Smart AutoCare Reviews 

Very fast and easy process

Timing chain was going bad on my vehicle. I notified them and was told it wouldnt be covered until it breaks. When it finally broke they denied my claim, claiming that there was carbon build up. I had the dealer and several mechanics look at it. The carbon build up would not cause that.

This coverage is a scam. When you finally need it they back out and leave you stranded.

Shame on endurance for using them.

Buyer Beware! Run the opposite direction! Believe the bad reviews. Don’t give this company your hard earned money, like I did. The car dealership was pushing this “extended warranty” product from this company. Purchasing and entering into a contract with this company is a very bad deal - in my opinion. Save your money. The contract is not in your favor - no matter the circumstances. It’s like throwing money down the drain, except this company is there to catch it if you throw it to them. Be smart. There is nothing smart about giving money to this company. Rule of thumb - if a company has to use the word smart in the name, most likely it’s not smart or a smart choice. Like others, I learned the hard way. Heed the warning. Look elsewhere - in my opinion. The company may do a proverbially response to this review. Don’t be fooled. Be smart and Move on.

This is the absolute WORST warranty company. As an auto repair shop owner the fact I have to sit on hold for ATLEAST 1 hour to get ahold of anyone is ridiculous. They then want to send their own parts, will not pay a handling fee, and if you provide them with the wrong part number (because apparently they can’t look it up but can definitely price check) they will charge you $69.95 to send their part back to them. I have to chase after them like a bill collector for payment on repairs. Absolute WORST company DO NOT become a vendor or a customer.

Scam do not purchase anything from them they denied claim left and right

I purchased a warranty through my dealership from Smart Auto Care, and my experience has been an absolute nightmare. My rear differential went out, and the repair shop has been trying to work with them for over 15 days. According to the shop manager, most warranty companies get this done in a couple of days—a week at most.

It took me over 10 hours just to get someone on the phone, and then an entire week just to get paperwork from one person to the next. This delay directly cost me my outside sales job because I didn’t have a vehicle to work.

To make matters worse, they’re only covering about 50% of the repair cost, despite my warranty. I’ve now lost my job and am still stuck with a huge bill. The way this has been handled is completely unacceptable, and I am seriously considering legal action for the damages caused.

I would strongly caution anyone from doing business with this company

This has to be the worst warranty you can get on your car. We had our engine go out and they will ONLY use rebuilt engines. They told me that they can only pay the average of shop in that area and get only the lowest cost shop to come up with the pricing. The customer service is not good at all.

Had to replace my ABS module on my '17 Honda Accord with 330,000 miles. Took it to the Honda dealership and Smartcare covered everything $2400 minus the $100 deductible. Had my car back within 3 days.

EDIT: In response to the company's reply below, I do not know why you are reaching out now, a year after this dumpster fire has burned itself out. I don't see a reason to bother wasting even more time to gripe about this still more to your Claims Department again unless it is somehow going to change the outcome well after the post mortem. I'll send the claim number, but no one is going to remember the exact play-by-play this long after the unpleasant game has ended.

For the reader, if something actually changes, I will update it here. If there is no second edit, it means they did nothing and I am standing by every word in the original review.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:
The good:
- They did cover a few things they were supposed to after some hounding from the mechanics.

The bad (an abbreviated list):
- When we really needed it for a failed engine still in the warranty period and mileage, the claim was denied because the head gasket developed a small leak that ruined the engine over time, and it wasn't a "lubricated engine part" that failed. So you can forget the schtick about your powertrain being fully covered in the event of failure. Also because the mechanics, after months of waiting, installed the engine before the warranty company rendered a final verdict (which was going to be a no anyway), they also denied the claim on the basis of "breach of contract."

- They make up their own numbers and decide what they will theoretically compensate based on those arbitrary and fictional numbers. The actual cost of the repair(s) is irrelevant.

