Has anyone heard of Warranty Direct?

crapwithcash82

I'm currently driving a 2003 ford mondeo (zetec-s TDCI) and haven't had the best experience with it as a used car, as there are new problems and noises almost every week now.

I plan to get rid of it at the end of the summer, providing it copes that long and have been looking at buying a warranty for it for the next six months or so. Warranty Direct came up on MSN this morning and I've had a look and got a quote for £25 per month. I've printed off the list of things it covers for my OH (hes a mechanic to trade) to have a look and see if its worth it. I've also checked the garages they approve in our area and there is one less than a mile from my house, which would be handy.

I have spent around £800 on getting things fixed so far this year, and I can't help thinking if I coughed up the £150 or so for a warranty for the next few months, I'd save some money in the long run.

Any advice on this would be greatly received!

CwC

movilogo

Search in forum. You'll mostly find bad stories about them.

sam1970

avoid like plague...from my own experience

ukjoel

Warranty Direct are ok but you need to remember several things.

Firstly they wont pay out for any damage in the first 3 months of a policy - this is to stop someone buying a shed at auction - spending £200 on a warranty and then phoning up the next day to ask for a new 2k engine.
Fair enough.

Secondly - depending on the milage of the car they only pay labour and a percentage of parts. So every 10k over 60k you end up paying for another 10% of the parts price or something similar. This is to protect them from people buying ancient sheds and then keeping them on the road on the cheap.
Fair enough.

Thirdly they expect you to take reasonable care and maintainence of your car. Again fair enough.

Fourthly dont expect them to pay for wear and tear parts like brakes, tyres, clutches etc.

So if you read all the smallprint and are happy go with it.
I bought at auction a few years back and threw a years cover on as a safeguard as car was just coming out of warranty.

A year later i trusted the car and felt it was no longer a risk so didnt renew the warranty. I made one claim during the year and they paid out.

Remember they choose where the repairs are done so they save a fortune on labour costs and you still pay the first £50 or £100 quid.

My guess is even with the hits you have taken you wouldnt be much better off. £300 a year for the warranty plus £50 an item for each thing you needed fixed plus I am guessing a heft percentage of the parts costs as not many 7 year old mondeos are under 60k mileage.

Combine that with some things being bounced for being wear and tear I doubt there would be much in it.