Golden Warranty

[Chrisp5782]

I have to say I thought this would make a change from the tossers on the American forums but i can see that, in some cases at least, I was mistaken.

[Chrisp5782]

gibbon said:

Chrisp5782 said:

gibbon said:

Chrisp5782 said:

We're actually getting away from the purpose of the post.

I was bringing to the attention of forum members the availability of, what appears to be, a decent warranty company that offers an alternative to OPC offered cover.

It isn't an IMS thread nor am I saying you should rush out and buy the warranty.

For the record, I'm not overly worried about the failure of my car.

I'm merely pointing out that, for me, the outlay might well be worth it in the VERY UNLIKELY event of a failure. I know my car is at the lower end of failure risk, I took that in to consideration when I bought it. £500 isn't a lot of money and, should the situation arise, I've saved some cash. i assume you insure your house against the very unlikely event of it burning down?

If the event is so unlickely why pay 1/6 of the event cost to insure against it?

Everyones perception is different, but by your own reasoning the policy is poor value.

Yes i insure my house, but i wouldnt at 1/6 ratio cost to cover. I'd buy a better door and locks.

Do doors and locks prevent fires?

Ok, sorry, doors, locks and i would throw out my chip pan and shell suit.

That actually made me proper laugh out loud!

[Chrisp5782]

Actus Reus said:

Ah, yes, once you're into non OEM parts it's a different story. I personally would rather bank the £500 every year and have a contingency fund - once you're into your second year there'd be enough cash there to sort most problems
Have you had a PPI done on the car? That'd be a good way to spend some of the money too - give you peace of mind. No guarantee of course, but I'd put a lot of store in a Peter Morgan inspection if you're to believe the universal praise on here.

I've actually had the car for the best part of two years but recently had an email from WW that stirred my interest in the whole thing. I did have a PPI done prior to purchase though, I thought it prudent.

[Chrisp5782]

Porkupine said:

JackieTreehorn said:

You seem to have a lot of faith in Hartech (justified IMO). Why not get your car on their plan?

+1
Especially after spending all that time of theirs putting your mind at ease. Even if it's a distance away it will be worth it.

I'd love to but I'm in the South West and they're up North sadly. If I were to be posted back to Catterick I'd be with them in a shot!

[Chrisp5782]

tjlees said:

I have got a warrantywise warranty and claimed from it. They follow their policy to the letter so with me it covered all electrical and mechanical parts. When the control until had a fault, they replaced it rather than repair it. They also cover a certain amount of investigation work to identify the fault, but will not cover this if no fault is found. Having said that, my friend has the same cover, and when an engine fault light came on but there was no fault, warranty wise covered the £60 incurred as a good will gesture.

When the bonnet catch broken they covered this too, but not bodywork that the garage had to damage to get to the broken catch. Again as per the wording of the policy, they don't cover bodywork.

Some of the indys will work directly with warrantrywise, so you don't gave to do the paperwork and pay then get the money back. Even without this at the main dealer, the cheque is in your hands within days.

When I got the quote for my car it was similar to the main dealer one. Other posts on PH have said not to take the first quote since it can be negotiated down or extras added for free.

So to answer the OPs question, in my experience (and others when I was researching for an alternative to main dealers) they hold to the wording of the policy, and IMHO provide a good alternative warranty.

Anyway if they were vaguely bad, it would be all over the internet, they would lose business and go out of business?

Pretty much what I was thinking, I'm not eligible for an OPC warranty (much as I'd like one)and WW seems the next best (affordable) bet.

Cheers.

[Chrisp5782]

Porkupine said:

Chrisp5782 said:

I'd love to but I'm in the South West and they're up North sadly. If I were to be posted back to Catterick I'd be with them in a shot!

Let's push calls for a Hartech in the South!!!

I'm all for that, we need one down here!!

[Chrisp5782]

Porkupine said:

JackieTreehorn said:

You seem to have a lot of faith in Hartech (justified IMO). Why not get your car on their plan?

+1
Especially after spending all that time of theirs putting your mind at ease. Even if it's a distance away it will be worth it.

