Is the "Car Dealer Warrenty" actually worth it?

[Guest]

Hey guys.

The car dealer I'm buying my subi from is trying to push the warrenty that "Protects my car from all mechanical faults during the first two years of ownership."

Its an extra $980 on top of the price. My parents don't think I need it.. Does anyone have any advice/experience with these warrenties and is it often that they dispute your claim and don't wanna pay up?

Cheers

[Flat4]

Make sure you read the fine print... I once had a dealer trying to convince me that I would be covered by the mechanical warranty if the cambelt broke on a car I was looking at (they didn't know when it was last changed and didn't have any receipts), but I read the fine print to find out what was covered by it and found out that they were just spinning shit

You usually have to stick to a reasonably strict servicing schedule, otherwise the warranty will be void.

With a turbo subaru it might be a good idea to get a mechanical warranty, especially one with higher mileage, but I can't really comment on how useful they are as I've never purchased one

[Guest]

It's done just shy of 95,500kms, and yeah the fine print will be interesting.. my fathers reasoning is that if I tried to make a claim they would probably say I was "boy racing" and thats why the damage occured, since they have the dispute right.

[Sudo]

Strict servicing schedule? They want you to service it every 15,000km by a workshop, which is not strict at all, infact its the opposite. You should be servicing your car every 5,000. They do 15,000 workshop services so you can do the 5,000km ones yourself in between.

It depends who your with really. I had a warranty with Autosure on my Forester, was quite handy.. $700, no excess and unlimited claim.

I claimed on a few things, such as a turbo rebuild, gearbox, diff and clutch.

[Guest DMSREX]

I got a 12 month one when i got my car years ago (2002) they gave me the option of 1,2 or 3 years. I never used it can't remember the cost but it gave me some piece of mind as the cars new 3 year warrant had just run out when i bought it. Thinking about it now i wouldn't have done it as the car had complete service history by the Subaru dealer i bought it from. I was young and stupid i suppose and didn't know much about Subaru's.

[nztintin]

we bought my gf's car (n\a 2002 impreza) from winger hamilton, she got a warranty even thou I didn't want he to, car just had to stay unmodified and service every 10k, and if it was done by wingers there was no excess to pay, we claimed on half a dozen things that would have cost easily the price of the warranty. so that was worth it.

when i bought my car i flagged the warranty as i thought i wouldn't be worth it, never had an issue but if i had an issue i had spare money sitting there for a rebuild etc, it's a bit of a lottery IMO if you will need it and if they will pay out.

[ODB]

can depend.

as stated servicing schedule car vary-i had one with every 10kms-and also modifications tend to void it anyways.

Check fine print.

[mattapo]

get is, service it at the 15000k that they want you to, you'll get a new engine out of them, done, lol

[Sudo]

 ODB said:

can depend.

as stated servicing schedule car vary-i had one with every 10kms-and also modifications tend to void it anyways.

Check fine print.

Depends, if you buy a vehicle from a yard already modified, it's covered.

My Forester came with pod filter, exhaust, bov. I heard stories about warranty companies not covering because of it, so I wasnt gona bother wit hwarranty, but got it just incase.. sure enough, blew 2nd gear (all the teeth gone, smooth) and they covered it. Also a new clutch not long after, and then a new turbo just before I sold it.

Buying a car from a yard is considered by most warranty companies as a standard vehicle... Much like buying a brand new car, aslong as you don't change what it came with, or use the modifcations to shorten the engines life. I.e running a shit load of boost etc.

[duckandcover]

I am a car dealer and deal with warranty claims on a semi regular basis.

to know whether the warranty is truely worth the extra money, you need to look at the following:

Which company is the warranty from. (this will make a huge difference in the price and what is covered)

What the excess of teh warranty is.

What is covered.

The servicing required to keep the warranty valid (how often, what needs to be serviced, and if there is specified workshops for servicing)

Depending on teh dealership the price that they give you for warranty will not always be the best price that they can offer it to you, just like the sticker price on the car, warranties usually have a profit percentage for the dealership. ie Protecta warranties have a 100% markup at recommended retail. however depending on the company $980 for a 3 year warranty on a turbo vehicle does not sound all that expensive.

As stated by ODB you also need to look at conditions regading modified vehicles, alot of warranty companies will exclude any non OEM parts and related parts.

Also make sure that the warranty details are written on the sale agreement for the vehicle, this can help alot on the occasions if the warranty company does not play ball on a claim.

On the other hand, is the dealership offering a standard warranty on theirs cars?

All dealers are required to cover any problems which are unreasonable to expect for a reasonable length of time. Now as im sure you have noticed this is very open to interpretation.

