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Dear Honest John, I have a VW Golf TDI turbo Mk.IV which I bought new in 1998 when they first came out. It has done 69000 miles. I have just been offered an extended warranty for the next 2 years for £550 by VW. Do you consider this is worth taking up? It does cover the catalytic converter which is my main worry. Your column keeps me buying the Telegraph! John
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If it covers that cat it's quite a decent warranty. As long as there are no obvious exclusions and you want peace of mind, go for it.
HJ
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IF it covers the FULL replacement cost of the Cat, INCLUDING fitting. From bitter experience these warranties need to be read with an electron microscope for all the get out clauses!
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I couldn't get a worthwhile EW from Ford for my 1yo (imported)Focus, because it had already had its 10k service. So I bought a 3 year "Mechanical Failure Insurance" (more accurate than 'extended warranty' in this case) from Motor Warranty Direct. It cost about £486, as I recall, and appears to offer good cover.
I'll let you know what happens if/when I need a new diesel injector pump, as I fear I MIGHT!
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Hi John,
My friend had a Volvo with a Volvo extended warranty.
It specifically stated in his book that the CAT was covered with no exclusions in any way whatsoever.
However on a recent service by the Volvo agent he was told the CAT needed replacement and was not covered by the warranty.
He of course produced the warranty book which specifically stated that it was.
The Manager said that he had faced this same problem many times and Volvo said it was only covered if the corrosion or fault was from the inside.
I advised barry to go back and tell them that he was intending to go to the AA of which he was a member and if this didn't work to advise them he would go to the small claims court.
This he did and the agent contacted Volvo who reluctantly said they would send an Engineer to inspect.
This he did and reluctantly agreed to a replacement.
The Volvo manager said that this was the first time he has seen Volvo replace a CAT under warranty even though it is specifically covered with no mention of any exclusions.
His previous car he had covered for £300.00 by the RAC.
I recall that when he had a fault which was covered he simply couldn't get through on the phone to the RAC department which dealt with claims under this warranty. It was always engaged.
He eventually gave up saying that it would cost him more in telephone bills than the cost of the repair.
He said he would never have another extended warranty again. But he did!!
I think the moral to this John is be very wary of them and read the small print as Andrew Moorey suggests.
Alvin Booth
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Beware of any "warranty" - they are insurance policies sold by suits who want to make large wads of cash out of the people they sell them to.
In this respect they are much like banks and any other insurance outfit - they're quite happy to lend you an umbrella, but they want it back when it rains.
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I import Audi's from Germany and I'm always amazed by the value people attach to the extended warranty. Firstly, Audi Germany offer only a one year warranty and it's good enough for them, Audi UK charge £850 pa for an extension to an S3 against a "market" price of £350 for a similar warranty but use this to justify the difference in UK prices.
Until recently all UK cars came with only a year's warranty, yet cars have, on the whole, become more reliable.
The extended warranty issue is a scam and profits only the underwriter as these are, after all, just expensive insurance policies riddled with get out clauses. Make sure you use that fine toothed magnifying glass!
C
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