AutoProtect Warranty - worth the paper it's printed on?
Discussion
Hi all,
as per the title, have a used car which came with a 6-month dealer warranty with AutoProtect. Car in question is 2007 SLK 200.
I didn't realise the warranty was extendable, nor that it even lasted 6 months (i thought when i bought the car it was 3!).
However they have offered it to be extended for £399 per year.
I am quite risk averse so would usually take this up; it has no excess, is not garage specific; sounds very good (mabe too good to be true?).
I wondered if anyone had experience - good or bad - that they would be willing to share?
Thanks in advance
as per the title, have a used car which came with a 6-month dealer warranty with AutoProtect. Car in question is 2007 SLK 200.
I didn't realise the warranty was extendable, nor that it even lasted 6 months (i thought when i bought the car it was 3!).
However they have offered it to be extended for £399 per year.
I am quite risk averse so would usually take this up; it has no excess, is not garage specific; sounds very good (mabe too good to be true?).
I wondered if anyone had experience - good or bad - that they would be willing to share?
Thanks in advance
Aftermarket warranties...
- Will find every excuse not to pay out.
- Will have claim limits that are much less than the cost of a major issue.
- Will have hourly rate limits for labour that are much less than the cost of main dealer labour.
A couple of years ago I bought a 12 year old Fiat 500 from a Fiat specialist for £2,800. The salesman was continually trying to push me to buy the extended warranty, I asked him to send me a copy of the details.
For a 12 month warranty the cost was £399, the limit per claim was £500 with a maximum total of claims for the year of £1,000, and an excess of £100 per claim!
When I pointed this out to the salesman that I would only be £1 better off for a claim in excess of £500 (£500 limit less £399 purchase cost less excess), he only half saw my point and was pushing that you can have an unlimited number of claims (up to £1,000 in total)...
Keep your money in a savings account and use when required.
For a 12 month warranty the cost was £399, the limit per claim was £500 with a maximum total of claims for the year of £1,000, and an excess of £100 per claim!
When I pointed this out to the salesman that I would only be £1 better off for a claim in excess of £500 (£500 limit less £399 purchase cost less excess), he only half saw my point and was pushing that you can have an unlimited number of claims (up to £1,000 in total)...
Keep your money in a savings account and use when required.
66HFM said:
A couple of years ago I bought a 12 year old Fiat 500 from a Fiat specialist for £2,800. The salesman was continually trying to push me to buy the extended warranty, I asked him to send me a copy of the details.
For a 12 month warranty the cost was £399, the limit per claim was £500 with a maximum total of claims for the year of £1,000, and an excess of £100 per claim!
When I pointed this out to the salesman that I would only be £1 better off for a claim in excess of £500 (£500 limit less £399 purchase cost less excess), he only half saw my point and was pushing that you can have an unlimited number of claims (up to £1,000 in total)...
Keep your money in a savings account and use when required.
A dealer I bought a car from last year put one of those warranties on it (I didn't pay for it - he did it after I kicked up a fuss around him trying to renegade on his CRA obligations), with very similar terms. It did make me chuckle, and wonder how much he paid for it!For a 12 month warranty the cost was £399, the limit per claim was £500 with a maximum total of claims for the year of £1,000, and an excess of £100 per claim!
When I pointed this out to the salesman that I would only be £1 better off for a claim in excess of £500 (£500 limit less £399 purchase cost less excess), he only half saw my point and was pushing that you can have an unlimited number of claims (up to £1,000 in total)...
Keep your money in a savings account and use when required.
When I was looking to buy my Clubman from Car Giant, they were insistent that there was no movement on price. Someone had half-inched the car mats, roof aerial and a few other things and I didn't think it was good value.
The salesman then said if I took out their 3 year old gold warranty and GAP for £799 ad £399 respectively then they could give me £400 off. I took both out knowing they were regulated products that you can get a full refund on within 28 days.
