Warranties? Are they worth it?

[Ryann]

Hi All,

I bought a used CL500. I also bought a warranty from a different company as I thought it may save me money. Has anyone bought warranties with used Merc's. I have been told that they will cover everything but wear and tear.

If anyone has any warranty experience with used merc's can they let me know. If something goes wrong do I just take it to the garage and then send them the invoice? Is that how it works?

 

[stumpy]

No and I'm sorry to say that most 'used car' warranties are not worth fluff all when you need to claim. There are normally so many exclusions in the small print and / or claim limits which a CL would not take much to exceed.

If you do have a snag however the normal practice is to get warranty company approval before repair. Most garages are familiar with the procedure but just make sure they are aware you have an aftermarket warranty and don't just pile in and change everything without checking who will pay for it.

Who is the warranty with?

 

[Ryann]

Hi Mate,

Thanks for your advice. The warranty is with Motorcare Warranties Ltd. I personally haven't heard of them before. I just posted the cheque today so I still have an opportunity to cancel.

My Engine Fan has gone (see my other post). And the cost to repair etc will come to around £700. Do you think they would pay for something like that?

 

[stumpy]

Call them and check.

 

[Bolide]

Hi All,

I bought a used CL500. I also bought a warranty from a different company as I thought it may save me money. Has anyone bought warranties with used Merc's. I have been told that they will cover everything but wear and tear.

If anyone has any warranty experience with used merc's can they let me know. If something goes wrong do I just take it to the garage and then send them the invoice? Is that how it works?

The answer to your questions will be found in your warranty documents

Nick Froome
www.w124.co.uk

 

[Blobcat]

As per above.
My own experience with warranties is that unless it is the Mercedes one it really isn't worth the paper it's written on.

 

[GMK]

Hi Mate,

Thanks for your advice. The warranty is with Motorcare Warranties Ltd. I personally haven't heard of them before. I just posted the cheque today so I still have an opportunity to cancel.

My Engine Fan has gone (see my other post). And the cost to repair etc will come to around £700. Do you think they would pay for something like that?

I had a poor experience with that company when my wiper motor failed.

I asked them to nominate their recommended repairer and they advised me to take it anywhere. So I chose my nearest dealer (MB Giffnock in Glasgow). They told me afterwards that they would not pay the dealer's hourly rates (105 p/h) and they only pay a max of 60 p/h. This is not stated in their policy, but they knocked down the amount payable to 280 against a total bill of 430

They then disputed my mileage as genuine (only done 30k miles!) and I had to send them my last MOT and get the dealer I bought the car from to write to them and confirm the mileage recorded at sale

They gave the dealership a verbal authorisation to commence the repair (according to the dealer, denied by Motor Care) and then refused my claim because the dealer didn't get it in writing from them. This 'approval process' (notwithstanding the issue over verbal/written authorisation) was dragged out for more than a week. Obviously (since I live in Scotland) my car was not useable without it's wiper during this time

Would not recommend this warranty to anyone

 

[Alex M Grieve]

As per above.
My own experience with warranties is that unless it is the Mercedes one it really isn't worth the paper it's written on.

When all is said and done, it is back down to simple arithmetic. The person who sells the warranty has to make a profit, but the cost of the warranty must be attractive to the person buying it.

If everyone's car behaved perfectly, the cost of the policy could be reduced and be extremely competitive.

If everyone's car failed regularly, the cost of the policy would be the total cost of all the work plus the vendor's margin.

The principal ways to achieve cometitive premia and sell lots of warranties are to build in exclusions, conditions, or co-payments (you pay the first £X.) Buyers tend to read the advertising hype, note the competitive premium and assume that their coverage will be comprehensive. Sadly, and I guess particularly in the aftermarket, "catch all" exclusions like "fair wear and tear" can be applied generally.

The Scottish solution, which I have used for years, is to self insure. If your car behaves, it costs you nothing. If it eventually miss behaves, you theoretically have all the money you did not spend on the warranty you did not buy to help pay the bill.

Like any insurance club, these schemes depend on lots of good risks who never claim paying the bills of those who do.

I like MB because I think they are well engineered and built. So far, to read the experience of others, I have been lucky. I have probably now saved enough money by not buying warranties to buy the next car if this one fails?

So I guess we all have the choice, do you back yourself, or do you pay a third party who migh never cough up?

 

[eGuru]

Hi Mate,

Thanks for your advice. The warranty is with Motorcare Warranties Ltd. I personally haven't heard of them before. I just posted the cheque today so I still have an opportunity to cancel.

My Engine Fan has gone (see my other post). And the cost to repair etc will come to around £700. Do you think they would pay for something like that?

