Anyone have any experience with extended warranties fronm the likes of warranty direct or RAC?
I'm thinking of buying one, is it worth it? which one would you recommend.
cheers
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www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=30404
I would open a building society account & set up a standing order for whatever your warranty would cost into the building society.
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Don't go anywhere near them. Your jaw will drop when you see the quotes.
The small print is riddled with exclusions and get-out clauses. The most common scams are them only paying out for labour at £40 per hour, and them attempting to define almost all car parts as 'consumables'.
They're hugely expensive, the risk they insure is small, and the cover they provide is minimal. For instance, say you snap a cambelt and need most of the head rebuilding along with new pistons. They'll pay out £40 or so for the new belt and a couple of hours labour to fit it, but you'll get no help with the hundreds for the head re-build.
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I normally would agree with you. Most policys have so many potential exclusions that it isnt worth taking out.
Having said that I had a warranty with Warranty Direct and would recommend. They pay dealer rates (unless you select a premium discount) which in my case was £85ph vat, plus cover parts (have to be listed, see policy) that failed due to wear & tear, plus they cover consequential loss.
www.warrantydirect.co.uk
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I had a vehicle warranty a few years ago with my prev vehicle the distributor had gone wrong on my Nissan Micra Lreg 16v apparently a common problem . £400 for complete distributor assembley and £130 labour all paid for without a problem from the warranty company this was all done at a Nissan Dealer . I think was lucky with my claim though . I paid at the time for the warranty £270 for two years cover which seemed reasonable . However have not taken a warranty out on my current vehicle as I have a year's warranty from the dealer I purchased it from.
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I'm very surprised that a dizzy cost £400.
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I still have the original invoice somewhere at home . These jap cars can be pretty pricey on parts . I used to work for a parts dept in a Honda dealer and was always shocked at the cost of some the parts for Honda's .
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Always a difficult one - you always run the risk of being screwed over when you least need to be. I can't say I've had much come back on third party/aftermarket warranties - since I've not really owned 'old cars' before.
It's also down to your own instinct on the vehicle. i was tempted to shell out £500 for an extended BMW warranty on our 330 - but in the end, decided against it.
Its a judgement call ;)
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Just got back from the dealer today - central locking wasn't working on the boot. The solenoid had given up the ghost and they wanted 60 quid to replace it, arguing that it was a wear-and-tear item. I pointed out that I only took the warranty out because the salesman assured me it covered all the "little things".
Will see if I can find a solenoid from a breakers yard and fit it myself. Doesn't look to difficult according to the diagram Citroen faxed through to me.
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The AA offer parts and labour insurance, for £56 per year. The maximum payout was £500, and it covered quite a bit. i took out with the turbo and ECU in mind, thinking that these are pricey items that can go.
That said, you do need to read the cover thoroughly. The AA expect you to have the car serviced in accordance with manufacturers recommendations (not unreasonable) but at a VAT registered garage. That caught me out as i had taken it to an independant who wasn't VAT registered.
All in all though, the cover seemed good value to me, so maybe worth a look.
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Just had a closer look through my warranty handbook, and it quite specifically states "centralised locking" is covered. Looks like I won't have to pay for my solenoid after all!
Back to the dealer tomorrow...
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It is quite simply ridiculous to suggest that central locking solenoid is a 'wear and tear' item. Laugh at them, then ask how many they change a week. If it was a 'wear and tear' item then the number would be dozens. I suspect it won't be.
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I brought my Ford Focus from deleted last August. since the day i picked it up i've always had gear selection problems. Within a hour of driving it away from them i could not get the thing into gear going up a hill!! It's been back to them 2 within the 6 weeks i had it and they assured me that they had it sorted. Apparently they lubricated the shift mechanism, bleed the hydraulic clutch and topped the gearbox up with oil. I personally felt a slight difference but i was still not happy with it because it was still notchy. The 3rd time it went back there head of sales or maintenance test drove it and told me it was ok compared to his car at least. It's been 4 months now and the car is really rubbish selecting gear and when you take it out of 3rd gear it sometimes makes a thud of a noise and you can feel it through the gear stick. I was given 12 months claim unlimited warranty with the car when i brought it but do you think i can get a garage now to have a look at it! Ford ain't interested, the AA at Halfords ain't interested and my local VAT registered independant garage will not touch it either. They all want to charge me and then i'm mean't to argue it out with the the supplying dealer in getting my money back for the repair. They will not look at it because i've got this warranty. It's all very well giving you a warranty with a car but how the hell are you mean't to get it repaired if it fails under the warranty?
{Dealer's name removed. DD}
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Graham - after ringing round about 10 breakers yards (Sorry guv, very popular item) I came to the conclusion that they fail a lot on Citroen cars. Obviously, more due to poor design than actual wear and tear.
Dealer has agreed to replace it now, so going in next week once part arrives. Spent an hour finding all the service documents to prove that servicing is up to date, though quite how an oil change influences central locking I don't know...
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Jesse - the oil changes (or otherwise) don't influence the central locking.
It's standard practice in any insurance business (warranties are insurance) - the aim of the game is to pay out as few claims as possible whilst still appearing 'fair' enought to continue collecting premiums.