- They are absolutely awful for the people who have to actually call them (the mechanics), earning a "worst warranty company I have ever had to deal with in my years as a mechanic" comment from one of them. *Hours* on hold, no responses, etc.

- They constantly move the goalposts for what is needed for proof of damage and repair. Can't just send photos, they'll probably have to fly an inpector in so their denial is even more expensive for the vict--er--customer.

- They charge you for the work they require in order to determine if they will cover the repair, meaning when they say no it will cost you additional hundreds or thousands of dollars (thousands in our case). It would have saved us a lot of money not to file the claim on our engine when it went out.

- They drag their feet and waste hours and hours of the time of the people who have the unfortunate obligation of dealing with them.

- Because they are so slow and terrible to deal with, days' worth of repair turns into weeks, and weeks' worth of repair turns into months. If you have a personal fleet, and all the time in the world, maybe that wouldn't bother you.

- Their interest is not in customer care in the slightest, but entirely in maximizing profits. Ethics don't exist. They're actively looking for any reason to deny claims, especially if they've paid anything holding up their end of the deal in the past.

- They habitually say they will cover this or that, and then go back and change their mind. They did this multiple times across different repairs and claims.

- In the end, this warranty cost us more than it was worth, and that was even after they covered some of the smaller repairs. I could go on with further issues, but this short list should explain it well enough to make the point.

- In summary: Just burn a pile of money instead of giving it to this "business." At least that is kind of fun to watch, and you're not helping scammers operating under the guise of legitimacy.

Called a few days in advance to preempt work, I then scheduled work at a dealership for the repair. Dealership diagnosed and submitted for claim same day, but were unable to perform work while they waited for Smartcare to respond back.

(They mentioned they were put on hold for over an hour trying to submit claim).

I called Smartcare to see what was holding up the claim, and they stated that claims are handled first-come-first-serve and mine had not been assigned an adjuster. Furthermore, I verified that they only cover rentals for hours of work and not for them delaying my claim/work for weeks. Ultimately, denied my claim, an absolute fraudlent compnay, have only had the vehicle 5 months and maintained all records.

My daughter used my truck. She had an issue with the truck and took it to the ford dealer had it repaired and paid for it. When I turn the bill in for reimbursement it was denied because we didn’t get prior authorization. Will never use them again….

these people are terrible. They never respond to emails. They never respond to the forms you fill out and when you call you’re on hold for last time an hour they moved me over to a supervisor, who was probably the worst of them all …arrogant you do whatever you want, but we’re not covering your car. So I bought a policy that they’re covering nothing on three different things that have failed. Stay away from them. They’re terrible. I have a conference call tomorrow. We’ll see how that goes with them. My auto repair and myself.

This company is maliciously manipulative and they thrive on hidden disclosures in the policy, They don’t approve any claims and they’re very disorganized and careless. Do not use this company. They’re worse than car shield. If I could give it zero stars I they don’t approve any claims and their very disorganized and careless do not use this company. They are worse than car shield. If I could give it zero stars I would this was a complete total waste of money.

I bought this extended warranty when I bought my car. Recently the transmission failed, so my mechanic contacted them. After about 2 weeks, finally they got back to him and sent an inspector to take a look at my car. The inspector came, looked at the vehicle and the transmission, and told him that he can put the transmission back. After 2 days of not hearing back, he called the company back. Then the company told him that they sent a wrong inspector, and they have to send another inspector. My mechanic told them that he already put a new transmission and the car was ready for pick-up. They told him that he had to dismantle the transmission back because the new inspector needed to look at it. First, they put a cap on how much they would (if they do) pay- $2,020. It took about $1,000 for my mechanic to undo the transmission. With no guarantee that they would reimburse me, I declined it.

