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The TOP TEN aftermarket warranty claims

grober

MB Master
Joined
Jun 22, 2003
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Location
Perth, Scotland
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W204 ESTATE
Here are the top ten warranty claims according to AUTOPROTECT and PARKERS web site. The reliability survey, which was carried out between 2008 and 2010, covered cars that were outside of their original warranty period. More than 155,562 claims were recorded during this time and the results were sorted by the number of faults per category. The number of claims is followed by the average cost of repair. I have to say some of the prices appeared to be on the lowish side for Mercs but bear in mind its averaged across all makes and does give an indication of the nature of the failures.

1. Sensors - 8,681 claims. £125.46.

2. Alternators - 8,061 claims. £239.30.

3. Electric window motors - 7,633 claims. £203.41

4. Central locking systems - 7,061 claims. £144.21

5. Cylinder head gaskets - 6,991 claims. £373.32

6. Switches - 6,429 claims. £111.79

7. Starter motors - 5,973 claims. £193.52

8. Ignition coils - 5,734 claims. £102.19

9. Water pumps - 4,313 claims. £187.61

10. Coil springs - 4,060 claims. £111.10

The top ten car warranty claims - Parkers
 
Suprising the number of head gaskets? down to owners perhaps? springs are probably down to shocking roads and pot holes.
 
This means that for the 64,936 claims in the top 10 category the average repair cost was £183.56 (during the survey's two years).

I am a little puzzled though as to Cylinder head gasket claims averaging a mere £373.32?
 
This means that for the 64,936 claims in the top 10 category the average repair cost was £183.56 (during the survey's two years).

I am a little puzzled though as to Cylinder head gasket claims averaging a mere £373.32?

Maybe they were all fiat pandas? :crazy:
 
Maybe they were all fiat pandas? :crazy:

You are not entirely wrong... as a scientific study, the data would be meaningless for several reasons. The most important is that it does not represent a random sample - it represents the average cost of repair among those people who opted for a third-party aftermarket warranty. You may well speculate that people with unreliable models - or just bad examples - are more likely to purchase such warranty.
 
I assume that your original post was based on generic details and not specific makes - which would have been more interesting, so my targeting fiats may have been a bit unfair on fiats - mainly because my youngest has a Punto and a Panda, both having proved really reliable - on the other hand, my oldest's V/Haul Corsa was totally unreliable from new, as was his previous Renaults.
 
It is noticeable that many of the faults are electrical in nature - reflecting perhaps the unfriendly environment presented to electrical components in cars and their increasing electrical complexity. Spring breakages are definitely down to poor manufacturing standards and the proliferation of traffic calming measures and potholes. Likewise it surely not without the remit of engineering science to produce a reliable water pump? Perhaps their incorporation into the valvetrain via the cambelt in many models and making them out of plastic might have something to do with it? [are you listening VAG?]
Cylinder head gasket failure imho is almost certainly due to the widespread use of disparate metals in the block [cast/grey iron] and cylinder head [aluminium alloy] Whereas crude engines -all iron or sophisticated ones-- all alloy don't seem to have the same problem- although they come with other problems such as weight ,poor heat transfer and corrosion issues.
 
..Cylinder head gasket failure imho is almost certainly due to the widespread use of disparate metals in the block [cast/grey iron] and cylinder head [aluminium alloy] Whereas crude engines -all iron or sophisticated ones-- all alloy don't seem to have the same problem- although they come with other problems such as weight ,poor heat transfer and corrosion issues.

This is probably the case, as well as the fact that once out of warranty and main dealer service many owners just carry-out the minimum servicing but conveniently ignore the 'additional items' - such as ATF change, brake fluid change, and more crucially in this case - coolant change. Rover - while admitting there was indeed a problem by providing a modified gasket - always maintained that if K-Series owners changed coolant regularly and according to schedule the problem would not have occurred in the first place.

I suppose that this is the result of typical short term ownerships - let's chance it for another year and then leave the problem to the next owner. One of the other main killers (on non-MB cars) of older cars is through the neglect of the (sometimes rather expensive) timing-belt change...
 
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Should they not also publish their Top Ten reasons for weedling out of legitimate claims.

From Auto Protect to me. "Our phone system had a power down and that is why you could not get through to us. We will not pay your claim because you did not contact us (on our non-working phone system) for authorisation" This despite keeping the parts and the receipts and the garage offering to speak to them. "We have now checked the records on our non-working powered down phone system. We can see that you did not try and contact us (big lie - I did).

So if you like dealing with liars and cheats give them a call - assuming their phone system is working

Oh - they then wrote to me last week asking if I would like to renew their warranty.

Should I upgrade to - Chocolate Fireguard Protection.
Stick with the - Ashtray On a Motorbike Package.
Or down-grade to - Teabag Condom Status.

So well done Auto(not)Protect Customer Warranty. You are the true stars in the market.
 
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My car is under a third party warranty and so far they have been very good at paying out for repairs... the big problem has been getting authorisation for the work to be done. I have had the car in the dealer for 8 working days before they were given authority to proceed with work and only then after an inspection by an engineer appointed by the warranty company. The work took 2 hours once authorised.

Then, after me settling with the garage it took 2 weeks to get money back.

But, on balance, to me it is worth the peace of mind.
 
I have not had an aftermarket warranty in the last ten years.

That last one was put on a car by Dixons and was a 3 year unlimited mileage warranty, and was very comprehensive. I had it on a Pug 406 which was nearly new when I bought it and in 2.5 years I ran up to 110k. Warranty company paid out for Head Gasket, Electric Window Motor and a fuel pipe. They kept a very tight control on labour costs and some garages did not deal with them because of this.

Sadly I have not been convinced by any of the modern warranty providers so now hope for the best...
 
Should they not also publish their Top Ten reasons for weedling out of legitimate claims.

From Auto Protect to me. "Our phone system had a power down and that is why you could not get through to us. We will not pay your claim because you did not contact us (on our non-working phone system) for authorisation" This despite keeping the parts and the receipts and the garage offering to speak to them. "We have now checked the records on our non-working powered down phone system. We can see that you did not try and contact us (big lie - I did).

So if you like dealing with liars and cheats give them a call - assuming their phone system is working

You should make a complaint to the FSA. They get charged £500.
 
My car is under a third party warranty and so far they have been very good at paying out for repairs... the big problem has been getting authorisation for the work to be done. I have had the car in the dealer for 8 working days before they were given authority to proceed with work and only then after an inspection by an engineer appointed by the warranty company. The work took 2 hours once authorised.

Then, after me settling with the garage it took 2 weeks to get money back.

But, on balance, to me it is worth the peace of mind.

Which firm are you using?

Glad to hear they'll pay out, but the delay isn't acceptable - do they have a service standard which they say they will adhere to?
 
I use warranty direct with their extra care policy, although they have said, given the age and mileage of my car, they will not allow me to renew on this level of cover next year... I'll review my options then if I still have the car.
 
This means that for the 64,936 claims in the top 10 category the average repair cost was £183.56 (during the survey's two years).

I am a little puzzled though as to Cylinder head gasket claims averaging a mere £373.32?

I think you will find that this is the average amount paid out by the warranty company, which proves just how good they are at side stepping the full bill.

Incidentally, a friend of mine worked for a large gasket set supplier, and he said the companies head gasket kit sales were made up by something like a third for Rover K series engines. In other words a third of all the headgaskets they sold were for one type, the K series.

A blown K series would cost atleast £2.5-3k to repair. Ask any Lotus Elise or MGF owner.
 

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