Some drivers buy a service contract with a sale in mind. The reasoning goes that a buyer will feel better about a car with paperwork attached. That may be true for some buyers in some markets, and false for others. Nothing in this guide tells you a contract will raise what the car fetches later, and you should not buy one on that hope alone. The useful question is whether a sale is actually on your calendar, and whether the contract would still serve you if no sale ever happened.
Check whether a sale is really coming
Ask yourself whether you plan to sell, trade in, or hand the car to someone else within a period you can name. If you cannot name it, resale is not the problem you are solving, and you should judge the contract on how it handles your own driving and repairs. If you can name it, write the plan down, because the contract's term and your plan may not line up.
Read the transfer clause as a seller
Some contracts can be transferred to a new owner, and some cannot. Where transfer is allowed, read what it requires: a form, a charge, a notice to the provider, a signature from the seller, or a signature from the buyer. Ask how long the transfer takes, and whether the new owner receives the full remaining term or a shorter one. Ask whether the buyer must be told in writing what the contract covers, and who sends that notice.
Ask what the buyer will actually look for
A contract document is not the same as a repair history. Buyers who ask about service usually want the maintenance log, the receipts, and the dates the work was done. A contract on its own answers a different question, which is whether a provider stood behind the car for a period. Keep your own service records in order, because they are the proof a buyer can check. The contract can sit beside those records but should not replace them.
Plan for an unused remainder
If you sell the car before the term ends, ask what happens to the unused part of the contract. Some contracts allow it to be cancelled, some allow a transfer, and some do not address it at all. Ask whether a cancellation request has a deadline, whether it has to be in writing, and who receives any money that is returned. Do not assume the sale paperwork handles the contract for you.
If you want to see how providers treat transfer and cancellation before you compare offers, the vehicle service contract companies by money-back period, longest first page is a published list to start from. Read the terms on each company's own sample before you accept any summary, including ours.