Final thread - car warranties

Never worth it.

The warranty seller is taking at least a 50% cut of the retail price - you do the maths on how likely they are to pay out.

That`s the thing, I drive cars, I can`t repair them :-) If it covers things that are fairly likely to break down then and the work was done well and quickly, then for me it`d be worth it. If the things that are likely to go wrong are the things not covered, then that`s a big difference. It`s just the attraction that for a fixed sum now, the majority of repairs (I`m guessing majority, hence the question) that might be needed will be covered, and after that it`s just servicing I need to fund. The alternative is to get the cash and sit it in the bank, but I`ve never been too keen on self insuring on something that could be very expensive to repair. :-)

The stuff that's most likely to give you problems is the stuff they exclude..... even if something looks like it's covered, they'll still claim it's 'wear and tear'.

Not much is likely to go terminally or expensively wrong with a Passat due to a manufacturing defect, meaning anything that does break is due to wear and tear.

I agree. The limited experience I had with a warranty on a second hand Citroen was enough to make me very wary of these things. Basically the head gasket went but only the basic work i.e.remove head and replace gasket, was covered. The garage checked the head for cracks, leaks and flatness (which of course they should) all of which cost me (going back a few years now) £120 bacause the warranty didn't cover it. I got it back under the Sale of Goods act but it was a bit of a struggle.

"malc" wrote in news:GHVmh.25191$ snipped-for-privacy@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk:

When we bought the Yaris, it came with a 1 year warranty from the independent dealer. After carefully reading through it, I reached the conclusion that it wasn't worth the paper it was written on. Sure, all major mechanicals were covered, but over I would think over 90% of relatively new modern car problems are nothing to do with the major mechanicals. It's usually minor or wear & tear items that go, or electrical problems, which were completely excluded!

My mate bought a Fabia from thecarpeople a couple of years back. The manufacturers warranty was voided due to a late service, so he took theirs. Few weeks later, the seat belt inertia reel failed. Despite it being such a safety critical item, thecarpeople refused to cover it under their warranty, and the dealers continued to hide behind the fact that it had had a late service so was void of any warranty at all. Tossers - as though a late service has any bearing on the reliability of a seat belt reel!

So no, don't buy a warranty, they're crap. Only the manufacturers one is any good, and in that case you must make sure that the conditions have been met to validate it.

Stu

Simon Finnigan ( snipped-for-privacy@hotmail.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

They sell policies to you for (say) £170 for 6 months.

Out of the premium for the policies, the car dealer selling the car takes his cut of the money.

Out of the rest of the money, the insurance company behind it run their business, print all the policy documentation, advertise and sell the policies to the motor trade, run the claims administration process - including sending loss adjusters out to the garages claiming - oh, yes, and they actually pay for the claims...

I wonder how much of the actual £170 goes to paying the claims...?

(OTOH, I'm one of the few people who had a used car warranty and came out ahead - 4yr old Cit XM, 6 month warranty, and they paid out for a water pump (which required the cambelt to be changed as well) and a weeping hydraulic pipe joint - even with that behind me, would I buy a used car warranty? No.)

So stick the money in the bank and use it to pay for the repairs or a new car _IF_ something goes wrong. Rather than giving it away and using it to pay for the repairs _IF_ the warranty company pays out...

The warranty companies are fairly certain that on average, people buying the warranties are going to lose a lot of money. Otherwise they go out of business.

The snag is you think you're covered for free repairs. But you're not. Last time I had one of these policies (included in the purchase price) I used it to replace a leaking steering rack. The insurer insisted I use their repair place. They replaced the hoses as well as the rack - or rather they charged for them. And other sundries. I also had to pay the transport costs to get the undriveable car to them. My costs were actually considerably more than the cost of the replacement rack - which was dreadful and failed after just over a year.

Roughly 10%. Would you think 10:1 odds a sure thing on a horse?

Given the amount they're charging it's unlikely that you'd have anything go wrong that's covered.

Dave Plowman (News) ( snipped-for-privacy@davenoise.co.uk) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

I don't bet. Bookmakers are wealthy enough without me contributing...

As are insurance companies, in general.

Perhaps it's just me, but in the very few times I've tried to claim for

*anything* it's never as straightforward as their adverts suggest. No little man arrives to pick up the faulty item and returns it shiny new the next day...

One favourite example. I had a rented flat and I arrange contents insurance (from a neighbour who was an agent). Some time later bought a house. The contents insurance got transferred (it had some time to run) and I used the BS recommended building insurance. So far so good.

Some years later in a storm the newish TV aerial got damaged.

The building insurance said it was part of the TV installation therefore contents.

The contents insurance said bollocks.

Out of spite I cancelled both and moved to a different company.

Ok all, so my attempt to justify it failed miserably. I pretty much agree with what was posted about it being a waste, but thought it was worth asking :-) What about paying for a car on a credit card - does it provide any extra help if things do go horribly wrong? Obviously to be paid off immediately, just curious.

Thanks all!