers' expense.

No matter how much you like your salesman or trust your dealership, you would be well advised to take everything they say with a grain of salt and, unless you know 100% what you're buying, steer way clear of Fidelity Warranty Services contracts.

First, understand who this company is. Fidelity Warranty Services (and Courtesy Insurance Company) is essentially owned by Southeast Toyota or “SET.” SET is the company that holds the monopoly on all rights to Toyota franchising south of Maryland and east of Texas. Said another way, SET is essentially the ‘boss’ of all the individual Toyota dealerships in the Southeast region (since they can take away their franchises). The street address for Fidelity Warranty Services (and Courtesy Insurance Company) is Jim Moran Boulevard in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Jim Moran is the original CEO of SET … which is based in Deerfield Beach, Florida. Get it?

Why this concerns you is that, if you buy a Fidelity Warranty Service product from a Toyota dealership in that region to protect a vehicle you bought at a Toyota dealership in that region, when it comes claims time, you will be asking that Toyota dealership to help you make a claim against its own ‘boss.’ I wish you good luck on that one. Your premiums basically went right on into SET’s pockets (less the sales commission). Then when/if it does have to pay out, SET is essentially a ‘self-insurer’, paying only the volume wholesale rate for parts … and likely paying its captive dealerships for labor at a vastly reduced price. Nice racket, eh?

That conflict of interest is in addition to the unfortunate fact that insurance companies often tend to try to wiggle out of paying valid claims anyway. But in the situation described above, you won’t even have the dealership on your side to advocate your valid claim.

According to many Internet complaints, Fidelity is quite adept at denying claims. The Fidelity contract IS short and written in plain English, so the average person can read it very, very carefully. (I didn’t.) Do so - that’s YOUR responsibility and Fidelity has made it easy for you to read it. You will find it filled with carefully-crafted clauses. Many are quite fair. However there are a number of clauses that will pretty much allow Fidelity a thinly-veiled excuse to deny whatever claim it feels like denying.

Here’s one: You are not covered for “the failure of a covered part due to a gradual reduction in operating performance as a result of normal wear and tear” after 50, 000 miles. If a part fails after 50, 000 miles, well that’s just normal for it to wear out, right? Claim denied at will.

Or how about this one? You are covered only if the failure is due to “faulty workmanship or materials supplied by the original vehicle manufacturer.” Did that turn signal stalk break right off in your hand? That’s not faulty workmanship, you broke it, you klutz. Claim denied at will.

And here’s some other items specifically excluded by contract under Fidelity’s tip-top “Platinum” coverage - which the policy salesman will try to sell as protecting everything but the kitchen sink … body parts & body panels & molding & door handles & locks & glass & lenses & paint (that pretty much excludes the exterior), trim & upholstery & bright metal (that pretty much excludes the interior), hinges, transmission clutch components, radiator hoses, advanced cruise control systems, ‘appliances’ (whatever that means), back up alarm systems, convertible tops, rattles, squeaks, wind noise & water leaks (from poorly sealed windshields, for example) and even safety restraint systems.

And it also excludes repair of ‘correction of excessive oil consumption’ or ‘any reduction in engine efficiency.’ Engine problems? Claim denied at will.

Google around - and you’ll find more than a few individuals saying that failed parts – parts specifically listed as covered in the Fidelity Warranty Services contract - were outright denied without the agent even bothering to cough up an explanation. Why didn’t they bother to explain? Because they don’t have to be bothered - they’ve got their clauses to wiggle around in if they actually feel the need to provide an explanation. But that would be wasted breath and wasted time, since what are you, the consumer, going to do about it anyway?

You can forget about complaining to the BBB. These days, the BBB pays its utility bills with the hefty annual dues that come from the corporations who become its members. The Southeast Florida BBB currently rates Fidelity Warranty Services as A+.

Oh, and for all those people fussing that they are going to sue and are going to get a class action lawsuit going, well they can just forget that idea also. The Fidelity Warranty Services contract clearly states “You agree that all … claims arising … are subject to neutral binding arbitration … Any claim or dispute is to be arbitrated on an individual basis and not as a class action. You expressly waive any right to arbitrate a class action or in a private attorney general capacity …”

There’s a reason why so very many corporations these days are inserting arbitration clauses into their retail contracts … and you can be sure it’s not because arbitration is a fair shake for the aggrieved consumer. The courts are, in theory, bound to decisions based in law. Arbitrators are not. Unlike the public court system, arbitration is a private business. And guess who the arbitrators’ customer is? Guess who pays arbitration fees day-in, day-out, year-after-year? Not you, the lowly individual consumer, but the corporations – the very same corporations who actually create the demand for arbitrators through their contracts. Checkmate.

If this situation has outraged you, then probably the most effective thing you can do about it now - since you’ve already flushed your money down the toilet - is to tell your Congressmen to back the current administration’s attempt to outlaw arbitration clauses in all retail contracts. That is unless you actually think it’s a wise idea that any and all corporations with which you have to do business should be allowed to set themselves entirely above all law – and then do to you (and everyone else) whatever they please. Without arbitration clauses, corporations would tend to treat consumers somewhat more fairly, since it would be in the corporations’ financial interest to do so. It would, in many cases, be cheaper to simply honor the contractual obligations - than to shell out legal costs, fight class action lawsuits, etc.