Which basically means that they stipulate a long list of conditions (of which having the oil changed as per the schedule is one) in the hope that come claim time they can refuse to pay out because you've breached a condition - however irrelevant it may be.
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I brought my Ford Focus from deleted last August. since the day i picked it up i've always had gear selection problems.
In reply to Railman:-
Try changing the gearbox oil to a friction-modified 75W-90 or even 70W-80 (Redline MT90 or MTL) - might help synchro performance a bit. You only need just over 2 litres for this gearbox.
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Sorry, Graham, should have made my sarcasm in that post a bit more evident! I do know why they ask to see the documents, it's just that in this case it's pretty pointless and I could just have not done any servicing and handed in fake receipts. :-)
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day i picked it up i've always had gear selection problems. Within a hour of driving it away from them i could not get the thing into gear going up a hill!!
If this was me, then I'd be back at the dealer telling him (note: NOT asking him, but TELLING him) that if they didn't sort this matter out then I would be rejecting the car as 'not fit for the purpose'.
It's been back to them 2 within the 6 weeks i had it and they assured me that they had it sorted.
If it had gone back a second time, then I would have rejected the car outright and stood by my legal rights as a Consumer. But even if I hadn't given them warning on the first occasion, I would have given them a letter stating that should the fault re-appear then I would be rejecting the car. And upon a second failure, would have exercised my option to reject.
The 3rd time it went back there head of sales or maintenance test drove it and told me it was ok compared to his car at least. It's been 4 months now and the car is really rubbish selecting gear and when you take it out of 3rd gear it sometimes makes a thud of a noise and you can feel it through the gear stick.
Why on earth did you not reject the car? Clearly you're ahving issues with it. You must be robust with these people and keep a record of who you spoke to and when, because if the time comes to reject, you have a dossier full of notes that you can throw back at them and it strengthens your case.
I was given 12 months claim unlimited warranty with the car when i brought it but do you think i can get a garage now to have a look at it! Ford ain't interested,
If you bought from a Ford Main Dealer, then you have a main dealer warranty? Surely Ford must be interested since you bought the car from them and they gave you a warranty. I don't understand your problem? If you are having difficulty in finding a garage, then call your warranty company and ask them who your nearest garage is. But you MUST insist Ford look at it since it's their responsibility.
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I think the issue is whether the gearshift quality is 'acceptable' or not. That's a subjective thing. The dealer is saying the gearshift is acceptable, the customer is saying it isn't.
This is a situation where an independent motor engineer might be useful - get him to drive the car and write a short report if he feels it is unacceptable. Might cost £100 - but worth it if it leads to a new 'box being fitted.
Gearshift quality is a strange issue. Identical models can sometimes feel quite different due to the spread of tolerances in the gearbox. I'm trying to sort out a 'difficult' box right now by trying different oils and adjusting the clutch and shift linkages. Changing to a different type of oil can make quite a big difference to shift quality - each snychromesh unit is like a small clutch - and oil property massively influences synchro lock-up behaviour which translates into very different shifting characteristics.
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ihpj i did include the name of the place i purchased the car off but due to politics it was removed. I did not buy the car off ford. If the car was from ford it would have been taken back straight away. These blokes at dealer service departments are very good at making you fell intimidated!!! The car is going in next week for the gearbox to be looked at under the warranty. i'll be very interested if they reject the claim, what they rejecting it for because i've had the problem since i brought it and if they start giving me rubbish i will see about taking them to a claims court if they say the gearbox or clutch is shot.
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My Car (The Focus) has gone into a local garage this morning who deal with the type of warranty i've got. I suspect a problem with the clutch occassionally dragging. A simple test with the engine off and then on soon brought me around to this conclusion. I'll be interested in what the warranty company will have to say if they do diagnose the clutch as faulty. 'Sorry mate - Wear and tear item!' Correct me if i'm wrong but i thought the wear and tear item on the clutch was the friction material?
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Feel for ya Railman :(
Hope things pan out for you, but the problem you now have is that you have kept this vehicle for quite some time and rejection becomes more difficult the longer you have it. As the problem was noticed within the frist hour of pikcing up your car, then you really should have given this Third Party Garage (since you allude that you didn't buy from a Ford Main Dealer) notice of intention to reject the car if this fault wasn't worked out.
It's obviously been back on many occasions, and now it is that more difficult to argue for a rejection - I guess it could be done since the fault is 'on going' and never cured, but I'd certainly recommend a visit down to your local CAB or get proper legala dvice (do you have home contents cover - msot policies have 'legal assistance' thrown in) and speak to one of their reps. over the hpone and see what they have to say?
Problem car, you have to be insistant and clear from the off - ther eis no 'I'll get it sroted later' because that jsut weakens your position. You MUST be forceful (or more intimidating than them!) since as a consumer you have rights.
Good luck man!
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Cheers ihpj. Just got the car back and it's been diagnosed as gearbox internal problem. The garage has contacted the warranty company and are awaiting a decision from them regarding the strip down and repair of the box. I got the car back because they can not even start on it till friday due to there work load. I'll keep you updated
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