Extened car warrantys

[rob4001]

Are independent extended car warrants any good or just throwing good money away. I've got my eye on a Golf GTI that I may buy it loses its warranty in July so was wondering if it is worth purchasing a 12 month warranty if I buy it.

Thanks

[staffsMike]

Like any warranty I suppose.. it's a waste if you don't end up using it but potentially very valuable if you do.

I'd check all the terms and conditions, does it have an upper limit of value, who carries out the work? etc..

If the car is 3 years old I shouldn't think anything major is going to go wrong (especially with a VAG car) and personally wouldn't bother with an extended warranty unless it was a) very cheap or b) from VW themselves or C) both (preferably).

[eshrules]

as above, check the T&C's and the claim limit, dealers are very good at awarding you with the uber platinum all singing warranty, until you come to claim and the warranty company inform you of the £500 claim limit, £500 doesn't go very far on a turbo replacement for instance.

[i4000]

Basically these independant extended car warranties are re-branded insurance policies, you should treat them as such, you are buying insurance against your car breaking down. Check the T&C's, specifically I would check the following:

• Authorised service centres, does the policy limit you to approved service centres, are you forced to use the dealer etc.?
  
• Excess payment, if you make a claim, what is the excess?
  
• Claims limit, is there a limit to the number of claims you can make during the policy period, is there a limit to the maximum amount you can claim (either per claim or in total)?
  
• Exclusions, what components are excluded? You will find that wear & tear items are excluded e.g. tyre & break wear, as expected, but some companies exclude other things you might not expect e.g. turbo's, timing chains etc. (particularly bad if you have a turbo & timing chain )

At the end of the day, not trying to put too much of a downer on things, my experience is that when you come to claim the policy will usually not meet expectations. I have even had the company send out a loss-adjuster i.e. the repair cost X pounds, this guy came out and tried to offer me 80% of X for no other reason than X was a lot of money, completely ignoring the fact that this was not enough to complete the engine repairs.....