An email to and from is hardly taking up their time.

It's not a case of putting my mind at ease, I was looking for information to support a theory.

When I bought my car I had the money for either the larger capacity cars or the one I bought. My choce to go smaller capacity was based on my use of the car and, to some extent, my belief that the smaller unit is less stressed and so by default more reliable.

It would seem, initially, I was correct.

[Chrisp5782]

THUNDERHORSE said:

Chris, just out of interest, what was non-standard about your brakes - non-Porche sourced OEM quality pads/discs or an upgraded aftermarket system?

I am curious as I am about to renew OPC warranty and I suspect I will get dinged for new pads/discs as a condition of renewal after the 111-point inspection and am considering putting OEM parts on myself.

Thanks

I've had uprated discs and pads that aren't official Porsche supplied parts. I've also had my front shocks replaced with Bilstein B6 Sports shocks (I like the ride better with them, I'm not a track driver)

Whether it'd make a difference or not I've also had my exhaust bolts replaced with marine grade stainless steel items, again not a Porsche part.

My OPC bloke said in order to qualify I'd have to change everything back to genuine Porsche parts, imagine the cost!

[Chrisp5782]

Soovy said:

Chrisp5782 said:

THUNDERHORSE said:

Chris, just out of interest, what was non-standard about your brakes - non-Porche sourced OEM quality pads/discs or an upgraded aftermarket system?

I am curious as I am about to renew OPC warranty and I suspect I will get dinged for new pads/discs as a condition of renewal after the 111-point inspection and am considering putting OEM parts on myself.

Thanks

I've had uprated discs and pads that aren't official Porsche supplied parts. I've also had my front shocks replaced with Bilstein B6 Sports shocks (I like the ride better with them, I'm not a track driver)

Whether it'd make a difference or not I've also had my exhaust bolts replaced with marine grade stainless steel items, again not a Porsche part.

My OPC bloke said in order to qualify I'd have to change everything back to genuine Porsche parts, imagine the cost!

This is why Porsche changed their warranty.

Tehy get the money for the inspection, all the money for the rectification work, and the money from the servicing you have to do with them!!

Ker-CHING!

Very true, I would imagine there are people who never change anything, always service at an OPC etc and it probably suits them very well. A case of horses for courses I guess? I'd like to be looked after by an OPC ALL the time but it's very costly and, whilst I can se the benefit, I'm not sure it's always value for money even if my local OPC are VERY good. I tend to do minor services at a specialist and majors at the OPC, works well for me financially.

Edited by Chrisp5782 on Thursday 11th October 10:19

Edited by Chrisp5782 on Thursday 11th October 10:20

[Chrisp5782]

Diesel130 said:

Chrisp5782 said:

Blue62 said:

Chrisp5782 said:

I'm now on the phone to the technical department having asked specifically:

"Is IMS failure and resulting damage covered?"

"Is cam chain breakage covered?"

"Is cylinder scoring covered?"

I will post responses verbatum......

With respect Crisp, it's what you get in writing that counts. You seem to know your own mind, but the concensus of most old lag Pork owners around here is to go for the OPC warranty, otherwise you're pretty much wasting your money. Good luck whatever you decide, I think the car you're in is less blighted than most.

I quite agree, I'd not part with any money until I'd seen it written in front of me, hopeful of a good product I might be, foolish I'm not!

So... have you got it in writing from them that they will specifically cover IMS failure and consequential damage and cylinder scoring if you take the full policy?

I have requested it, if and when I get it I'll publish it for all.

[Chrisp5782]

Soovy said:

Chrisp5782 said:

Diesel130 said:

Chrisp5782 said:

Blue62 said:

Chrisp5782 said:

I'm now on the phone to the technical department having asked specifically:

"Is IMS failure and resulting damage covered?"

"Is cam chain breakage covered?"

"Is cylinder scoring covered?"

I will post responses verbatum......

With respect Crisp, it's what you get in writing that counts. You seem to know your own mind, but the concensus of most old lag Pork owners around here is to go for the OPC warranty, otherwise you're pretty much wasting your money. Good luck whatever you decide, I think the car you're in is less blighted than most.

