Buying a car warranty. Good idea?

[woof woof]

Years ago I bought a Lotus Elan SE and as Lotus had a patchy reputation when it was out of warranty I bought an aftermarket one for it. I can't remember where I got it from but as this was years ago maybe that doesn't matter.

Fast forward and I recently bought a RR Evoque. Again, these have a patchy reputation so I've been think about buying a warranty again. I had a quick google last night and after entering the reg and millage I got a quote of under £80 and that seems pretty tempting as if anything goes bang it's surely going to cost a lot more than that to fix.

So, has anyone bought an aftermarket warranty and if so are there any pitfalls or pointer at good ones?

Thanks in advance

 

[Deleted sulking member 63079]

Most aren't worth the paper they're written on as they'll exclude things that go wrong from wear and tear and you'd have to prove it wasn't. So if a turbo or anything went bang, depending on the age of the car, you'd have to try and prove that it died a lot earlier than expected.

And since your RR made it off the forecourt, it's lasted way longer than anyone would expect a RR to run for anyway.

 

[lindsay]

I did it, for a LR Discovery that was 4 years old, as I was nervous about suspension failure. The only issue I had was having to get repair approved by the warranty company before work could commence, which caused me several hours of stress and phone calls.

 

[Dale.]

I've only ever had the need to (try) use a car warranty in all my years of driving. It was a 'free' warranty that came with the car. Long story short, the car was a lemon although the problems weren't immediately apparent, like a faulty DPF, faulty injectors and a worn throttle body.

I got the problems diagnosed within the 6 months but when I approached the warranty company, they would make excuse afer excuse. One day they'd say they'd fix it, the next they wouldn't. Finding a garage that would take the work on was difficult too.

I gave up in the end, sold the car back to the trade, bought a newer one, licked my wounds, left a review on TrustPilot and moved on.

This is just my experience, it may be different for others but lesson learned for me.

 

[woof woof]

And since your RR made it off the forecourt, it's lasted way longer than anyone would expect a RR to run for anyway.

Deep sigh.... I suppose it's too much to hope for sensible adult replies.

The car has a full history and trawling though the physical and computer records reveals a good record for reliability, so far.

 

[Deleted sulking member 63079]

Deep sigh.... I suppose it's too much to hope for sensible adult replies.

The car has a full history and trawling though the physical and computer records reveals a good record for reliability, so far.

You got one, they generally try to get out of things stating wear and tear.

Sorry you don't have a sense of humour.

 

[woof woof]

I did it, for a LR Discovery that was 4 years old, as I was nervous about suspension failure. The only issue I had was having to get repair approved by the warranty company before work could commence, which caused me several hours of stress and phone calls.

I've only ever had the need to (try) use a car warranty in all my years of driving. It was a 'free' warranty that came with the car. Long story short, the car was a lemon although the problems weren't immediately apparent, like a faulty DPF, faulty injectors and a worn throttle body.

I got the problems diagnosed within the 6 months but when I approached the warranty company, they would make excuse afer excuse. One day they'd say they'd fix it, the next they wouldn't. Finding a garage that would take the work on was difficult too.

I gave up in the end, sold the car back to the trade, bought a newer one, licked my wounds, left a review on TrustPilot and moved on.

This is just my experience, it may be different for others but lesson learned for me.

Thanks. I'm still googling and just to balance out that quote I got for under £80 I've just had another for £3,085

It seems like this could be a lottery.

 

[f/2.8]

Deep sigh.... I suppose it's too much to hope for sensible adult replies.

The car has a full history and trawling though the physical and computer records reveals a good record for reliability, so far.

To be fair it is renowned for being one of the most unreliable modern cars.

Warranty will cover some things but as mentioned above they will always try and weasel out by playing the wear and tear card.

Like with any car you pays your money and takes your chance.

My wee bro has an Evoque with superb history and has spent a clean fortune on it with everything the clutch to suspension causing problems.

On the flip side of the coin a friend has one with dubious history and has had no bother with hers at all.

Stick 5k in an account you don’t use just in case and keep your fingers crossed.

 

[lindsay]

The problem is that as the car gets older, the degree of warranty cover reduces. It really is a lottery I'm afraid. Might be better off getting an AA or RAC inspection?

 

[mj4456]

£80 seems very cheap for a warranty on that, I paid more to the the warranty company when working in the trade for sales cars.

 

[woof woof]

To be fair it is renowned for being one of the most unreliable modern cars.

Warranty will cover some things but as mentioned above they will always try and weasel out by playing the wear and tear card.

Like with any car you pays your money and takes your chance.

My wee bro has an Evoque with superb history and has spent a clean fortune on it with everything the clutch to suspension causing problems.

On the flip side of the coin a friend has one with dubious history and has had no bother with hers at all.

