I've just had 1st hand experience of what happens when your car needs TLC!.

Luckily I had something in place that I never considered the real benefits of until earlier.

A Vehicle Warranty!,

Now after an MOT i've found just how useful they are and how much money they can save you in the long run.

Basically, the trusty old vectra needs £470 worth of work to pass its MOT, no worries the warranty is paying all but £50 of it.

It's a myth that Warranties only come with a new vehicle, you can underwrite cover for any vehicle at any time for a reasonable premium. My Warranty cost me £220 for the 12 months, and i'm getting £420 of repair essentially for free. I can also claim upto a maximum of £5000 in any 12 month period.

I've also found out today that my Warranty also includes Roadside recovery, Hotel accomodation or a hire car in the event of a breakdown away from home - basically removing the need for me to renew my £140 / year RAC policy next year.

Here is the full range of features on their standard policy:-

Standard Cover
Comprehensive Protection

Claims limit = £5,000 per claim
Excess = £0
Parts and Labour
Recovery
Car Hire
Overnight Hotel Accommodation
24 hour freephone helpline
Central billing


There is also a cheaper policy for Warranty Only - without the Recovery Option.

I was always worried about these warranty companies, but they agreed to cover the cost within 30 minutes of my claim, and at a local garage of my choice.

You can find more info here:- Warranty Direct

Wow will have to take a look at that

Cheers for dat crispy... May well look into that... do you think that they will cover the cost of me new clutch!

Yep with the Standard Policy all Major Engine and Associated parts are covered, including the actual engine!. Along with a lot of other things like Engine Management, Electric Windows, Wipers, Power Steering, Air Con, Turbo, Injectors, Gearbox, clutch etc. The only things that aren't covered are consumables like Brake Pads, Tyres, Bulbs etc, but then you wouldn't expect them to be.

Given that some Major Parts can cost upto £1000 + Labour its well worth the money, along with the advantage of the technically free recovery service included which is on a par with some of the more expensive policies from the AA & RAC.

Having found out that they offer a similar level of cover to my £140 RAC Policy included in the annual fee, then the extra £80 for the Warranty is a small price to pay. A friend who recommended the policy to me has claimed three times in the last five years - one of which was for a £800 Engine management unit and re-program, and each time Warranty Direct have settled without quibble. The price of his policy hasn't changed either .

Warranty direct wont indemnify your car if it is older than 10 years guys

Or got more than 100.000 on the clock!



Spin

Toyota Previa (Brand new factory fitted engine 12mths ago) but 156,000 on the clock

Vauxhall do the best warranty of this kind, another reason to stick with the griffin.

ah crispy.. if only you had offered this a week ago! Got the trusty OLD range back up and running like a dream! Like some of the threads on here, I reckon it could go on, and on and on and on!!

we could set shaun up as the forums community mechanic! Probably would be even cheaper than buying a warranty! hehehehehe!

CP, your right, the Vectra is shi*e.

I managed to wangle a FREE Major service to my car last week after its MOT.

They found all the parts that needed to be replaced (£280 worth) and fitted them, to another car Green, P reg, Peugeut 406 2L petrol turbo that happened to be in that day.

It was only BY chance that a mechanic happened to be using the Reception area of the Service Section, to get changed into his cycling overalls (it was raining) that their error came to light. Otherwise they would have issued me with an MOT certificate for an unsafe car, and charged me £280 for the priviledge.

The next day, they managed to cock the Major Service up too, the radiator drainage plug wasnt re-tightened fully after they drained the old anti-freeze/water out. And this is Peugeots main dealer in the town.

So a free TOP VALET was "negotiated"