Extended Warranty (Non-VW policy) on a new-to-me Golf R

[S-Rob]

Hi you lot, I was wondering about whether or not it would be worth while purchasing an extended warranty from ALA (RAC) to cover a recently purchased Golf R.

 

Has anyone else purchased this cover or similar? Is it worth the protection or do they often reject claims?

 

In my case the car is a CAT N repaired but I couldn't find any stipulations in the policy documents but I am Intrested in your opinions in general. Currently I have no warranty on the vehicle. 

 

(I did try to find an existing thread but couldn't see any discussing non-VW policies)

[Ignition1]

On 06/10/2021 at 10:03, S-Rob said:

Hi you lot, I was wondering about whether or not it would be worth while purchasing an extended warranty from ALA (RAC) to cover a recently purchased Golf R.

 

Has anyone else purchased this cover or similar? Is it worth the protection or do they often reject claims?

 

In my case the car is a CAT N repaired but I couldn't find any stipulations in the policy documents but I am Intrested in your opinions in general. Currently I have no warranty on the vehicle. 

 

(I did try to find an existing thread but couldn't see any discussing non-VW policies)

 

Probably best to call them, or get something over e-mail in writing that confirms they'll cover your CAT N Golf R.

 

Can you not get it via VW?

 

In terms of 'worth the protection' - see my recent post on "Error: ACC". My R has been at VW since Monday being diagnosed, and thanks to the extended warranty I took - I saved myself over £2,700 in repair costs. At £260 (last year) for the 1 year cover, it's paid for itself several times over.

[TechieAli]

I would not waste my money on a non-VW warranty of any kind. They will wiggle out of it all the time. I got screwed (nearly) with my old Mk7 R which looked to me that the head gasket was going, they would not pay to fix any of the three oil leaks as they claimed leaks were not covered. Although gaskets were if I paid 2k to have it dismantled to prove. If they then declined to pay I would have to fork up the 2k to put it back together. To say the least I got shot back to VW.

[camelsac2002]

 
Probably best to call them, or get something over e-mail in writing that confirms they'll cover your CAT N Golf R.
 
Can you not get it via VW?
 
In terms of 'worth the protection' - see my recent post on "Error: ACC". My R has been at VW since Monday being diagnosed, and thanks to the extended warranty I took - I saved myself over £2,700 in repair costs. At £260 (last year) for the 1 year cover, it's paid for itself several times over.

That’s £2700 at main dealer prices though! One BMW dealership tried ripping off someone by saying that their M4 needed new turbos costing £1000s when in fact, a back street specialist cured the problem. Cost of the parts was about £7 - hence why I avoid main dealerships like the plague.


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[camelsac2002]

I would not waste my money on a non-VW warranty of any kind. They will wiggle out of it all the time. I got screwed (nearly) with my old Mk7 R which looked to me that the head gasket was going, they would not pay to fix any of the three oil leaks as they claimed leaks were not covered. Although gaskets were if I paid 2k to have it dismantled to prove. If they then declined to pay I would have to fork up the 2k to put it back together. To say the least I got shot back to VW.

Yes but VW will try and wriggle out of it too!


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[Deano]

The problem with 3rd party warranties is that the dealers don’t want to waste their time dealing with these companies. 
 

To make a claim you end up having to pay VW to reluctantly produce a report of any faults which you then need to send to the warranty company to put in a claim. This cost is never returned to you and takes ages leaving you off the road.

[S-Rob]

5 hours ago, camelsac2002 said:

That’s £2700 at main dealer prices though! One BMW dealership tried ripping off someone by saying that their M4 needed new turbos costing £1000s when in fact, a back street specialist cured the problem. Cost of the parts was about £7 - hence why I avoid main dealerships like the plague.


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That was my assumption too. VW warranty quote was far more than the 3rd party quote.

 

VW = £645.31 for 12 months

 

ALA (RAC) = £864 for 36 months (£376 for 12 months)

[R_wannabe_owner]

@S-Rob; If your car’s between 3 and 6 years are old, it might be worth considering VW’s All-In product; two years warranty cover, two services, two MOT’s and two years roadside recovery for £33.45 a month (total cost £802.80).

 

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners-and-drivers/servicing/service-plans/all-in.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ubMsv298wIVxLvVCh1sKwfqEAAYASAAEgLsWPD_BwE

 

[camelsac2002]

1 hour ago, S-Rob said:

That was my assumption too. VW warranty quote was far more than the 3rd party quote.

 

VW = £645.31 for 12 months

 

ALA (RAC) = £864 for 36 months (£376 for 12 months)

That's shocking.

[S-Rob]

52 minutes ago, R_wannabe_owner said:

@S-Rob; If your car’s between 3 and 6 years are old, it might be worth considering VW’s All-In product; two years warranty cover, two services, two MOT’s and two years roadside recovery for £33.45 a month (total cost £802.80).

