Tier 1 Warranty still valid

[millc63]

Hi guys and girls, I have a question about the Tier 1 extended warranty.

My C63 was stolen and has since been recovered, but the insurer are saying they won't pay to have it fixed at Brooklands and want to send it to their own approved repairer which uses genuine Mercedes parts, but the insurer (Admiral) save on the labour therefore bringing costs down.

My question is if the repair work is not done by Mercedes will it invalidate the warranty? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[WOODYTHEWISE]

I would give the warranty people a ring. Most of the warranty will cover electrical and mechanical items.
If it was my car I wouldn't even bother doing that unless a particular problem arose.

 

[Will]

Do Brooklands have their own bodyshop then? I assumed the insurance repair work would be contracted out. Or is there non-bodywork type damage?

At £150+ an hour I reckon it wouldn’t take a lot to write your W204 off at the main dealer.

 

[E53AMG]

Insurers cannot demand it goes elsewhere, stand your ground they will submit, been there and bought the T shirt, the most they can do is declare it a write off, highly unlikely with your car...

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

 

[markjay]

Insurers cannot demand it goes elsewhere, stand your ground they will submit, been there and bought the T shirt, the most they can do is declare it a write off, highly unlikely with your car...

As above. However:

(a) Insurers will usually say that they provide their own guarantee for the repair work if carried-out by their appointed repairer, but won't provide a guarantee if you use your own garage (or MB dealer), i.e. you'll have to rely on the dealer's guarantee and the insurer is out of the picture once they have paid the garage.

(b) Some insurers will impose higher excess if you use your own repairer.

But as long as you are OK with the above, stick to your guns and they'll have to let you get it repaired at the dealer.

(And don't forget that if any body repairs are involved and not carried-out by an approved MB body shop, you'll lose also the anti-rust warranty)

 

[millc63]

Hi guys, thanks for the responses, @markjay i am alright with all of those points, so will have to get them once they have assessed it at their own garage to send it to Mercedes Brooklands for the actual work. @SL500AMG i thought that might be the case, however, the insurer was adamant they wouldn't pay for the work there, so i got them to recover it to their own repairer so they could at least assess whether they were going to write it off or pay for the work to be completed, then have the argument about where the work gets done. @Will i see your point, but even if you take £150 * 20 hours work that's only £3,000 plus parts, so hopefully shouldn't be a write off.

 

[markjay]

Pose the following question to your insurer: to reinstate you to where you were before the insured incident occurred, how do they propose to reinstate the 30 years anti-rust warranty (assuming body work is involved)?

 

[Will]

What’s the damage to be repaired?

 

[millc63]

What’s the damage to be repaired?

still waiting on the full assessment, but initial checks indicate new suspension, brakes and possible chassis work required. May also require body work on the underside. Expecting a call later today to see if the full assessment has been completed.

 

[John]

As above. However:

(a) Insurers will usually say that they provide their own guarantee for the repair work if carried-out by their appointed repairer, but won't provide a guarantee if you use your own garage (or MB dealer), i.e. you'll have to rely on the dealer's guarantee and the insurer is out of the picture once they have paid the garage.

You should have a direct guarantee with the bodyshop you chose though wouldn't you?

(b) Some insurers will impose higher excess if you use your own repairer.

I imagine they will surreptitiously raise your premium too probably.

 

[millc63]

You should have a direct guarantee with the bodyshop you chose though wouldn't you?

I would, but that's no good if the bodyshop is rubbish and it has to keep going back to get work touched up/redone. Will just be getting the work done by mercedes or the insurer can pay me out and write the car off.

 

[markjay]

You should have a direct guarantee with the bodyshop you chose though wouldn't you?

Correct, and personally I prefer an MB dealer warranty to the insurer's warranty. But I thought I'd mention it because it's a still difference between the two options so worth knowing about.

I imagine they will surreptitiously raise your premium too probably.

Possibly, but if this happens then it will happen either way, regardless of where you choose to get the car fixed, i.e. it is not a particular downside of having the car repaired in one place rather than the other.

Also, when my wife's Renault was involved in an at-fault crash, I chose to have it repaired at the local Renault dealer rather then at the local Solus Accident Repair Centre (which is Aviva's own chain of body-shops).
I agreed to a £200 higher excess (as clearly stated in Aviva's policy, fair is fair) and agreed to waive Aviva's warranty, and I am happy to say that all went well

 

[John]

I would, but that's no good if the bodyshop is rubbish and it has to keep going back to get work touched up/redone. Will just be getting the work done by mercedes or the insurer can pay me out and write the car off.

I'm referring to using MB.

 

[millc63]

I'm referring to using MB.

oh, sorry my mistake, i read it as the insurer's bodyshop, either way you are right, lol!

 

[John]

Possibly, but if this happens then it will happen either way, regardless of where you choose to get the car fixed, i.e. it is not a particular downside of having the car repaired in one place rather than the other.

My point was more of a rant about insurance companies rather than suggesting a particular route may or may not increase the premium!

 

[ioweddie]

get it fixed and then flog it...I would not want to be driving around in a repaired car...we buy any car, com is your escape route

 

[millc63]

Insurance premium is bound to go up regardless. @ioweddie i'm not sure, if it's fixed i'd probably be alright driving it about, but only time would tell on that one. Still waiting for the car to be assessed, so never know, it might be a write off anyway.