Stick 5k in an account you don’t use just in case and keep your fingers crossed.

I looked into this and I started a thread here some time back and LR cars were slated but interestingly people slating them happily recommended Audi and BMW models which at the time I looked them up were the only things you could buy which were more unreliable than a RR. I recently asked questions on a car forum and one BMW owner reported that his wife's car reported suspension and auto lights failure and the car informed BMW who then rang him but in the meantime he'd turned the car off and on again and everything was fine. Others reported either multiple issues or relatively issue free ownership with some even running these as company cars with no issues. What I've taken from this is that any of these cars from a UK or European maker can be a lottery. The Koreans and Japanese cars are possibly better sorted.

The problem is that as the car gets older, the degree of warranty cover reduces. It really is a lottery I'm afraid. Might be better off getting an AA or RAC inspection?

I've had the car looked at twice now. Once by my usual garage and once by an independent specialist. They both said it was ok but of course who knows what tomorrow might bring?

I bought it because I've been a car fanatic since I was a boy but have mostly had two seat open cars. I have had hatchbacks and saloons as company cars and I've owned a couple too so a SUV style 4x4 is just about the last thing on the list before I get older and go back to a small hatchback as my last car. So far I'm loving it.

 

[woof woof]

£80 seems very cheap for a warranty on that, I paid more to the the warranty company when working in the trade for sales cars.

Yup. I agree. If I do go for a warranty I'll need to do a lot more research.

 

[Gav.]

Save your money and use it against any repairs needed would be my advice

 

[Deleted sulking member 63079]

To be fair it is renowned for being one of the most unreliable modern cars.

Warranty will cover some things but as mentioned above they will always try and weasel out by playing the wear and tear card.

Like with any car you pays your money and takes your chance.

My wee bro has an Evoque with superb history and has spent a clean fortune on it with everything the clutch to suspension causing problems.

On the flip side of the coin a friend has one with dubious history and has had no bother with hers at all.

Stick 5k in an account you don’t use just in case and keep your fingers crossed.

A friend bought a brand new disco sport, it needed 3 complete new engines in the first 12 months, she was just given her money back in the end.

 

[Deleted sulking member 63079]

£80 seems very cheap for a warranty on that, I paid more to the the warranty company when working in the trade for sales cars.

Yeah, I'd be looking at reviews etc against the warranty company before making any decision. I looked at it when I bought my previous car, and most people were complaining about all the hoops you had to jump through and ways they got out of paying, so decided it was easier to just make sure I had the money in the bank.

 

[f/2.8]

I looked into this and I started a thread here some time back and LR cars were slated but interestingly people slating them happily recommended Audi and BMW models which at the time I looked them up were the only things you could buy which were more unreliable than a RR. I recently asked questions on a car forum and one BMW owner reported that his wife's car reported suspension and auto lights failure and the car informed BMW who then rang him but in the meantime he'd turned the car off and on again and everything was fine. Others reported either multiple issues or relatively issue free ownership with some even running these as company cars with no issues. What I've taken from this is that any of these cars from a UK or European maker can be a lottery.

Tbh most modern cars don't have that high a failure rate. The main issues with the Evoque model in particular is that the failure rates are quite high for most expensive things, engine, gearbox, clutch and major electrical failure with high costs to fix are common.

Some Audi models have high fault rates as well but they tend to be more minor less expensive issues to fix. The same also applies to other cars in the V.A.G group. Things like the water pump is common for example with the A4, Golf GTI etc.

Can't really comment on B.M.W, I have had 4 of them and never had any major issues with any of them.

A friend bought a brand new disco sport, it needed 3 complete new engines in the first 12 months, she was just given her money back in the end.

Wow! That is horrendous bad luck.

Although the Disco does have a rep, maybe that effects the Evoque as well as they are built on the same platform and share a lot of parts..

 

[woof woof]

I think with reliability some people do seem to suffer more and as I said in the other thread I seem to be more on the lucky side as I tend to use things a bit more sympathetically than some others and I do think that people play a part in some failures and reliability issues. Some people will bust just about anything.

Yes, I could have bought a Toyota or a Lexus or a Nissan or a Hyundai but I didn't so can we at least try and keep this on topic as I know and have looked into the various failure rates in the past.

 

[taxboy]

That £80 warranty seems very cheap. I'd have a look at the terms and conditions closely plus is there any excess on each claim or a cap on the value of the repair ?

I had a look on the AA site assuming they would be a good benchmark and they give some indicative prices much higher than that. It depends if you feel you want to buy some safety blanket with the car or are prepred to self insure by putting aside some money each month should the worst happen. Personally I've always gone down the self insure route once the manufacturer warranty has expired; my thinking is that I've had the car during the length of the warranty so have got a feel of how reliable or otherwise it should be in the future.

