Extended warranty for a used car

[Jamie B4]

Chaps,

Just wondering if anybody bothers to take out extended warranty when they buy a used car - just because of the milage etc we do!

Have 3 months from the dealer but not sure whether to extend - if so what are the best out there

Seems to be a lot - anyone had any probs with any

Warranty Direct
RAC Gold
Click 4 Warranty
etc

J

[DCM]

You got to look at exactly what the warranty covers, does it cover consumables, what does it class as a consumable, i.e. is a clutch a consumable. What it does cover, check what it means. If 3rd gear goes on the gearbox, does it cover the labour to remove the gearbox from the car, dismantle gearbox, replace the gear, rebuild etc, or will you have to pay for most of it and they only pay for the replacement of the gear.

[Jamie B4]

Will check on this but any recommendations on any good ones

[mattr]

They are mostly not worth the paper they are printed on. You might get 200 quid (less any excess) back on a 1000 quid repair.
Plus *some* restrict where you can have the work done, authorised workshops. So in the real world, it might only have been a 500 quid job in the first place.

The ones that are any good, you will pay through the nose for.

[RobW]

My comment on extended car warranties is just do not expect them to make it easy for you to claim – they are effectively insurance companies and will do anything to stop or reduce your claim. You will probably end up doing a lot of running around and making lots of phone calls to resolve anything. Do not go into it with the expectation that it is anything like a new car manufacturers warranty – they will, in my experience, not even pretend that they want to be helpful or make it easy.
Had a 2 year warranty with Warranty Direct. Made 2 claims during the period. One claim they paid out 50% of cost of total repair cost and the other around 80% - both times the process was drawn out, seemed more difficult than it needed to be and to be honest I lost the will to fight on any longer over the amounts they were willing to pay for.
For me the warranty was part of the haggling deal when I bought the car and due to the type of car it was I wanted some kind of cushion in case something expensive went wrong. I would not have paid the list price of the warranty.
Rob

[Jamie B4]

Thanks Rob did wonder spoke to a fella from warranty direct on friday exquired and he quoted me £270, said he would have to call me back for payment. In meantime got on to net and had a look at reviews on ciao which basically said they were 50/50 to paying out for jobs.

When I quizzed him about this he got really offensive basically saying that customers reviews didn't mean anything cos it depended on the level of cover. He also thanked me for wasting his and my time.

Wouldn't touch him or company with a barge pole.

What is the best system with regards to this cushion you are on about. As I'm in the same boat dont want a big expense and not have a car!!!

Maybe RAC, AA, Green Flag

But I've heard contrasting things about these also

[RobW]

Not sure there really is an answer as it is all a gamble on what goes wrong, if anything, with the car. In my case the total of the 2 claims was only about £400 of which I got back about £250. I could probably have got at least another £250 off the price of the car without the warranty when I bought it so I have possibly lost a little in strict financial terms.

However if the gearbox or engine had gone bang during those 2 years then even if I had not got all the repair paid for, I would have hoped to get something out of the warranty. So it has given me a bit of peace of mind thinking I would not have had to pay for the whole of any big bills. That is really what I am talking about with a cushion.

I would do as you have tried and google a bit to see which warranty companies come out best in reviews.

Rob

[phil c]

Hi I have my own garage , and we deal a lot with AA warranty, they are very easy to deal with and 95% of the time do NOT send an engineer out to check the claim. Also there cover is very cheap and only £25 excess per £500 claim limit . I would recommend them !

[Jamie B4]

Thanks Phil

Will check this out have spoke to my local dealer who mentioned RAC gold but when I rang them they said they dont do it anymore. Also few customers have said that they wont pay out

Any particular AA cover you advise as want the most cover I can get and will probably get AA breakdown just incase as well.

Dont know enough about the car yet and dont want to be stuck on the way to a national etc

[phil c]

Hi Jamie I believe they only have one level of cover, which I believe is £80 for the year, we don't sell it but just do lots of work for them, there coverage of parts is very good for the price, the only down side is the £500 limit