Warranty companies

[Steve92 80]

Has anyone got any tips on what to look for or even reccomend a warranty provider, we are currently reviewing the company we use. We had some information in from a provider but one of the exclusions was chassis and suspension, dpf and catalytic converters, so that's petty much 50% of the car not covered.

[Max Branning 149]

Best to self warrant if you can. Its not that difficult to do and remember even with the most expensive glitzy insurance warranty the customer can still reject the car or take you to court when they dont pay out -  so best to cover it yourself in my opinion.

[Steve92 80]

Self warranty is something we had considered but not looked in to, would you manage it all in house or would you use a management company to act as an agent in relation to a claim ? We have found someone that will manage it for £15 per car. Would you give a minimum warranty of say 3 months or would you go for 6 and then up sell to 12/18 etc

[Anglo9 26]

Agree with Max , we spent years selling / including upmarket warranties....but most customers aren't really interested about protecting themselves from a random event in the future , let alone paying for the privilege .If you include it in the price it's assumed to be rubbish..

The last 12m we have used A1 warranties to administer our own fund and couldn't be happier , we set aside £100 per car and give the customer a basic 3m/3000m warranty . If they want a 'bumper to bumper' insurance backed warranty in line with , for example , Warranty directs offer we can supply similar and make a small profit on the sale .

Have a nice little nest egg built up in the fund and the customer deals direct with the warranty company...easy !

[Max Branning 149]

Remember whatever warranty you give the customer is still covered under the sale of goods act which is a totally different thing to a warranty. We basically give the customer 1 month or 1000 mile warranty included at the screen price there is no claim limit or any other get out clauses. If any genuine fault goes wrong with the car within this short time we will back it up and pay for it. After the 1 month we would only cover anything that is statutory under the sale of goods.  In the last 12 months we have done around £2000 in "warranty" jobs but have sold over 100 cars so it probably breaks down to about 20 quid a car to us on average. 

I wouldnt touch most insurance backed warranties with a barge pole unless the customer wants a long term cover 2 years maybe then we would offer them something to buy from one of the usual companies, its up to them then its there money !

[Steve92 80]

The good old sales of goods act, where customers think they have the right to get everything replaced free of charge because it's not fit for purpose. I managed a returns department for a mail order company and as we were also a charity people really did try taking the wee wee. @ max, how long do you cover things for in relation to sog act ? 

[Max Branning 149]

As far as i am aware the buyer has 6 months to make a claim under the sale of goods but usually from my experience if they havent brought it back within the first month then you dont normally see them anymore especially as they knew they had a 1 month no quibble warranty. If a customer comes back to me after say 4 months i just use my judgement as to whether they are trying it on or not. If its a genuine fault and we can come to a reasonable agreement to get it sorted then so be it. 

[sparky 274]

I always used to self warrant every car sold until the past year or so until I joined up with WMS, the only real reason I joined up with them because of who the rep was (people buy off people etc).

I've  never been a fan of 3rd party warranties but I have to say these guys seem decent enough and gave me some confidence, so much so that in the last few months I've really pushed 12 month warranties and no question about it, this has definitely resulted in an increase in enquiries and sales. Interesting that in negotiations and given the option of more discount and the standard in house 3 month warranty or less discount and the 12 month warranty, most are going for the latter.

[Steve92 80]

It was wms we saw, there were a couple of exclusions that made me think what's the point. 

Question for Sparky, if you use them do you complete the checklist they provide ?

[Max Branning 149]

Customers always like the sound of a 12 month bells and whistle warranty and it can help a sale especially if its included in the price BUT when the customers car develops a fault after 3 weeks it is very touch and go whether the warranty companies will pay out. After they have spent a week checking its mot history and service history and dragging there heels to make the customer pay for the repair themselves and then oh dear thats made the warranty void so they dont pay out. You then have the customer on your doorstep wanting answers. If the cars are going out prepared properly then probably 95% of your cars wont come back so imagine how much 95% of your annual warranty costs are. I know i am saving several thousand a year doing my own and my customers dont get the run around if something goes wrong so win win in my opinion.

[umesh 336]

Sadly some good some not so good ! Previous experience with some them they try to get out of paying for anything - even when genuine claims for failure and NOT wear & tear. 

Had good experience with a couple of the companies but they wanted more volume - understandable but from the outset I told them the possible numbers of possible up sell etc , so decided probably about 10 years ago not to use anyone , I prep my cars to a very high standard anyway so never had any big claims anyway but tell customers its 3 months /3000  miles mechanical & electrical breakdown warranty [ Explain what's covered & not and why ] 

Never had issues with customers and some who wanted 12 months warranty - told them unable to sell extended to them but they could always buy it on line but I cannot recommend  any companies simply they should do their homework. The very odd customer who's been very insisting wanting 12 months I've knocked couple of hundred quid off to close the deal and told them same - buy on line and dealt them  

Looking at the money I've paid out on claims in the last 10 years - and how much I've saved - I'll continue to stand by my cars myself. 

[sparky 274]

It was wms we saw, there were a couple of exclusions that made me think what's the point. 

Question for Sparky, if you use them do you complete the checklist they provide ?

I've never been asked to do that so the answer is no. Every car sold goes out with a full ticket, service (including cambelt if required) and PDI so they go out as right as I can get them.

I've made about four claims, one of which was not  paid out on or not covered (a faulty instrument gauge) whilst the others have been relatively straight forward, although I may have had to tell a small porkie pie when I was claiming for an EGR valve when I said the fault with it was electrical (covered) as opposed to mechanical (not covered due to wear and tear).

 

I take the points on here made by Max and Umesh and in the majority of cases I do self warrant, but no doubt that offering these extended warranties is helping me shift cars, especially when the customer is not local which can be a can of worms if you are distance selling with in house warranties.

[Daylight 28]

I use Warrantywise for my vehicles with a 3 month warranty put on every car at the screen price and then the option to extend at their cost to 6/12 months etc. I can certainly see the reasoning behind self insuring but if the customer is not local then you're automatically into more costs to either get the vehicle transported back to you or pay a higher labour rate for their local garage. The extension is an upsell with margin too so if they can be persuaded into this then it cuts into how much you're paying out for the initial 3 months as well as keeping them from your door many months later when, really, it's not our obligation to fix.

I have been fortunate to have very few claims since I've been using them and only 1 unhappy customer, this was due mainly to the fact he refused to have the vehicle off the road for ANY time at all to be fixed so can't really blame them! 

In time with an in-house workshop I will certainly self warrant as the costs then become minimal with the labour cost being absorbed internally, until then I think it just pays to prep  the cars as well as is possible to save dramas.

[Steve92 80]

Interesting that most of you mot your cars, we tend to mot them if they have less than 4-5 months on them. When I got my mini from a main dealer its first mot was due in November but I purchased it in August and the dealer put 12 months on it. They probably thought they were doing the right thing but even to this day it really annoys me that the mot is out of sync with its birthday. 

[c_cars 56]

Sadly some good some not so good ! Previous experience with some them they try to get out of paying for anything - even when genuine claims for failure and NOT wear & tear. 

Had good experience with a couple of the companies but they wanted more volume - understandable but from the outset I told them the possible numbers of possible up sell etc , so decided probably about 10 years ago not to use anyone , I prep my cars to a very high standard anyway so never had any big claims anyway but tell customers its 3 months /3000  miles mechanical & electrical breakdown warranty [ Explain what's covered & not and why ] 

Never had issues with customers and some who wanted 12 months warranty - told them unable to sell extended to them but they could always buy it on line but I cannot recommend  any companies simply they should do their homework. The very odd customer who's been very insisting wanting 12 months I've knocked couple of hundred quid off to close the deal and told them same - buy on line and dealt them  

Looking at the money I've paid out on claims in the last 10 years - and how much I've saved - I'll continue to stand by my cars myself. 

Exactly the same here, all our cars are MOTd, serviced where required and then self warranted. The problem we were having was that we were paying a warranty company £2500+ per month, claims not being authorised then the customer was landing back on door step under SOGA..

I've heard recently about some companies now where you pay for a warranty that they administer totally then any money that doesn't get used gets paid back to you after a certain amount of time, anyone use a similar company?

[James Bush 95]

I also use warrantywise and on the whole tend to find them pretty good to deal with - they recently paid out on the most bizarre claim I've ever seen which was a guy who'd bought a X-Type diesel off me, drove it to France and filled it with the wrong grade of diesel and blew his engine. They paid for recovery and replacement engine - as ever the customer was a complete plank and started to argue he wanted a brand new engine instead of a reconditioned one!!

I've thought about the idea of a self funded warranty and when I receive my 6 monthly stats from warrantywise and see the profit I could be having because of my low claim rate, like others I MOT, fully service and warranty inspect every car, it makes me think a little harder but is my time better spent sourcing and seller cars than dealing with warranty claims?? I'd be interested to hear any more of the pay back warranty as Chris mentioned above.

 

[Anglo9 26]

In reply to Chris and James , if you use a separate company to administer your (self funded) claims then you don't have to get involved at all , they supply glossy warranty books to give to the customer with their contact details...but all the money in the 'pot' is yours .

Very happy with this set up , wish I'd done it years ago....

[James Bush 95]

Anglo9, who do you use? I've spoken to a local company to me and they made it sound horribly complicated.

[Anglo9 26]

Hi James , A1 Approved , been with them about a year now and it's been very straightforward , can be all done online at point of sale & If a customer does call them with a claim they will do their best to ensure you get fair a fair price on repairs . To be honest , they fight your corner.....but I've yet to have a customer come back to me unhappy

and you'd be suprised how quick your fund grows .

As long as you prep your cars right , this seems to work .

Also FYI we use EPG warranty Assist for any upsold product or if we sell anything a bit , well , French , I suppose.....

[Steve92 80]

We use epg, a1 warranty's, is that the one that goes under different names, I did google them but the internet didn't like them, well in fairness sites about consumer law that automatically say reject it under the sales of goods act your have rights .... Blah blah blah (that comes from managing a mail order returns team)

[James Bush 95]

Thanks Anglo9, have you got A1 warranties web address or contact details? I need to make sure I'm looking at the correct one. I've contacted a few companies who do self funded warranties but all of them wanted me to open a separate bank account up and put my fund into there which my accountant didn't like the sound of because at point of sale I'd need to declare it all as profit and then spend from their for any repairs which he said would be a nightmare for VAT and tax.

I used EPG warranty assist for a short while and its a very sorry tail of a few claims declined, not phoning customers back when promised, claiming warranties had never been put onto certain vehicles and then them threatening me with court action over a AT forum post I started.

[Anglo9 26]

Hi James ,

My A1 rep is Mark Peacock , 07831 510029 , mention Dave @ Moto Exchange if you like . Looks like I should be careful with EPG !

Plenty of people I know in the trade have been using these guys for years , no probs , should have taken their advice ages ago..

Also , you can pay for repairs direct from your business if you like & leave the fund alone to spend on something more interesting !

Let us know how you get on

[Brent Graham 0]

I've had a bad experience. You can pay for additional cover to get your DPF filter covered... at least that's what your documentation will state.  File a claim and it's another matter entirely.  They will absolutely weasel out of it, so if you must get additional warranty cover, anyone but them, because you could do no worse.

Edited February 5, 2016 by James Baggott
Removed brand name, impossible to substantiate claim