Hi all, I am offered an extended warranty for VW Passat that will 100% match the manufacturer warranty. Offer comes from the dealer I bought the car from, Cricks Highway (QLD). I am sure it is marketing gimmicks but they said they are running promo and can offer 3 years extended warranty for $1,795 (normal price is $2,495).
What do you think? I would like input about the company and extended warranty in general. Thanks.
Your money.
But its a VW and since your risking so much there already , you might be better off getting extended warranty.
2 Things
Another brand, maybe not
This is the way dealers make money. So if they are making money guess who's losing
Edit
Like Vinnie says
IMO they jack up the service price to offset the cost of the insurance
Not really, this is how they also get more money out of you as you MUST get it serviced otherwise your insurance is void.
So add this cost to your purchase
Thanks for your feedbacks. What's usually the argument if I am claiming something and somehow could proof that the item would otherwise be covered by the manufacturer warranty. They said it match the manufacturer's warranty.
Well it matches the warranty after the existing warranty expires But again there are so many conditions on extended warranty.
If you or the dealer thinks the chances of something going wrong after 3 years is that high to warrant this expense, go for a more reliable car.
US reports on reliabiity of the 2017 Passat rates it as average, 2016 as below average
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/volkswagen/passat/2016/r…
EDIT - Sorry on re reading your post I see you have already bought the car. See Inherentchoices comment below
This is what I would do.
1 - Read the T&C of the extended warranty and find out what they cover and do not cover and the conditions of servicing.
2 - Approx about 2 months before the manufacturers warranty expires, take it in for a service and get a warranty inspection.
I am very confident that there will be some fine print on the Extended Warranty which will make it nearly impossible to claim for "up to $5000".
When I purchased my Ford, I was told the same thing. However when I made a claim, the customer service was a little different. They replaced my $150 Electric Window cluster switch however with Resistance.
Imagine an expensive Engine Head Gasket change? IMO, they will do everything not to honour the claim.
But that's from my experience.
EDIT:
Good Luck.
Usually these warranties force you to service your car with the dealer. It's just expensive insurance in my opinion.
Here's some articles that tend to confirm it's often a very bad deal for consumers:
https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/suncorp-…
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/i-…
https://www.choice.com.au/money/insurance/car/articles/car-d…
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-12/insurance-sold-at-car-…
http://www.afr.com/business/insurance/insurance-companies/as…
Not only force you to service at your selling dealer but they increase the frequency of servicing. For example: If your car service is 12 months 10000km then they will specify 6 months and 5000km. If you don't do it then the extended warranty may be void.
I currently have a KIA and the dealer gave me a 3 year warranty extension on a 7 year manufacturer warranty. There were severe limitations on how much I could claim and the servicing had to be done there for the whole 10 years. After 7 years the time between service was halved and if you didn't do it then the extended warranty was cancelled. The car was 6 months old a couple of weeks back and they texted me it was due for a service. The KIA service interval is 12 months so I ignored it. I'm not counting on the warranty extension being available. I probably won't even have the car then.
When I had a Ford a few years back, I got an extended warranty from a Ford dealer that was supported by Allianz. That warranty could be honoured at any approved dealer / service agent.
Whatever you decide you must read the PDF to find out what you are paying for and who is supporting the warranty!!!!
It’s a scam. I bought a Honda once and they tried to sell me the extended warranty which I declined. Few weeks down the road I received a letter from the dealer offering free extended warranty if I continuously sent my car for servicing to them.
Dealers make more in the long term servicing for a vehicle than the sale of It.
I would buy a more reliable car than a Volkswagen in the first place and not bother with an extended warranty
Get the warranty from VW directly, doesn't tie you to dealer. It paid for itself when I had sunroof issue and radio thingy issue. From memory it was transferable to new owner if you sold the vehicle prior to it ending, too.
I didn't know they do that. Do you mind sharing how did you contact them and how much did you pay?
I found out about it on a VW owners' forum site… bought it through a VW dealership (http://www.southernclassiccars.com.au/ - not the one I bought through) because the forum had negotiated a bulkbuy rate - they just register it through the VIN of the vehicle. Was $1400 for me at the time when a crappy dealer extended warranty was about $1700.
It added two years onto my three year warranty for five years in total from purchase. When I went to claim against it I just went to a VW dealer and they handled all the paperwork (basically authorised the claim then Allianz (VW's underwriter) picked up the bill).
Some info here: https://www.volkswagen.com.au/content/dam/vw-ngw/vw_pkw/impo…
Drop VW a line and ask them the best way to order it [email protected] - it depends on the model of your car.
Thanks a lot for your information. I think this is my best bet. I have contacted them.
Don't waste your money IMO.
Normally these extended warranties are from external Insurance Companies.
They only cover minor things and the catch is that you have to service the car at the dealer. IMO they jack up the service price to offset the cost of the insurance.
If it is from VW themselves then I would consider it.
I had external warranty for a new car too (Ford) and they were umming an arring when I had to claim after the manufacturer 3 years warranty.
..and that was for a basic $150 electric window switch cluster.
There is a reason why these Insurance Companies are very lucrative businesses.
But that's my opinion.
Cheers