ChrisW
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 11:51 AM |
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Extended warranties (on cars) - Waste of time?
Just throwing this out there for opinion of the masses....
I'd never bother with extended warranties on household purchases. I was first made suspicious when a mate who used to work at Tempo (shows how
old it was) and told me how much commission he makes on selling them on a laptop or something - it was something like 40% if I remember correctly.
That put me off for a start, but then when you consider the cost of the warranty vs replacement of the item it's easy to see what a rip off they
are.
However with the new car the finance company is insisting I put a warranty on it. My plan was to opt for the shortest possible option with lowest
cover limit just to get the price down as I had assumed car warranties were a waste of money too.
Just for a laugh I just rung up Audi's extended warranty people and they quoted over £1600 for a year. What a joke!
Perhaps it's just because the sums of money are that much bigger that had put a bit of doubt in my mind. I'm still pretty much convinced
that it's better to save the money and take the hit if something were to go wrong, but before I commit to that I just wondered if anyone had any
experiences to share on the subject?
Cheers, Chris
My gaff my rules
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luke
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 12:12 PM |
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I bought a car about 6 months ago, 2 1/2 years old so still had 6months manufacturers warranty, but had 46K on the clock. I bought an extended 2 years
warranty, which was tagged onto the end of the manufacturers warranty for a bit of piece of mind with the high millage. Cant remember the exact price,
but it was certainly only 100's of pounds for the 2 years and spread over my finance plan made a very small difference to the monthly price.
Also includes full UK breakdown, equivalant to a decent AA or RAC package.
Luke
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Mr Whippy
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 12:16 PM |
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It use to be more about if you could fix the car yourself for less than the cover cost it wasn’t worth it, if you were useless at working on car then
warranties were your only guarantee you’d be covered. However modern cars are much much more expensive to fix than the old ones in parts and labour so
no wonder the finance companies want to have it covered, they are in reality the owner of the car till you have paid it off. Sounds about right for an
Audi, was hardly going to be cheap.
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mookaloid
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 12:34 PM |
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I got an Alfa Romeo extended warranty when it got to 3 years old. That worked out ok for me.
If I recall it cost £395 or something like that and I got a new alternator, steering rack and a couple of other bits too so I was well ahead.
with modern cars like Audis a single repair to a daft ecu or a DSG gearbox or something could easily come to £1600 .....
"That thing you're thinking - it wont be that."
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Ninehigh
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 12:52 PM |
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Better to weigh it up against what it covers, I had one (came with the car) that in their own words covered the engine randomly falling out.
That's it
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steve m
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 01:12 PM |
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Agree with Ninehigh
If you read the small print, some of the warantys, are a work of fiction, and dont actually warranty anything
One of my fathers cars, years ago, had a head gasket failure that was not covered, , but a full engine was,
Go figure that one !!
Also, i belive that the car in question HAS to be serviced at exactly the right intervals, and by a main stealer, and that itself will be 4 times any
other garage would charge
Steve
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vanepico
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 01:15 PM |
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In mine and my dad's eyes, if it is modern enough to need a warranty, it is far too modern and not worth having!
__________________________
Will CAD for food/money/beer...
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sdh2903
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 01:34 PM |
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What's the car in question? If something exotic then warranty good idea providing its a reputable one and you read the small print.
I worked one to my advantage on a bmw, paid for an expensive warranty for one year to satisfy the finance co. during this year every single slight
noise, bump, grind was done under warranty including a new steering rack, several bushes, rear caliper and a new door loom. The remaining time I had
the car it was trouble free bar routine service items.
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phoenix70
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 04:40 PM |
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The only issue I've had with these warranties, is they often have a phrase that exclude any part that is classed a 'fair wear and
tear', therefor so many thing are not covered if they can claim that it isn't a failure of the component, it just reached the end of
it's life.
I got caught with this one, when I wheel bearing failed on my Astra, and the warranty company claimed it was fair wear and tear, the car only had 40k
on the clock
Be warned, read the small print very carefully.
