What you fail to realise Lucy is that car dealers are brought up to lie, cheat, mislead etc & therefore view everyone else in the same light. Warranty companies do not try to get out of paying legitimate claims, they just get so many dealers putting in false ones or simply "trying it on" & the dealers don't like it when they say no.

Examples are claiming for work that did not take place, inflating the labour time, claiming for new manufacturer parts but using second hand ones.

Asking for a reduction in labour rate or a discount in parts is called "negotiating" & the main reason for late payment is down to the appalling level of administration at the dealerships.

And don't forget the level of warranty is determined by the dealer as to how much they want to pay & give to the customer NOT the warrany company

Hi Andy - I didn't mean to be offensive but when anyone mentions any form of insurance - you say it is all a rip off and tell them they should save their money etc etc.

In my view insurance is a good idea because everyone pays a little bit to cover something they hope will never happen to them.

If it does happen to them the idea is the pool will pay and they do not face an unforeseen expense.

I absolutely agree that many warranties were rubbish in the past - and there is one particular car retailer that is selling its own warranties which are still rubbish.

But Warranty Direct and Warranty Wise (and possibly others) have a credible product which does pay out on claims and get a lot of people out of a hole.

I have seven cases on my desk at the moment which would have been covered by a warranty if one had been in place -- but their vehicles are off the road because they simply cannot afford to pay the projected repair bills.

Not everyone has access to credit and an unexpected bill for £1500 or so will floor most people. Furthermore the problem is compounded because if they don't have a car it is often the case that they cannot work (and hence repay the costs for the repair).

Furthermore, given the number of potential Sale of Goods Act claims we see in the Honest John forums if I were a used car dealer or repairing vehicles I would be strongly recommending every customer of mine to take out a warranty.

Not only would they have more peace of mind, they would also have a commission on the warranty sale and a very high likelihood that the repair would come to them were there to be a claim on the warranty in future.

Edited by LucyBC on 25/09/2010 at 15:11