Whether you drive a short distance to work, or travel to distant lands, there are a few necessities you should have and expect from your extended automobile warranty. Choosing your own repair facility is always a plus if you have a mechanic you know and trust. Also, being able to renew your coverage will save you money if you enjoyed and wish to continue your extended automobile warranty benefits. There are many other benefits an extended automobile warranty provider may offer with their plans in addition to these services everyone should have.

• Powertrain coverage

It is important to have an extended automobile warranty that covers, at the bare minimum, your entire powertrain from breakdown to wear-and-tear. Parts related to the powertrain tend to be the most costly averaging around $2,500 for engine repairs and $1,500 for transmission repairs. In five years, these figures will look more like $3,500 and $2,500 respectively.

An extended automobile warranty that covers your major repairs will pay itself off if you ever have problems with your powertrain. Of course, if you don't have a breakdown, you'll more than likely use the wear-and-tear coverage. As long as there are moving parts in your car, they will wear-and-tear over time reducing your vehicle's performance. Your extended automobile warranty should have wear-and-tear coverage since it is extremely likely that you will need it. Beware of dealers trying to scam you into buying an extended automobile warranty that doesn't have wear-and-tear coverage.

• 24-hour emergency roadside assistance

With 24 hour emergency roadside assistance, you're one call away from help.

If you have ever locked your keys in your car, ran out of gas, or had a flat tire, you know that 24-hour emergency roadside assistance can make the difference between a good day and a bad day. Extended automobile warranties generally cover towing in their emergency roadside assistance plan in case your car breaks down on the road, but the number of times you can be towed and the amount of reimbursement for towing may be limited with your roadside assistance plan. Towing is an extra option you'll find on a good extended automobile warranty provider's coverage that will either reimburse you for a larger cost of towing, allow you to be towed more often (needed only if your roadside assistance plan has a small number of covered towing occurrences), or both. Your roadside assistance plan should cover things like a battery boost/jump, fluid or fuel fills, lockout service for keys locked in the car as well as replacement for lost or stolen keys.

Special needs

Most modern cars are loaded with many parts that are generally not included with your typical powertrain coverage if they go bad. It may be wise to go through a covered parts list if you have things like a turbo, supercharger, four wheel drive, automatic climate control or regular air conditioning, power seats or windows, etc. Most of the time cooling, brake, and fuel delivery components are not included in with your powertrain coverage even though they seem like essential mechanical parts for the basic functionality of your vehicle.

Usually, extended automobile warranty providers will have an intermediate and deluxe bumper-to-bumper coverage plan to choose from. This is when reading through a covered parts list can save you money. If you don't need the deluxe plan, you'll save some money going with the intermediate plan. However, keep in mind that your cooling system is generally part of a bumper-to-bumper extended automotive warranty since they tend to be problematic due to constant heat and pressure and are costly to repair.