3rd party warranty on executive metal

Rilot

Rilot

Rilot

Don
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
23,563
Location
Wargrave, UK
Now my finances are in order I'm looking to get myself back in some executive metal. I've decided that I want to go down the A8 4.2 route again but this time a facelift example on an 05 plate or newer (to try to avoid the niggles I had with my 03 plate).
I'm looking to buy either privately or from a non-franchised dealer as Audi franchise prices for A8s are stupid compared to the actual market price of these at the moment.
I'm looking at 3rd party warranties to help with any unforseen crazieness with maintenance as I'm well aware that A8s can, without warning, generate £5k bills.
What's the best place to go to for a warranty? Warranty direct are quoting £1200/year which seems OK to me considering how comprehensive their cover is. That's for franchised dealer maintenance too.

Anyone with any experience with executive metal warranties?
 
WD will probably phone you with a better price if you get a quote online but don't buy. For me, they beat their online quote by about £200 and gave me a free upgrade to a higher cover level.

I haven't needed to claim yet, so I can't comment on that side of things.
 
£5k bills must be few and far between for an 05 plate or newer though? You'd also I presume get 6 months minimum from a dealer.

I know your question wasn't shall I or shan't I...but I'd personally gamble by depositing £100 in a savings account every month and hope nothing goes wrong, as £1200 per year would cover servicing + most maintenance.
 
It all somewhat depends on how many miles you do. If you do the sort of mileage Jez does, then it's probably a good move, if you do average or less miles ...I would be more inclined to do what Robbie suggested.
 
If you want a warranty look at the Audi extended one, is it possible to get that after an inspection?
 
I wouldnt recommend Robbie's approach on a car like this. He of all people knows how important for peace of mind a decent warranty can be which is why he spent a large amount of money on a new Golf, rather than buying a better used one.

So, WD.

It is my opinion that WD are not the 'best' warranty company but they are the 'least bad' warranty company. I have also had dealings with BMW's own warranty even back in the days when it was awesome and they can be JUST as pointlessly fussy over stuff they eventually end up paying for.

I have arranged WD warranties for both my parents cars and have claimed several times under each policy.

The experiences are often quite irritating but usually resolved. They had a petty argument over a fuel pump for the 530d (Claiming only petrol fuel pumps were covered) but eventually paid up. The roof motor went on the Z4 - they authorised its replacement at BMW at a cost of £800 but only paid back about £550 in the end after arguing like mad about whether BMW should have replaced the 'wiring' and 'sound insulation'.

So, a mixed bag really but I dont think there is such thing as a fantastic warranty company and we've never been left seriously out of pocket after a claim.

WD have a few important benefits - they DO cover 'wear and tear' and they also offer consequential damage cover as well. Wear and tear is important, if a warranty doesnt offer it, dont buy it, as most things can be attributed to wear and tear.

WD even cover most suspension components - which most dont.

Never pay quoted price, they will always call you several times beating the price down each time.
 
Thanks Fox. Sounds good. If I can get them down below £1000/year I'll go for it.
I need to check whether the air suspension would be covered as it's a weak spot on the 8.
With regards to milage, I'll do around 25k/year and I need my car 100% of the time, so main dealer fixing with (dis)courtesy car is important.

On another note. Petrol barges really are silly money at the moment. Why anyone with even a slight interest in cars wouldn't consider a 15k a8, 7 or phaeton is beyond me. I guess "OMG it only does 25mpg and uses petrol" is to blame.
 
Watch the mileage limitations if you wish to keep the car a while, though. WD wont sell you a policy at over 100k miles, though you can renew a policy if the mileage is below 120k miles. Also note that above 60k miles IIRC you begin to have to pay a contribution to parts costs - this raises by 10% every 10k miles.

Bear this in mind given you will put 50k on a car in 2 years and £15k A8's are hardly on 14k miles.
 
