Used Car Extended Warranties - Worth it or Not?

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

Does anyone have a Used Car Extended Warranty? Are you happy with it and would you get one again?

The reason I ask is that back in 2015 there were a lot of articles in the news based off consumer watchdog findings about the worth of Extended Used Car Warranties. One such report was the:

Donating Your Money to a Warranty Company: why the motor vehicle warranty you bought might be worthless. Consumer Action Law Centre (2015). Accessed 27th April 2020 from, https://www.consumeraction.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/DonatingYourMoneyToAWarrantyCompany.pdf The report argues that some motor vehicle warranties, particularly Motor Vehicle Discretionary Risk Products (MVDRPs) are almost completely worthless to Australians.

As a consequence of the report and a class action the industry supposedly self-regulated and improved their performance.

I looked up how much warranty my - new to me - used car has. One month or 1500 kilometres, or whatever happens first. As this is the most expensive car I have ever owned the shortness of the warranty was a surprise.

So I am thinking about joining an extended warranty scheme or maybe not.

What have your experiences been like and would you recommend one scheme over another?

Kind regards
Lionel

[Tombie]

What’s your “new to you” vehicle?

[V8Ian]

What’s your “new to you” vehicle?
Buying a Car in Western Australia back to Queensland: Achievable & Possible Drawbacks (https://www.aulro.com/afvb/general-chat/277965-buying-car-western-australia-back-queensland-achievable-possible-drawbacks-5.html)

[Pickles2]

MASSIVE rip off, wouldn't even dream about one.
Big commission item for Dealers.
Pickles.

[gromit]

Haven't ever purchased one but get the impression they have a lot of 'conditions' so you need to be very good at reading & interpreting 'small print'.
The company providing the cover are in the business of making money so like most insurers they will wriggle when you try to make a claim.

Weigh up what it costs and how much maintenance/repairs that same cost would cover. Put the money in a separate account.


Colin

[grey_ghost]

You really have to read the fine print. We had one on a 2nd hand car a few years ago, and it wasn’t worth diddly squat...

* Due to the age of the vehicle, one of the clauses was that it needed an oil change every 3 months or 5,000 km.

* We had a claim (electrical) - but the cover only extended to $400 per “type” of claim. Due to a short our wiring loom fried 3 ECU’s - $400 didn’t even cover the loom..

Anyway - in my experience it was a complete and utter waste of coin...

[Lionelgee]

Hello All,

So things have not changed much since 2015. Thank you.

Kind regards
Lionel

[ATH]

I took out an extended warranty on a car so many years ago I’ve forgotten what it was ....maybe our Cortina wagon and the insurer paid out on a new alternator with no hassles.
I’ve take one out for the D4 and fingers crossed I won’t need it but after hearing all the tales re crankshafts and inlet stuff I fear that’s not going to be possible. 🙁
I’ll keep it another year, hopefully trouble free then get shot of it I think.
AlanH.

[chuck]

You can get some good ones now but they are not cheap.

Some of the insurers are very specialized & they are even underwriting the extended warranty for many prestige brands.

Naturally they will want service history etc which is want you would expect if they are going to cover you for things like a motor which could easily cost $20k +

As my D5 approaches end of factory warranty i will extend.

[Rextheute]

Generally they are Sold as Service Protection Plans .

ACL covers most ‘warranty ‘

it is a very grey area .....and this is why they are referred to as service protection plans .
Not a warranty plan.

[DiscoMick]

Suggest you compare it with consumer protection law in your state to see if it offers anything extra.