The AA "Parts & garage cover" - Any good?

Westyfield2 · 16 Sep 2010 at 09:34

'morning.

I'm just sorting myself out some AA cover (mental note that I must remember to quidco it!) and I've seen as one of the options they do "Parts & garage cover".

The spiel they use to describe it is "Extends roadside cover to include cost of parts and extra garage work for one vehicle (number plate required). Your car may need a new battery or more work. This is known as 'Breakdown Repair Cover' and helps towards parts or garage work after you've called us out. Up to 5 paid claims a year £500 per time), each with a £25 excess"

Looks to add on £73.50 to my quote.

Is it any good? Or is it like some of the extended warranties where there's hardly anything you can claim for as every problem is 'normal wear & tear' and is a complete waste of £70!

My car is a 2002 Saxo VTR, on 41K IIRC.

TY.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 09:44

TBH £75~ sounds very expensive and I wouldn't bother - but it depends how reliable you think your car is.

MikeHiow · 16 Sep 2010 at 09:48

I know someone who had a Headgasket repaired on this scheme - I thought it was quite good. A lot less than a warranty scheme, but obviously the issue would have to be something you'd call the AA out for.

ci_newman · 16 Sep 2010 at 10:29

MikeHiow said:
I know someone who had a Headgasket repaired on this scheme - I thought it was quite good. A lot less than a warranty scheme, but obviously the issue would have to be something you'd call the AA out for.

There are very few cars that would get a headgasket repair for < £500...

MikeHiow · 16 Sep 2010 at 10:32

That depends where you take them.

Of course if its a bit more, you still get the first £500 paid.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 10:34

MikeHiow said:
That depends where you take them.

Of course if its a bit more, you still get the first £500 paid.

£475 (excess) and if it costs £75~ then only really 'get' £400 of the first claim and £475 for the nedxt 4 claims.

monkey_boy · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:03

Peerzy said:
£475 (excess) and if it costs £75~ then only really 'get' £400 of the first claim and £475 for the nedxt 4 claims.

I don't really understand what you're trying to say :confused:

If you claim, you pay the first £25 of each claim. There is a limit of £500 per claim. There is no limit on the number of claims in a year.

IME, if you have a car that's prone to something covered then it's a good shout. I had it on my ZR for the ZOMG HGF issues. Claimed and it was fine. Then I forgot to cancel it when I got my Leon and forgot to tell them I changed car. The alternator pulley went, leaving me with a £300 bill. The AA asked for proof of selling the ZR and proof of buying the Leon and then backdated the cover for the leon and paid out for it. Then the battery died and they paid for that too.

The downsides of it are that you have to call the AA out to claim, so it's no good for things that get gradually worse over time and you want to sort it before it does lots of damage. To counter this though, you just have to think like a woman- If your wheel bearing is on it's way (and you have homestart), you could phone the AA and say the wheel made a grinding noise as I was reversing off of my drive, I don't think it's safe to drive.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:04

monkey_boy said:
There is no limit on the number of claims in a year.

According to the OP there is.

MikeHiow · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:06

Still, the covers 5 claims (According to the OP) - what is the problem there? Still a potential £2500 saved for the sake of £75.

Like monkey_boy states, it depends on what you expect to go wrong with your car.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:07

MikeHiow said:
Still, the covers 5 claims (According to the OP) - what is the problem there?

There isn't one, I was simply pointing out how much it would cost.

£75 for the year, £25 excess. Means if you make 1 claim of £500 you'll have saved £400.

spaz · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:32

But Peerzy, didn't you shell out a lot for insurance which you then didn't use when you needed a repair, so then shelled out a lot more money for that?

£75 isn't really a massive amount in the grand scheme of things for a bit of peace of mind.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:37

spaz said:
But Peerzy, didn't you shell out a lot for insurance which you then didn't use when you needed a repair, so then shelled out a lot more money for that?

Yes and No. My insurance was £430~, my excess £1400 and the damage £1600 - Clearly at such a young age going through insurance would have been a bit silly.

I was simply explaining how much it would cost - as with any insurance there is a level of risk as to if you need it or not.

Firestar_3x · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:43

Given that everything is cheap to fix on a Saxo i really wouldn't bother with this.

MikeHiow · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:48

Peerzy said:
Yes and No. My insurance was £430~, my excess £1400 and the damage £1600 - Clearly at such a young age going through insurance would have been a bit silly.

I was simply explaining how much it would cost - as with any insurance there is a level of risk as to if you need it or not.

That was a bit silly opting for such a policy. I presume you went with admiral and set voluntary excess to £1000 to save £100 a year on the policy?

eidolon · 16 Sep 2010 at 16:54

All the Elise and MGF owners swear by this as it pretty much pays for that inevitable HGF.

My Mini warranty and breakdown cover is due next month so I'll certainly be looking at this myself, could save a few quid if anything goes wrong.

[TW]Fox · 16 Sep 2010 at 17:46

I took this out a few months ago.

2 days before I flew to LA the alternator went on my car. I called the AA, they took the car to a local BMW specialist and I collected it that evening with a new alternator courtesy of the AA. They would have taken it to BMW but they couldnt fit me in at zero notice.

Amazed. Still waiting for the catch. I paid £100 for the full AA package with this as well after Quidco cashback.

Usel · 16 Sep 2010 at 18:11

Thermostat went on my 75 and the AA got me home. Then collected the car next day and took it to a garage of my choice. Total bill was £285. Only stipulation is that the the car has to be serviced at a vat registered garage to be covered so no good for diyer's.

Peerzy · 16 Sep 2010 at 19:08

MikeHiow said:
That was a bit silly opting for such a policy. I presume you went with admiral and set voluntary excess to £1000 to save £100 a year on the policy?

Swift cover, £400 excess anyway as I was under 21 at the time. They offer normal excesses then £500 and £1000 ones. £500 excess would have more than doubled my premium due to the mods and my age. Even if I had picked £500 excess I'd still have had to pay £900 to get £1600 worth of repair work done and had a fault claim at 20 - so I recon I'd have still done it all myself.

I had the cash sitting around and it was annoying but not the end of the world, I look back on it now and think "Meh, bit annoying I'm 2 months behind where my 'New car fund' should be - but I'll live".

MikeHiow · 16 Sep 2010 at 19:19

If you can afford to save £800 every month just for a car, what on earth are you doing driving a Fiat?

flexo786 · 16 Sep 2010 at 19:20

my dad had this cover on his passat 2.0 tdi.
one of the injectors went and it meant that youd be driving the car and all of a sudden thered be a loss of power.
called the aa one day when it happened and they took the car to local vw dealers and offered £475 towards one of the injectors after the excess as soon as the dealer confirmed the fault. not bad when the cover costed £100 after quidco