Anyone have any experience with dealer ext warranties? (foreign)

[Rogue Leader]

Long story short My girlfriend bought a 2006 Hyundai Tiburon from a Hyundai dealer in July of 09 with an extended warranty. She puts 2k miles a year on the car. I do the oil changes for her, the last oil change I did was in August.

Fast forward to Friday and she notices a small oil leak. I check it out and its coming from the filter. I check the filter and its snug, also notice a bit of coolant came out of the upper radiator hose. Pull the oil cap and find mayo in the engine, seems like the headgasket went (ps the car has 26k miles). Pulled the dipstick and the oil looks fairly clean though.

Go to the dealer this morning and long story short the guy basically chastises her (and me) for not having the oil changed at the dealer, not changing the oil every 5 months (ohh wow we are 2 months over whoopde doo), and basically says he is not sure the warranty will cover it because we can't "prove" the maintenance. I tell my girlfriend he is full of crap they have to cover it, and she is still freaking out over the whole deal. She is now waiting for a call from the dealer.

I'm pretty sure the magnusson moss warranty act says I can perform maintenance on my own car and not void the warranty. The warranty in its exclusions specifically excludes engine damage due to oil sludge, but in this case the sludge is caused by the engine damage.

I am 100% sure I am right, anyone agree?

[Nessal]

I bought a dealer extended warranty once and it paid for itself after about 8 years of owning it. I paid about 1k for the warranty at time of purchase but racked up repair bills over 2k after my factory warranty was out. If my memory serves me right, it is actually contracted out to another company. Mine was progressive if I believe. Anyways, the dealers didn't give me flack at all when I brought it in after the factory warranty was out. Try another dealer.

[derklug]

Sorry to say, this all comes down to who wants to fight more. Realistically, going 2 months over on a car that only gets 2k a year will not cause the head gasket to leak. Hell, I only change my mom's oil twice a year, and she puts on 5k a year. If they demand reciepts for the oil and filters that you have used, and you can't provide them, they may be able to win in small claims court. If you have to take them to small claims, they may give in just to avoid the legal fees. If they want to be as*hats, they can drag this out for months, hoping you give in. Talk to the service manager, tell him that the oil changes on the car have been done in a timely manner consistant with the useage of the car, and would not make a differance in a head gasket leak. Be polite, but be firm, and only raise the specter of legal action if the manager is adamant about not paying.