3rd party car warranties

Hate · 13 Jul 2011 at 11:23

Just out of interest, are these things worth the bits of paper they are written on? I always hear stories that they don't pay out or are a massive pain in the backside it's not worth it.

Just having a casual browse of a couple as I'm now starting to get cars that are 'new' enough to be able to be covered by one of these things!

loki101 · 13 Jul 2011 at 11:30

I used warranty direct for one year when bought my car, had to use it once for replacement coolant sensor all fix at main dealer no issue with the claim.

The one thing to note is they will haggle on the price.

mattx2 · 13 Jul 2011 at 11:41

Most are useless and watch out for the clauses ie water pump fails engine overheats and blows a head gasket your warranty covers the water pump

BennyC · 13 Jul 2011 at 12:52

The warranty on my car I'm collecting on Friday from the trader:

What is Covered:
The following Mechanical & Electrical components are covered against mechanical and electrical breakdown (including the labour costs to repair them) during the period of cover (subject to the other general conditions of the cover). There are some components, such as service items, that are not covered and these are listed in detail within the ‘What is not Covered’ section of this document.

ABS - ABS module, ABS wheel sensors and ABS pump

Air Conditioning - Pump, compressor and condenser

Braking System - Brake limiter valve, calipers, master cylinder, servo (vacuum pump) and wheel cylinders

Casings - Engine, final drive, gearbox and transmission casings

Central Locking - Solenoids, locking motors, door locks and electronic control units

Clutch - Clutch cover, clutch fork and pivot, clutch plate, master cylinder, slave cylinder and thrust bearing

Cooling System - Radiator, thermostat, thermostat housing, viscous fan coupling and water pump

Differential - CV joints, cross shafts, crown wheel and pinion, differential, drive shafts, half shafts, pinion carrier bearings, propshaft, sun and planet gears, universal joints and washers and spacers

Electrics - Alternator, coil, cooling fan motor, distributor, electric window motors, crankshaft sensors, camshaft sensors, knock sensor, engine ECU, engine temperature sensors, headlamp wiper motors, heating fan motor, horn, indicator unit, relays, starter motor and windscreen wiper motors (front & rear), sunroof motor and switches.

Engine - Camshaft, camshaft followers, camshaft pulleys, conrods and bearings, crankshaft and bearings, cylinder bores, cylinder head, cylinder head gasket, flywheel, gudgeon pins, oil pumps, pistons and rings, push rods, rocker assembly, starter ring gear, tensioners, timing belts, timing chains, timing gears and valves & guides

Fuel System - fuel pumps, fuel tank sender, injectors, sensors and ECU's, fuel gauge, air temperature sender, air flow meter, idle control valve, fuel pressure regulator and fuel cut-off valve.

Gearbox - Automatic gearbox components, electric governor, manual gearbox components, oil cooler, overdrive unit and torque convertor

Oil Seals and Gaskets – Any which require the removal of a major component i.e. engine, gearbox and/or differential.

Steering – Idler box, PAS pump, PAS rack, pressure pipes, rack and pinion, reservoir and steering box.

Turbo Unit – Turbo unit including wastegate.

Wheel Bearings – Front and rear wheel bearings.
What is not Covered:
Whilst you have a high level of warranty cover available, there are certain items which are not covered and these include, but are not limited to, the following:

Any component not listed under “what is covered”;

Body components such as strikers;

Body panels, paintwork and glass;

Interior trim including seats and seat belts;

Recharging of the air conditioning unit;

Renewal of brake components due to wear and tear, seizure or constant use of the brakes;

Renewal of any clutch components due to incorrect adjustment, misuse or fair wear and tear;

External gearbox linkages;

The clearing of fuel lines, filters, and pumps;

Airbags, batteries, bulbs, exhaust systems, catalytic convertors, wiper blades, wheel balancing and alignment;

Wheel bearing hubs, wheels, tyres, water ingress (including damage to covered parts caused by water);

The gradual reduction in operating performance (wear and tear) due to the age and mileage of the vehicle;

Oil leaks, which do not require the removal of the engine, gearbox and/or differential, filter elements and any damage caused by frost or lack of anti-freeze, impact or negligence;

Traffic management system, satellite navigation system, telephone, TV and associated equipment of all types, including non-factory fitted radio cassette, CD player or any other in-car entertainment component;

Normal maintenance services, and the replacement of such items as, but not limited to, spark plugs, plug leads, heater plugs and wiring looms;

Burnt out, sticking or pitted valves;

Damage resulting from the failure of a timing belt which has not been replaced as per the manufacturer’s recommendations (proof required);

Any consequential component damage caused by excessive heat or overheating;

Any fault that is noted or reported to you during routine servicing
Please note that oil, oil filters, gaskets, antifreeze, and brake fluid, required due to the failure of a covered component are included.

