Used car extended warranty - yes or no?

dbphoto

For the cost, adding AA 'Parts and Garage Cover' on to your usual breakdown policy is a simple and good solution, and it has saved me a good few thousand in the last 10 years or so.

goldtop

thomasross20 said:

Thoughts?

To be blunt: my thought is that I would not (in a million years) be buying a used Ford, with or without a warranty. Instead I'd buy a slightly older Japanese/Korean car which was still within its manufacturer's warranty period - e.g. Kia's 7-year warranty.

(I actually prefer to run older cars that are makes/models that have already earned their reputation for reliability. Daily driver is 18 years old, weekend car is 25 years old. Both are over-engineered Japanese marvels.)

BRISTOL86

To add some balance I’ve had 5 Fords over the years (soon to be 6!) of varying ages and specs and never spent a penny maintaining them beyond routine servicing and tyres etc. 

As to the extended warranty - don’t bother. Just a money spinner and basically not worth the paper they’re written on. 

ICBM

goldtop said:

To be blunt: my thought is that I would not (in a million years) be buying a used Ford, with or without a warranty. Instead I'd buy a slightly older Japanese/Korean car which was still within its manufacturer's warranty period - e.g. Kia's 7-year warranty.

My trusted garage mechanic would disagree with you - he says Fords are no less reliable than any other car on average and the parts are cheaper if they do go wrong, so overall usually a good buy. Japanese cars are generally more reliable but can be very expensive for parts if anything does go wrong. Obviously a transferrable manufacturer's warranty makes it a different kettle of fish, but be careful once it's gone.

That said I may soon be buying a Kia for my daughter, with three years warranty left on it, exactly for that reason...

Garthy

ICBM said:

goldtop said:

To be blunt: my thought is that I would not (in a million years) be buying a used Ford, with or without a warranty. Instead I'd buy a slightly older Japanese/Korean car which was still within its manufacturer's warranty period - e.g. Kia's 7-year warranty.

My trusted garage mechanic would disagree with you - he says Fords are no less reliable than any other car on average and the parts are cheaper if they do go wrong, so overall usually a good buy. Japanese cars are generally more reliable but can be very expensive for parts if anything does go wrong. Obviously a transferrable manufacturer's warranty makes it a different kettle of fish, but be careful once it's gone.

That said I may soon be buying a Kia for my daughter, with three years warranty left on it, exactly for that reason...

Japanese cars can have fearsomely expensive parts, equal to German parts but in my experience  they hardly ever go wrong in the first place, unlike our German POS (multiple).

axisus

From what I've heard extended warranties are as a general rule a waste of money. Had a few in early years of marriage on certain things - expensive hoover, washing machine etc. All without exception were a waste of money. 

goldtop

ICBM said:

goldtop said:

To be blunt: my thought is that I would not (in a million years) be buying a used Ford, with or without a warranty. Instead I'd buy a slightly older Japanese/Korean car which was still within its manufacturer's warranty period - e.g. Kia's 7-year warranty.

My trusted garage mechanic would disagree with you - he says Fords are no less reliable than any other car on average and the parts are cheaper if they do go wrong, so overall usually a good buy. Japanese cars are generally more reliable but can be very expensive for parts if anything does go wrong. Obviously a transferrable manufacturer's warranty makes it a different kettle of fish, but be careful once it's gone.

That said I may soon be buying a Kia for my daughter, with three years warranty left on it, exactly for that reason...

One garage mechanic doesn't make a Summer (to mix a metaphor). JD Power survey is more reliable than anecdotal evidence, and therein Ford is still below average and way below the Japanese: http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2017-uk-vehicle-dependability-study

If/when you need them, you can also buy Japanese car parts direct from Japanese dealers (via Ebay, etc) to save £££s over the UK agent's crazy markup. Sent by courier from stock, where UK dealers don't even hold stock. (And Toyota/Honda UK dealers will even fit them for you.)

Bridgehouse

goldtop said:

JD Power survey is more reliable than anecdotal evidence, and therein Ford is still below average and way below the Japanese: http://www.jdpower.com/press-releases/2017-uk-vehicle-dependability-study

If/when you need them, you can also buy Japanese car parts direct from Japanese dealers (via Ebay, etc) to save £££s over the UK agent's crazy markup. Sent by courier from stock, where UK dealers don't even hold stock. (And Toyota/Honda UK dealers will even fit them for you.)

