Extended Warranty

[saleemarshad]

Hello Folks,

The original warranty on the car expires in March. It ages 3 years. I have a service contract that runs for another year after that.
Nearly 40K on the clock!

What would the best options be for an extended warranty?
Many thanks
Sal

 

[jberks]

Ask your dealer for a quote - pick yourself up off the floor, take 50% of whatever the premium would be and bank it. Over the next 12 months, use that to fund repairs.
Then at the end, take the remaining funds and have a nice weekend away.

 

[Dave-Leeds]

Just had a quote form local dealer for extended warranty. it took 2 weeks for them to actually speak to me about it. cost is just under £700 for 1 year or just over £1400 for a 2 year warranty. This isn't with Mondial Assistance who were the ones who wrote to me to say my warranty was about to expire. They are offering a warranty with Abraxas Insurance Administration Services Ltd.

Is there another provider or should I stick to the one the dealer suggests?

 

[jberks]

Just had a quote form local dealer for extended warranty. it took 2 weeks for them to actually speak to me about it. cost is just under £700 for 1 year or just over £1400 for a 2 year warranty. This isn't with Mondial Assistance who were the ones who wrote to me to say my warranty was about to expire. They are offering a warranty with Abraxas Insurance Administration Services Ltd.

Is there another provider or should I stick to the one the dealer suggests?

MB Leeds I assume. Its gone up by £100 then.
Read carefully, small print says it doesn't cover 'wear and tear' and pipes - amongst other things.
6 months ago I had 3 faults. Cruise control stalk, leaky rear diff and leaky power steering coolant.To be fair they did pay out for the first item - refused the other 2 though, claiming wear and tear on the diff seal. Given it's a 4 year old car, what exactly wouldn't be wear and tear? My view was that the diff seal shouldn't have worn out yet so wasn't wear and tear but they didn't agree. Fortunately MB did and paid out instead. Keep your money in the bank.

 

[hawk20]

Is there an MB extended warranty? Many of the others are hardly worth the paper they are written on.

 

[ricky s]

Yes I believe so Hawk, recently MB qouted me £1030 for a tier 1 extended MB warrenty for my E55. Still does not cover everything though, as you,d expect

 

[hawk20]

Yes I believe so Hawk, recently MB qouted me £1030 for a tier 1 extended MB warrenty for my E55. Still does not cover everything though, as you,d expect

Yes but covers a lot more than most according to other threads I have read.

Was this an extension of an Approved Used warranty?
Is there an extended warranty available on new cars once they reach the end of the three year MB warranty?

 

[HERBIEMERCMAN]

from this club site find out who the good honest "indes" are ( independant merc experts ), they know how to diagnose problems, where to get the best parts from and how to fit them at half the cost of the mb main dealers. in my experience you only go to the mb main dealers for new cars and the non negotiable warranty period. if you are fortunate enough to be able to change your car for a new one every 3 years then ok, i used to enjoy this situation and was treated like royalty by them, now i am retired with an old merc. i was once navigating between the new cars in their showroom to buy some spare parts, i was told i could look at the cars, but not to touch them. mb in my opinion have a lot to learn about loyalty to their old car customers. herbiemercman.

 

[ricky s]

Yes but covers a lot more than most according to other threads I have read.

Was this an extension of an Approved Used warranty?
Is there an extended warranty available on new cars once they reach the end of the three year MB warranty?

This is exactly my senerio, the cars coming to the end of its original MB warrenty, and I now have to choose to weather to extend this MB warrenty. I am currently dithering weather to sell it, but if I dont, I will take this extended tier 1 warrenty, for my own peace of mind and prehaps aid its sale a little later.

 

[hawk20]

from this club site find out who the good honest "indes" are ( independant merc experts ), they know how to diagnose problems, where to get the best parts from and how to fit them at half the cost of the mb main dealers. in my experience you only go to the mb main dealers for new cars and the non negotiable warranty period. if you are fortunate enough to be able to change your car for a new one every 3 years then ok, i used to enjoy this situation and was treated like royalty by them, now i am retired with an old merc. i was once navigating between the new cars in their showroom to buy some spare parts, i was told i could look at the cars, but not to touch them. mb in my opinion have a lot to learn about loyalty to their old car customers. herbiemercman.

Come to my local dealer and you can touch them all, and sit in them, and arrange a test drive -no problems.

 

[jberks]

I will take this extended tier 1 warrenty, for my own peace of mind and prehaps aid its sale a little later.

For peace of mind, I can't argue.
For resale, in my experience, don't bother. I had an MB warranty on my C a few years ago. This in the days when an MB warranty was really thorough - no exclusions whatsoever. Put it up as a trade in and was still offered book price.
In reality, I'd say you're better off with an indie (Merc-Care in Pudsey are very good) and, maybe for peace of mind on the big nasties like gearbox etc, a cheaper after market warranty that comes with a big excess. I suspect you'll be ahead at the end of the year that way and still sleep soundly.

