Aftermarket warranties

[ninja_eli]

Are aftermarket warranties worthwhile? Has anyone ever had experience of one and were they worthwhile? Did they pay up or was there some kind of get out clause that rendered it worthless when time came for action?

[McNab]

Eli,

The useless answer to this question is "Yes and No" and that isn't much help to you. An extended warranty on a car which you bought new is worthwhile, but the others are a bit questionable.

Do you know any franchise well enough to wander in and collar the Service Manager for a few minutes chat? It would be a valuable indicator because the Service Manager is the man who carries the can for all warranty claims of every sort, and he has to argue his way through the jungle on the customer's behalf.

My inclination is "No" but I will talk to a couple of friends who own, respectively, Audi and BMW franchises, and see what they say.