Warranty / Breakdown cover ?? Dealers Thoughts

[betginge 73]

Hi all  

Dealer Self appointed warranty's

What do you think is the correct length of Warranty to give to a customer on a standard mark up retail vehicle. (excluding part ex & Bangers) ?

What is the best compromise to please the customer,  the finance company (if on HP) and our Pockets ??

3 Months, 6 Months or eye watering 12 months   ??

just to recap i am focusing on those dealers who offer there own warranties with there own pot, rather than 3 rd party.

 

Also does anyone offer breakdown cover when they are selling one of there warranties? is there a provider out there who offers cheap road side recovery designed for dealers to provide or up sell. 

 

 

[Scooby who 40]

 

I self warranty everything nowadays.

Reason being, third party warranties aren't worth the paper they're written on. Have had too many issues with third parties. I used to give 12 months third party on problematic models to wipe my hands of any issues down the line. Trouble is, if the customer has an issue, chances are the warranty company will wiggle there way out of it, saying such and such isn't covered. Then the customer gets back in touch with me and instead of I having to stand over the car for 3 months, it turns into 12 months.

Such was the case recently where I sold a car last January 2016 with 12 months premium warranty. I included it as part of the deal (at MY expense) so didn't charge extra to the customer. In November I got a call from them saying the car was down on power. I informed them to contact warranty company, which they did. They left the car with the warranty approved garage who said it was down to a sticking calliper which wasn't covered. Customer calls me up complaining that they had a 12 month warranty with 2.5 months remaining and what good was it if, it wouldn't cover the problem. I told them drop the car around, which they did. I fixed it at my expense, because they made me feel bad by saying we've bought 2 cars from you in the past, etc etc

Now I give 3 months which is 90 days. I calculate the 90 days exactly using an online calculator. I write the expiry date of the warranty into the invoice so they know at midnight on that date the warranty has expired. I might give a day or two's grace if it's something minor and inexpensive, if the customer is extremely nice when they call up to complain or if they didn't haggle when buying, have bought from me previous, are friends of friends or whatever.

You always get those who will chance their arm and say the car is still under warranty when it could have expired a month or two previous. They must think I don't refer to my invoice book. Then there's those who say the car has hardly been used or only covered x amount of mileage since, or whatever. Usually when I point out in no uncertain terms that it has expired they go away but you always get the few threatening you with court or solicitors or whatever.

Would love to hear how others deal with warranties.

Edited January 24, 2017 by Scooby who

[justina3 518]

Almost word for word we offer the same cover as Scooby who and it works well for us, the only thing we make sure of is that we always stick to the same cars we know and understand so when a problem does occur we are able to sort it pronto. 

 

 

[betginge 73]

Thanks for the posts

It would seem then that 3 months for self warranty seems to be the norm.  3rd party warrantys are not worth the paper there printed on. 

How do you get on with finance companies do they expect you to stand on a vehicle past the warranty date if the customer complained 4 months down the line say ? I understand some finance firms are getting tough on dealers in regards to the con rights act ?

[Johno 1]

On 25/01/2017 at 8:50 AM, tradex said:

Hmm, interesting thread for me as I'm thinking about going back to my own warranty plan after a few issues lately with my third party provider (see other thread).

I rarely used to get comebacks, good prep' and problem free car models takes care of that. I only started doing the third party due to the amount of customers travelling a long way for a car and it seemed a good idea.

If a long distance customer has a breakdown are you liable for recovery back to your pitch?

[CGF 3]

I stand to be corrected but I'm fairly sure it's the customers responsibility to get it back to you...I sold an Octavia to someone 250 miles away that had a clutch linkage issue after a couple of weeks. Luckily, he got it sorted at his local garage at minimal expense...