 

[Micman]

Personally I wouldn't bother with an extended warranty from anybody.

In most cases they aint worth the paper they are written on!

Rather than pay out a one off fee or a monthly charge, just stick that money to one side in an account and pay to repair anything as, when or if it needs it.

Use a local independent garage to keep the labour costs down.

 

[hawk20]

Personally I wouldn't bother with an extended warranty from anybody.

In most cases they aint worth the paper they are written on!

Rather than pay out a one off fee or a monthly charge, just stick that money to one side in an account and pay to repair anything as, when or if it needs it.

Use a local independent garage to keep the labour costs down.

That's OK if you are well off or lucky. People buy insurance for houses, cars, health etc because they don't want, or can't afford, the risk of a major bill. Putting your house insurance money into a bank won't cover the cost if the house burns down. And some car problems can be very costly.

But I agree you have to try and find a warranty that does what it says on the tin.

BTW does anyone know, can you get an MB warranty to cover the car once the standard 3 year warranty is up?

Or is it only the approved used warranty that can be extended?

 

[jberks]

That's OK if you are well off or lucky. People buy insurance for houses, cars, health etc because they don't want, or can't afford, the risk of a major bill. Putting your house insurance money into a bank won't cover the cost if the house burns down. And some car problems can be very costly.

But I agree you have to try and find a warranty that does what it says on the tin.

BTW does anyone know, can you get an MB warranty to cover the car once the standard 3 year warranty is up?

Or is it only the approved used warranty that can be extended?

True Hawk, but if insurance on a £300,000 house was £15,000 per year, how many of us would still take it out? Then if they started saying that you were covered for fire if it started in the loft or bedrooms but not the kitchen and if you did have a fire, they'd rebuild your house but wouldn't replace any plumbing or wiring...
These are the kind of silly things that are standard with car warranties these days.
The 2 year MB signature extended warranty I had on my C class in 1999 was fabulous. No quibbbles, no arguments, if it was broke, they fixed it. Simple and well worth the £350 per year I paid for it. I'm not sure who came out ahead but I didn't care, I was 100% safe and that was what I was paying for.
Now they want £700+ for 1 year for cover that doesn't come close in terms of cover. Mine (dealer supplied comprehensive warranty) cost me £600 for 1 year on a car that at the end of the term would be the samC was when cover started. They then refused to pay out for a diff seal becase it fell under 'wear and tear'. This term should be outlawed IMO. After all, if it was working and now doesn't, by definition it has worn out. Prematurely, possibly, but it's still failed and therefore worn out. It gets them out of anything.. main bearings for example..
If they'd kept the price the same over the years and reduced cover accordingly I could maybe understand it but the price has doubled (and repair costs haven't).

Hence I'd say that these days, extended warranties are simply no longer cost effective.


Per your question, I asked the exact same question and that's what I thought I was getting. An MB warranty to kick in when the car turned 3. It was just short of 1 when I bought it so still had 2 years to go so I bought a warranty to give me a full 3 years figuring no nasty surprises whilst I was paying it off.
As it was supplied by the dealer I can only assume MBUK don't do them any more (or I can't see them being very happy that a franchised dealer would be selling someone elses).

 

[Rory]

After all, if it was working and now doesn't, by definition it has worn out. Prematurely, possibly, but it's still failed and therefore worn out.

That's really the nub of the difference between a warranty and a service contract. There are something like half-a-dozen different kinds of failure. A "wear" failure is one which is both partial and gradual - an oil seal is a good example; it works, then weeps then leaks then eventually would give way completely.

A crankshaft that just snapped would be a "catastrophic" failure, one which is both sudden and complete.

As it was supplied by the dealer I can only assume MBUK don't do them any more (

MB wrote to me and offered their extended warranty when my car was 3, 18mths ago. But I see there's nothing about them on their website so maybe they have stopped doing them. Along with the demise of ServicePlus it would seem that Mercedes are not interested in supported owners of older vehicles.

I guess there's some business logic in that, if people feel comfortable then they're not motivated to change. If you think about it, if you pay a grand a year for warranty, plus, say, £500 for servicing, then with some of the deals around, you're probably halfway to getting a new car on a PCP or personal lease.

 

[jberks]

That's really the nub of the difference between a warranty and a service contract. There are something like half-a-dozen different kinds of failure. A "wear" failure is one which is both partial and gradual - an oil seal is a good example; it works, then weeps then leaks then eventually would give way completely.

