car warranty

[bearder2006]

My mb one will be coming to end next month
Who do you use ?
Are the others company's as good as mb ?
Value for money ?
How much would you expect to pay

 

[ras8963]

Personally I don't have one on cars beyond any manufacturers warranty as supplied with the car at purchase....I guess its just a choice thing but i'm happy to have bit of a gamble and pay costs as they arise.......Wifey on the other hand always renews warranties.......

Have you investigated the costs of extending the MB warranty against one provided by the online providers, "warranty direct" etc etc?

The cynic in me imagines these providers make money out of the "service" so the law of averages must be on my side......but as I suggested, its a gamble.

ATB

 

[Giantvanman]

I read somewhere that the attrition rate (did not pay out) with warranty companies is high. If a warranty is warrantied or wanted, I would pick the manufacturer's extended warranty every time.

 

[jatinkhera]

hi there,
there are companies offering warranties, but usually they have a cap on the claim (max amount pay out) and compulsory access per claim
make sure you read the policy and go for zero access policy

 

[ian1676]

I've always found anything other than a manufacturers warranty to be utterley worthless! They only cover "sudden and unexpected failure" so anything like bearings, bushes, ball joints, a/c compressors aren't covered as they've just worn out/seals failed due to age. Anything that might suddenly and unexpectedly fail is usually specifically excluded! You're paying for the peace of mind that their claims people will reassure you that you're gonna have to foot the bill = no warranty!

 

[bearder2006]

I suppose it's down to cost then

 

[Jagogen]

My mb one will be coming to end next month
Who do you use ?
Are the others company's as good as mb ?
Value for money ?
How much would you expect to pay

Hi,
I took a two year RAC warranty when I bought my used w209. I was explained that are a few different levels of covers. Level one is for only major breakdowns such as engine, gearbox or transmission failure but nothing else. This will start at around £200 per year as the likelyhood of this happening is low.
The next level of cover include things like starter motor, water pump, timing belt, alternator, steering pump etc. This will be around £300-£400 a year.
The third level covers any mechanical failure except consumables such as tyres, brakes, suspensions etc. This is more similar to the original manufacture warranty but will cost north of £500 a year. Need to be very careful with the terms though and the price with vary with model. Usually you would get a warranty for a short time when you buy an expensive used car to protect your investment since you do not know how well it was cared for. I am not sure they are worth in the long terms. Most of breakdowns are avoided with regular servicing and care. If you get a more serious breakdown, the money you will spend will probably equal the cost of the warranty.

 

[flango]

From my years of dealing with 3rd party warranty companies from a repairers point of view one stands head and shoulders above the rest and that Is warranty direct. RAC are hopeless and difficult to deal with and IMHO. Their engineers don't have the depth of knowledge of some of the better ones

Sent from my iPhone using MBClub UK

 

[bearder2006]

Might give them a try then

 

[blue gnome123]

Warranty direct were very straight forward to deal with when I used them on my previous car.

 

[jaymanek]

Yes I think they are the best public facing company, they seem to be no nonsense... all of the other car warranties deal mainly through car dealers and so they generally hide behind them..

 

[Charles Morgan]

Might give them a try then

Just make sure when you ask for a quote online to opt out of them contacting you.

They do, regularly.

If you opt out, they don't.

 

[blue gnome123]

Oh and don't take the first quote.

 

[bearder2006]

I'll post prices when i do it

 

[bearder2006]

700 one year and1000 for 2 years was about the price quoted

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

I have warranty direct trying to call me every day now...each time I've been driving or busy so I couldn't chat to them.

They gave me a long chat a couple of weeks ago and I told them that in principle I might be interested, but that perhaps it might make more sense to spend the warranty amount on preventative maintenance.

Garages want you to spend the money on preventative maintenance, and warranty direct want you to take a warranty.

Until I decide, I'm doing nothing. It's a difficult choice to make.

 

[bearder2006]

I have warranty direct trying to call me every day now...each time I've been driving or busy so I couldn't chat to them. They gave me a long chat a couple of weeks ago and I told them that in principle I might be interested, but that perhaps it might make more sense to spend the warranty amount on preventative maintenance. Garages want you to spend the money on preventative maintenance, and warranty direct want you to take a warranty. Until I decide, I'm doing nothing. It's a difficult choice to make.

Might give them a call

 

[Pitts Pilot]

... I would pick the manufacturer's extended warranty every time.

+1

Admittedly it depends on your car.

My SL has ABC suspension that is known to be a potential problem.
It's £1,000 a corner to fix, so I pay for piece of mind with an MB Tier 1 warranty....

Robert

 

[markjay]

I did not take out a warranty when my car became 3 years old.

It is now 8 years old and so far only had a couple of very minor faults which were not expensive to fix.

The car is C180K 2006 W203 Auto.

This is my experience, hope this helps.

 

[ItalianTuneUp]

I like the peace of mind the warranty appears to offer, and it's true that I've had one quite expensive repair (£1500) to replace two front airmatic front struts. If I'd had the warranty, this would have saved me quite a lot.

Or would it? ...in order to get the full warranty that pays out 100%, warranty direct first need to go over your car with a fine-toothed comb before accepting your application. Obviously they don't want to insure against a heap, as that's expensive for them.

Therefore, on slightly older cars like mine that are more likely to have failing parts due to age, in order to get the warranty accepted in the first place, the car needs to be in fairly good condition. If they had seen my soon-to-fail cracked airmatic struts, they would probably have rejected my warranty application.

So, the warranty is not quite the bargain it seems at first. Perhaps the best way to look at the warranty is that it just provides peace of mind in the eventuality that something expensive breaks.

Maybe some, including myself view the warranty as a way to reduce maintenance costs...just let the warranty pay out on stuff that needs replacing, excepting consumables like brakes etc?

Any thoughts on this anyone?

It might be worth seeing if MB would be willing to offer me a warranty, but due to the age of the car they may not be interested.