Car extended warranties - worth it?

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Removed User 11 Jan 2021

I *hate* buying cars - no expertise, no interest, grudge purchase.

However, old car died; buying a just-under-2-year old replacement. 

Comes with the remainder of a 3 year manufacturer warranty (Ford).

Options:

- No extension

- "Ford Protect" for 1, 2 or 3 additional years at c. £300, £450, £550

- Dealer (Car Giant) warranty for 1, 2, 3 years at £500, £650, £800

Any opinions?

I'm starting from "anything big will have already come out in the wash and got fixed (it's 5,000 miles) and the warranties are products to drive margins so I should steer away", but prepared to be persuaded.

Thanks for the advice.

 elliot.baker 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I'd check what they include because I know a few years back my mate had a Focus and something went wrong with the gear box and it wasn't covered under the extended warranty and he was livid. For sure I don't think everything is included. 

I probably wouldn't do it, but then if I was buying a car I would highly prioritise reliability when picking a model / year, so I would hope to not have any big repair bills anyway, statistically.

 CurlyStevo 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I would think the approx one year warranty you have is enough to iron out any existing issues, after that you take the risk. A lot of warranties aren’t worth the paper they are written on and they can be very hard work to get to pay up, so watch out!

 robhorton 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I don't know anything about those products but I understand extended warranties tend to have rather less generous / have more restrictive terms then original ones so read the small print. That said, there's something to be for having some protection against something like a catastrophic engine failure.

 nikoid 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

Personally I wouldn't. There just seems to be too many loopholes. Eg a part fails and damages something else but the something else isn't covered. Or something fails but the thing that causes the failure isn't covered. 

The only time a car salesman has made me laugh was when he said: "Would you like the extended warranty sir? It covers everything apart from anything that goes wrong."

 Jamie Wakeham 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I wouldn't buy anything extra.  For the first six months you have the protection of the CRA 2015 - essentially the dealer would have to prove that the fault was not there when they sold it.  After that the onus switches to you to prove the fault was there at the time of sale, which is obviously a bit harder! 

But a two year old car with 5k on the clock isn't likely to go horrifically wrong, and if it does it'll probably be apparent straight away.  So keep the money and cross your fingers.

Any extended warranty is a gamble.  You are betting a stake of several hundred pounds that something will go wrong within that time frame (but ignoring the first six months when it would be fixed for free anyway).  If nothing goes wrong then you lose your stake.  If something does go wrong then your winnings are the repair cost.  The warranty companies know the odds very well and you can be sure they know it's in their favour.

The only time any insurance or warranty is a good gamble is if the payout is so great that it would be life-changing if you didn't have it covered.

J1234 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

We bought a Kia at 3 years, not that ace to drive TBH, but the wife is happy with it. I was gobsmacked when they replaced the exhaust FOC at 6 years 11 months FOC.

We did not buy a 2 year 6 month Ford eco boost at the same time because I considered that they are super well made but super complex and that if something went wrong after 12 months it would be mighty expensive, but the value of the car would mean you would have to mend it.

Having said that you rarely see cars broken down nowadays, so what is the actual risk you are insuring against and could you afford £3K if the engine dissolved after you have had the car for 13 months?

I hate buying cars, I always have a nagging feeling I have been diddled.

1
 ScraggyGoat 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I wouldn't buy the extended. 

The only question would be why has a young car been traded in.   If worried the other option would be to get the RAC or AA to do a pre-purchase car check (at your expense).

However I did this once on an old car, and it was a ticking box exercise and basically said don't buy it, whether its any better for a new car I couldn't say.

 Chris Craggs Global Crag Moderator 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

Run it for a year on the current warranty, then buy one 'off the shelf' if you suspect it might need it?

Chris

 CurlyStevo 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

I sort of see it like insuring phones, I never get it and in effect insure my self. I'm quite prepared to loose out occasionally but in the long run over many cars / phones I will probably win out. All the money I've saved means I could loose out a couple of times and it would already have paid for its self.

Removed User 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

Crikey!  UKC in historic, unprecedented outbreak of consensus!

Thanks all

 Toerag 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

Extended warranties often only cover parts and not labour, of which the latter is often super expensive.

 Ridge 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Removed UserBilberry:

Late to the party, but I wouldn't touch an extended warranty with a bargepole. The first clause probably excludes “faults arising from wear of components” or similar, which effectively renders it worthless.

 Ridge 11 Jan 2021
In reply to Ridge:

> Late to the party, but I wouldn't touch an extended warranty with a bargepole. The first clause probably excludes “faults arising from wear of components” or similar, which effectively renders it worthless.

Edit. Make sure the existing manufacturers warranty is transferred to you, if it's still registered to the previous owner it probably won't be valid, and you may well have a limited time to transfer it.


New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...