Warrantywise. Are they any good?

[Moggizmerc]

I've just had a major scare after owning a seven year old C200K for three days. The gearbox got water in it after a failure of a seal within the radiator. The MB garage quoted £5300 to put a new gearbox in although I managed to get a quote from an independent garage for a reconditioned gearbox for £2024. The car was bought for £4700. Thankfully we managed to get a refund from the small dealer we bought the car from but this has really been a sobering experience.

It seems to me that the only way we can confidently be Mercedes owners is to have a warranty on the vehicle. There are a lot of horror stories on this subject and I would like to hear peoples experience of their warranties. In particular we are looking at www.warrantywise.co.uk They claim to be fairer than the rest but then they would wouldn't they. Does anyone know anything about them?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dave

 

[Mr Teddy Bear]

I believe that your refering to the VAELO Radiator saga here. MB should pick up the repair cost as this is a recall item and a known design flaw.
Be very careful regarding anything built between 1999 and 2004 ish regarding rust. To generalise here the issue is one of paint quality, water based paint isn't waterproof, only the clear laquer finish.
The simple solution is once you find a car you like is to ask about the model concerned on this forum. We have a lot of nice very knowegable folks here who will be glad to help you.

 

[renton]

I've just had a major scare after owning a seven year old C200K for three days. The gearbox got water in it after a failure of a seal within the radiator. The MB garage quoted £5300 to put a new gearbox in although I managed to get a quote from an independent garage for a reconditioned gearbox for £2024. The car was bought for £4700. Thankfully we managed to get a refund from the small dealer we bought the car from but this has really been a sobering experience.

It seems to me that the only way we can confidently be Mercedes owners is to have a warranty on the vehicle. There are a lot of horror stories on this subject and I would like to hear peoples experience of their warranties. In particular we are looking at www.warrantywise.co.uk They claim to be fairer than the rest but then they would wouldn't they. Does anyone know anything about them?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dave

I'm currently in the process of buying an ML55 and the dealer said Warrantywise is the best one - how true that is I don't know, as I'm probably going to skip the warranty and save £500 off the asking price!

Be very careful regarding anything built between 1999 and 2004 ish regarding rust. To generalise here the issue is one of paint quality, water based paint isn't waterproof, only the clear laquer finish.
The simple solution is once you find a car you like is to ask about the model concerned on this forum. We have a lot of nice very knowegable folks here who will be glad to help you.

That's interesting to know, because yesterday I bought a 2002 A210 and the ML I'm buying is also 2002...

 

[vijilants]

I've just had a major scare after owning a seven year old C200K for three days. The gearbox got water in it after a failure of a seal within the radiator. The MB garage quoted £5300 to put a new gearbox in although I managed to get a quote from an independent garage for a reconditioned gearbox for £2024. The car was bought for £4700. Thankfully we managed to get a refund from the small dealer we bought the car from but this has really been a sobering experience.

It seems to me that the only way we can confidently be Mercedes owners is to have a warranty on the vehicle. There are a lot of horror stories on this subject and I would like to hear peoples experience of their warranties. In particular we are looking at www.warrantywise.co.uk They claim to be fairer than the rest but then they would wouldn't they. Does anyone know anything about them?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Dave

I use Warrantydirect but the principle of buying any car warranty is the same - the one piece of advice I will give is make sure you read the smallprint, especially the bits that show exactly what is covered and what is not covered, and the circumstances in which it is covered.

Also check to see if diagnosis costs are also covered....this can add up.

For example, apparently my rad needed replacing, so MB said as it was clogged. The warranty company said yes the rad is covered only if it leaks but not covered if it is clogged !

Also the heater....fan is covered and matrix is covered, but not the duo valve, and this is the component that mor often that not causes problems and is quite expensive new.

So beware and read the schedule THOROUGHLY before purchase of the warranty.