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Having resisted the Dealer's attempt to push their extended warranty wares with a used car we've just bought we've had a drivetrain issue within a week of picking it up, fortunately it's covered under the retailer's default three month warranty...
But it's got me thinking about buying an aftermarket warranty, anyone here danced this dance before? What's a reasonable price for one? who's any good? who should be avoided? and how much do they try and wriggle out of claims?
never had one, knew a few who did.
READ THE SMALL PRINT....
Covers everything except parts fitted to the car that fail type of thing...
Yet to find one worth the paper it's written on.
The manufacturer backed ones are generally OK
Other than that, I'd rather put the money to one side each month and self insure.
I had a Warranty direct one before. I looked around and they were one of the few with a good reputation. You need to carefully read the cover restrictions. Had a couple of minor items which were dealt with direct between warranty company and main dealer. Even the dealers said that they were the best to work with.
Yet to find one worth the paper it's written on.
what policies have you used and what were the specifics of the claims that were rejected?
mrs pf works for a big german car manufacturer, specifically in warranty/servicing stuff, and it doesn't seem to be that common that the reputable warranty providers (like warranty direct) won't pick up most (or all) of the tab if it's covered. In particular, the brand's own insured warranty seems pretty robust, particularly if the car has a full main dealer service history.
I do occasionally hear the odd horror story of someone having to fork out huge repair bills where the car is out of 3 year warranty and the manufacturer won't give much goodwill, but I've yet to hear one where a warranty provider has refused to pay out on a legitimate claim.
legitimate claim
This is the crux though. You need to check what are legitimate claims.
Generally, nothing subject to wear and tear or electrics are covered in my experience (but that is at the lower end of the market).
What age of car are we talking about?
check the small print and exclusions - however my porsche boxters alternator went and they picked up the entire bill, which was 630 quid.
That said they'll only usually pay out to a certain amount...ie if the engine blows you are in trouble
Manufacturer warranties are certainly the best (most expensive) option. Mercedes Tier 1 - they fix almost anything if the car is below 60k miles.
This is the crux though. You need to check what are legitimate claims.
Surely that goes without saying though?
No point claiming for suspension components if you picked a policy that specifically excludes them. It's not a dark art, everything is detailed in the terms, which you can read before you consider buying it.
Actually that's the thing that stuck out for me about warranty direct their [i]"Consequential damage"[/i] bit, where Damage to insured parts is still covered even if it's initiated by an uninsured component, the example they give being an alternator belt failure (not a covered part) Leading to damage of pistons and valves... Other providers either don't have this or seem to dance around that issue...
I do think it might be worth our while taking up a policy, it's not strictly speaking "Warranty" is it? It's really an Insurance policy against mechanical failures in an item prone to mechanical failures...
I'm really going to have to bend my head around the details of the cover (and exclusions) that's actually available.
When I bought my car I ran a warrantydirect quote and it cameback at almost £400 which is too much (I also had the dealer warranty but wanted to see how much one would be when that ran out). If you run a quote. Sit back and wait you'll start to get called and they WILL drop the subsequent price to win your business so its worth trying.
I pay about £400 a year for a warranty wise policy for a just out of manufacturer warranty alfa. I've used warranty direct in the past and had a total pain trying to get a passat turbo and injector wiring fixed, but they did eventually pay out.
It's worth it for me as I can run a car with no finance and get paid to run the car for work so costs are covered by a car allowance and if anything does go wrong, it's a little bit of extra peace of mind.
I wouldn't pay out for an extended warranty if I could go without a car for any period. It depends on your circumstances.
What age of car are we talking about?
08 plate C-Max, 40k on the clock, and (gulp) an automatic... 🙁
When I bought my car I ran a warrantydirect quote and it cameback at almost £400 which is too much
Yeah the price range seems to go between ~£300 - £450 PA depending on bells and.whistles, but the cost of.the.cover isn't the main concern, Sifting the interwebz 2.5-3k for a gearbox replacement on this car wouldn't be unheard of, that is really what I'd want to guard against.
The current issue is hopefully just the gearbox output speed sensor, currently being handled under the dealers three month warranty (I am currently sat waiting for them to bring the car back from a test after them fitting a new one).
And If it's something more major like the transmission control unit, or indeed the gearbox itself we're covered till early April, so I have some time to sort out further cover, but it has to cover the sort of things that typically fail on a Cmax , or else what's the point.
I was discussing warranties with a mate who has a peugeot dealership and apparently due to an EU directive you are now [sort of] covered for the first 12 months on a used car.
In the first 6 months the dealer has to prove that the fault was there when the car was sold (difficult) but after 6 months the customer has to prove it.
I'm just about to change cars and thankfully the manufacturer gives 2 years warranty on their approved cars - big money to extend it further though (>£1100).
In my experience, used car dealers are increasingly trying to off-load their responsibilities under the Sales of Goods Act onto substandard aftermarket warranties, usually by Customer Protect or something.