Rilot said:
On another note. Petrol barges really are silly money at the moment. Why anyone with even a slight interest in cars wouldn't consider a 15k a8, 7 or phaeton is beyond me. I guess "OMG it only does 25mpg and uses petrol" is to blame.
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I'd love something bargey and a separate, cheaper, more driver focussed car like a DC2/182 that can be abused with little thought to value, but the thing that would put me off an A8/7/Phaeton is the maintenance/repair costs rather than the fuel economy. (I get less than 25MPG out of my ST!)
 
MikeHiow said:
I'd love something bargey and a separate, cheaper, more driver focussed car like a DC2/182 that can be abused with little thought to value, but the thing that would put me off an A8/7/Phaeton is the maintenance/repair costs rather than the fuel economy. (I get less than 25MPG out of my ST!)
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If you dont do many miles they dont cost that much to maintain.

You live on an island, how many miles can you do :)
 
[TW]Fox; said:
Watch the mileage limitations if you wish to keep the car a while, though. WD wont sell you a policy at over 100k miles, though you can renew a policy if the mileage is below 120k miles. Also note that above 60k miles IIRC you begin to have to pay a contribution to parts costs - this raises by 10% every 10k miles.

Bear this in mind given you will put 50k on a car in 2 years and £15k A8's are hardly on 14k miles.
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I read this on the WD site and had factored that in to my calculations.
 
I live on an Island where short journeys are the only journeys, and the roads are in truly dire condition - I think these two factors can contribute largely towards maintenance costs.
 
Rilot said:
On another note. Petrol barges really are silly money at the moment. Why anyone with even a slight interest in cars wouldn't consider a 15k a8, 7 or phaeton is beyond me. I guess "OMG it only does 25mpg and uses petrol" is to blame.
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Because when these cars with many features start breaking outside warranty they have the potential to pull your pants down and take gobs fulls of cash out of your wallet before you manage to get to the petrol station?

The thought of owning an out of warrant Range Rover Sport for example would genuinely scare me, id have to be on seriously more wadge to justify that risk.
 
MikeHiow said:
I live on an Island where short journeys are the only journeys, and the roads are in truly dire condition - I think these two factors can contribute largely towards maintenance costs.
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So you bought a car with rock hard suspension, get a wafter and sell that thing.
 
Suprised you'd need two cars, MikeH, dont you have a van or something for work? That way you can afford to have something more focused as your own car.
 
Jonnycoupe said:
Because when these cars with many features start breaking outside warranty they have the potential to pull your pants down and take gobs fulls of cash out of your wallet before you manage to get to the petrol station?

The thought of owning an out of warrant Range Rover Sport for example would genuinely scare me, id have to be on seriously more wadge to justify that risk.
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And the other big problem is that the older these cars get the higher the chance you are buying it from a numpty who couldnt see past the sticker price and got badly burnt on it. Who knows how bodged it is...
 
Rilot said:
Now my finances are in order I'm looking to get myself back in some executive metal. I've decided that I want to go down the A8 4.2 route again but this time a facelift example on an 05 plate or newer (to try to avoid the niggles I had with my 03 plate).
I'm looking to buy either privately or from a non-franchised dealer as Audi franchise prices for A8s are stupid compared to the actual market price of these at the moment.
Click to expand...

I think it would have to be an 06+ for the 4.2.

What is the difference in dealer vs private prices on these at the moment? I just had a really quick look at dealer prices and they don't seem that bad in comparison (that was a quick look though). Is £15k your budget?
 
DiamondMark said:
So you bought a car with rock hard suspension, get a wafter and sell that thing.
Click to expand...

It isn't that bad - the biggest problem with the ST on our roads is the stupid profile tyres. In the long term, that is the plan though - a nice wafter and a cheaper dc2/182 or similar to blast around in. I doubt the wafter will be any of the cars mentioned about though.

[TW]Fox;17242856 said:
Suprised you'd need two cars, MikeH, dont you have a van or something for work? That way you can afford to have something more focused as your own car.
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I have two cars, and no I don't have a van.
 
I doubt its your 'long term' plan at all. We've seen so many different 'I am buying X' threads from you this year, all of which never happened, coupled with the fuel economy rubbish its quite clear you are a story teller.

Lets just leave this thread to Rilot and his questions shall we?
 
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