Warrenties auto protect

[flyjohn]

I own a BMW M3 the vanos unit failed yet Auto Protect refuse to pay as there engineer inspected the sealed unit for 2 mins and said it had failed due to fair wear and tear despite the garage saying that it is impossible to inspect a sealed unit. They refuse to change their mind as they used a so called idependent engineer. Who actual says in his report
SEIZURE OF THE VANOS UNIT AT THIS STAGE UNLESS FURTHER DISMANTLING PROVES OTHERWISE WOULD BE RELATED TO GENERAL IN SERVICE WEAR AND DETERIORATION the Air flow meter also failed and he states this is consequential
What can one do to stop these companies ripping one off

[Philrose]

I use Warranty Direct via the BMWCC scheme and the vanos is included as is the airflow meter and fair wear and tear is not an exclusion. I had my airflow meter replaced via the warranty just a few weeks ago as it happens

[E36GUY]

The Vanos does not fail through fair wear and tear. They fail because they are shit. If they all failed at say, the 80k mile limit then you might claim wear and tear but when there is such a huge range of how long some have lasted, with many owners not ever seeing a problem I would argue this very strongly. Especially when failures are so documented.

[MitchT]

E36GUY said:

The Vanos does not fail through fair wear and tear. They fail because they are shit.

You're sort of right there! They do fail through wear and tear... but the wear and tear happens far more quickly than it should... because they are shit.

[flyjohn]

How do I get Auto protect to take this onboard their engineer looked at a sealed unit and said fair wear and turn and they say I have to prove otherwise.
I have written in to complain I have e-mailed the CEO and I have got no were and this really annoys as they have not inspected the Vanos unit. Yet refuse to honour the warranty
This is what Munich Legends said

Ashdown Garage, Chelwood Gate, East Sussex. RH17 7DE.
Tel: [phone], Fax: [phone]


Dear John

Having read the report from the independent engineer who looked at your
car I would like to comment on the following.

I was instructed by your warranty company to strip the vanos from your
engine. I explained to them that by doing this they would then not be
able to establish what was wrong with the unit. This I feel was probably
in there interest. The live data showed the inlet camshaft locked in
full advance but the fault codes did not show a vanos solenoid failure
meaning it can only be a mechanical failure. With this information we
only have one choice. Replace the vanos unit.

When reading the fault codes it showed an air mass meter fault code.
This code was cleared during the job and immediately reappeared
following road test. It is impossible that a vanos failure can have any
affect on the operation of an air mass meter.

I am surprised that the warranty company are not paying for these items
as they are both clearly a mechanical failure.

Best regards
Barney Halse

[taffyracer]

It's quite typical of insurance companies to talk boocks, clearly they are at it

[Doovde]

Fight them on this, you *will* win....

I had worn camhshafts diagnosed on my RS4 (B5) at 75K miles, and also a Warranty Direct Gold policy already in place, (also paying extra to cover main dealer labour rates).
Once my mechanic diagnosed the problem, WD had an 'independent' engineer examine the car at the workshop, and his opinion was that the problem was diagnosed correctly however this was due to 'progressive wear and tear', in line with the mileage and age of the car, and not 'a sudden and mechanical failure' which is what the cover provide, so they declined to pay for the repair at that point.

I ended up paying out to get the car fixed, and wrote a complaint letter to WD, which they replied to again declining to pay out.
I had to complain 'up' to the underwriters, (Lloyds in this case), before I got any joy, when WD suddenly changed their tune.

So the long and short of it is, I eventually got my payment back in the end, however it wasnt a painless process, and you should fight them..

My experience of these companies is, that it is general practice for them to decline most of the claims, only paying out after a bit of fighting! It sh1te, but that's just how it is.

Edited by Doovde on Sunday 18th November 21:04

[Mr Skip]

I'm in one of those battles at the moment with Auto Protect, I had a new water pump and thermostat within a week of buying my car. Auto Protect claimed that they had not had time set the account up so I would need to pay for the repair and claim the money back, which I did.

All I needed to do was to get the repairer to call them before they touched the car and they would advise the garage on the process. The garage is one I have used over many years and are pretty honest as far as they go!!

The work was done and I put the invoice into Auto Protect. A week later I got a letter back saying that because the repairer didn't obtained an authorisation number when they called, Auto Protect wouldn't pay out.

I really can't be arsed with the hassle of hounding them but that's exacly what they rely on, so as much as it pains me i'm going to chip away at them until I get the money.

I'm trading the car in this week for something a bit nicer and will definately not be covered by Auto Protect!!!!

Good Luck