RAC extended warranty

[silverfoxcc]

Been offered the 3yr warranty on a car i am thinking of getting.
Being RAC does the name bear any more 'insurance' against on of the generic ones that are out there?
A quick look at the large print seems to indicatethat all things are included except the normal consumables and as most cars are heavily kittedc out with all the latestr electronic gizmos i think it may be worth a punt, after all it works out about a cup of coffee at starbucks a week

[rowley birkin]

Well, for a start it isn't actually the RAC who will be providing the warranty ...

[ScoobyChris]

Definitely check the small print, exclusions and claim limits. Personally, the only warranty I’d take out is one that gives an equivalent level of cover to a new car one. Otherwise stick the money in a rainy day savings fund.

Chris

[Chubbyross]

ScoobyChris said:

Definitely check the small print, exclusions and claim limits. Personally, the only warranty I’d take out is one that gives an equivalent level of cover to a new car one. Otherwise stick the money in a rainy day savings fund.

Chris

This. You'll have to fight tooth and nail to make a claim and the small print exemptions will be eye-opening. Stick the money in a jar and start a borkage fund.

[samwell]

I’ve an RAC warranty on my F-Type which has had a few issues since purchase in December 2023. Every claim has been paid without quibble. The only gripe I have is the fairly stingy claim limit on my now Gold level warranty of £1,000 for the current raft of repairs needed. Even the Platinum plan only offers £2,000 per claim which is probably fine for most instances, not much use if a full engine rebuild is required, though

According to the garage I’ve been dealing with it’s one of the best aftermarket warranties available in terms of claims approval.

[Scottie - NW]

Helped my brother buy a car recently and was offered an RAC warranty on it. But reading the small print there were major exclusions such as the car wiring loom issues and the labour rates they’d pay were about £40 an hour plus vat for diagnostics and not much more for repair. You couldn’t get a decent garage to work for those rates even in the NW.

[stevemcs]

Nothing but a pain in the bum, we refuse to carry out work for any warranty companies - if it’s straight forward then it’s a long drawn out process, if it’s something complicated like a cambelt failure then forget it.

[samwell]

Scottie - NW said:

Helped my brother buy a car recently and was offered an RAC warranty on it. But reading the small print there were major exclusions such as the car wiring loom issues and the labour rates they’d pay were about £40 an hour plus vat for diagnostics and not much more for repair. You couldn’t get a decent garage to work for those rates even in the NW.

My understanding is that the Platinum plan pays £55+VAT p/h labour but the lesser Gold plan will pay £75+VAT p/h labour (seems odd but was confirmed to be by an agent at RAC). As mentioned above, the overall claim limit is less on the Gold plan, however. I don’t believe diagnostics are covered under either but may be under other versions of the warranty.

[MB140]

To see an example of how poor all these aftermarket warranties are google lord flasheart M5 engine seized. - There was a thread on here but it got remove for some reason, cough cough.

Not the RAC admittedly, but I put them in the same category, absolutely charlatans, this industry clearly needs more government regulation and oversight.

Only aftermarket warranty I would buy is a manufacturer approved one.

[stevemcs]

samwell said:

My understanding is that the Platinum plan pays £55+VAT p/h labour but the lesser Gold plan will pay £75+VAT p/h labour (seems odd but was confirmed to be by an agent at RAC). As mentioned above, the overall claim limit is less on the Gold plan, however. I don’t believe diagnostics are covered under either but may be under other versions of the warranty.

It’s the diagnostics that’s the issue, we had one with a failed cambelt, the tensioner looked like it had failed but that wasn’t enough, they wanted the exact reason and the engine stripping to confirm the exact amount of damage and until that was done the customer was on the hook until they decided if they were to pay.