How long a warranty is the seller giving with the car ?

 

[woof woof]

That £80 warranty seems very cheap. I'd have a look at the terms and conditions closely plus is there any excess on each claim or a cap on the value of the repair ?

I had a look on the AA site assuming they would be a good benchmark and they give some indicative prices much higher than that. It depends if you feel you want to buy some safety blanket with the car or are prepred to self insure by putting aside some money each month should the worst happen. Personally I've always gone down the self insure route once the manufacturer warranty has expired; my thinking is that I've had the car during the length of the warranty so have got a feel of how reliable or otherwise it should be in the future.

How long a warranty is the seller giving with the car ?

I think there was an excess but I can't remember. I'll obviously have to take a much closer look if I decide to buy one.

Some of these seem to include AA membership but I have that already so that needs looking into too.

I'm ok financially so that's not really the issue but I suppose none us like paying a lot out if there's an alternative At the mo these warranties are just a thought.

 

[JonathanRyan]

£80 is too cheap. It would barely pay for an hour of a mechanic's time. So I great it would mostly be the "that's not covered" kind.

Shopping around I got quoted about £800/year for mine. I'm likely to take cazoo's offer of roughly £250/ year including breakdown cover.

 

[woof woof]

£80 is too cheap. It would barely pay for an hour of a mechanic's time. So I great it would mostly be the "that's not covered" kind.

Shopping around I got quoted about £800/year for mine. I'm likely to take cazoo's offer of roughly £250/ year including breakdown cover.

Yup. but the fact that some of these include breakdown cover creates the suspicion that that just bumps up the cost. I don't know how much these warranty companies hidden charge is for breakdown cover but anyone with the AA possibly knows that what they charge you seems to be what you'll pay as my experience in recent years has been that I've got a discount and sometimes a massive one if I whinge and threaten to go elsewhere.

 

[mj4456]

We had a VW warranty on the wife’s Seat car, it was circa £190 per year on a low mileage usage but even one led headlight claim made up for a few years premiums, what an RR do for you on a maintenance/warranty plan ?

 

[woof woof]

We had a VW warranty on the wife’s Seat car, it was circa £190 per year on a low mileage usage but even one led headlight claim made up for a few years premiums, what an RR do for you on a maintenance/warranty plan ?

I don't know. Someone on another forum mentioned that RR will (or used to) warranty cars up to 10 years old / 100k miles as long as you had any recommended work done so that's probably something I should look into. In fact if that deal is still going it could be the best option but that could depend on if the car has to be serviced by an official dealer rather than an independent one as that could make quite a difference to the cost of servicing the car.

 

[Brentor]

Some Audi models have high fault rates as well but they tend to be more minor less expensive issues to fix. The same also applies to other cars in the V.A.G group. Things like the water pump is common for example with the A4, Golf GTI etc.

Does that include Skoda Octavias? Looks like mine has a problem as it occasionally overheats.

 

[gremlin16]

I got one when I bought my Skoda. I had a fault on the EGR valve. I read the booklet carefully before ringing them and thought I would be ok. I then called them, and they recorded the call 'for training purposes' and the lady said "Yes, no problem we can sort that."

I go ahead, get the work done, and lo and behold, they then say its not something they could cover. I asked for a a copy of the recorded phone conversation where I could prove that they had said they would cover it, and I have not heard a thing since.

Long story short, not worth a Truss.

 

[Brentor]

I put car warranties in the same category as extended warranties on electrical goods ie don’t touch with a barge pole. Perhaps a bit unfair as there are probably some good policies out there but you will not know until you claim.

 

[woof woof]

Maybe things have changed since I owned that Lotus Elan SE as everything seemed to go well but before I do any more research it looks from feedback here like these warranties could be a minefield. Maybe there are some good ones out there but they may be hard to find amongst the maybe more dubious ones I think it might be worth me asking about that 10 year / 100k miles JLR warranty and see if it's still being offered.

 

[f/2.8]

Does that include Skoda Octavias? Looks like mine has a problem as it occasionally overheats.

Yeah same platform. Octavia is also known for water pump issues. Octavia is just a Golf in new clothes.

 

[Dunkeld1962]

I got a warranty whe I bought my Subaru, there was an issue after a few weeks and the warranty company paid out £300 with no issues. It doesn't take much to eat up your money when it comes to car repairs. Do some homework, all warranty companies aren't rogues.

 

[woof woof]

I got a warranty whe I bought my Subaru, there was an issue after a few weeks and the warranty company paid out £300 with no issues. It doesn't take much to eat up your money when it comes to car repairs. Do some homework, all warranty companies aren't rogues.

Good advice Alec

The AA is quoting £784 or £856 depending on the cover. The RAC are cheaper at £618 but the details are not as clear as the one with the AA which looks to cover pretty much everything. I'll keep looking.

