Check Your After Sale Warranty Exclusions
Thursday, 16. December 2010
One of the most staggering things I reported recently was the running costs of used cars versus new cars, it was cheaper to run a new car than a used car. Now to add to the pain of used car motoring, statistics from secondary warranty suppler, Warranty Direct, shows that one in three repairs carried out on cars from 3 years old to seven years old is as a result of wear and tear. The small print in most of these warranty policies excludes such items so whilst motorists who take out these policies believe that they are totally covered, they aren’t. Even, ‘manufacturers’ warranties are not what they seem. In general the new car is covered only for the first year by the manufacturer. Years 2 and 3 of a ‘manufacturers’ warranty is actually provided by the supplying dealer and with many policies the extent of the cover drops annually, with fewer items covered. But back to the used car warranties, according to Warranty Direct the most common failures are suspension arms, ball joints, steering racks, turbos and water pumps. The average cost of repair is £209 for a water pump and £794 for a turbo.
These secondary warranties are a serious bone of contention and even though few people are aware of the ability to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service they still had 200 complaints about the policies and upheld half of them. One motor repairer that often has to deal with the aftermarket warranty companies, Paul Robbie, said that ‘They exclude things that are likely to go wrong. Most policies have a pay-out limit, some as low as £250.’ So if you are taking out an aftermarket warranty on a used car you should shop around and always check the small print. And of course if you don’t get paid out on a warranty claim that you feel is wrongly refused always complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service. By Graham Hill
