Many households with more than one vehicle buy a service contract for the car they worry about most, then assume the paperwork covers the whole household. It rarely works that way. Each contract is written for a specific vehicle, usually identified by its vehicle identification number, and the terms that matter depend on that car's age, mileage, and equipment at the time of purchase.
Match the vehicle on the paper to the car in the driveway
Before you sign, read the vehicle description on the contract line by line. Check the make, model, year, trim, and identification number against the registration and the car itself. A mismatch is easy to miss when two cars are parked side by side, and it is far harder to fix after a claim has been filed.
Check the age and mileage limits for each car
The two vehicles may sit on opposite sides of the same entry rules. An older car may be close to an age or mileage ceiling, while a newer car may still be inside its factory warranty. Ask the seller to tell you, for each car separately, whether it qualifies today and how much room it has before it stops qualifying. Do not accept a single answer for the household.
Ask whether a contract can move to the other car
People sometimes buy one contract, sell the car it covers, and expect it to follow the household's next purchase. Ask whether the contract can be transferred to a different vehicle, whether that changes the terms, and whether a new eligibility check or charge applies. Get the answer in writing, because a verbal promise about moving coverage is exactly the kind of detail that gets lost in a dispute.
Keep the paper that ties each contract to its car
Store each contract with the registration and purchase record for its own vehicle. If the contracts sit mixed together in one folder, a claim on one car can be questioned because the paperwork points at the other. The published comparison of providers by the maximum vehicle age they accept can help you check whether an older car in the household is likely to qualify at all.