Warranty advice?

[carlo]

Would anyone have any good advice about extending our Fiat Panda's warranty?

 

I've never bought a warranty (never had a car worth over £1000), but Mrs Carlo's had this Panda which she loves from new and the 3 year warranty ran out yesterday. I think for my peace of mind I'll have to get some sort or cover on it and am tempted to let the Fiat dealer sort it, although they want £300 for an extra year, or £400 for two years. I presume they'll just use a stock used warranty company - is there one out there anyone can recommend? And I have very little experience of how good these companies are when something actually does go wrong.

[kinkersaab]

Keep the £3/400 seperate for incase you need it, a 3 yr old panda known and owned by yourselves sinse new isnt likly to go wrong. my experience of warranties are that they are shit and dont cover what goes wrong. In 17years of sellling second hand cars i have never ever sold anyone an aftermarket warranty. TBH cant see the point. When your car goes wrong, to my mind the most irritating bit is the inconveinience of it all. a warranty wont help with that.

[dollywobbler]

Aye. Stash £300 a year into a separate bank account. If nothing goes wrong, you've still got your money. We do similar instead of having pet insurance.

[Spiny Norman]

Personally I wouldn't bother, especially if it meant being tied to a Fiat dealer for another two years.

Either go online and shop around for a warranty that best suits your needs or stick it in a pot for when you need it.

Or spend it on beer & hookers. It's an old Fiat, why would you possibly need a warranty?....

[Cavcraft]

Get it in writing what is/isn't covered by the warranty as (from my limited knowledge of them) they usually say anything that could be classed as a consumable (tyres, exhaust, brakes, clutch etc) aren't covered and they may insist you get the car serviced at a main agents AND only cough a certain percentage of any bill/s.

It does seem some warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on, let alone the costs involved.

[carlo]

That all sounds very sensible. I suppose my main fear is if something horrible goes pop in the diesel engine, I know that could get expensive. On the other hand all Pandas seem to be pretty reliable, that one hasn't even got a particulate filter thank the lord.

[RoadworkUK]

That all sounds very sensible. I suppose my main fear is if something horrible goes pop in the diesel engine

 

Bear in mind that, as far as an extended warranty goes, they'll very likely see glow plugs and stuff as consumables.

 

I've not bothered persuing the "free warranty" I'm supposed to have won from CAR magazine. Can't imagine they'd underwrite a warranty against my old rammle anyway.

 

As the others have said; £300 a year is a pretty reasonable self-insurance against bad things hapenning.

[talbot928]

Service history? Must be adhered to religiously!

Wear and tear items? Not covered!

Consequential damage? Not covered!

Diagnosis / Investigation? You agree to pay in advance!

Not covered after investigation? Tough, you pay and your cars now in a million bits!

 

I administer one of these types of policies.... Have I got one? No! Would I recommend one? No!

 

Ultimately the decision IS yours

[Morgan84]

Unfortunately from experience,warranty's are full of exclusion clauses and aren't worth the paper they are printed on. As has been said before,put the money asside in case something did go wrong,and if it does,you have the money to get it sorted. As far as Fiat warranty and customer care goes,they are absolutely dreadfull

[Mr_Bo11ox]

If the person selling you the warranty is the same person who sold you the thing you're 'warranting' its 100% likely to be a shit warranty, its like when you buy some christmas lights form B+Q and they attempt to sell you a wanky 'insurance policy' against them going on the blink. I would say put the cash to one side too, defo dont buy a warranty with it. If you are worried about the diesel engine knackering up, just make sure you give it a good motorway blast (of a couple of hundred 'energetic' miles) from time to time, thats a much better insurance policy. It wont guarantee you don't have a problem but it will separate you from these folk who potter to the shop and back, never letting the DPF do a regen and clogging the inlet manifold and EGR valve up, thus tipping the statistics in your favour.

[Rocket88]

Beware of any warranty being sold by "a well known motoring personality"..........'nuff said.............

[mrcitroen]

Beware of any warranty being sold by "a well known motoring personality"..........'nuff said.............

 

I keep getting emails from above said dude. Very hard sell from that outfit. Warranty on my Alfa ran out last Nov. Needless to say I did not renew from dealer or the guy that looks lie Monty Burns. It would been a huge waste of my cash to take one on as to date nothing has went ape (unusual on an Alfa I hear you say)

 

Yeah, just put some cash aside. Better in your pocket than these shysters.

[scaryoldcortina]

http://www.warrantywise.co.uk/car-warra ... t-covered/

 

Worth a read, if only to try and figure out what IS covered!