Extended Warranties..............again

[bluenose1940]

As I will be changing my car early in the new year I have decided not to go with the Lexus offer of extended warranty. (2years for the price of one at £795.00)

Instead I am considering using WarratyWise (Quentin Wilson's outfit) Has anyone got any experience of this company?

They are quoting me £406.00 for 12months cover, the standard items include look pretty good too plus, they are throwing in free cover for Airbags and Air conditioning. The cover includes £100.00 per hour labour costs and it has a £4000.00 single item limit.

Any thoughts fellow members?

[johnatg]

Save the £406 towards the potential cost of any essential repairs before you sell the car, then take your wife for a nice weekend away when you don't need to spend it!

[toffee_pie]

are you an Evertonian......:p

[juicestop]

If selling privately in say 6 months time, you would probably be able to add £795 to the value of the car as the buyer would be getting 18 months Lexus guarantee, very appealing. Plus you will have peace of mind during your remaining ownership. I think that's worth taking into consideration.

[daddypatches]

I've used Warranty Wise before and my experience wasn't good. I had their gold/platinum package (it was their top package) when I bought my IS220; given that it was fronted by Quinton Wilson I assumed it was a credible outfit. Within a month of ownership I had cause to use my warranty because I suffered a faulty injector - according to Lexus I needed 3 of them. Initially Warranty Wise were very accommodating and even told me the warranty would cover it. When they got the report from Lexus recommending 3 new injectors together with the price for the work, Warranty Wise spent a week trying to find a reason not to honour the warranty and they changed their mind. I'm no mechanic but injectors aren't wear and tear items!

If you're compelled to get a warranty, I'd stick with Lexus as I believe they would look after you. If you need to use your warranty, it will be easier to argue your case when you can look someone in the eye, rather than a faceless person down the phone.

[johnatg]

I think it's very doubtful that a warranty in force would add much value to the car at resale. We're talking about a car which will be 8 to 9 years old early in the new year. Geoff doesn't say how he'll be buying a new car - but if it's a new car through a dealer p/ex his current car will most likely go straight to auction - and then even service books and suchlike tend to get lost, let alone warranty documentation. A dealer certainly won't make much allowance, if any, in this situation.

If he sells privately, a buyer of a 9 year old car is going to be looking for a minimum price for a straight car. And is he going to want to pay high servicing costs? - essential if you want to keep the warranty going. And a lot of people are very suspicious of extended warranties - me for one - I'd never contemplate buying one (eg circumstances cited by Carl) and I would not pay any extra for a car with one.

Your choice, Geoff. But I'd put the money towards the new car rather than the old one.

[ColinBarber]

Initially Warranty Wise were very accommodating and even told me the warranty would cover it. When they got the report from Lexus recommending 3 new injectors together with the price for the work, Warranty Wise spent a week trying to find a reason not to honour the warranty and they changed their mind. I'm no mechanic but injectors aren't wear and tear items!

I'd suspect most warranty companies would act the same. Multiple injectors don't just suddenly fail all at the same time, the same thing with coil packs yet time and again multiple ones get replaced. If they were poor due to age and usage then isn't that the definition of wear and tear? I suspect one injector was causing the issue and they either couldn't be bothered to find which one or they were all tested and two others were now 'out of spec' but still working.

[is200 Newbie]

Cant put it any better than what John has put down above

I would use the money towards the new car

[daddypatches]

When push came to shove, one injector was replaced which solved the issue. My concern is that 'wear and tear' is not clearly defined in my books. You could argue that over time, any part could fail due to wear and tear. Its a get out of jail free card for warranty companies.

I would suggest if you look after your car (regular service and with diesels clean the egr valve and use bg244/archoil) save your money.

[bluenose1940]

Thanks for all the replies folks, some interesting points mad.

I must admit that my initial thoughts were to sell the car privately as I think that any offer by a dealer will be quite low.

I will almost certainly be buying my replacement from a main dealer, dependant on where I might get the best deal from. I am still leaning very much in the direction of the IS300h as opposed to my earlier thoughts of the Ct200h.

I might be swayed to consider a much newer IS250 but, it would take an awful lot to do so, I really do like (love) the 300h

[Ishaq]

I have KwikFit car insurance and today they have offered me Extended Warranty for £139 of £14.99 per month.

[normski2]

Cripes, thats good.

Best take a look at the small print of what is covered though. Better to know up front what is and what is not.

[Ishaq]

Cripes, thats good.

Best take a look at the small print of what is covered though. Better to know up front what is and what is not.

Thats what I thought. Anyhow you can make claims of £1000 per time with £150 excess. KwikFit have teamed up with GO CAR WARRANTY

Heres the policy book if anyone interested.

https://www.kwik-fitinsurance.com/vehicle/car/pdfs/VEHICLE_WARRANTY_0611_web.pdf

[Ishaq]

https://www.kwik-fitinsurance.com/WarrantyBOL/

Here's the link if anyone wants to take out the warranty - £139 for the year.

[ColinBarber]

it seems ok for the price but you won't get it repaired at a Lexus dealer, as their labour rates will be too high, and they won't use genuine parts if pattern parts are available.

I guess not being repaired at a Lexus dealer has its benefits - with a £1,000 maximum single claim value you wouldn't have been able to get half of the things covered actually repaired at Lexus within that value :)

[Ray s]

I have Warranty Wise and just renewed it for the second year, it must be the same cover as yours Geoff and mine includes MOT failure and was £408 for the year, my 2009 220d went through its test ok a few months back so touch wood ive not had to ring them yet.

Ray

[bobbyc]

Hi Geoff,

Another opinon you could look at (although it would not provide the same level of cover) would be the AA breakdown garage repair cover. It covers up to £500 per claim with £35 excess and you can make 5 claims per year (it generally costs about £18 per month). Now I completely understand that if you only ever get repairs done at a lexus dealer then this is not likely to cover the cost of them looking at it, but I have found that the AA cover is excellent and I believe they do also offer some form of warranty rather than this garage cover if you call them up. My wife has it for her Mini Cooper and it packed in the other week (again, BMW rubbish), They came and took the car away to an "approved garage" and it turned out the clutch slave cylinder was away. This was replaced and the car back to us within 2 days. I also had RAC warranty with this Mini when my wife brought it and had to claim for a gasket oil seal, They did pay out, but the garage I was dealing with said they much rather deal with the AA because the whole process is so much slicker and they have better customer service.

So for some peace of mind it is something to consider and I have only had good experiences from the AA with anything I have done with them (including home emergency cover etc).

[bluenose1940]

Hi Bobby, thanks for this info, extremely useful. I will investigate further. It could be just what I am looking for as I'm hoping that early-ish in the new year I am hoping to change the car.

Thanks again.