We will not pay more than the manufacturer’s list prices for parts. If parts have to be ordered from outside the UK, we will pay only the UK price of an equivalent part.

Zero excess, £1000 claim limit, any exceeding amount is to be covered by the policy holder.

Generally a good idea to look at what's not covered and parts of the T&C's as Mentioned above in my second quote.

That's from 'RMI Reassure Warranty'. I have no idea what they are like to deal with and my googling skills didn't bring up much. PM me if you want the full PDF of details.

Jono · 13 Jul 2011 at 13:04

WarrantyDirect won the HAT award thing from Honest John. Does that mean they're likely to be good. I could probably do with one on mine.

Jono · 17 Aug 2011 at 15:17

Anyone?

panthro · 17 Aug 2011 at 15:22

Warranty Wise (sponsored by Quentin Wilson, lol) is supposed to be quite good. Ive heard a lot of bad things about Warranty Direct. I wouldnt use them.

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2011 at 15:36

Almost all of them are terrible. Do not rely on anything but the manufacturers warranty.

Jono · 17 Aug 2011 at 16:55

[TW]Fox;19852923 said:
Almost all of them are terrible. Do not rely on anything but the manufacturers warranty.

But when that's run out? Just buy a new car, or ?
IT's for an 08 Ford Focus btw... do ford offer any kind of extended warranty option after 3 years, does anyone know?

mattx2 · 17 Aug 2011 at 17:01

When it runs out you put 50 a month away and you self insure

Also you don't really need a warranty on an 08 focus as apart from full blown engine failure there is nothing that is going cost that much to repair

[TW]Fox · 17 Aug 2011 at 17:01

Jono said:
But when that's run out? Just buy a new car, or ?

Realise cars cost money to fix and have it to hand - you have more chance of getting lucky with one of the big name warranty firms but trust me - from personal experience if they can find a way to get out of paying, they will. It's never straightforward.

The worst are those ones you get from independant car dealers. They are more use as toiletpaper, especially as everything ends up being classified as failure due to wear and tear or failure due to the failure of a non insured part.

Wicksta · 17 Aug 2011 at 17:02

Jono said:
But when that's run out? Just buy a new car, or ?
IT's for an 08 Ford Focus btw... do ford offer any kind of extended warranty option after 3 years, does anyone know?

A search for 'warranty' on ford.co.uk produced this information:

How do I purchase an extended warranty for my vehicle?
Contact your local Authorised Ford Dealer, or alternatively please call Ford Protect on 0870 241 6726.

BigT · 17 Aug 2011 at 19:08

[TW]Fox;19853740 said:
The worst are those ones you get from independant car dealers. They are more use as toiletpaper, especially as everything ends up being classified as failure due to wear and tear or failure due to the failure of a non insured part.

So much truth in that. I've had two third party warranties that happened to come with cars I bought from an independent. On my 330Ci they failed to pick up the bill for a faulty ECU that I can't remember the reason for not paying up. On my Boxster they claimed the timing chain had worn and so wasn't covered under the "wear and tear" clause of the policy. so when it let go I ended up with a £4.5K engine rebuild bill.

My extended manufacturer one on the Z4M on the other hand is no hassle at all.

Principally the four major things wrong with most thrid party warranties are:

1. What's not covered - usually the costly things, especially electrics (see the Sat Nav exclusion in the quoted policy above)
2. The claim limit - usually something you really need it to pay out for is more expensive than the claim limit by the time you add parts, labour, hire car etc. etc. when something catastrophic goes wrong
3. The "wear and tear" get out clause which they pin everything to
4. The maximum labour rate they'll pay, which isn't normally enough to even cover a back street ***** mechanic