Most people treat a service contract quote as a fixed number that waits on the desk until they decide. It is not. The figure depends on what the car looks like on the day the paperwork is prepared, and that changes as the odometer climbs and the calendar moves on. Understand that before you compare anything.

What moves between the quote and the signature

Most providers set eligibility limits based on vehicle age and mileage. Those limits, and the pricing tiers that sit beside them, are printed in each company's own documents. They are not a general rule you can carry from one company to the next. If your car crosses a line while you wait, the quoted price may no longer be available, or the term you wanted may no longer be offered. Ask each seller which limits apply to your car on the day you expect to sign, and ask what happens if signing slips by a week or a month.

The factory warranty clock

A new car usually arrives with a factory warranty, and the start of a service contract is often tied to where that warranty ends. Some contracts are written to begin after factory coverage runs out. Others overlap with it. Neither arrangement is automatically better, but they produce different early-year coverage and different questions. Read the start-of-coverage language and the waiting period language side by side. Then ask the seller to state in writing when your coverage would begin if you bought today and when it would begin if you bought at the end of the factory term. Our waiting period table lists the figures we publish for each company, so you can check the seller's answer against it.

Quote expiry and the re-quote

A quote often carries an expiration statement or a date after which the figure is no longer held. Get that date in writing. If the seller says the price will be redone at signing, ask what changed since the first quote and whether that change will be shown to you before you sign. A re-quote can move the figure up or down, so do not assume the first number is the one you will pay.

Timing against your own plans

Think about when you will actually need the coverage. If you expect to keep the car for years, the eligibility limits on the signing day matter more than any single early figure. If you expect to sell within a short period, read the transfer and cancellation terms so the timing decision includes what happens to any unused portion of the contract. The goal is not to chase the lowest number on a particular day. The goal is to know which day your figure is tied to and whether that day still works for your car.

Questions to put in writing

Before you accept any quote, ask each seller these questions and keep the answers in writing:

  • What is the quote date, and when does the figure expire?
  • Which vehicle age and mileage limits apply to my car on the day I expect to sign?
  • When would coverage begin if I buy today, and when would it begin if I buy after the factory warranty ends?
  • Will the figure be recalculated at signing, and if so, what will you show me before I sign?
  • If I wait, what changes in the eligibility limits, the term, or the start of coverage?

How to use our published figures

The contract figures we publish come from each company's own printed terms, and our methodology page explains how we turn those terms into a hundred-point rubric. Use our tables to see which companies print their eligibility limits and waiting periods, then confirm the same details with the seller before you rely on them. A published figure tells you what the company has put on paper. The seller's written answer tells you what applies to your car on the day you buy.