The salesman then said if I took out their 3 year old gold warranty and GAP for £799 ad £399 respectively then they could give me £400 off. I took both out knowing they were regulated products that you can get a full refund on within 28 days.
Put the £400 in a savings account each year then use it as a repair fund when required.
The garages get a chunk of commission for each warranty they sell, the one that I was offered (forget the name now) had awful reviews on Trustpilot apart from the people with 1 or 2 reviews in total. When it was 2 reviews they had left, it turned out the other was for the garage that sold them the car...
I then found out that the owner of the warranty company owned a large car sales group up north somewhere. So the people where buying the cars from this persons company, leaving a good review, then having 'issues' with the car and leaving good reviews for the other company that the same person owned... all legit of course and nothing to do with increasing star rating of both companies.
The garages get a chunk of commission for each warranty they sell, the one that I was offered (forget the name now) had awful reviews on Trustpilot apart from the people with 1 or 2 reviews in total. When it was 2 reviews they had left, it turned out the other was for the garage that sold them the car...
I then found out that the owner of the warranty company owned a large car sales group up north somewhere. So the people where buying the cars from this persons company, leaving a good review, then having 'issues' with the car and leaving good reviews for the other company that the same person owned... all legit of course and nothing to do with increasing star rating of both companies.
Edited by The Hofff on Wednesday 2nd April 16:54
I paid for an RAC platinum warranty on my last car. Wouldn't not bother again, light level sensor failed but wasn't classed as "headlight" issue so wasn't covered.
Never again, for what it cost me, £499 I think it was a total waste, I could have got sensor sorted within the 3 month garage warranty but assumed this trumped it so just paid myself.
Never again, for what it cost me, £499 I think it was a total waste, I could have got sensor sorted within the 3 month garage warranty but assumed this trumped it so just paid myself.
Edited by jonwm on Thursday 3rd April 12:56
The only warranty I would consider is a manufacturer used warranty. All the other companies are the same slimeballs.
Some people have been successful with warranty claims, but why give money to a company that might decline it? You already have the issue of a borked car let alone warranty issues.
The infamous one is here: https://www.m5board.com/threads/warranty-direct-cl...
Some people have been successful with warranty claims, but why give money to a company that might decline it? You already have the issue of a borked car let alone warranty issues.
The infamous one is here: https://www.m5board.com/threads/warranty-direct-cl...
Looking at it from the other side of the table…
I own and run a business selling and converting Funeral Vehicles. I leave no stone unturned on vehicle preparation. We were pitched to sell their aftermarket warranties but I decided to ‘throw-in’ the warranty in the selling price. Brilliant - customer satisfaction and all that.
It was one of the most stupidest decisions I’ve ever made - and trust me, I’ve made some stupid decisions in my time with the ex-Wife being another one.
They won’t pay out. They cheesed-off my customers to the point of embarrassment. More importantly, most Garages won’t even touch a vehicle under these comical warranties as even if they do decide to honour a claim - which is unlikely - the rates they’ll pay for Labour are that comical that you’d struggle to get a Garage to even look at the vehicle in the first place.
As others have said, ring-fence the Money and go it alone…
I own and run a business selling and converting Funeral Vehicles. I leave no stone unturned on vehicle preparation. We were pitched to sell their aftermarket warranties but I decided to ‘throw-in’ the warranty in the selling price. Brilliant - customer satisfaction and all that.
It was one of the most stupidest decisions I’ve ever made - and trust me, I’ve made some stupid decisions in my time with the ex-Wife being another one.
They won’t pay out. They cheesed-off my customers to the point of embarrassment. More importantly, most Garages won’t even touch a vehicle under these comical warranties as even if they do decide to honour a claim - which is unlikely - the rates they’ll pay for Labour are that comical that you’d struggle to get a Garage to even look at the vehicle in the first place.
As others have said, ring-fence the Money and go it alone…
Gassing Station | Car Buying | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff