warranty companies

[AB Motors NI 1]

hi, looking bit advice. im a home trader selling to trade and retail both, i put a rac warranty on all retail sales but im frustrated that rac usually dont cover claim in full and im out pocket to make up difference and its costing me twice. question is do i self fund warranty or keep up with rac shortfalls?? any ideas welcomed thank you

[EPV 631]

2 hours ago, AB Motors NI said:

hi, looking bit advice. im a home trader selling to trade and retail both, i put a rac warranty on all retail sales but im frustrated that rac usually dont cover claim in full and im out pocket to make up difference and its costing me twice. question is do i self fund warranty or keep up with rac shortfalls?? any ideas welcomed thank you

When you say they don’t cover the claim in full, what do you mean as an example? I do my own warranties. 

[AB Motors NI 1]

eg

yesterday had major issue with bmx x5 heater system, my mechanic had estimated 8-10 hrs labour for job and rac autodata times 5.6hrs, seems to be labour shortfall every claim as i give my mechanical work out to local garage

[EPV 631]

30 minutes ago, AB Motors NI said:

eg

yesterday had major issue with bmx x5 heater system, my mechanic had estimated 8-10 hrs labour for job and rac autodata times 5.6hrs, seems to be labour shortfall every claim as i give my mechanical work out to local garage

I don’t follow. If you’re paying for a third party warranty, why are you getting involved in the labour/garage allocation? That’s the point, the billy rings them and they sort it all. 

[AB Motors NI 1]

i have to pay mechanic, he wont get involved, job cost me £608 to repair, rac paid me £392

think ill use my own pot from now on

[RHO 15]

Maybe your mechanic isn't very good if he's 3 hours over Autodata times. Or doesn't have the right tools for the job. 

Try and Indie specialist for a better quote and a better job. 

We do our own warranty work. Put a pot away for everyone sold. £150 normally unless German & diesel. 

[EPV 631]

So what may I ask do the RAC do? 

[RHO 15]

Just now, EPV said:

So what may I ask do the RAC do? 

Probably pay out on Autodata times instead of crap mechanic times. 

[EPV 631]

I never knew that’s how the RAC warranties work. So the billy phones you up, you have to arrange the fix and they reimburse you? Or not as the case may be? 

[AB Motors NI 1]

heater blowers had stopped blowing out centre vents, nearly 3 days to strip and rebuild, 2 new motors that open flaps, parts less than £100 but labour very high. rac paid 5.6hrs for 3 days work

[Arfur Dealy 823]

48 minutes ago, AB Motors NI said:

i have to pay mechanic, he wont get involved, job cost me £608 to repair, rac paid me £392

think ill use my own pot from now on

I have never felt the need to offer warranties, I believe it invites continued additional grief, I'm willing to stand by my obilgations under the CRA and I tell my buyers that. When you specilaise in older high mileage motors, nearly every repair consitues wear n tear and Mr Customer needs to understand they have to take repsonsibility and ownership ..... If you prep right, PDI right, describe right, use the right stationary and be ultimately fair, you shoukld be OK. Knowing your obligations under the CRA is imperative.  

[RHO 15]

21 minutes ago, AB Motors NI said:

heater blowers had stopped blowing out centre vents, nearly 3 days to strip and rebuild, 2 new motors that open flaps, parts less than £100 but labour very high. rac paid 5.6hrs for 3 days work

24 hours labour @? And Autodata says 5.6 hours. Wow. What's your guys labour rates?

for me if we found we couldn't do the job in a reasonable time then off to a specialist it would go. 

Surely cheaper in the long run. 

[Dave2302 387]

I cannot believe that BMW is more complex than a W221, I have had complete Dashes and HVAC out of S Class in less time, much less, can usually do one in a day !!

Sadly this is the problem with Warranty Work, they never want to pay !!

 

[EPV 631]

A third party warranty company should work like this;

You buy a third party warranty and when something goes wrong, the warranty company sort it out. Admin, pay for the repair, end of. Why would you bother with a third party warranty that you have to deal with all the shit and source the fix yourself?

[AB Motors NI 1]

lesson learned i think,my mechanic is £20 per hour

[EPV 631]

Either run your own or use a third party that actually do something useful. Warranty Assist are good. 

[EPV 631]

7 minutes ago, twerp said:

Do people have much luck periodically providing 3rd party warranties on the likely suspects i.e Range Rovers ?

Always good margin on these if you can mitigate the after care

Entirely what I do mate. Anything “safe” i warrant myself (or as Arfur says, stand by my commitments to the CRA) and anything iffy I insure myself and use a third party warranty. 

[RHO 15]

1 hour ago, AB Motors NI said:

lesson learned i think,my mechanic is £20 per hour

Don't think you get a fully fledged quality mechanic for £20ph. 

Our BMW Indy is £54 vat inc. 

[Beautiful South Martin 24]

I always tell my customers to come back to me if they have a warranty issue unless there out of the area.  My warranty company pay retail for parts (although they do check ECP website to make sure they are not paying more than joe public), I don't have workshop facilities but my MOT guy does my warranty work. I basically find the book time, charge the warranty co at £35 an hour, my man charges me less obviously, source my own parts less my trade discount, do the claim on line, customers signs claim form, send copy of service history/MOT cert, settlement cheque arrives within a week, all done and a happy customer to boot.

Just done a alternator claim on a CRV and netted £160...I look it as another profit area to the business not sure why anyone would want to side door it and give profit to a third party ?

[Rory RSC 596]

In an ideal world you would pay for an aftermarket warranty with say Warrantywise they would deal with the customer and the garage and pay out promptly making life nice and easy and simple. You don't have to get involved and your customer is nice and happy. 

The reality is they don't cover what they say they will, wriggle out of everything, won't cover a wheel bearing because it missed its pollen filter at 18k miles, send out engineers to inspect stuff taking 48+ hours and then you argue your life away and then they finally agree to cover it under goodwill as you are a good customer.

 

Best bet is to go a bit halfway, work with a company like A1 who do self admin warranties. You pay into the pot monthly so maybe pay a /£30/£40 admin fee and then you can put anything you like in per car so £50 / £100 / £200 etc. They then use your money for your warranty claims. If you prep right and look after your customers this makes life far easier as A1 work with you for the right outcome. They still drive costs down and make sure garages don't take the mick and if its something that is not really a warranty item they will still let you know and see if you want to step in rather than just a point blank computer says no.

After sales is what makes or breaks your feedback, reputation and reviews in this game and its crucial if you are offering warranty and good service that its backed up when the customer needs it or you are forever getting it in the neck.

 

[EPV 631]

53 minutes ago, Beautiful South Martin said:

I always tell my customers to come back to me if they have a warranty issue unless there out of the area.  My warranty company pay retail for parts (although they do check ECP website to make sure they are not paying more than joe public), I don't have workshop facilities but my MOT guy does my warranty work. I basically find the book time, charge the warranty co at £35 an hour, my man charges me less obviously, source my own parts less my trade discount, do the claim on line, customers signs claim form, send copy of service history/MOT cert, settlement cheque arrives within a week, all done and a happy customer to boot.

Just done a alternator claim on a CRV and netted £160...I look it as another profit area to the business not sure why anyone would want to side door it and give profit to a third party ?

Why?

its an awful lot of work for £160 (which you’ve basically conned the warranty company out of anyway) when you could be spending your time sourcing/selling stock. 

Then there’s the aggravation side of dealing with the grumpy customer. Each to their own but to me a third party warranty is something you use to insure yourself against paying out. They should deal with it all. 

2 minutes ago, Rory RSC said:

In an ideal world you would pay for an aftermarket warranty with say Warrantywise they would deal with the customer and the garage and pay out promptly making life nice and easy and simple. You don't have to get involved and your customer is nice and happy. 

The reality is they don't cover what they say they will, wriggle out of everything, won't cover a wheel bearing because it missed its pollen filter at 18k miles, send out engineers to inspect stuff taking 48+ hours and then you argue your life away and then they finally agree to cover it under goodwill as you are a good customer.

 

Best bet is to go a bit halfway, work with a company like A1 who do self admin warranties. You pay into the pot monthly so maybe pay a /£30/£40 admin fee and then you can put anything you like in per car so £50 / £100 / £200 etc. They then use your money for your warranty claims. If you prep right and look after your customers this makes life far easier as A1 work with you for the right outcome. They still drive costs down and make sure garages don't take the mick and if its something that is not really a warranty item they will still let you know and see if you want to step in rather than just a point blank computer says no.

After sales is what makes or breaks your feedback, reputation and reviews in this game and its crucial if you are offering warranty and good service that its backed up when the customer needs it or you are forever getting it in the neck.

 

Spot on. Warranty Assist allow you to add “cover from day one” for a small increase so I use these on anything I feel I might be at more risk on. Other than that I pay Lawgistics £15 per unit to handle the admin side of the claim and I pay for the repairs and do my best to keep the customers happy. 

[Dave2302 387]

12 hours ago, AB Motors NI said:

lesson learned i think,my mechanic is £20 per hour

I think you have hit the nail squarely on the head with that statement !!

Any Mechanic capable of Dash Removals and Diagnosing and fixing HVAC, will be charging at least £45 per hr. High end Cars and HVAC is a specialist subject on it's own

Remember also, it has to be a good and proper job, awkward screws left out, damaged unseen padding, wiring clips and ties, HVAC Flap Seals etc and that car will have all kinds of rattles or wiring chafing, and also HVAC may not be working at its best afterwards !!

We did cheap labour to death in another thread.

BTW this isn't a dig, just what I have seen and heard of over many years in this trade  

[AB Motors NI 1]

im a small dealer, rural based and my customer was doctor in local hospital, my bmw guy is based in donegal in southern ireland, he charged me €600 as he checked all wiring and all motors to ensure all areas covered, 3 days in total spent,€200 labour per day, hes an excellent bmw indy. my point is out of 30 warranties taken out with rac this year, only 3 claims have been made and all 3 were not enough to cover cost of repair. this is why ive asked for advice as to whether to do it myself

[Rory RSC 596]

17 minutes ago, AB Motors NI said:

im a small dealer, rural based and my customer was doctor in local hospital, my bmw guy is based in donegal in southern ireland, he charged me €600 as he checked all wiring and all motors to ensure all areas covered, 3 days in total spent,€200 labour per day, hes an excellent bmw indy. my point is out of 30 warranties taken out with rac this year, only 3 claims have been made and all 3 were not enough to cover cost of repair. this is why ive asked for advice as to whether to do it myself

How much was your total spend on RAC warranties?

 

How much was your total claims amount?

 

Include headache and out of pocket additions from you, plus poor customer service.

 

Do the numbers.

[EPV 631]

19 minutes ago, AB Motors NI said:

im a small dealer, rural based and my customer was doctor in local hospital, my bmw guy is based in donegal in southern ireland, he charged me €600 as he checked all wiring and all motors to ensure all areas covered, 3 days in total spent,€200 labour per day, hes an excellent bmw indy. my point is out of 30 warranties taken out with rac this year, only 3 claims have been made and all 3 were not enough to cover cost of repair. this is why ive asked for advice as to whether to do it myself

How much have the warranties cost you? How much have you paid out in warranty claims? Should be pretty easy to work out whether running your own would be financially beneficial to you.