We provided Motocare warranties when I worked for a local car lot. They charge a premium for prestige brands like MB as parts and labour are usually more expensive. Be aware that there are different levels of cover.
We also acted as middlemen when a customer had a problem and normally things were hassle free.

 

[Blobcat]

The Scottish solution, which I have used for years, is to self insure. If your car behaves, it costs you nothing. If it eventually miss behaves, you theoretically have all the money you did not spend on the warranty you did not buy to help pay the bill.

Like any insurance club, these schemes depend on lots of good risks who never claim paying the bills of those who do.

I like MB because I think they are well engineered and built. So far, to read the experience of others, I have been lucky. I have probably now saved enough money by not buying warranties to buy the next car if this one fails?

So I guess we all have the choice, do you back yourself, or do you pay a third party who migh never cough up?

I do the same, I looked at how much Mercedes would charge for an extended warranty on my last one and over the 2yrs it was out of warranty I came out ~£1400 to the good.

 

[dervmerc]

I have a warranty with my Merc and it's true to say by the time you've read all the clauses and the long winded way you have to make a claim and all the ways it's not covered you wonder why you accepted it rather than negotiate a discount instead.

It seems bearings are covered but they have to fail completely and you need to Break down before they'll consider paying out.Lots of paperwork to do just to put you off bothering.

 

[Ryann]

Thanks for all your replies.

By sound of all the replies, I think I may cancel the Warranty.

I suppose - Mercedes will charge a lot to Warranty an out of warranty car? Will they even do it?

 

[100%Bitch]

As per above.
My own experience with warranties is that unless it is the Mercedes one it really isn't worth the paper it's written on.

That's what I thought, but the one I have from RAC has saved me circa £1600 so far.

 

[Ryann]

How much did you pay with the RAC? Do you have a link to their warranty? Do you have excess? I wanted some kind of warranty to save some money - but I want one that will pay out when the time comes.

 

[stumpy]

It is a catch 22 really. I had a car which was under the manufacturers used warranty (not MB) which in the time I owned it had well over 10 grands worth of warranty work carried out FOC. When an excess was introduced the policy became less attractive to me. One of the reasons I sold the S Class was because I was fearful of a big bill and being out of warranty would leave me exposed. I bought a car once upon a time which had a cheapo warranty on it and when I got the car home I had noticed a couple of issues during the ride home. I phoned the warranty company and they refused the claim as they were of the opinion that the fault was there before I bought the car therefore pre-dating the warranty. I am now of the view like Blobcat that I would keep the warranty money in the bank until needed for a repair. Problem is, on cars like S, SL, CL or even worse - Bentleys, you need balls like space hoppers to do that.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

on cars like S, SL, CL or even worse - Bentleys, you need balls like space hoppers to do that.

Come on stumpy, don't be modest!

 

[Ryann]

I take your point and agree with you. However, I just took a look at the AA breakdown repair cover, I would have been covered and saved around £500 had I taken this cover. See link below.

http://www.theaa.com/breakdownrepaircover/index.html

 

[coxyhog]

About 10 years ago I had a BMW 325 that had developed an annoying rattle.
It was the sort you only heard when driving along a narrow enclosed road,where the sound would bounce back.
I'd bought the extended used warranty from BMW,can't remember how much it cost but it was nowhere near what I got out of it.
Took it to a dealer in Luton,who eventually isolated it to a failed alternator front bearing,so the alternator was replaced under warranty.
The rattle continued so after going to a Kwik Fit outlet I went back to the dealer(Ivor Holmes)& they replaced the cat,again under warranty(not only did it rattle when thumped,it failed the emissions test).
The rattle continued.Eventually they sorted it.
Front brake pad retaining springs,which they replaced for free.

 

[100%Bitch]

How much did you pay with the RAC? Do you have a link to their warranty? Do you have excess? I wanted some kind of warranty to save some money - but I want one that will pay out when the time comes.

It's an RAC Platinum warranty and the administrator is TWG Services Ltd. It came as part of the negotiated price of the car. The only problem is a ceiling of £1000, but if you know the right person at MB it can be catered for. So far, 2 claims paid within 7-10 days.

 

[Alex M Grieve]

It's an RAC Platinum warranty and the administrator is TWG Services Ltd. It came as part of the negotiated price of the car. The only problem is a ceiling of £1000, but if you know the right person at MB it can be catered for. So far, 2 claims paid within 7-10 days.

Helen,

The system timed your post at just after 4 a.m. today!

Is this the result of:
a: night shift
b: insomnia
c: a dodgy prawn in last night' curry?

Get well soon.