I bought my 04 octavia 1.9tdi just on a year ago and have now done 26k miles in it with no problems at all - 2 services, a cambelt change and just put 2 new front tyres on with mpg at over 50mpg throughout. I bought it from a skoda dealer and had a full skoda warranty which included breakdown, euro cover and engine components etc. Pretty comprehensive and nice to have. I have now done 53k in it and have been offered an extension of the cover. This includes oily bits etc plus parts, labout and VAT without limit up to new price of the car plus roadside, recovery, onward travel and european cover. Plus its transferable if I sell it. The cost is £350, which doesnt seem too bad to me. Breakdown cover plus a couple of european trips would cost well over £100, and should I sell it, it offers strong reassurance to a buyer. As I do 25k+ a year then this would take me up to around 80k should I keep it so good peace of mind there. I'm not normally swayed by such things but it does seem to offer reasonable value. To quote Dirty Harry - "feeling lucky, punk?". What do BRers think, should I?
Thanks MGs
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Depends on your attitude to risk. I have an 03 reg Octavia tdi, with 70K on it. Its needed nothing at all non-routine apart from a hazard light switch. But I've just had to have new discs and pads, which were the originals and have done pretty well.
I reckon the odds of going from 53K to 80K without problems are very good with a well serviced car. You'd be unlucky to have a major component eg turbo fail on you. However, service replacement items and costs may increase over that mileage. These won't be covered by warranty, I imagine. So that aside, you're getting breakdown and European cover, which you should be able to get for a lot less than £350.
Just my thoughts but if it were me, I'd keep the money in my pocket and chance it, as I think the odds are good!
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For an effective cost of £250 or so I'd go for it, particularly with the mileage you do. The slightest thing will get you your money back. If nothing goes wrong then my view would be that it's worthwhile peace of mind.
Bear in mind that it's probably a condition of the warranty that it has to be serviced by a Skoda dealer.
My only caveat would be to take a look at the scope of the breakdown cover - it's not generally realised but these sorts of cover often only cover mechanical breakdown, so if, for example, you have a puncture and can't get the wheel off (or have 2 punctures) they probably won't help you, or they will but will bill you. It won't cover anything accident related either, which may be an issue for European travel.
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I decided against this for my 04 Mk1 SE. I had >60k miles on it & therefore needed "an inspection" (small print somewhere). In chatting to my local Skoda garage over this, with whom I have a good relationship, I was assured the warrantry wouldnt be necessary.(!) I dont do as many miles now & none abroad which could be more of a factor. 67k now on it having added ~35k in 2.5 years & no major problems.
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My dad's 1.6 petrol Octavia 1 is now 9 years old and 65,000 miles up, and looks less than a year old. The only thing it's needed apart from routine servicing & tyres / fuel is a coolant temp sensor (£60 total). It's still on the factory disks & pads.
£250 is quite cheap for peace of mind but these cars seem to be incredibly reliable. It's a hard one to call.
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Thanks for all the input and comments everybody. It is a close call, and with anything else - washing machine etc - I would never dream of paying for a warranty such as this. There is a strong peace of mind element, but also a lurking thought that things which do go wrong could be claimed as wear and tear and therefore not covered, and £350 would pay for many things barring major calamity. The car is well looked after and regularly serviced, and like others here appears as good now as when I got it. My insurance includes breakdown cover, legal cover etc and is also very good value for money, having checked several comparison sites, (Esure, £228 fully comp, protected NCD, breakdown and legal cover). Also I can buy european breakdown cover on a trip by trip basis and I doubt if I would make more than two trips, which would cost no more than the £60 extra on my insurance policy for euro breakdown cover that I could have taken out. I have also looked at Briskoda and if anything the sentiment there is more laidback or even negative than it is here. So on balance I am going to let it pass. I just hope I am not caught out!
Cheers, MGs
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