[Edited on 27/11/12 by phoenix70]
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Simon
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 05:26 PM |
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I had an extended AA warranty on my bus - replaced a shock after it died on a dodgy bit of road. That was £600 for 2 years.
Recently tried Warranty Direct on t'web who quoted £600/year or £1650 for three.
When they rang I explained I thought they were taking the piss. He asked me what I wanted so I told him two years for £300 he accussed me of being
silly.
I pointed out they started it
Audi must have a lot of faith in their cars to charge that much. Buy a Kia instead
ATB
Simon
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jps
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 05:30 PM |
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From my point of view it's like all insurance - just another form of gambling, but less exciting than the national lottery...
If you think it'll break (and don't mind have spent the money if it doesn't) then take out cover. If you think it won't break
then spend the money elsewhere, and cope with the consequences if you were wrong...
I suspect that people tend to either fall into one camp or the other for everything, and it all balances up in the end. Apparently my grandfather had
no time for insurance of any kind (unless it was mandatory) - it was probably because of the money he saved with that attitude that he was able to
fork out for a new one when things did go kaput...
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perksy
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 06:17 PM |
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Had an extended dealer warranty when i had a nearly new MGF
Lets just say that i had more than my moneys worth out of that warranty 
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britishtrident
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 06:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by phoenix70
The only issue I've had with these warranties, is they often have a phrase that exclude any part that is classed a 'fair wear and
tear', therefor so many thing are not covered if they can claim that it isn't a failure of the component, it just reached the end of
it's life.
I got caught with this one, when I wheel bearing failed on my Astra, and the warranty company claimed it was fair wear and tear, the car only had 40k
on the clock
Be warned, read the small print very carefully.
[Edited on 27/11/12 by phoenix70]
In their book everything is classed as a "service part" from a a heater resistor to coil pack to a road spring.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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britishtrident
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 06:45 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by steve m
Agree with Ninehigh
If you read the small print, some of the warantys, are a work of fiction, and dont actually warranty anything
One of my fathers cars, years ago, had a head gasket failure that was not covered, , but a full engine was,
Go figure that one !!
Also, i belive that the car in question HAS to be serviced at exactly the right intervals, and by a main stealer, and that itself will be 4 times any
other garage would charge
Steve
The difference between claiming for a head gasket and an engine is down to the cost of hiring a lawyer, it is worth hiring a lawyer if
they don't pay for an engine.
I know of a couple of cases where they changed their mind on what they classes as a "service part" PDQ when a lawyer got
involved.
[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]
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on_eighty_runner
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 07:20 PM |
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An extension to a manufacturers one is expensive but probably the only option worth bothering with as you have new car cover provided you follow the
maintenance listed. Wear and tear items is listed and typically limited to brakes clutch and tyres.
I got an aftermarket one with a car I bought and had the following "features"
Manufacturers Residual design faults not covered
Failures where an item has reached to the end of its useful life is wear and tear.
Can't think of ANYTHING that doesn't fit into either of these 2 categories!!
If you want a warranty buy a good one,
if you need to have one buy cheap!!
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Worzey
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 posted on 27/11/12 at 07:36 PM |
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I've got an Audi A7 and wouldn't dream of not having warranty with it. The repair costs can be massive if anything goes wrong. Luckily
its still got 2.5 years of the manufactures warranty left but it will be extended when it expires.
My previous A3 with DSG had a gearbox malfunction just after the warranty expired (a common fault) - I was very lucky that I got fixed in Croatia (I
was on holiday when it failed) with very low labour rates so it ONLY cost me £750 to repair, if the entire box needed replacement that would have been
£7k!!!
My old A5 was a different matter. Having seen the horror stories and repair costs for A5's (a very good mechanic friend runs a fleet of
Audi's RS4, A6, A8 etc for a famous billionaire) I was advised I'd be foolish not to consider it for future cars as they had a bill of £9k
for replacement adaptive dampers on an RS4 due to a fault rather than wear.
