Car Warranty Companies

[8IKERDAVE]

I've decided I'm going to take out an extended warranty on my car, it's a 2016 Audi S5 and the dealer warranty expired in summer so it would be nice to have the peace of mind.

However, I use the same garage for all my repairs and would like to continue doing so. I believe a lot of warranty companies asign you to a Halfords Autocentre or similar. Does anyone know of a company that allows you to choose your own?

[normalbloke]

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

[Nelka]

I just bought an Audi warranty for my S5. £400 for the year which isn’t cheap, but an engine or gearbox failure on one of these would be a lot worse!

[The Mad Monk]

How about if you put £400 a year into a dedicated building society account?

[monthefish]

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

That's my view also.

Do Audi not have an extended warranty scheme? a 2016 car should qualify?

[nickfrog]

The Mad Monk said:

How about if you put £400 a year into a dedicated building society account?

Why not. It would take a few years to save enough for a new engine or box though.

[spookly]

monthefish said:

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

That's my view also.

Do Audi not have an extended warranty scheme? a 2016 car should qualify?

Don't know if it's the same across the VAG group, but VW offer extended warranty/service plan but IIRC it's only for cars up to 6 years old. Quite good value at £30 a month for 2 years warranty and servicing. £720 total when servicing would have been about £550 for two services at a VW dealer.

[SteveKTMer]

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

This. They are a con.

[vikingaero]

spookly said:

monthefish said:

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

That's my view also.

Do Audi not have an extended warranty scheme? a 2016 car should qualify?

Don't know if it's the same across the VAG group, but VW offer extended warranty/service plan but IIRC it's only for cars up to 6 years old. Quite good value at £30 a month for 2 years warranty and servicing. £720 total when servicing would have been about £550 for two services at a VW dealer.

Currently 20 or 25% off at the moment.

[Chubbyross]

SteveKTMer said:

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

This. They are a con.

Have a +1 from me. A complete waste of money. Put a wedge of cash in the bank every year. Put it under your bed. Stick some fivers up your bum if you want, but just don’t take out a warranty. Really. There are so many threads on here complaining that warranty companies haven’t paid out on this, that or the other. Do some research and save your money. Literally save your money.

[Court_S]

Chubbyross said:

SteveKTMer said:

normalbloke said:

Unless it’s a main dealer extended warranty, then I’m afraid they are mostly just a tax for the hard of thinking.

This. They are a con.

Have a +1 from me. A complete waste of money. Put a wedge of cash in the bank every year. Put it under your bed. Stick some fivers up your bum if you want, but just don’t take out a warranty. Really. There are so many threads on here complaining that warranty companies haven’t paid out on this, that or the other. Do some research and save your money. Literally save your money.

And another plus one.

Third party warranty companies are rubbish; my one experience was very poor (it was supplied with the car). I certainly wouldn’t actually buy one with my one cash.

I’d either buy a manufacturer backed one or save / have a slush fund.

[Harry H]

My experience with 3rd party warranties is that they have a lot of experience in claims and write the documentation accordingly. Whilst the cover looks great with some of them what ever goes wrong never seems to be covered and if it is the claim limit is never enough to cover costs.

As has been said, stick it under the mattress. Even if you take a hit year one in the long run you'll be better off.

[Limpet]

The Mad Monk said:

How about if you put £400 a year into a dedicated building society account?

And hope you don't have a major mechanical failure for about 5 years, minimum.

[nickfrog]

Harry H said:

My experience with 3rd party warranties is that they have a lot of experience in claims and write the documentation accordingly. Whilst the cover looks great with some of them what ever goes wrong never seems to be covered and if it is the claim limit is never enough to cover costs.

I suspect the exception being AWP who write the BMW / MINI stuff. But while being 3rd party I am sure they are considered/perceived as "manufacturers" backed because of the white label branding. I wonder who Mercedes or Audi use for their own branded product? I suspect AWP too but not sure.

[Chubbyross]

Limpet said:

And hope you don't have a major mechanical failure for about 5 years, minimum.

It doesn’t matter if you do. The house always wins.

[The Mad Monk]

Limpet said:

The Mad Monk said:

How about if you put £400 a year into a dedicated building society account?

And hope you don't have a major mechanical failure for about 5 years, minimum.

Quite right, of course.

But, a private warranty company has to allow for various contingencies, pay for its staff, premises and all the normal business expenses, plus make a profit.

Statistically, you are better off self insuring, unless a claim would break your bank.

[jezzaaa]

I had a warranty (not main dealer) on my 997 when it's IMS bearing failed and lunched the engine. The warranty company were very receptive and communicative when I first raised a claim...but it was partly the garage that let me down really. The insurer was very clear that it needed to distinguish between failure due to wear and tear and a broken but otherwise serviceable component causing the problem. And that they wanted the garage to provide a report/evidence demonstrating why it was one way or the other. In the end the garage failed to do this and I ended up paying all of it...the insurer wouldn't move on until they were convinced and the garage wouldn't specify in writing (or wasn't able to pinpoint) the root cause.

Now it could be that the insurer always wins because, in my case, you can always argue that the failure of a 15 year old car engine with 60,000 miles on the clock is wear and tear. And yet, I felt the garage just gave up and didn't help me. They had a particularly belligerent mechanic who isn't there anymore, but he didn't help me. I was hoping that the claim would succeed because, on the face of it, IMS bearing does seem to be more common than it should be and all the symptoms fitted that failure.

Or it could be that it's very difficult for a garage to identify exactly what failed. And are often unwilling to write to an insurance company with enough conviction in case they are wrong.

Based on this though, I have to agree with most of the posters on here...it seems there is always some way for them to wriggle out of a claim.

Edited by jezzaaa on Monday 12th December 11:50

[normalbloke]

There was a chap on here who had a well documented major engine failure on a BMW. This was with one of the biggest aftermarket ‘warranty’ companys. He did eventually get a payout, but had to fight tooth and nail up and above what your average person would have the patience,knowledge,skill and finances to see through. I say well documented right up tot the point of the NDA. Not sure if the thread was removed or just allowed to fade away….

[Krikkit]

normalbloke said:

...Not sure if the thread was removed or just allowed to fade away….

It was binned by PH early on, then he moved it to a blog which went in the bin once the NDA was signed.

[Speed1283]

As others have said, get a manufacturer backed warranty or don't bother at all.

The price noted earlier in the thread seemed pretty reasonable for an S4 to me, my BMW warranty is too expensive really, but peace of mind and all that... Typically the 6 series has been faultless, no doubt the moment I cancel something catastrophic will happen!