 

https://www.volkswagen.co.uk/en/owners-and-drivers/servicing/service-plans/all-in.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI4ubMsv298wIVxLvVCh1sKwfqEAAYASAAEgLsWPD_BwE

 

That looks good. Will check it out! 

[AndyCook]

I’ve never bothered with extended warranty’s. My wife and I run 3 cars between us , bought from new and have done so for years. I figure out what we have saved on not buying extended warranty’s from3 vehicles over the years will have accumulated in savings and investments and will cover us for any big failures and bills. But… we have driven reliable  Subarus and Toyotas mostly over the years, but current fleet a Golf R, BMW X1 and only one reliable Japanese car a Toyota Hilux…. So might get a shock…

 

[Zeddicus]

Personal experience of this is that I rarely if ever pay for extended warranties, using @AndyCook's rationale.

 

However, I bought my Golf R from a dealer (non VW, in fact non-car dealer as he does mostly vans but had this as PX) which came with his own underwritten warranty for 3 months as part of the sale. As it turns out, I had a clutch rattle which he asked me to get checked out at my local garage (he's 200 miles away) and was diagnosed as a flywheel issue. Given the clutch had been replaced a few months earlier, we (me and the dealer) thought the flywheel had been replaced too. It hadn't. Although it was a bit of a grey area, the dealer, to his credit, agreed to pay for a new flywheel to be fitted at his own expense (I drove back to his local fitter though). So the warranty was worth it in my case.

 

However, really, if the dealer had wanted to wriggle out of the claim, he could have as it was a grey area.

 

In my view, if you are buying from a garage, take their standard warranty and get the car properly checked out either before or immediately after you buy. At least any bits that are not quite right can be sorted out whilst its still under warranty.

 

Beyond that, for the c£3-£500 per annum for an aftermarket warranty, I reckon you're better off saving the money towards repairs. Yes, you could have an issue like @Ignition1 and it could have been all worthwhile, but more likely you will rue the money you have spent. Also, you will definitely want to declare the cat N so that the warranty company can't use it as a reason to wriggle out of a future claim. Get them to state clearly what they will and won't cover on your specific car.

 

Good luck!

[Ignition1]

On 09/10/2021 at 13:39, camelsac2002 said:

That’s £2700 at main dealer prices though! One BMW dealership tried ripping off someone by saying that their M4 needed new turbos costing £1000s when in fact, a back street specialist cured the problem. Cost of the parts was about £7 - hence why I avoid main dealerships like the plague.


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That could well be the reason actually. I mean - who knows right? Could be an internal profit-making thing for VW franchised dealers to get some profit from the mothership in Germany...or maybe it was genuine. My car is still there - apparently with a dismantled engine, though it'll be ready tomorrow morning because of the "extensive repairs".

 

But that also could be "it's a 1 hour job, we claimed 16 hours off VW head office, and we're fully booked with services etc. so can't get to your car until Tuesday 4pm" 😂

 

Either way. I still think at circa. £280 for 1 year - I'm 99% sure the repairs done would've been more than that even at a local / back-street specialist. 

 

I'm definitely getting warranty again though while I can, and all-in one looks like it'll save me a ton.

[Ignition1]

2 hours ago, Ignition1 said:

 

That could well be the reason actually. I mean - who knows right? Could be an internal profit-making thing for VW franchised dealers to get some profit from the mothership in Germany...or maybe it was genuine. My car is still there - apparently with a dismantled engine, though it'll be ready tomorrow morning because of the "extensive repairs".

 

But that also could be "it's a 1 hour job, we claimed 16 hours off VW head office, and we're fully booked with services etc. so can't get to your car until Tuesday 4pm" 😂

 

Either way. I still think at circa. £280 for 1 year - I'm 99% sure the repairs done would've been more than that even at a local / back-street specialist. 

 

I'm definitely getting warranty again though while I can, and all-in one looks like it'll save me a ton.

 

Couldn't bothered to get the "all in one" eligibility check so I just went for the same warranty as this year, albeit with a £100 excess as I figured bad luck won't strike me again this year .

 

As I was on a spending spree - I went for some new tyres (Michelin PS4s). And less fun: my MOT!

[Martin2]

We extended the warranty on the R as it was only £348, you'd quickly get through that if there was an issue.   I traded my 7 series just before it's 3rd Birthday but was seriously thinking about extending the warranty despite them wanting £1800 (zero excess and breakdown cover was over £2,000!), as it had so much expensive tech.   

 

My current car is 3 years old in January and I'm definitely going to extend the warranty, as it's too high risk to self insure imo.  They want £1,072 or £1,222 with full breakdown cover.  Both with zero excess, but I don't think adding an excess is an option.