I opted for WarrantyDirect as the costs and the small print looked better (think I paid £700 ish for a year after some lengthy negotiation). The Audi
warranty was much more expensive in comparrison.
However, I didn't have to make a claim in the year I had the A5 so can't comment on the service. You could argue I didn't need the
warranty but I certainly slept better.
Caterham R400
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Dave Ashurst
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 08:26 PM |
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Fiat Alfa warranties get my vote.
I bought a used audi TT from an Alfa Romeo main dealership in 2006. It had some residual Audi new car warranty plus I got an extended Fiat/Alfa
warranty.
Later had a problem with the DSG gearbox, a slightly sluggish gearchange sometimes. Took it to the Audi dealership, who said it was not covered by
the audi extended warranty. I asked them to read it, which they did and conceded that the fiat warranty DID cover it. (Big surprise for the audi
service manager.) Turned out to be a really big job apparently. Later they phoned me and said that fiat would not cover the full labour charge and
said I would have to pay the difference. I contacted my alfa dealer who got alfa romeo uk on the case.
They argued with the Audi guys that their hourly labour rates were excessive, and won. I have to say that the Alfa dealership and Fiat warranty guys
were simply fantastic throughout.
I got my car back fully repaired all paid by my excellent friends at fiat/alfa (who do know a thing or two about repairing cars under warranty, I can
tell you)
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Simon
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 08:33 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Worzey
, if the entire box needed replacement that would have been £7k!!!
Heard this meself from a friend about DSG boxes being incredibly fault prone. How can they justify that for a gearbox
Isn't it funny, if this had been about a Rover headgasket everyone would be jumping up and down saying "yeah, they're crap,
can't understand why you'd buy one of them" or other such crap, but cos it's an ultra expensive german car, nobody seems
bothered and people still buy them. Also seems from another thread that a certain german sportscar manufacturer ain't that reliable either.
Very odd.
ATB
Simon
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JoelP
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 10:39 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Simon
quote:
Originally posted by Worzey
, if the entire box needed replacement that would have been £7k!!!
Heard this meself from a friend about DSG boxes being incredibly fault prone. How can they justify that for a gearbox
Isn't it funny, if this had been about a Rover headgasket everyone would be jumping up and down saying "yeah, they're crap,
can't understand why you'd buy one of them" or other such crap, but cos it's an ultra expensive german car, nobody seems
bothered and people still buy them. Also seems from another thread that a certain german sportscar manufacturer ain't that reliable either.
Very odd.
ATB
Simon
I noticed on ebay how many audi s6/rs6 have gearbox problems, its quite alarming. Apparently £2k to refurb them. Shame really, as id quite like one!
Shocking that a premium brand can have such reliability issues.
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morcus
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 10:52 PM |
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After all the stories I've heard about fiat and Citroen automated manuals, I wouldn't have one that wasn't under warranty and as I
understand the DSG has twice the number of clutches so got to be more of a risk. The breakdown man who picked me up on sunday night said he'd
seen cars written off from faults like those while still under warranty.
As others said, if they're making you have one but you don't really care yourself, go for what evers cheapest, but if it's a newish
Audi, probably best having a decent one given some of the stuff I've read on this forum.
In a White Room, With Black Curtains, By the Station.
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Confused but excited.
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| posted on 27/11/12 at 11:58 PM |
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Firstly any warranty is almost not worth the paper they are written on. A 12 month warranty, just means that they won't argue (not always true
either) if anything goes wrong in that period.
I don't know if vehicles are excluded for some reason and I can't think why they should be but the Sale of Goods Act gives you statutory
rights.
You can claim (and be backed by the Trading Standards Officer of your local council) for up to six years after the date of purchase, regardless of any
warranty period/conditions, depending on the cost and reasoable expected useful life of the item in question. So any extended warranty is an
unneccessary rip-off in my opinion.
I got my sister-in-law a new replacement washing machine, after hers packed up nearly three years after the initial purchase date.
They don't like it but they gotta do it.
[Edited on 28/11/12 by Confused but excited.]
Tell them about the bent treacle edges!
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