Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover

Honest John Back Room » Motoring discussion
View Threaded
Wed 4 Sep 2019 11:18
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - Durelli_tyres

I'm in the process of buying a new car and the dealer has offered me various additional financial products such as GAP and paint protection. There is also Alloy Wheel and Tyre cover and a separate minor dent / scratch / scuff cover.

I have found that other dealers offer the same cover but at lower prices.

Are there any products like these on the open market I could opt for and save money compared to dealer prices?

Has anyone brought these insurance polices in the past, do they make sense?

Any recommendations for a specific provider?

Thanks in advance

D

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 4 Sep 2019 12:03
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - paul 1963

All big money makers for the dealer I'm afraid, say no to the lot.......things like paint and wheels unless you damage them are covered by the manufacturers warranty.......unless it's MG of course!!! .....

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 4 Sep 2019 13:30
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - Durelli_tyres

All big money makers for the dealer I'm afraid, say no to the lot.......things like paint and wheels unless you damage them are covered by the manufacturers warranty.......unless it's MG of course!!! .....

The cover is there for if you do damage the car, wheels, tyres etc.

Obviously any manufacturer problems with wheels or bodywork will be covered under warranty. Significant collisions will be under your standard insurance. These are for minor scratches / dents / scuffs on the body work or damage to wheels and tyres.

My current car I had a puncture which needed a new tyre. If that happens again I could see this policy being worthwhile.

The dealers are getting the policies from somewhere and selling them on, just wondered if anyone knew of any direct supplier of the policy?

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 4 Sep 2019 14:04
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - Engineer Andy

Insurance for something very likely to be damaged like kerbed alloys (especially as most these days are large and couple with low profile tyres, and thus are far more susceptible to damage) would be either very expensive to be comprehensive, or not worth it because it would have loads of clauses saying that anything you can't prove is not your fault will not be covered.

That would probably include damage from jet washing (which eventually takes the lacquer off) as well as from kerbing.

Note that claiming under ordinary car insurance will be silly as most of the time its the driver's fault or no fault (because a pothole wasn't reported or was avoidable), never mind how common damage is because of the use of such combinations of large wheels and low profile tyres.

In the end, it's probably cheaper (other than not to have such a combo of wheel & tyres) to just drive more carefully and to use a reputable repairer for stone chips and the occasional scraped alloy. Rarely does anyone 'win out' on buying insurance on relatively small repairs that happen often.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 4 Sep 2019 14:02
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - Andrew-T

I suppose you can make a case for buying these things by believing they will limit the depreciation of a new vehicle by protecting resale value. But basically a new car is a fast-depreciating 'asset', whatever you do. If money is burning a hole .... by all means top it up a bit. As has been pointed out in a thread about a BMW, the only warranties worth calling on are the expensive maker-provided ones. Perhaps it's the same with alloy protection. You might just take care not to damage your new car - that works till the novelty wears off :-)

Reply | Report as offensive | Link
Wed 4 Sep 2019 18:22
Alloy Wheel and Minor Damage cover - skidpan

I'm in the process of buying a new car and the dealer has offered me various additional financial products such as GAP and paint protection. There is also Alloy Wheel and Tyre cover and a separate minor dent / scratch / scuff cover.

Just bought GAP for the uncles pre-reg Celerio. Its a replacement policy i.e if the car is written off the day before the policy expires he would get the value of replacing that car (or a similar car if it been discontinued) with a brand new one (or probably a pre-reg since the original car was a pre-reg). £199 for 5 years cover.

Paint protection is a waste of money. wash regularly and wax annually (do ours early September) and they should look like new for many years.

As for alloy wheel insurance just drive carefully. Scuffs can happen, its inevitable, but they can be minimised. But if they are diamond cut and lacquered in a few years they will look shocking no matter how careful you are or how often you clean them. No insurer will cover corrosion of this type.

Reply | Report as offensive | Link

Our honest used car pricing is a little bit different to all the others. You can get to our values through make or model - you don’t have to follow a prescribed route. Plus, it’s live, which means we can react to changes in the market quicker than any printed price guide.

Honest Used Car Prices

From which small car to buy at which price point to the best UK-built cars, our Top 10s have the lot. Click now for your shortlist.

Unsure of what to buy? Our Top 10s are here to help you....