Merc dealer vs off-the-shelf warranty

[Brown and Boris]

I bought my E320 CDi about 6 weeks ago, on a 55 plate with the first reg date of 31/12/05 and it came with 12 months Merc used car warranty, so I have ten months+ of warranty remaining.

The dealer called today to remind me it was due for service (which it isn't) but during the course of that conversation I enquired about the cost of extending the warranty again at the end of next October. Answer: £1006

I had already, out of curiosity, got a price for a waranty from Warranties Direct based on work done at a Franchised garage for less than half of that and for £1006 I can buy 3 years with a differnt warranty company. In each case it is their 'premier' type of warranty.

So, what is the duiference in terms of what is covered ( I couldn't get the dealer to say exactly what the difference was between the manufacturers warranty and the used car warranty I have from 31st Dec). I know that people always say non-manufacturer warranties are worthless because they have so many exemptions but I am mainly concerned about the massive bil from a major problem, not basic stuff that needs replacing with wear and tear.

Any views?

[MURRAY007]

you right in terms of what is covered.
both can cover the same items.
but with your non MB warranty, are you only allowed to go MB garages or any garage.
reason for asking
I get lots & lots of customers telling me they have AA , RAC, non merc warranty cover for everything.

but the main fact is they wont pay our labour rates.
they only pay roughly £35 an hour. 9ours is £124 +vat an hour) this is where i find the problem lies.

i normally ask our customer to pay themselves and then claim off there warranty company.

[Soovy]

You get what you pay for.

Half the price for three times the length of cover....?


Go figure.

[Brown and Boris]

MURRAY007 said:

you right in terms of what is covered.
both can cover the same items.
but with your non MB warranty, are you only allowed to go MB garages or any garage.
reason for asking
I get lots & lots of customers telling me they have AA , RAC, non merc warranty cover for everything.

but the main fact is they wont pay our labour rates.
they only pay roughly £35 an hour. 9ours is £124 +vat an hour) this is where i find the problem lies.

i normally ask our customer to pay themselves and then claim off there warranty company.

You get a choice of Franchise or non franchise garage, so I presume the local Merc delaer is the expected repairer for that warranty?

I expect there to be a difference but laboure rate limits seem only to apply if you take the cheaper non-franchised package ( about £10 a month less);
Do You Limit Labour Rates?

"At Warranty Direct we want you to be able to choose where you take your car to be repaired. However we feel that an additional premium should be paid by customers who want to take their car to a franchised dealer, or an expensive garage, to have their car repaired, rather than to an approved repairer that is willing to work at our network rate. This is because franchised dealers charge on average 75% more than independent garages. Other policy holders, who are happy to use the independent network, should not subsidise these higher labour costs.

If you wish to use a franchised dealer, but have decided not to pay the additional premium, we will pay up to our network rate and you will have to pay the difference between the network rate and the dealers rate for any repairs.

Our network rate is £40 per hour outside the M25 and £50 inside the M25. "

I would be taking the higher premium rate, which is stilunder half of what Merc want.

http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/summary_m.html

[vinnie83]

I got a warranty with Inchcape group which apparently covers everything but the COMAND system, for iirc £700 and something about a year ago... they have a few MB dealerships across UK, and from my experience (i got this down from £1200) they try it on warranties because it's pure profit... they can discount warranties HUGELY so don't take a price as gospel, it WILL change when you ring around...