My car, Honda CRV, will be 3 years aold in 5 months time. Looking ahead I looked at the Honda website and it was almost £1,000 for 3 years. 12 months cover was £475!

Out of curiosity I tried a comparison site. Price was much the same as the Honda site. However, a claim were limited to £2,500 and the hourly rate limited to £70.

Makes the Honda site is the way to go IF I decide to keep the car. My last CRV cost very little in repairs the 11+ years (less than £300).

My problem is that there is so much expensive electronic gadgetryin the current car- the rear view camers is nearly £1500 if it goes on the blink.

If warranty is a concern for you, I'd suggest you look at an approved used Toyota, Suzuki or Kia from a franchised dealer. They offer a ten year (Toyota and Suzuki) or seven year (Kia) warranty on approved used cars serviced in their network. Even then, you will still be liable for wear and tear.

You got some facts correct but others are misleading.

Toyota is 10 years, Suzuki has recently changed to 10 years and Kia is 7 years.

The approved part does not apply to Toyota, not sure about Suzuki but the only time approved applied to Kia was when you bought a nearly new used car from Kia in which case the warranty would be re-set to run 7 years from your date of purchase.

With Kia the car must be serviced to the letter of the schedule and you are free to go to any VAT registered garage for the work but you must have proof that the work has been done exactly to the schedule using OEM quality parts and lubricants of the correct spec. That means keeping all receipts and proof of work carried out. Plenty of tales of woe in the Kia forum when owners have skimped on work.

With Toyota the car must be dealer serviced for the first 3 years for the standard warranty. After that the Relax warranty kicks in whenever you have a Toyota service which extends the warranty for 12 months/10,000 miles. If there is a break after the 3 year warranty ends (say you use an indy for the 3rd and 4th services) any work identified as being needed at the 5th service must be carried out before the warranty is reset, this could be expensive especially when it has to be done and dealer rates.

Think that applies to Suzuki as well.

With Toyota hybrids you get a traction battery heath check included with every service which extends the guarantee for up to 15 years.

No idea if Suzuki offer this.

Pretty sure the EV/hybrid Kia Traction battery warranty is 7 years like the rest of the car.

I have said it before. Aftermarket warranty = poor quality expensive toilet paper.

If you have checked the MOT history looking for defects and nothing major then save your money.

get it inspected after buying unless it has a fresh MOT and check the trader beforehand for reviews.

Save your money.

It's simple - warranty companies are not charities, they have to make money like everything else, so don't involve them without good reason. You may just possibly find a warranty pays off, but that is very unlikely on balance.

None of this is new, must be 35 years ago my neighbour bought a Audi 100CC automatic, he paid for a warranty from the same dealer, no surprise to most here that the auto gearbox packed up in short order but to be fair the warranty paid up...to whatever the maximum claim limit was which as i recall was less than half the cost of repairs and near enough what he paid for said warranty anyway...the kicker being he had traded in his totally reliable Nissan Bluebird he had from new for that thing.

Had 2 extended warranties in the past but both were manufacturers on new vehicles.

First was a 1996 Golf TDi. First diesel and first turbo so a little nervous about the 1 year warranty (normal at the time). Buy on delivery and years 2, 3, 4 and 5 were the same T & C's as the factory warranty. Seem to remember it was about £300 for those 4 extra years. Best part was if you never used the warranty you got the £300 back.

After 5 years we were lucky and no faults, contacted VAG and received a cheque. Kept car for another 2 years and still no faults.

Next was the 2013 Leon 1.4 TSi. Knowing that the previous chain cam TSi was known for its issues we looked at the extended warranty. Same as the Golf the T & C's were as per the factory warranty if you bought on delivery, if you bought even 1 day after there was a list of exclusions and a maximum amount you could claim (wonder how many people were caught out by that). Years 4 & 5 cost about £360. Due to a change in circumstances we only kept the car 3 years 8 months but during that time no issues. Wondered if the new owner transferred the warranty over.