A crankshaft that just snapped would be a "catastrophic" failure, one which is both sudden and complete.
.

as you say, there's the rub. In my view, something is either performing its function correctly, or its not (I realise there is a wide range of tolerance in the term 'correct function' but being pedantic...). If the latter, to the point that a dealer recommends replacement, the view should be that it has failed. If the warranty co queries whether it is bad enough for replacement is their choice, but should be taken up with the mechanic concerned.

I draw the distinction at consumable/component level. Consumables are not covered unless its under a service contract - fair enough. Things like brakes, fluids and other regularly replaced items. Components however, should be covered IMO. How and why they failed should be irrelevant, especially given that they already specify maximum mileages and ages for cover.

MB wrote to me and offered their extended warranty when my car was 3, 18mths ago.

Interesting. Mine also turned 3 around 18 months ago and I never heard a peep!

That said, I was offered an extended warranty on the landrover ...£1000 per year!! so I suspect MB's offering would have been equally prohibitive.
It annoys me mainly because to me they are showing their confidence in their own products. If they think £1000 is a fair premium, they are saying that they expect an owner on average to have that level of repair cost. I sincerely hope they're wrong. Also, MBUK should be able to negotiate a reduced labour charge and lower parts costs for their own warranty repairs (after all, a huge part of the cost of parts is their mark-up) so they should be in the strongest position to offer a sensibly priced comprehensive warranty...but they choose not to.

 

[Rory]

...£1000 per year!! so I suspect MB's offering would have been equally prohibitive.

It was £848 for C Class and £871 for E Class. (that was Aug 07). The letter actually came from MB Direct, where I bought my car.

Very broad coverage up to 60K miles (including wear and tear) - more limited coverage from 60-100K and no wear and tear.

It annoys me mainly because to me they are showing their confidence in their own products.

I feel miffed about ServicePlus - not so much the cost per se, but more that I feel so terrified at the potential costs that it seemed essential to get some kind of coverage.

The remarkable thing about ServicePlus coverage is that once the dealer knows you have it, the car needs stunningly little work. And, guess what; ASSYST's variable mileage works perfectly without any wailing and gnashing of teeth.

 

[hawk20]

It was £848 for C Class and £871 for E Class. (that was Aug 07). The letter actually came from MB Direct, where I bought my car.

Very broad coverage up to 60K miles (including wear and tear) - more limited coverage from 60-100K and no wear and tear.

I feel miffed about ServicePlus - not so much the cost per se, but more that I feel so terrified at the potential costs that it seemed essential to get some kind of coverage.

The remarkable thing about ServicePlus coverage is that once the dealer knows you have it, the car needs stunningly little work. And, guess what; ASSYST's variable mileage works perfectly without any wailing and gnashing of teeth.

If you bought the car secondhand that could be extensions to the approved used warranty, could it?

My query is whether there are extensions to the 36 month manufacturers warranty available with the MB name behind them and without all the usual quibbles in the T's and C's. Like JBerks I cannot see why we cannot have a good value MB-backed guarantee extension at sensible money.

Service Plus offered that and was generously interpreted according to most who purchased it as many threads testify but sadly this had gone; and it lost money because it effectively became an extended warranty and a service contract at an amazingly good-value price.

Lots of people, me included, would like the peace of mind of a flat fee per year to cover the risk of repairs -all repairs that are not normal service items.
Baffling that it is not supplied in a free market with willing buyers (but apparently no willing sellers).

 

[Rory]

If you bought the car secondhand that could be extensions to the approved used warranty, could it?

My query is whether there are extensions to the 36 month manufacturers warranty available with the MB name behind them and without all the usual quibbles in the T's and C's.
[/QUOTE]
My car was only 5mths old when I got it and it never had an approved used warranty - in fact I don't recall it being an approved used car. It still has 2yrs 7mths of the original warranty to run.

The offer letter I got was tied in with the end of the standard 3yr warranty.

Service Plus offered that and was generously interpreted according to most who purchased it as many threads testify but sadly this had gone; and it lost money because it effectively became an extended warranty and a service contract at an amazingly good-value price.

Lots of people, me included, would like the peace of mind of a flat fee per year to cover the risk of repairs -all repairs that are not normal service items.
Baffling that it is not supplied in a free market with willing buyers (but apparently no willing sellers).

I know we've discussed this before - perhaps MB did lose money on ServicePlus but if you take out the 3yrs warranty then cars that are now 3-6 years old were in an era where MB's were much less reliable than they are now.

I'm spectacularly out of pocket (touch wood) so far on ServicePlus, and if MB had promoted it more widely then they'd surely be making good money on it these days.

 

[HERBIEMERCMAN]

if i win the lottery i will visit the false smile, stainless steel, high class showroom, merc. showrooms need to remember "it is wise to treat customers well on the way up because you will certainly meet again on the way down". most of the mb dealerships have got the last bit wrong.herbiemercman.