[Simon C]

I bought a 3 year warranty on my Peugeot back when I had it. Required me to have it serviced at all recommended intervals by a franchised dealer, which was Continental Cars Greenlane. Service costs weren't cheap at all! Still, milked it at every opportunity. It ended up costing them megabucks when they screwed my cambelt change up, and the belt skipped three teeth and destroyed the valvetrain. I think I ended up claiming more than the purchase cost of the car in warranty things!

Of course, the lesson here isn't to buy a warranty, or to buy a warranty when you buy a Peugeot. The lesson is to never, ever, buy a Peugeot in the first place, and to stay clear of Continental Cars Greenlane!

[subieboy]

I bought a 3 year one

1st week of ownership - muppet dealership mechanic ruined the centre diff...

I was stuck in Taupo, no accommodation and wingers could fix... would take 2 days...

Sooooo the insurance paid for the motel, and to courier the part from Japan (because there was no stock in NZ at the time), fix the car and for a taxi or two around the place!

Best $600 I ever spent!

[D-Style]

I brought done a highly Modified EVO 3 a few years back (TD06, full forged, 500hp etc etc)

I got a warranty, but took me abit of shopping to get the right one which would cover everything that was done to it.

Driving it home from the car yard (Palmy to Wanganui) it did a big end bearing....Then the fun started...

Warranty company said it was the Car yards problem as It was still in the 7day Grace period....Car yard said it was warranty company problem.

After a few weeks, car yard came to the party....then fun started again..

Car yard would not rebuild motor, but put a stock standard Evo (proly wouldnt be an evo 3 one either) motor back in (and keep old motor/turbo etc etc) They said i wound boost up and thrashed it on way home to try get a free rebuild.

So more shitty phone calls, and then lawyers getting involved.

End result, lawyer got my money back.

Make sure you fully understand what the warranty will and will not do...be 110% honest about it to warranty company. Cause at end of day they are there to make money.

[uwa8nc]

 subieboy said:

I bought a 3 year one

1st week of ownership - muppet dealership mechanic ruined the centre diff...

I was stuck in Taupo, no accommodation and wingers could fix... would take 2 days...

Sooooo the insurance paid for the motel, and to courier the part from Japan (because there was no stock in NZ at the time), fix the car and for a taxi or two around the place!

Best $600 I ever spent!

What company were you with buddy?sounds Good

[Guest the_return_of_the_jedi]

if your just shy of 100,000km youll be due for you cambelt soon.. ( $800-$1000 done properly )

also you might run into gearbox issues as this is common.. ( think $600+ for a good condition box )

also you could run into a variety of problems, air flow meter, bearings, clutch etc etc

if you add all that up $980 for a warranty sounds like a sweet deal

not saying you will have these problems but its good to know if you do, that your covered for the most part

[Joker]

wont pay for any cambelt stuff for starters

[Guest]

I know of a guy driving to get a warranty in his GTB - did a big end before he got there.

[Johnnynz]

Cambelts ok on hers, I made her get them to do it before buying.

They gave her the run around for a bit but it was all done by Eddie at Elite in the end.

[WRXER]

Warranties can be worth it, as long as u keep the modification list to minimum and follow the strict guidelines.

I had a 3 year warranty, which seemed like a good deal. However the "wear and tear" clause can be used far too freely, definitely had some issues fixed under warranty. However I can attest that the repairs done were less then what I paid for the warranty, and as my last wrx was my first ever car I was quite naive in what they would classify as "wear and tear" which was pretty much the majority of my issues that occured over time.

Again definitely worth it for peace of mind, especially in the case of BEB going wrong or something happening to the engine. Just make sure u get the details checked out, or even shop around as there are quite a few mechanical warranties with difference clauses/excess fees.

[Ninja8)]

Never ever had a mechanical warrenty...but i would if i was u. its better to be safe than sorry yes $980 or watever the price was does sound a bit deep(to me anyways). but...like the others said..any problems u may come up with (touch wood) could cost more then the warrrently itself..s*** mayb even more than the car!!

but in the end i guess its all up to u. good luck anyways =D

[Guest]

Depending on what i was paying and the style of car, i would look at getting one.

As mentioned earlier, check the warranty price, dealers can and do put a margin on this. Dad bought a warranty (as he wanted it) on the Subaru he just got. I think he wanted it as it was a Subaru

[Swindog]

I had with drivesure on the wrx when i bought it from Brent Boddys. Had everything on it minus the boost controller.

Got a 2 yr warranty listed under exotic.

Was interesting with the last fella explaining about the Evo blowing up. You could have done the car yard by them not complying with consumer rights and has the engine rebuilt at their cost.

Have a car dealer mate down here who had them same prob with a wrx. Young guys bought it, free boosted it and they blew itup. Dealer had to rebuild at his cost. They found out what had happened when they pulled the log file from the a/m ecu.