3rd party warranty

JamesN

Hey everyone,

I'm looking at getting a car (used) which will be out of its warranty period. I'm thinking of a Lexus IS220D which will be around an 06 plate and about 60k miles on the clock.

Although it gets good reviews about reliability I do seem to have bad luck when it comes to repairs. Fortunately, my cars have always been in their warranty so it didn't cost me anything.

So, now that i'm venturing out into the non warranty cars i've been looking at the 3rd party warranties that you see on tv. Can anyone recommend a good one thats both good value and doesn't try every trick in the book to get out of paying for repairs?

I really can't afford to pay repair bills once i have the car as i'm saving for a house deposit and a wedding!

Thanks guys

gilbert_and_sullivan

If you really must have a warranty then buy an approved used car from a Lexus dealer and the warranty will be bombproof.

Aftermarket warranties are just expensive bog roll and that just about all can be said for them, for every post in their favour there are hundreds against, all these people can't be wrong.

Generally Lexus are totally reliable, but the Diesel engine you are considering does have faults CHG failure features among, so long as the car has full up to date main dealer history Toyota/Lexus will cover the engine up to 100k miles and 7 years, you might be OK on the mileage but age is going to be a problem with an 06 unless you can find one in the Lexus chain that is approved used.

Of course there's every chance this car if its been serviced properly will cover another 120k miles without a hiccup, not all fail.

JamesN

Didnt realise the warranty was 7 years! I could probably push the budget to get one thats an 08 plate.

Any idea of the typical repair costs for the common faults?

Its all about risk really. I cant afford huge bills on repairs.

How do you know so much about Lexi? (Couldnt resist an Alan Partridge paraphrase)

forgotmyname

Typical repair cost... £3000 or so for an engine. £2000 for a gearbox.

£1000's for a hard to find electrical fault.

Sorry but if you cannot afford the repairs then its not really the car for you. The risk is always there.

Buy something run of the mill with cheaper parts.

thenudeone

I have found Car Care plan very reliable, They administer a number of branded warranties including the Vauxhall warranties and the CSMA Club warranty.

JamesN

forgotmyname wrote: »

Typical repair cost... £3000 or so for an engine. £2000 for a gearbox.

£1000's for a hard to find electrical fault.

Sorry but if you cannot afford the repairs then its not really the car for you. The risk is always there.

Thanks for the honesty. Do you not think the 3rd party warranties would cover these sorts of repairs then?

Buy something run of the mill with cheaper parts.

Any recommendations?

OddballJamie

JamesN wrote: »

Any recommendations?

Focus, Mondeo, Civic, Accord, Octavia, Superb.

jase1

Hmmm. A new engine, new gearbox or hard-to-find electrical fault is likely to be just as expensive with the cars you mention.

The importance of parts prices is overstated in my experience. They make up a small percentage of a lot of repair costs. In order to keep servicing costs down you need a car with simple engineering and parts that don't go wrong very often -- not just something with cheapo parts.

Modern Mondeos, Octavias, Accords etc are every bit as complex as a Lexus, and not generally as solid.

OddballJamie

Run of the mill with cheaper parts was the request, you can't get much more run of the mill than an Octavia or Mondeo, as the OP is looking at an 06 car I would consider the Octavia. I was going to mention Vauxhalls, but the diesels aren't particularly known for being trouble-free.

Almost mentioned an Avensis, but the diesels are having the same HGF issue as their posher brothers.

jase1

OddballJamie wrote: »

Run of the mill with cheaper parts was the request, you can't get much more run of the mill than an Octavia or Mondeo.

I know -- but I was questioning the wisdom of such a request, especially when it comes to modern diesel-engined cars.

There's really no such thing as "run of the mill" any more. They're all highly complex, and will bite you in the !!!! when they go wrong.

So, my suggestion was to ignore that advice, and go for a car less likely to go bang in the first place.

Complex engineering plus cheap parts doesn't compute. Mondeo diesels can be petulantly unreliable.

OddballJamie

I know Mondeo diesels aren't the best (I had a PSA diesel previously) but they are cheap and popular.

My understanding of the phrase 'run of the mill' is that it means common or ordinary. I still stand by an Octavia, 1000s of taxi drivers can't be wrong.