Aa 5* Extended Warranty

[NorthSussex]

I have been offered a "3 year AA 5* Extended Warranty including ABS and Air con cover" for £399 from the garage where I recently bought my Focus from, at £133 per year this sounds a good deal. (My car is just over 3 years old and has covered 14,000 miles). I do realise this insurance does not cover wear and tear and also there are other companys offrering similar cover but generally at a higher price.

Do you think this insurance is worth having, how does it compare to the original warranty from Ford and Has anybody had any experience in making a claim on this AA 5* mechanical breakdown insurance?

[jeebowhite]

I personally think that the extended warranty is always a good idea. I have bought it on my Fiesta (but not my Focus :() If I had it on my Focus, I could have saved a few quid I am sure!

Its alwats worth investing in your car, I wont bother on the Cee'd as my warranty is 7 years from new - 100,000 miles, and not many companies will insure / warrant a car after this mileage anyway but I can guarantee (after my Focus problems) any car that is not under warrantable terms, I would buy an extended warranty for if it would be issued

[artscot79]

Warranty direct apqdd cheaper and cover everything including wear and tear and service faults and m.o.t faults i have it and it was 234 quid paid in 4 instalments. Aa is fine but no wear and tear means its useless

Youre aircon packs in and needs a new compressor as the car is 3yrs old they will call it wear and tear same with suspension parts do

nt buy if wear and tear isnt covered otherwise youre wasting

[NorthSussex]

Just had a quote from Warranty Direct, £919.63! for 3 years cover. Yes you may get wear and tear cover but look at the price as apposed to AA at £399 for 3 years but no wear and tear.

[Preee]

As Ascot pointed out , if you get it for £399 and then some thing fails and they say "wear and tear", your back at square one will a hugh bill looming , i would keep looking and get some more quotes

[Barry_]

Warrenty Direct is more - I got it too - they will also do it cheaper than the online quote - no doubt they will contact you soon - as they did with me and i got a 25% reduction.

Also I only got a year - figured that as the car is new and unknown that any major unknown issues will hopefully crop up during the first year. Might see what they offer once the year runs out and these companies usually contact you again to try and get you to continue with the cover = more discount :) Will depend on finances at that time.

[artscot79]

have to admit but it will be cheaper if they contact you ond you do it yearly as stated from past experience take the aa if you wish but youll pay 399 quid just to be told the aircon compressor is 4 years old and its wear and tear the suspension bushes are 4 year old so its wear and tear i know it has happened to me i had a clutch done rear suspension bushes and front and a bust spring all were wear and tear so i paid 310 for the cover as well as 220 ish for the clutch 200 for the rear bushes to be done 140 for the front bushes and 110 for the spring so if you add it all up that wqas 970 quid im not saying just go with warranty direct but get cover with wear and tear and hears what warranty direct advise and auto trader etc

he real worth of our warranty will only be discovered when you claim and we know that it can often be difficult to decide on the warranty company that deserves your trust. That's why we're delighted to list among our many partners such names as The Telegraph, MSN, The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, WhatCar magazine, Auto Trader, Admiral Insurance, Moneysupermarket, Go Compare, This is Money and uSwitch - we believe this speaks for itself!.

With alternative warranties disputes often arise in respect of wear & tear because they incorporate a "wear & tear" exclusion clause. At the time of any claim it is all too easy for the administrator to refuse your claim by saying; "of course it's broken, the car's done 40,000 miles and it's worn out."

Some companies have also started offering the option to pay extra for "premature wear" cover , we believe that such cover does not treat the customer fairly and is a "weasel word". Don't be confused by anyone offering you a warranty which mentions "premature wear".

All Warranty Direct policies protect you against failure caused by wear & tear because parts can fail due to wear & tear at anytime. Consider these facts, the average motorist covers about 10,000 miles per year so by the end of the normal 3 year manufacturer warranty the vehicle has covered about 30,000 miles - yet 44% of vehicles require repairs in year 4 and many of these repairs can be attributed to 'wear & tear.' So beware of any policy that doesn't offer, or even suggests you don't need, wear & tear cover and always pay any extra demanded if wear & tear is unwisely promoted as an option.

If you are extending an existing manufacturer's warranty or we have inspected it prior to coming on cover - your wear & tear protection will start from day one - otherwise your vehicle's wear & tear cover will start after the first 90 days. We adopt this policy because our years of experience have shown that wear & tear failures arising in the first 90 days on cover are almost always pre-existing faults that were apparent before the vehicle came on cover. Upon renewal, this cover obviously applies from day one. This policy is unique to Warranty Direct and reflects our position as industry leaders for customer service and satisfaction.

If your vehicle has a mileage of less than 60,000 we will pay the full cost of parts and labour. For vehicles over 60,000, the table below shows the percentage we will pay depending on the vehicle's mileage at the time of breakdown. We always pay the labour cost in full. Vehicle age or Mileage Parts Labour Up to 6 years or 60,000 miles 100% 100% Up to 7 years or 70,000 miles 80% 100% Up to 8 years or 80,000 miles 70% 100% Up to 9 years or 90,000 miles 60% 100% Up to 10 years or 100,000 miles 50% 100% Over 10 years or 100,000 miles 50% 100%

Our simple chart let's you know exactly where you stand from day one, avoiding dispute and annoyance on your part. Some companies will cover you against wear & tear and then exclude 'normal deterioration' - watch the small print.

A good example of a wear related failure is a failed water pump, which is as a result of worn bearings. This type of claim will be rejected by a warranty policy that does not cover failure caused by wear & tear.

just trying to save you from making a common mistake mate

[NorthSussex]

Thanks for the replies; what I really need to know before I decide on which company to use for Breakdown Cover is personal experiences with claims, and what companies were good and what companies were hassle.

We can all quote anecdotes and advertising splurge from the web but that is not real life experiences in making a claim. If you have made a claim, what was the experience like in making that claim, let us all know and name the insurer, good or bad, that way we may get better cover in the future.

[NorthSussex]

There have been very few replies to this post, there could be two reasons why.

1/ Ford owners don’t take out Mechanical Breakdown Warranties

2/ Fords are so reliable that those who have a Mechanical. Breakdown Warranty have never had to use it.

I spoke to my Cousin J.C. about this.

(He’s not the one who it is said, can walk on water).

He claims to know a lot more about cars than I do; he suggested I looked on an owner’s forum for a manufacturer of a more unreliable car; so I checked the MG TF Forum,

(you don’t want one of them)

they make good use of these warranties, so that’s the place to go to find out if they are any good.

http://forums.mg-rover.org/showthread.php?t=247518&highlight=Breakdown+warranties

[artscot79]

ive used warranty 2000 which had no wear and tear and everything was wear and tear as for warranty direct they are recommended by which what car autotrader and many others and from my old mans experience hes made claims with no hassle or argument they simply authorised the work to be carried out

[jeebowhite]

I used warranty direct, and also AA warranty. both of which argued with the garage that they were only going to pay 90 minutes labour for a 3 hour job, took a lot of effort to get them to listen and acknowledge you cant strip an engine bay and rebuild it in 90 minutes...

[alex801]

my mother has a 53 reg fiesta 1.4 zetec and she swears by this aa extended cover. be carefull thoughas a lot of thigs you may expect to be covered may not be. i think also for it to be vilid you must not stray from the manafacturers servicing guidelines, if your cars due a service at 20.000 and your service stamp says 21,000 your cover will be void! last winter she had bottom end engine trouble. the full job came to £650 and the AA covered £500 of it