Warranty. What would you do?

Sam_Boss260 · 17-02-2008, 01:26 AM

Ok, have a scenario about buying a 2005 XR8 with 34,000 km's.

The dealer is nearly an hour and 20 minutes away from my house.

They offer 3 year warranty's on all their cars, but it means that you must service them at there.

The car in question still has 4 months of new car warranty left.

Would you just use the 4 months as the warranty and forget about servicing it there after that?

Or would you get the extended manufacturers warranty at a cost of $1,700 and be covered by this?

Very interested in what people think or if anyone has had a similir situation.

The Yeti · 17-02-2008, 07:34 AM

I'm assuming this is not a ford Dealer, as I know i purchased a used ford once and it came with a ford etended used car warranty basicaly it was jsut a drive line warranty, but I could take it to any ford dealer and the warranty was still valid.

As a Mechanic I have seen plenty of people burnt with the dealer extended warrantys I wont mention names but one delt with was a shonk I ended up havign a policy that if we were doing this work we let the customer know they were liable for th ecost of the repair upon compleation and that we would submit there claim having the payment from th ecompany sent to them.

These types of extended warrnetys arent worth 2 nobs of goat sh!t as they generaly only cover drive line and even then they get real pushy on the "Normal whare and tare" clause, also read the fine print on some seals and gaskets arnt coverd + you will find on some of them there is an excess on every claim and you will be responcable for the cost of oils and coolants required for the repair + if the repair takes the components condition to better than that of normal for make model and distance traveled you MAY be required to pay a prorata cost to the repair

personaly think the car has 4 months New car warranty left thats really about it, if your conserned that you may have issues then the $1700 may b a better option

Cashie · 17-02-2008, 08:51 AM

Buy the car, get a full end of Warranty check by RAC and get any issues sorted out.
The dealer warranties aren't worth "2 knobs of goat sh!t" as Yeti pointed out.
If you really want a warranty, get the extended Ford warranty.

OLDFORDNUT · 17-02-2008, 09:35 AM

just finished reading a $1100 warranty for mates secondhand X Trail ,the warranty was sent to him by dealer at Nissan here in Hervey Bay,i was amazed at all the exclusions in small print and it also had a $600 excess on each claim as well as a $2000 maximum payout ,when i pointed the crap out to him he could not believe it as basically if they actually found any fault they also had rough treatment get out of jail free clause they could use ,not worth the paper its written on,just a joke when you consider just a clutch replacement on an X Trail costs $2000,imagine trying to prove you did not ride the clutch ,not a chance of them paying out.

fmc351 · 17-02-2008, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicholas

just finished reading a $1100 warranty for mates secondhand X Trail ,the warranty was sent to him by dealer at Nissan here in Hervey Bay,i was amazed at all the exclusions in small print and it also had a $600 excess on each claim as well as a $2000 maximum payout ,when i pointed the crap out to him he could not believe it as basically if they actually found any fault they also had rough treatment get out of jail free clause they could use ,not worth the paper its written on,just a joke when you consider just a clutch replacement on an X Trail costs $2000,imagine trying to prove you did not ride the clutch ,not a chance of them paying out.

I can see it now, any quote for a particular repair not under warranty will be say $650, while if under the warranty the same repair will be $570.

Any repair bill that should be $1500 with additional repairs being required to other parts, will quickly increase to absorb as much of the $2000 and watch the warranty holder get stung on the additional repair costs.

I dont know how they get away with calling that a warranty? Is more like repair insurance with terrible coverage.

"We cover any repair, when caused by a heard of elephants stampeding in Australia during a snow storm on the 29th of February".

cupic · 17-02-2008, 08:42 PM

just keep the remainder warranty as said previously and get it checked out.

extended warranty isn't worth squat

imagine the service cost @ fraud in 3yrs time minimum $1000

Bent8 · 17-02-2008, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam_XR6

Ok, have a scenario about buying a 2005 XR8 with 34,000 km's.

The dealer is nearly an hour and 20 minutes away from my house.

They offer 3 year warranty's on all their cars, but it means that you must service them at there.

The car in question still has 4 months of new car warranty left.

Would you just use the 4 months as the warranty and forget about servicing it there after that?

Or would you get the extended manufacturers warranty at a cost of $1,700 and be covered by this?

Very interested in what people think or if anyone has had a similir situation.

Hi Sam, if it's an AHG warranty you're talking about then here's the deal...

They're good for 3yrs or 175,000km, whichever comes 1st, so if the car you're buying has done 100,000km already, then you have 3yrs or 75,000km till it runs out.

Now, there's 2 types of AHG warranties, there's the standard (free) one which really doesn't cover much at all, then you have the premium warranty which covers everything except the interior trim (fabrics, plastics etc).

You're only covered for $2k per claim but you can make an unlimited number of claims...

Cheers

Creampuff · 17-02-2008, 08:59 PM

Sam, forget the extra warranty. Enjoy your 4 months, get a final "once over" then find a reliable mechanic from then on !! We catching up on the weekend?

Sam_Boss260 · 17-02-2008, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cashie

Buy the car, get a full end of Warranty check by RAC and get any issues sorted out.
The dealer warranties aren't worth "2 knobs of goat sh!t" as Yeti pointed out.
If you really want a warranty, get the extended Ford warranty.

What is this "end of warranty check" by RAC?

Never heard of it.

