I have a 50k N-reg Citroen ZX Volcane TD that it coming to the end of a 3-year extended warranty. The question is, should I get another one at a cost of £5-600 for three years? And if so, who with?
Any thoughts/opinions/advice welcome!
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DC,
Personally I'd keep the money and just make sure I properly carried out all the servicing and long term preventative jobs.
That's a huge proportion of the cars value to fork out in one lump.
But that's just me. You have to think what value you got out of the last extended warranty and what you expect to fail over the next period...and if that's covered by these policies.
Possibilities include...Glowplugs, heater matrix, radiator, battery, starter, front/rear discs/pads, handbrake cables, exhaust, heater blower resistor, clutch, front wishbone bushes, rear trailing arm bushes, driveshaft gaiters, alarm/central locking, rear tailgate lock, radio display etc etc.
MM
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extended warranties - value for money?
no.
Not just my opinion, also the Consumer Associations.
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These warranties are a kind of insurance policy, and insurance companies are in business to make profit. Not only that, if you want the cover to be \'comprehensive\' it will not be cheap. It might be worth it if the car turned out to need several big jobs, but that is the bet you have to lay.
For white goods, it is common knowledge that for retailers the extended warranties are the butter on the bread.
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I bought a 2 year extended warranty from the GTC recently for £199. I wasn't going to and was resolved in this respect. But the bloke did a really good job of making me out to be really nuts for not doing so. That made me think - does he know something about the car that I don't - knowing my luck if I take it, it'll be a waste of money, if I don't...- and then I just signed on the dotted line and although it has so far been a waste of money I suppose it is peace of mind. But it depends on value of car, age, cost of warranty etc and on this occasion I reckon I did the right thing.
I haven't always bought warranties though and this has worked out in my favour.
Splodgeface
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There have already been lots of discussions on this subject and a search should find these.
We even had a representative of one of the warranty companies trying very hard to sell his policies via the forum but I think we all had him sussed. At least I hope we did.
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a few years back when buying a bmw the dealer adviced me quite strongly to buy the warranty, l thought at the time does he know something horrid about the car, any way l took out the warranty, two months later the head gasket blows, oil had leaked onto the clutch plate, the car was taken into a bmw dealer for the work to be done -- final cost came to £1200, the warranty cost me £250.00 money well spent.
Duggie
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duggie
Assuming that the warranty company made a profit, that means at least 6 (and probably more) other warranty buyers never made a claim, and that's the way insurance warranties work. They are a gamble, but you were the winner, and well done. I have to say though that the dealer was probably earning some commission which would have boosted his profit on the whole deal.
Was there not an investigation into extended waranties on consumer goods a while back, because it appears a significant proportion of the retailers profits (to be fair mostly white goods dealers) came from these warranties rather than from the goods they sold?
Costs have risen significantly, and you wouldn't get a decent warranty on any car, let alone a BMW for £250/year these days.
Regards
John S
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Dave C is talking about a warranty on a 6-7-year old car, and there will be a reason why franchise dealers (Peugeot anyway) will not warranty a car over 6 years - presumably the risk makes it not worth while, i.e. too expensive. So I don't imagine any cover Dave gets will be cheap.
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I bought my BMW 320 coupe at five years old from a franchised dealer (sounds expensive but wasn't when you account for the excellent service and preparation) with a BMW approved warranty, which I've renewed each year for a cost of £299. The car is approaching nine years now and the warranty has paid for itself virtually each year. I can keep doing this up to 100k miles regardless of age.
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John
Interesting - I'm sure I was quoted much more than that for my 323 coupe when the BMW approved warranty ran out.
Regards
John S
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John,
Do you really mean that you have had at least £300 of claimable repairs each and every year for eight years - on top of normal servicing and 'wear & tear' exclusions like tyres, brake pads, etc? That's a very poor advertisement for your BMW!
I am coming up to three years ownership of my 1992 BMW 525, at well over the 100,000 miles barrier that you mentioned, and the total value of claimable repairs (a water pump plus new antifreeze) comes to less than £80 'parts and labour'. That repair was in the first week of ownership and the warranty, issued by a well-known company, had been 'given' to me with the car.
I had to fight long and hard for the warranty company to pay out even that very small amount because the garage had fitted genuine BMW parts and that "didn't comply with the 'cheapest repair' rule". Nothing that could possibly be covered by a warranty has occurred since.
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If you are being offersd a renewal by the warranty company, directly, ask if they will offer a 'get your premium back' if you don't maka a claim.
This is the scheme we offer to our customers.We don't make a profit on the warranty & the customer gets peace of mind, plus their cash back, too!
They don't just send you it, after a couple of years, you DO have to ask for it.They rely on the customer forgetting to ask, selling the car on, having it stolen,etc etc.On the whole, still a very good deal.
Mark
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