I quite agree, I'd not part with any money until I'd seen it written in front of me, hopeful of a good product I might be, foolish I'm not!

So... have you got it in writing from them that they will specifically cover IMS failure and consequential damage and cylinder scoring if you take the full policy?

I have requested it, if and when I get it I'll publish it for all.

A pint says it never comes

Your on!

[Chrisp5782]

THUNDERHORSE said:

Interesting, I was considering getting some standard OEM discs and pads from someone like Design911 or Euro Parts - probably Textar parts which I believe are the same parts Porsche use but in a different box and less expensive because of it. It's not difficult to DIY but it sounds like that would would invalidate the warranty? Would it be the same if I DIY'd with original Porsche parts? Sounds like a mine field and the only safe way is to pay through the nose with an OPC for everything if you want to keep the warranty...

I've got a Textar disc and ATE pad combo (it really works very well, far better than Pagid). I don't know for sure but, as you elude to, I think Textar are the OE supplier (they come stamped with a Porsche part number!)

I don't know what your OPC would say, you're extending your warranty I was asking for a new one, might make a difference?

[Chrisp5782]

THUNDERHORSE said:

Thanks Soovey, 111 Point inspection is getting done today so we will see what they say and what options I have if they think brakes need replaced - hopefully not but I think they sometimes do try to get you to replace even if not absolutely necessary and the warranty renewal is leverage for them..

Good luck, here's hoping it goes your way!?

[Chrisp5782]

johnycarrera said:

I had a WarrantyWise policy and suffered a catastrophic failure due to a broken oil pump.
Long story short as its been done to death on this forum about WarrantyWise, they refused to pay out claiming it was wear and tear.
Tried to sue but my lawyers said the small print in their policy was such that I would never win.
15K rebuild for me plus the WarrantyWise policy cost...........

Horrific to deal with, save your money!

I think that just about seals it for me. Thanks very much.

[Chrisp5782]

Soovy said:

Chrisp5782 said:

johnycarrera said:

I had a WarrantyWise policy and suffered a catastrophic failure due to a broken oil pump.
Long story short as its been done to death on this forum about WarrantyWise, they refused to pay out claiming it was wear and tear.
Tried to sue but my lawyers said the small print in their policy was such that I would never win.
15K rebuild for me plus the WarrantyWise policy cost...........

Horrific to deal with, save your money!

I think that just about seals it for me. Thanks very much.

A narrow escape!

I was soooo nearly sucked in!!

[Chrisp5782]

sasha320 said:

I have researched warranties extensively and have direct experience of both Warrantywise and the Porsche warranty.

My experience has been that neither warranty does what I really wanted. I wanted 100% piece of mind for all mechanical and all electrical failures including wear and tear.

The WW policy purportedly covered wear and tear however this was was elaborated as 'premature failure' in the small print - which is not really the same thing.

Both policies excluded consumable items e.g., gaskets, seals etc.

So, I realised with both warranties that the cover was, unsurprisingly, directed at low probability failures (albeit these failures could be expensive to remedy) and once any claim had been thoroughly qualified, certain aspects were not covered e.g., consumables or items were excluded that formed part of the overall repair.

In itself none of the above made the warranties bad, however through experience I deduced that they were nowhere near as comprehensive as they claim and that one should consider the outcome from a number of scenarios before trying to assess the value of the warranty.

These scenarios might include

- A part failing that is not covered that then causes further, covered parts to fail - what's the payout then?

- The premature failure clause and how that could pan out for a number of scenarios

- What exactly is covered if an engine or gearbox went pop.

So my conclusions were that all the policies would ever do is, to a varying degree, provide a contribution towards any repair bill and the extent of the contribution would be based on the unique repair scenario that presented itself I.e., the warranty's marketing of 'what's covered and what's not' is actually misleading as it is not always the case that a single item(s) fail on their own.

Once I got my head around this, then I realised that the only way to judge whether a warranty was worth having was if I had access to a database of scenarios that had been paid out previously vs. their total invoice cost vs. the probability of the scenario occurring at all. Given this information is not readily available, then I formed the view that the decision to proceed was an emotional one driven by my fear of being stiffed with a big unexpected bill. A decision based on 'is it worth it or not' was simply not available without better information.

Bottom line is that these policies are partial piece of mind for anxious types to help them sleep more easily at night. I guess those that self-insure would stay awake all night grinding their teeth in frustration if they bought a policy and never claimed on it, which is why they sleep more easily at night without a policy.

For the record I always get a warranty and for the record the best warranty I've ever had was the Mercedes Tier 1 warranty - that covered wear and tear (and everything else) very extensively and I got heaps of work done well beyond the cost of the warranty on both a CL55 and an ML63. But I would suggest that the cover I enjoyed was not driven by the conditions of the warranty, but on the customer focus displayed by the dealer(s) and the engineers who qualified each claim.

In conclusion, buy a warranty if you're a nervous type and / or if you think the dealer / warranty company will always look kindly on your claim and / or if you truly have limited resources for unforeseen repairs. If you try and make a decision based on incomplete probabilities and / or anecdotal wisdom (like mine) - that's called betting.

Edited by sasha320 on Friday 12th October 09:43

I'm not that worried about a failure so, having garnered a lot of opinion and more than a little actual experience on this thread I think I'll sack the warranty, save some cash and have a couple of extra cocktails this weekend!!

Edited by Chrisp5782 on Friday 12th October 11:18

[Chrisp5782]

wildoliver said:

I'm afraid most warranties aren't worth the paper they are written on, I would be quite sceptical of paying £500 a year for a warranty that may not cover a repair and if it did I'd still have to put a further £500 to the pot. Me I would sooner stick a grand in a bank account and take the risk of having to add a couple of grand to it, doesn't take long to be ahead at that game putting £500 a year in to it.

911 engines do pop no doubt, but not every one, it's an insurance like any other, do you want to gamble wasting the money or gamble on a big bill. Me I prefer to risk the bill and it's paid off over the years.

As for Quentin Wilson putting his name to a product, that would not be a selling point to me, anyone recalling the snake oil thread (Ametech engine restore) a magic potion that could reverse engine wear by pumping gear oil filled with metal swarf round your engine will remember that was and still is endorsed by Quentin Wilson..........It is universally denounced by every oil expert however, indeed anyone with any mechanical or engineering knowledge can see it's a joke. I would hate to presume the main motivation of his backing was financial.

I think what you've said is pretty much everyone's train of thought which is why I've binned the idea ( see earlier reply )

As I understand it QW is co-owner of WW however, money is always the key and he'll be cashing in - big time for sure.

[Chrisp5782]

Diesel130 said:

As an aside, and an amusing story for Friday evening... when I first got my 996 back in 2007, I had the OPC warranty for a couple of years (when it was about 700/annum).

Anyway, when the OPC did the initial 111 point check it passed everything apart from them finding one of the horns wasns't working. But they issued the warranty anyway and I continued to use it like that. 2 years later, when it was in for a minor service, I was told, "one of your horns isn't working, so we've replaced it under warranty" Happy days...

Mint!

[Chrisp5782]

tjlees said:

Update against warranty wise. The EGR valve was leaking on my car -around £200 to replace. Not an obvious part covered by most warranties, but it is mechanical so warranty wise covered it at main dealer rates within the hour of calling - no arguments.

The diff seal and CV gaitor were also leaking but this is not mechanical nor electrical so obviously not covered. As previously mentioned warrantywise do exactly what it says on the tin.

BTW opc porsche warranty would have not covered any of this because the car is six years old and has done 115 k miles.

Interesting, I'm still turning it all over in my head. I'm glad you had a positive experience, it's encouraging at least!

[Chrisp5782]

smokey145 said:

any more experiences with warranty direct?

I ended up going with their Luxury Lite package (£150 PA for cover of major components including engine, gearbox etc) thankfully I've not needed to call on it yet and I hope not to!

I guess only time and a spot of bad luck will prove it to be any good or not!?