Used car warranties - worthwhile? | Motoring discussion | Back Room Forum

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 12:01

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - hugh

I am looking at a 3 year old car (Picasso) from a small trader - what are my 'rights' under the sale of goods act if there is a major fault?
Should I buy a warranty? If so, which one? Or can I rely on consumer protection law?
Thanks for your comments

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 12:30

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Roger Jones

If a major fault surfaces soon after purchase, then I would hope that you would be well protected under consumer law, but I don't know and there are others here who do.

If the trader won't include one as part of the deal, then buy one at least for the first year of ownership. Thereafter I would open a deposit account specifically for unanticipated car costs and pay into it regularly. If you need it, it's there; if you don't, you can enjoy the money at a later stage.

As to which one, the MB dealers I used to go to always said that the RAC scheme (masquerading as the MB Signature warranty) was very good in terms of coverage and cooperation (i.e. they didn't get much grief when arguing the customer's case with the RAC people). There's a link to Warranty Direct on this page, of course, and there are plenty of other contenders out there.

All that said, I'd take a close look at the Car-by-Car Breakdown and other sources (including a Forum search through the Back Room) for evidence of reliability or otherwise. If the model seems prone to faults, perhaps you should continue the warranty beyond the first year or back off altogether.

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 13:25

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Chris S

Beware of mechanical breakdown insurance which covers parts failing because of 'defects when new'.

What's the chance of a defect in a new part not showing up for three years? And if so how could you prove the failure wasn't down to wear and tear?

These 'schemes' were fairly common about 5 years ago, I don't know if any are still going.

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 13:29

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Canon Fodder

Hugh,

I can't comment on warranties, but your rights should there be a major fault with the car are strong.

Take a look a the summary sheets on the DTI website.

www.dti.gov.uk/ccp/topics1/saleandsupply.htm

CF

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 14:57

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Stargazer {P}

I thought that a dealer had to give a short warranty with a car sale (3 months rings a bell) but this can be quite limited.

Also it might not cover indirect damage caused by a failure of say the water pump or cambelt tensioner. ie it would cover the replacement of the failed item but not the consequently required engine rebuild.

StarGazer

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 15:49

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Dude - {P}

BMW have recently increased their in-house warranties beyond 3 years by a massive amount, (approx 40% for an E46 3 Series), and I would like to know if anybody on this forum uses and has had to make a claim from Warranty Direct and how they handled the whole business ???? Any info would be much appreciated.

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 17:41

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - keo-the-dog

28 days i think under the sale of goods act i was told this by three seperate garages and as far as i know it covers absolutely everything ,i think there is also a limit of 1000 miles .(not up on law so dont quote me, it's just what i've been told)....cheers...keo

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Wed 5 Jan 2005 18:02

Used car warranties - worthwhile? - Stuartli

A used vehicle from a deal should carry a minimum of three months or 3,000 miles warranty.

Try persuading the dealer to throw in a 12 month warranty in the price. They get them for far less than you would pay and if it clinches a sale it will be worthwhile for the salesman.

But read the small print carefully - not all warranties are what they seem.

Personally, despite having bought a succession of used cars over many years, some coming with a 12 month warranty as part of the deal, I've never needed to use a warranty's benefits.
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