I wish I could do no stars. Our truck has been broken and in the shop since the end of July with a known GMC issue of the fuel pump exploding. It is now the middle of November. The warranty tried to blame the dealer for basically everything taking so long and going wrong. The communication with smart auto care is unreliable. I couldn’t get a hold of them, neither could the dealer. Warranty kept telling the dealer the prices were too high and they wanted to many work hours to complete the job. We argued with the gmc dealer and got no where, which I thought it was more on the dealership mechanic. ON THE ADVICE OF THE WARRANTY COMPANY we moved our truck to another mechanic because they said it would be fully covered there. Nope. In fact it was MORE.
We did and we ended up needing to take a loan to get our vehicle back. I would NEVER recommend this company to anyone. I will never give this company my money.
After this is all said and done we are going to look into a lawyer, Arbitration does not apply in Nevada, meaning we can take this to Court if we needed to. They don’t want to pay, we don’t even get new parts we were asked to use re built parts to help the cost. They are trying to price out the job of an exploded fuel pump with shrapnel in the fuel system as a 28 hour job. Every other mechanic in the greater Reno Nevada area quoted this job 48 to 53 hours. Their national average is BULLSH*T. I called as many mechanics as possible and they ALL gave the same range of hours. Smart auto care is disgusting and should be ashamed, do not waste any amount of your money on a powertrain warranty. Right before Christmas and we have no truck STILL and had to take a loan out to even get our vehicle back.

I had a very disappointing experience with Smart Autocare. After purchasing extended coverage for my Nissan Rogue, I faced issues when I needed to replace the rear differential. They only cover labor up to $150 per hour and insist on using used or aftermarket parts instead of new or factory options, opting for the cheapest option available. As a result, my car has been in the shop for three weeks while they wait for the part to be shipped.

Additionally, I purchased rental coverage, which turned out to be inadequate. They reimburse based on labor hours, meaning I might only get enough for a single day's rental, around $50. If I could give a negative rating, I would. I strongly advise against using this company—you're better off saving your money for actual repairs. The repair process is also unnecessarily prolonged, and be prepared for long wait times on the phone, often over an hour. Save yourself the trouble!

Avoid them at all costs. Absolute scam artists. They will do anything to get out of covering the service. I was left stranded in the middle of the road, unable to get the car back in to drive. I’ve had the car less than a year, and they claimed the service wasn’t covered. When I asked why, they told me corrosion on sensors doesn’t fall under the bumper to bumper warranty. The mechanic never said anything at all about corrosion. They made up something that they could then point to under the exclusions. I talked to my mechanic and he confirmed that corrosion had nothing to do with my issue, when I repeatedly told them, they brushed me off and said the decision has been made final. Do yourself a favor and don’t do business with these thieves

If I could give this company a zero I would ! Do not buy a warranty from them. If you do and something goes wrong, they will find a reason to say your warranty was never purchased in a valid setting. * bought warranty bumper to bumper 7 years 125k miles. Had warranty 5 years. Tried to use it due to engine issue* They said the person you bought it from ( a car dealer) was not authorized to sell the warranty if it was not bought at point of sale and denied my 7k claim. I have never bought an extended warranty until my factory warranty was coming to an end! * I told them they should have checked to make sure the person selling it sold it to a valid customer before accepting the policy. They said they don't do that it's up to the person selling it to know who they can sell it to. DO NOT BUY THIS WARRENTY. I WILL BE RETAINING A LAWYER.

My trunk will not close so i called to get pre authorization the business was closed.. Brochure i received from thenpurchase states open 24 hours, 7 days a week and 365 days a year.. Bunch of BS will be dealing with them in am probably will cancel policy.

Smart Autocare is just a scam company. I purchased the extended coverage for my 2017 Honda Ridgeline, I had to replace an electrical part - the car would not function without it. They did not cover it because they did not "preauthorize" the repair even though it was completed by a Honda dealership with the entire Honda mechanics report. If I could give 0 stars, I would. Avoid at all costs and you're better off saving the money to actually use towards the car repair. Read all the other reviews, I haven't heard of anyone having successful coverage from this company.