Should I buy a 6/12 mnth warranty for a used car?

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We are looking at buying a cheapish (under 3k) car this week.

I have been reading up on Sales of Goods Act 1979 and our rights, however, is it a good idea to purchase a 6 or 12 month warranty?

I don't know details of the warranty as of yet (we are to view the car this week and find out more details). Don't know costings or anything else yet.

the cars don't come road taxed but are mot'd.

Thoughts on warranties? Are they useless / overpriced / not worth it or canny?

Ta x

vaio

As you stated you will have certain rights under the SoG.

The add on warranties are generally insurance policies and so the devil is in the detail (i.e. what is or isn’t covered). Also be aware that they are available from all sorts of places and garages are not normally the cheapest place to get them (unless you can talk them into giving you a free one as part of the deal)

At the end of the day, the companies selling these on average pay out less than they get in from selling them so “on average” they are not worth it.

anewman

The warranty will be as good as a chocolate fireguard anyway. When it comes to the crunch you most likely won't be able to claim on it due to some technicality. If you are really worried about the possible cost of expensive repairs, the best thing you can do is buy a cheaper car and set aside the difference (in a high interest bank account of course) ready for the day you need repairs, or a new car. You can still get decent cars for under £1000.

jeannieblue

In fairness, and I know it must vary alot. We have carried out work on older cars that are under warranty. My boss is pretty good at calling up various orgs and getting the work ok'd. AA and RAC are the most common ones, but there are lots of others that we have dealt with.

One of our customers had bought a T Reg Galaxy. It had a number of problems but we managed to get it all done under warranty within the time period.

I wouldn't say they are a waste of time. I'm no good with small print myself, but am sure that it could be worth it in some cases. I am sure someone on here will know which companies are good and what you are likely to be covered for.

epz_2

cheaper and more reliable to take the car to an independent specialist and ask them to do a full inspection, it cost about £70 for one on my 7 series which is about a complex a car as they will get.

what sort of mileage and car is it, if we are talking about a 3 year old honda with 20k on the clock then the risks are substantially lower to a 5 year old fiat with enough mileage to put it over the big major service intervals like cam belt changes which if done incorrectly will destroy the engine.

ThomasD_2

Don't know if it helps you but just got an e-mail from Tesco offering car warranty. Couldn't find it on their site so maybe a clubcard only offer, http://www.tescofinance.com/personal/finance/motoring/car-warranty-plan/index.jsp
was the link in the e-mail.

Tom.

AdrianHi

For a petrol car valued at £3,000 I would be inclined to set aside a bit of money in a savings account and take my chances.
You have to be vary careful about what is / is not covered which is pretty impossible if you don't know your way around cars and what parts are there. Lots of warranty companies wriggle out of claims on "wear and tear", so make sure you know exactly what the policy is on wear and tear.
A warranty that is worth anything is probably going to set you back £300 a year with all cover options (no point if you don't cover everything) and you often cannot make a claim in the first 3 months.
Example with a wear and tear policy: http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/wear.html?wd=1