Two quotes for the same car can look far apart, and the gap usually has less to do with the seller's mood than with the settings behind each number. A quote is a set of choices stacked together: how long the contract runs, how many miles the car may carry when coverage ends, how much of a repair you pay on your own, and which add-ons are folded into the total. Change any dial and the total moves.
Start with the settings, not the total
Before you compare anything, write down the settings each quote used. The usual ones are the term length, the mileage limit at which coverage stops, the deductible type, and the coverage level. If two quotes use different settings, you are not comparing prices. You are comparing two different products that happen to be attached to the same car.
Term and mileage ceiling move together
A longer term or a higher mileage ceiling generally pushes the price up, because the seller is taking on a longer window in which a repair could fall. Ask whether the quote can be rebuilt with a shorter term or a lower ceiling, and whether the total changes when you do. Many sellers present these as a menu, so the menu itself is the document worth reading.
Deductible and coverage level
A deductible is the amount you pay at the counter before the contract picks up its share of a claim. A larger deductible usually lowers the sticker, and broader coverage usually raises it. Neither choice is wrong by default. The mistake is picking the lowest sticker without asking what you will pay when the car actually comes in.
Read the total for what sits outside the contract
The headline number is not always the whole number. Some quotes add charges that sit outside the contract itself, and some bundle products you may not want. Ask the seller to break the total into its parts, then decide which parts you actually asked for. The side-by-side comparison of companies term by term on this site lists published settings, so you can check the same dials across providers: vehicle service contract companies compared, term by term.
Questions to ask before you accept a number
Ask the seller which settings change the total, whether the same settings are available from other sellers, and whether the figure is final or still waiting on a sales step. Then compare the settings first and the totals second. A total without its settings tells you very little.