Ed Riesmersma shows CTV Vancouver the extended car warranty that he regrets buyingNew Westminster - Extra warranties on new cars are often a waste of money, especially if your manufacturer offers a limited warranty.

Bruce Cran, President of the Consumers’ Association of Canada, doesn’t recommend them, especially if your vehicle comes with a manufacturer’s warranty.

“I think this is a very profitable line for the 3rd party insurers and the other thing is there are very high commissions paid out on these things,” Cran said.

However, third-party warranty companies have added an incentive to try to get you buy the warranty. Some will offer a large chunk of your money back if you pay an extra fee and don’t use the warranty by the time it expires.

New Westminster resident Ed Riemersma thought he was going to get money back on the six-year warranty he purchased for his 2009 Nissan Cube. He paid more than $2,300 for it and says he and his wife were told they’d get $2,000 back if they didn’t use it.

“I trusted them to fill out the paperwork and do it correctly,” Reimersma said.

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of buying a new car and by the time you get to the paperwork you may want to get everything signed quickly and may not pay close attention to the details.

Riemersma and his wife drove their Cube for six years without doing anything more than regular maintenance. It’s only when they tried to collect on the warranty that the dealer pointed out the box hadn’t been checked for the cash back rebate and the extra $265 for the cash back rebate hadn’t been charged.

Riemersma purchased the vehicle and the third-party warranty at Morrey Nissan of Coquitlam and says he tried to get the problem resolved.

However, after we got involved Morrey Nissan agreed to meet with the customer. The person who sold the warranty no longer works at the dealership so the dealer can’t go back to find out what was said, except to look at what was written on the contract.

However, Morrey Nissan says it will give Riemersma the benefit of the doubt and will meet with him to try to work something out.

If you’re ever faced with buying an extra warranty, here are some things to consider:

1. How reliable is the vehicle?

2. Does it come with a manufacturer’s warranty?

3. Would you be better saving the money in case a repair is needed?