Used car warranty and service plans - Arnold Clark

Stringy

Stringy

Stringy

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Just stuck a deposit on a 1.4 TSI Golf (09 plate, 32k miles, turbo/supercharged 160hp GT version) and I'm looking the service plan and warranty leaflets the garage threw at me. The warranty is provided by Arnold Clark and is £445 for two years which is less than Warranty Direct quote. It seems to suggest that any work done would be by the Arnold Clark chain which seem to be many, far and wide, so I'm not too bothered about that - and it covers car rental and breakdown cover for the car.

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This looks to me like it's pretty reasonable, has anyone got any experience with Arnold Clark or this type of Warranty? Given that the car has both a turbo and a supercharger, I'm thinking a warranty is surely a must as there's quite a lot to go wrong!

Second up is the fixed price service plan for 3 services and 3 MOTs:
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Now this looks like it would actually stand to save me money based on how much a basic service generally costs anyway - granted it won't cover big things like belts and stuff but it would still represent a saving when you consider the 3 MOTs would cost £120+ on their own...

Essentially looking for people's thoughts and opinions on this to make sure I'm not looking at this the entirely wrong way!
 
These warranties are *generally* not worth the paper they're written on, so go through it carefully and check out the experience of others who have had it. I'd look at Vw's own warranty which I believe is pretty much "bring it in broken, it'll be fixed" which is what you really want.

With regards to their servicing plan, if you took the manufacturers warranty it'd be no good as you'll need manufacturer servicing or as a minimum manufacturer parts - I imagine AC's plan is the equivalent of taking your car to any random tyre/exhaust place for a "service" - I'd ask myself if that's how i want my relatively expensive car looked after if I were you, you'd also miss out on dealer ecu updates, corrosion inspections etc...
 
rodenal said:
These warranties are *generally* not worth the paper they're written on, so go through it carefully and check out the experience of others who have had it. I'd look at Vw's own warranty which I believe is pretty much "bring it in broken, it'll be fixed" which is what you really want.

With regards to their servicing plan, if you took the manufacturers warranty it'd be no good as you'll need manufacturer servicing or as a minimum manufacturer parts - I imagine AC's plan is the equivalent of taking your car to any random tyre/exhaust place for a "service" - I'd ask myself if that's how i want my relatively expensive car looked after if I were you, you'd also miss out on dealer ecu updates, corrosion inspections etc...
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As the service can be done at any Arnold Clark, if I took it to a VW Arnold Clark then potentially that could fulfil any terms of a VW Warranty?
 
The devils in the detail really, you'll need to have a proper read through the t&c's of all connected / potentially connected policies.

These guys don't make money from just paying everything out regardless of the underlying tiny font t&c's, it's the way of life unfortunately.
 
I just got a quote for the comprehensive VW Warranty underwritten by Allianz and it's £286 for one year, so I'll odds on go for that as I can chuck it at a VW dealer and let them deal with it. As a result I'll probably also not bother with the servicing plan and use the change to either get VW to service it, or whoever it needs to be to satisfy the terms of the VW warranty!
 
Just check the VW warranty, as said I believe it's basically the same as the BMW offering...but i've never checked the details.
 
That service plan involves a lot of checking and advising and not a lot of doing. It sounds like an oil change and a quick look round the car
 
Do not touch an Arnold Clark warranty with a bargepole. Absolutely, unequivocally do not.

There was a blog/forum set up until some time ago discussing Arnold Clark warranties and what their idea of 'customer service' was and it was choc full of horror stories. In order to maintain the warranty you must have your car serviced at Arnold Clark. If, during any of the services they advise you that 'part blah, blah, blah needs replaced' and you disagree and don't have the work carried out - kiss goodbye to your warranty. Couple that little gem up with the initial cost of the warranty and the eagerness of their salesmen to sign you up to it and you can begin to see a money spinning pattern here. The maximum warranty claim is fairly low too, be aware of this.

We had an extended AC warranty which ran out last month for the 4007. Despite the fact I had the car serviced at a main Peugeot dealer who was chosen because of their experience and ability to service what is in mainstream dealer terms a fairly rare vehicle, AC would refuse to honour any warranty claim on it. But then that's the case with many extended warranties so its not anything unusual, but worth being aware of.

FWIW I wouldn't trust the Arnold Clark I purchased my car from to service a wheelbarrow. Having had experience of the other 3 AC's in a 50 mile radius to me my opinion would be the same as far as my wheelbarrow was concerned.
 
You can be sure that the small print will clarify things on the basis of broken/worn out.

"Sorry sir, turbochargers are now consumable items and your destroyed gearbox is due to a loose spring from your worn clutch grinding a hole in the casings. Thanks for the premium though."
 
Anyone have a link to get a quote for this infamous VW warranty that is no available ( like the BMW one)?

Ive been looking but cannot find it.
 
Stringy said:
https://www.volkswagenextendedwarranty.co.uk/VWCars/Static.mvc.aspx/Content?title=Home&name=Home

The comprehensive cover is cheaper for one year than Arnold Clark's...I know where my money's going! I just called them and because the Golf has a full VW Service history the fact that the manufacturer warranty had expired mattered not a jot.
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That is just to the extended warranty though ( i.e. you have to have full VW history or coming to the end of the factory warranty/used approved warranty)

i thought people were saying there was one like BMW's where you can take out the warranty without all that?
 
Jono8 said:
That is just to the extended warranty though ( i.e. you have to have full VW history or coming to the end of the factory warranty/used approved warranty)

i thought people were saying there was one like BMW's where you can take out the warranty without all that?
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On the phone the man said it didn't matter that there had been no warranty since the manufacturers ran out (Apr this year) because it had a VW service history - this was despite me buying the car from a non-VW garage. He also alluded to the fact that even without the VW service history you can get cover if the services were done by a VAT registered garage, but it was called 'lapsed' cover or something like that. Seems they'll cover most things, I guess it would just affect the price. Best bet is to call and speak to them as on face value it looked mine wouldn't be covered but on the phone it was fine.

edit: the breakdown cover sounds pretty good too, when I call I'm going to enquire about that despite already having Green Flag through my bank. If it's peanuts to add then I'll probably get it.
 
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Stringy said:
On the phone the man said it didn't matter that there had been no warranty since the manufacturers ran out (Apr this year) because it had a VW service history - this was despite me buying the car from a non-VW garage. He also alluded to the fact that even without the VW service history you can get cover if the services were done by a VAT registered garage, but it was called 'lapsed' cover or something like that. Seems they'll cover most things, I guess it would just affect the price. Best bet is to call and speak to them as on face value it looked mine wouldn't be covered but on the phone it was fine.

edit: the breakdown cover sounds pretty good too, when I call I'm going to enquire about that despite already having Green Flag through my bank. If it's peanuts to add then I'll probably get it.
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Hm, i wonder if they do this for Skoda's as well.
 
SB118 said:
but it doesn't take very much for the repairs to cost more than the insurance policy, making the insurance a better deal.
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Quite - £286 at the start of the year then forget about it. Consumables can be budgeted for and you can be blissfully ignorant about random breakages. With the complicated nature of modern cars (turbo AND supercharger :eek: ) it's the far better option in my opinion!

edit: VW appear to have a service plan which I'll likely investigate!
 
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