Funnily enough, after much procrastination, I’ve just bought a Volvo. They were joint first last year in JD Power - and I have to admit, given the miles I do, reliability was a big factor...

Garthy

Volvo make some great cars. I toyed with the idea of a facelift C30T5R but we decided it was a bit sensible shoes.

Bridgehouse

Garthy said:

Volvo make some great cars. I toyed with the idea of a facelift C30T5R but we decided it was a bit sensible shoes.

Got a new xc60 in the end - it’s massive, but built like a brick shithouse and a lot quicker than it has any right to be. Also the safety kit on it is ludicrous. 

hobbio

I'm a big believer in warranties... but I do sell new and used cars at a main dealer for a living.

I see all sides, from those that never need to claim (and therefore think it was a waste of money) to those that try to claim for something that isn't covered (accidental damage, for example) to those that don't have to fork out £5k for a new engine because they paid for the extended warranty.

It's one of those things that you hope you never need, but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Can you afford to replace your gearbox unexpectedly? I couldn't.

midlifecrisis

hobbio said:

I'm a big believer in warranties... but I do sell new and used cars at a main dealer for a living.

I see all sides, from those that never need to claim (and therefore think it was a waste of money) to those that try to claim for something that isn't covered (accidental damage, for example) to those that don't have to fork out £5k for a new engine because they paid for the extended warranty.

It's one of those things that you hope you never need, but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it. Can you afford to replace your gearbox unexpectedly? I couldn't.

if i sold them too, id probably believe in them also.  

RaymondLin

Unless it is main dealer warranty such as BMW comprehensive then I wouldn't bother. 

It's best putting that money on the side to fix the car. 

goldtop

hobbio said:

It's one of those things that you hope you never need, but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

Last heard at the height of the PPI boom. Now remind me ... how did that turn out?

hobbio

Lol, I expected those comments tbh, but I didn't want to cover anything up so I came clean about my role. Weigh up cost against risk and make your own mind up, and yes the actual warranty cover should be checked before purchase. If the Skoda warranty is a main dealer warranty then it should be decent cover. 

A warranty is not even close to PPI though!

hassleham

I paid for a Warranty Wise policy on my first car (9 year old fiesta). It cost me £100 for advanced cover for the first 6 months (to reduce the risk of buying a car and later finding out it was knackered) and saved me paying £230 when something went wrong with the water system.
Then the first 6 months finished and they started charging me £16 a month on more basic cover. For the next 6 months, nothing went wrong until my local garage accidentally broke a bearing when adjusting my hand brake, and then I talked them into covering the £65 of a new bearing and promptly cancelled my cover after that as it occurred to me that nothing else that could go wrong was likely to be covered due to the car being 10 years old.
Overall having the warranty did save me money and if I bought a newer, nicer car that was outside it's manufacturers warranty I would probably get one again. (Obviously, you need to check what the cover includes and decide if it's worth the risk based on what you're paying and what it'll cost if you don't have cover and something goes wrong)

I should also add that I thought that the WW customer service was very good. I never had to wait very long on hold, always spoke to someone based in the UK and they would always get back to me about a claim etc. on the same day I enquired.

midlifecrisis

its all very well telling people to check the warranty before they buy, but most people myself included dont know enough to understand that if a fault occurs, there's likely to be other faults associated, and we cant prove that such and such is this when the garage say its something else.
 I think the garages work on the assumption that if you're stupid enough to buy a warranty, you are stupid enough to be easily ripped off.

hobbio

Not everyone sees the benefit, and that's ok too. Just don't buy it.

Bridgehouse

Main dealers can be a different prospect tho. I bought a Seat which was out of manufacturers warranty from a Seat dealer. 

It had an issue that the dealer should have picked up on and sorted. They didn’t want to know. I rang Seat and let rip - 3 days later the car was picked up, loan car dropped off, and subsequently repaired and sorted FOC.

The dealer got quite the bollocking too..

hobbio

I'm only talking main dealer here, btw. I've only been in the trade at a main dealer so I have no experience of independent places or off the shelf third party warranties.