 

[JonathanRyan]

Yup. but the fact that some of these include breakdown cover creates the suspicion that that just bumps up the cost. I don't know how much these warranty companies hidden charge is for breakdown cover but anyone with the AA possibly knows that what they charge you seems to be what you'll pay as my experience in recent years has been that I've got a discount and sometimes a massive one if I whinge and threaten to go elsewhere.

I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if breakdown cost more than about £25 at wholesale prices.

It's essentially insurance with multiple firms competing for the book. Just like an extended warranty, tbh.

 

[Deleted sulking member 63079]

Does that include Skoda Octavias? Looks like mine has a problem as it occasionally overheats.

Yeah same engines in them so same potential issues. Timing belt change intervals are quite short on Skoda too (5 years for the 2.0 diesel)

 

[woof woof]

I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if breakdown cost more than about £25 at wholesale prices.

It's essentially insurance with multiple firms competing for the book. Just like an extended warranty, tbh.

Having slept on it I might just look a bit deeper into this but stick to known big names like JLR and the AA. Even that quote of £850 from the AA maybe looks reasonable for a years worry free motoring in what could potentially be a problematic and expensive car... even if many people have no problems with them. Like any car these day something big and expensive could go bang and if it does buying that warranty could have been a good move and even if nothing goes bang spending that much for peace of mind maybe seems quite reasonable

 

[gman]

If you can get an official approved warranty from JLR then it can be worth it (It might still be a 3rd party but so long as it's JLR you deal with then should be good. Won't be cheap though),

Otherwise, I would steer clear of 3rd party warranties. Quite often they will supply the part and it will be the cheapest, nastiest part possible. They also may not pay the full going labour rate or proper number of hours to get the repair done and you can end up with the garage wanting you to make up the shortfall.

 

[taxboy]

Having slept on it I might just look a bit deeper into this but stick to known big names like JLR and the AA. Even that quote of £850 from the AA maybe looks reasonable for a years worry free motoring in what could potentially be a problematic and expensive car... even if many people have no problems with them. Like any car these day something big and expensive could go bang and if it does buying that warranty could have been a good move and even if nothing goes bang spending that much for peace of mind maybe seems quite reasonable

You mentioned that you already have AA membership; don't forget if you go with the AA and the warranty comes with breakdown cover you can suspend your existing membership until the warranty ends and then reinstate it

 

[woof woof]

You mentioned that you already have AA membership; don't forget if you go with the AA and the warranty comes with breakdown cover you can suspend your existing membership until the warranty ends and then reinstate it

That's a thought

 

[welshwizard645]

If anyone is buying a used car then I'd direct them to a Vauxhall dealer - my Saab NG 9-5 I bought at 5.5 years old through Network Q (Slaters in Colwyn Bay) in early 2017 came with a 12 month warranty - turbo went in September of that year. Network Q honoured the warranty. It's called SpoTiCar now - why change? I was expecting something else to go (the timing chain), a known A20NFT issue but that is still ok 5 years later (as is the new turbo)...

When I had Vauxhalls I found their warranty cover excellent.

I would guess that an inexpensive third party warranty to support a fragile vehicle is probably money wasted. A couple of hundred spent at a reputable RR specialist to check over the car, and rectifying any issues would've been better.

Anyway I sincerely hope you have no issues and enjoy many trouble-free years with the Evoque.

 

[woof woof]

I would guess that an inexpensive third party warranty to support a fragile vehicle is probably money wasted. A couple of hundred spent at a reputable RR specialist to check over the car, and rectifying any issues would've been better.

Anyway I sincerely hope you have no issues and enjoy many trouble-free years with the Evoque.

The car has been looked over twice. Once by the non specialist garage I usually use which has a number of customers with Evoque's and once at an independent specialist with a good reputation. Both said it looked good and had been cared for and it has a full service history. But you never know So I just might buy a warranty, just in case

I wasn't really bothered where I bought the car from but I really didn't want to travel too far so I googled and tried to choose dealers nearby. I don't remember seeing any at a V'hall dealer but I suppose they do crop up there from time to time so it's just timing and luck really. I saw a nice LR Discovery at a local dealer today and it's a lovely colour, at the time I was looking though, Evoque's were a bit thin on the ground and none came up at my local V'hall dealer.

 

[cosmicma]

if your RR has the 2.0l ingenium diesel engine get a decent warranty you might very well need it
a friend of mine has that engine in a Jaguar XE and it's not the most reliable engine out there

 

[woof woof]

if your RR has the 2.0l ingenium diesel engine get a decent warranty you might very well need it
a friend of mine has that engine in a Jaguar XE and it's not the most reliable engine out there

It's been reliable to date so fingers crossed it doesn't read your post and get ideas of breaking down