Buying a used car, warranty?

Gangster

Gangster

Gangster

Soldato
Joined
30 Dec 2004
Posts
3,388
Location
London
As title really, I'm looking at buying a used car but concerned with the repair costs etc that may occur. I'm aware of the tyre/windscreen wiper type costs but don't really want to be surprised with a gear box repair cost!

I've researched Warranty Direct and get quotes circa £450 for the year, does anyone have any experience with these? Or could you recommend any companies?

Be great to hear if anyone has any advice!

Thanks :)
 
My general opinion is:

Main dealer warranty: worth it.
Buying privately: worth it and account for putting some money away for unexpected repairs.
Small dealer and third party warranty: won't usually cover what you need so not worth it.

Personally I only buy from a main dealer or privately. I would only buy from a small dealer if the price was right or they had a specific car/model I was looking for which wasn't available privately. I would assume the warranty is useful as toilet paper.
 
Thanks for the reply.

So no one uses anything like Warranty Direct then?

Was half hoping there was a third party company that was decent! Surely there must be one?
 
Bumping an old thread. Say I buy a used Skoda Octavia VRS, 59 plate with <60k miles. Car would be private sale, with no skoda warranty, but with FSH. Would I be best jsut putting £1000 away each year, or looking at click4warranty or the likes?
 
The only warranty worth having will be from Skoda, don't bother with any of the others.

Honda for example will offer a years worth for £300 onnany car under 8 years old (pointless for me personally, just an example)
 
I've been on to Skoda and I'm not impressed, but I guess I understand their reasoning. They won't add warranty onto a used car that was bought privately without going through a rigorous inspection. Anything that is faulty would have to be fixed first, and they would charge a labour simply for inspection. And then, I'd be looking at quite a lot per year (they wouldn't even give me a rough figure over the phone). In all likelyhood, I will save £50 a month and build up a pot of cash should I need it...
 
Used to use them quite a while back for cover on my parents cars (Mine was too high mileage).

They were hit and miss. I always got the impression when dealing with them that they were looking for angles to get out of claims. They mostly paid out but usually required intervention. They eventually completely refused a large claim on an E60 for reasons which seemed to change every time we called. They couldn't seem to make up their mind what the reason was - and once we'd disproved one of the reasons they stuck with the other.

Since then I've only gone with the official manufacturer backed warranty.
 
I purchased a 12 month warranty for my Mondeo from Warranty Direct and found them to be very helpful and provided all the information I required.

I paid £340 for 13 months and the only thing they don't allow you to do it a remap. I'd suggest talking to them in length about it and see what they can do as they'll knock more off if you really push!
 
Warranty direct refused to pay the last thousand pounds of a gearbox repair on my fathers a4 despite every single condition of the cover being met and the car having an impeccable history.

OK its good they paid a large portion (after much, much arguing) but their behaviour throughout was shocking and they are one of the "better" providers
 
Worth nothing warranty direct.

my car has a 24 month plan from dealer.

They refused my last claim because I didn't stick to their strict service requests.

Every 6 months service the car at a garage.

SORRY but I refuse to pay £200 when I can do it myself for half the cost.

oh and based on their exclusion list nothing important is covered.
 
Unfortunately you refusing to service the car properly (regardless of the reality of the value in doing so) isn't an excuse to beat a warranty company with - even though I believe they are completely worthless
 
Service it properly?? Sorry what?

Why is taking it to a garage doing it " properly " ???

I replaced all the fluids, filters and plugs. Next service is simple oil and filter change.

I did it properly. And more frequently than what they wanted. But because there is no garage stamp they don't care.
 
Diagro said:
Worth nothing warranty direct.

my car has a 24 month plan from dealer.

They refused my last claim because I didn't stick to their strict service requests.

Every 6 months service the car at a garage.
Click to expand...

I never once saw this clause and nobody other than Mitsubishi Evo enthusiasts owns a car where the manufacturer has 6 month service intervals.

I suspect this is complete rubbish.

SORRY but I refuse to pay £200 when I can do it myself for half the cost.
Click to expand...

And here comes the truth - you wanted to DIY service a car but expected somebody else to cover the costs of anything that went wrong with the car despite no evidence of any servicing.

oh and based on their exclusion list nothing important is covered.
Click to expand...

That's not actually true. There are various levels of policy with various levels of cover, they even offer one where only parts listed as excluded are *not* covered.
 
Diagro said:
Service it properly?? Sorry what?

Why is taking it to a garage doing it " properly " ???

I replaced all the fluids, filters and plugs. Next service is simple oil and filter change.

I did it properly. And more frequently than what they wanted. But because there is no garage stamp they don't care.
Click to expand...

As above 6 months sounds highly unlikely, more likely they want it to the manufacturers schedule, to the manufacturers equivalent standard - which imo is perfectly reasonable.

I'm more than capable of servicing a car and I'm more than capable of spotting common issues - yet any time I take my car to someone who actually knows what they're doing they can spot things that I wouldn't notice until they became an issue - that's the difference.

I agree stamps in the book of a car like your Clio which is in questionable condition anyway mean not a lot, but you can't use that to put down the warranty company who have zero evidence that the item which has just failed and taken out other components shouldn't have been spotted months or years ago
 
Last edited:
COMPONENTS NOT COVERED BY THIS GUARANTEE
• Gradual deterioration of performance of a component in line with the age and mileage of the vehicle will be classed as “wear and tear” and excluded from the guarantee.
• All bodywork and trim, seat belts (any part), glass (including heated screens and door mirrors), sunroof panels, fuel tank, wheels and tyres. Air bags or disposal of air bags.
• Minor fluid leaks, odours, external oil leaks, worn or perished seals.
• Consumable items such as, but not exclusively limited to light bulbs, drive belts, wiper blades, brake linings, brake discs, cylinders, cables, glow plugs, split pipes, all hoses and key fobs.
• Blocked, porous or seized components – including seized brake calipers and caliper motors.
NOTE
Paint - the painting of parts replaced under guarantee will not be covered. Those components covered are covered against mechanical breakdown. The replacement of oil filters, lubricants, antifreeze and fluids is included provided the replacement is necessitated by the failure of a warranted component and the vehicle is not within 1,000 miles of its next due service.
External oil leaks are specifically excluded.
• Clearing or cleaning of fuel lines or components, contamination of fuel system either by incorrect fuelling or water ingress. Damage caused to any component by water ingress.
• Clutch components.
• Electrical connections, external lamps, wiring looms and batteries.
• Exhaust system and catalytic convertors (unless an additional fee has been paid) including but not limited to manifolds, mufflers, brackets and mountings. Including de-pollution or diesel particulate filters and systems and EGR valves.
• Cylinder block liners for vehicles over 3000 cc.


that's the exclusion list on my warranty.

One clause gets them out of most faults.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom