warranty's ! !

[robsrocket]

hello

Looking to buy an elise at the end of march, and it will be my 1st lotus, so its all new to me. I want to ge the best from my money so a private sale is the way 2 go, BUT im worried about not getting a warranty or having any come back. So i googled it and wound these people www.warrantyworks.co.uk/index.php?fromlink=home could anyone give me any advice about private warranty contracts?
Are they worth the money or a waste or time?
Cheers
Rob

[steff]

How much is your budget?

I bought my Elise when it was just over a year old without a warranty and as its powered by a K series engine which you can pick up second hand for £500 I didnt think they were worth the outlay.

[robsrocket]

looking to spend about 17k bit more possibly. the warranty was £230 i think and covered for £1000 per claim

[Davey S1]

Wouldnt bother personally. Just get the car checked out by someone who knows what they are doing before you buy it.

[theRossatron]

Although my experience was in a different country I think these are all the same, i.e its how they make their money.

Me and my girlfriend bought a 95 Chevy Cavalier in Canada with the intention of driving it around the states. We got a whole 140 miles from Vancouver to Seattle and the piece of shit blew a head gasket. Not too worry as I had opted for the 3rd party warranty including the extra $60CAD for a gasket cover strangely upsold by the dealer.

The bill came to $1100US and the warranty company wouldn't pay for it straight away (despite what it said in its brochures small print etc) because it had broken down too soon and wasn't in their books. Also found out that the warranty only covered up to $600CAD and we had to pay a $90CAD excess too!

Eventually got the cheque two months later after we had ditched the car in arizona because it blew a radiator hose and i was about to throw it off a cliff in rage!

Warranty cost $150 = £62.50
HGF cost $1100USD = £611
-------------------------
Reimbursed $590CAD = £245

So we ended up paying most of it anyway. Sorry for that rant and I cant of course speak for other british companies.

[xxplod]

I've owned 3 Elsies in the last 5+ years. My advice - don't bother. Spend £100 ish having it checked out by a dealer or specialist. There is little to go wrong - the sort of things that do will not be covered by some £200ish off the shelf warranty anyway.

[peter450]

spend the money getting it checked out by a good specialist so u know u are getting a good one.
My experiance with warrantys is they will do anything to avoid having to pay ur claim (helpful when u buy it but out comes the small print when u want to claim on it)

[paulwakinshaw]

Tend to agree here.

same sort of thing, my mate had a R5 GTT. He was the second owner (first owner 50yo lady - yes really) and it only had 20K on the clock when he bought it from the dealer (specialist in sports cars - not renault) and it came with a 12 month comprehensive warranty.

After 8 months, the rear brakes packed up and it was found to be the rear calipers. Once reported to the company who covered the warranty they said that the rear calipers are not covered in the deal. He checked the paperwork and there was no mention of this, even in the small print. it's a common problem on R5 GTT's.

So after much argument the company said they would refund the policy price £120 (this was obviously rolled into the price of the car by the dealer) and call it a day, but the total repair bill from Renault was £500+ inc new discs and pads, and obviously calipers.

Small claims court was next, and eventually they decided to foot the bill for all of the repair works (little did they know that they were actually paying for a full big brake upgrade for all four corners, the price jumped upto £1000 when the small claims court route was taken!!!!

Advice - local dealer or specialist will charge you £100-£150 for an inspection and this can usually be offset against any problems that they pick up on, you use it as a bargaining chip!!

Wako