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Dealer "Extra" Insurances

SoundEng

SoundEng

SoundEng

Soldato
Joined
4 Mar 2008
Posts
2,614
Location
Wandsworth
Hello all,

I'm sure this has been asked before, I did have a quick search but couldn't see a specific thread.

Basically looking at buying a merc on finance, and having never bought a new car before, the whole dealer extras sales pitch is new to me.

There are 4 things they have tried to sell me

  • GAP Insurance (was called something else) for £525. I think this is probably worth getting as its a 36 month lease and that model seems to drop in value pretty fast). BUT not from merc as there are loads of other online places selling it for half that
  • Complete wheel protection (Alloy + Tyre) for £399. This is the only other one I'd possibly consider, and the price seems to be inline with most online providers. Does anyone have any experience of this?
  • Minor Damage Protectiopn for £399 - Not sure this one is worth it as there seem to be so many conditions on claiming that it makes it impossible to claim.
  • gardX protection - £499 some kind of ceramic coating and interior coating. This sounds like some kind of exterior coating that protects the paint from chips? the interior part seems silly as some scotchguard spray is a lot cheaper.

Are any of these actually worth looking at or is it just standard dealer trying to sell you a load of rubbish at a massively inflated price?

TIA!
 
Looking at those last 3 you would lay out £1400 to pay the premium on insurances that would cover losses likely to be less than the premium. You would need multiple claims before you would any be a net claimer.

People should self insure more. This coming from someone who works for an insurance company.
 
Gap is worth it on the right car - what are you buying? How old is it? Is it on finance? Do you have a healthy deposit? £525 is too expensive - available online for cheaper - just make sure it's with a reputable company that will pay out.
Alloy / Wheel - I wouldn't unless the car has wheels or tyres that cost fortunes (or you have history with curbs) - will you get your money back is the question to ask. Always check claims policy.
Minor Damage - I wouldn't.
GuardX / Superguard / Diamond Brite - whatever it's called - great product but not at £499 - dealer cost is more like £50-£70 and I guess they don't pay their valeting team extra to rub / spray it on. Please note - it's nonsense that it protects against chips. Just makes it easier to clean and make look nice.

Source - been selling cars since 2005
 
Cheers for the replies

@Alz_D New E class, on finance, fairly healthy deposit. Definitely wouldn't get it through merc but tempted online.

Just need to weigh up the others I suppose
 
I went to see a motor with the GF last year, car was ok but when we got back the the showroom he came out with all the extras crap, got up and walked out.
 
Upholstery protection might be good idea if you have kids, but don't pay the £500 to get it done with the paint protection, get yourself a couple of cans of scotchgard for ~£20 and do it yourself
 
I paid £125 for 4 years of gap insurance on my car. Dealers are a total rip-off with stuff like this.

If you want paint protection etc, go to a specialist to get it done. Someone who knows what they are doing. Most of it useless though and won't do much in the long term.
 
GAP from Ala online.

The rest are utter crap.

GaurdX isn't even ceramic as far as I'm aware, for £500 you can pretty much get a proper protection product done by a pro or just spend some time reading and apply something like FeynLab yourself.
 
There are a couple of things to check with the GAP cover. It might be compulsory with the finance (not that you have to buy from dealer), and you might get some free cover from your insurer.
 
Usually if you try make it a condition of you buying the car you can get it added in for free BMW and jaguar were good for that but when I bought my merc I got nothing!

Just a nice enterance......

QWS3aie.webp
 
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