Sam_Boss260 · 17-02-2008, 11:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Creampuff

Sam, forget the extra warranty. Enjoy your 4 months, get a final "once over" then find a reliable mechanic from then on !! We catching up on the weekend?

Ahh.... remind me. We were catching up what day? Sorry dude... have forgotten. What were yours days off this week?

Ringo · 18-02-2008, 02:02 PM

The only warranty's worth anything are the one that are NOT dealer specific.

Dealer specific ones are all about making you loyal to the dealership for all your servicing. The dealer spreads their risk across all the vehicles they can sell with their warranty. The kicker is that it is someone at the dealer who makes the call as to if a claim will be honoured or not. Also the fine print will probably make interesting reading seeing you know one end of the car from another.

Wood ducks get suckered into spending $ for 'piece of mind' with these deals.

If it was me I wouldn't get either, use the 4 months then take the risk of having to pay something IF something went wrong. You could have $1000 worth of work needing to be done in that time and still be $700 better off.

Yellow_Festiva · 18-02-2008, 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sam_XR6

What is this "end of warranty check" by RAC?

Never heard of it.

I would assume it's a bit like a car inspection you may order if you were going to buy a second hand car.

Any faults or damage found and recorded on the report can be used to back a claim you have. You would do this perhaps in the last month before your warranty expires.

cycle myth · 19-02-2008, 10:47 AM

I've had close dealings on warranties whether, Dealer specific, manufacturer etc and the comments above are pretty spot on.

The only ones worth buying are the ones by branded by the manufacturer and even then you need to be wary of the credibility of the underwriter (insurer) behind the process.

The fine print is concerning. The attitude of the underwriter worse sometimes.

I would make sure its good before you buy with a good inspection - check it again before the warranty runs out. If you want peace of mind look at a manufacturers warranty only and weigh up the value.

Dealer backed warranty programs could be called a funding program for the Dealer's Riviera 48 at best.

Sam_Boss260 · 19-02-2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cycle myth

I've had close dealings on warranties whether, Dealer specific, manufacturer etc and the comments above are pretty spot on.

The only ones worth buying are the ones by branded by the manufacturer and even then you need to be wary of the credibility of the underwriter (insurer) behind the process.

The fine print is concerning. The attitude of the underwriter worse sometimes.

I would make sure its good before you buy with a good inspection - check it again before the warranty runs out. If you want peace of mind look at a manufacturers warranty only and weigh up the value.

Dealer backed warranty programs could be called a funding program for the Dealer's Riviera 48 at best.

Yep, that is the approach that I am taking. RACQ inspection now, then one of their Warranty inspections before the warranty expires.

Cooper69S · 20-02-2008, 01:46 AM

I once had a fortron warranty on a EF mont and turned out to be pretty good value (cost $1000 claimed about $4k) except that the ford dealer busted a coupla things that cost me a $70 excess each time when they put it down to warranty claims. they should have fixed it themselves at their own cost but i wouldn't have been able to prove it was their fault.
they're (fortron) not in business any more but some warranties might still be worth buying just check the fine print as everyone else has said. you're likely to be safer with ones that claim to cover everything the manufacturer covered.
I've been told that a dealer cannot force you to get your car serviced there in order to honour a warranty - to deny a claim after you had you car serviced elsewhere, they'd have to prove that the servicing had been sub-standard and caused the fault otherwise they need to honour the warranty. not being a lawyer i dunno if thats actually true but it sounds fair...

cycle myth · 20-02-2008, 05:34 PM

Be careful.

In some cases a Dealer doesn't have to honor the warranty if you service elsewhere.

This is because they are normally giving it to you for free - and they get return through service loyalty. The trick is in reality the warranty is free as its not really worth anything.

Don't be fooled this is a service retention program for the dealer rather than protection for you.

TurboUteris · 20-02-2008, 09:30 PM

Sam,
One thing many people don't realise is that the extended warranty offered for $1700 is always negiotable.The dealer always has a mark up on these of approx half.So haggle a bit with the finance dude over the price.
Also as everybody has already said dealer warranties are usually just a way of getting you back for service and arn't worth much.But the extended Ford one is ok (underwritten by swan i think) as long as you dont modify anything,and the car has a perfect service history aswell,and you still may need authorisation from the selling dealer to service elsewhere.
Another thing is you can cancel or transfer the warranty when or if you decide to sell this car in the future.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

JC · 21-02-2008, 02:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TurboUteris

Sam,
One thing many people don't realise is that the extended warranty offered for $1700 is always negiotable.The dealer always has a mark up on these of approx half.So haggle a bit with the finance dude over the price.
Also as everybody has already said dealer warranties are usually just a way of getting you back for service and arn't worth much.But the extended Ford one is ok (underwritten by swan i think) as long as you dont modify anything,and the car has a perfect service history aswell,and you still may need authorisation from the selling dealer to service elsewhere.
Another thing is you can cancel or transfer the warranty when or if you decide to sell this car in the future.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

All good advice except for the last bit (sort of). Ford Factory warranty can be transferred from one owner to the next. But, depending on the type of warranty, the Ford extended warranty CANNOT be transferred - it expires once the owner who took out the extra warranty sells the vehicle; whether that's 12 months old or halfway through the extended period. Basically, if you buy a car with say 5 years warranty (and they come with 3 years from factory), that warranty is more than likely UNABLE to be transferred. If you extend the factory warranty prior to the end of the factory warranty period, then this is usually transferable, but best to check with the dealer and get the response in writing.