To warranty or not to warranty

[ywouldi]

I’m picking up a 2005 Boxster S tomorrow, with 65k miles. I’ve been offered a RAC warranty at £499 for two years, the dealer isn’t giving the hard sell but says that he’s dealt with only a few claims on it but they’ve paid out for things like coil packs etc. It’s a specialist dealer who seem pretty good to me and seem to know their stuff. The car has a full history.



A bill of a grand or two for something major would be painful, but manageable but if I can cover most failures for £500 then it sounds good. I think there is a fair chance of getting a bit non-standard-maintenance bill on a car like this so if £500 will cover it then great but I’ll feel annoyed if they duck a major expense like an IMS failure for instance.



Googling “RAC Warranty” shows up some reviews where they have been pretty useless but as with everything like this, no one starts a thread telling the world how the RAC just paid out as they should have done.



What are the collective’s thoughts?

[ianwayne]

Warranties on older cars are never that good in my experience. They'll cover stuff if it actually breaks but will fail to cover most stuff as 'wear and tear', i.e. bushes, clutches, rubber gaiters, brakes etc.

In your case, the IMS bearing if it goes would most likely be classed as a part 'failure' so a warranty may be worth it for peace of mind.

[sealtt]

I always get warranty, had the warranty from quentin wilson on a 911 turbo, they paid out fairly enough for a couple of bits.

[Depthhoar]

I wouldn't. Instead put the proposed premium onto a bork fund for future repairs.

Here's a bit of unbiased advice:

https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/...