Motorhome warranties - worth it? (1 Viewer)

[Easyliving]

The manufacturers warranty on our van is finished in a couple of weeks time and I was wondering if its worth buying another?

Any idea how much they cost?

Which are the best companies to go for?

Do these warranties cover the things that might actually go wrong?

Our van is a Swift so its very unlikely we will need a warranty anyway but you never know.

Thanks for any tips.

Paul

 

[pappajohn]

Extended warrenties are basically insurance policies.....and we all know how they love to find get-outs.

 

[f6c]

Quite right pappajohn

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[Freespirit1]

The manufacturers warranty on our van is finished in a couple of weeks time and I was wondering if its worth buying another?

Any idea how much they cost?

Which are the best companies to go for?

Try asking the Dealer you purchased your van from - he will be using a company himself to place warranties on his second hand vehicles like car dealers do too.

 

[magicsurfbus]

Our extended warranty saved us a huge amount when the roof leaked.

Our particular model of vehicle ('05 CI Carioca 656) was subject to a factory recall because of water ingress through a faulty roof trim, but after it was fixed by CI it went again outside the initial warranty period. Because we had a 3 year extended warranty we didn't pay a penny of the estimated £3000 repair bill.

Our claim outstripped our premium by such a margin that they wouldn't let us renew it again. We had another smaller leak a few years later but it was sorted by our friendly mobile service guy for only £100.

 

[Reevsie]

I bet for 1 good claim you hear about their are dozens that have complaints. I used to work in a garage parts department and we sold warranties with lots of used cars. We ended up offering a 12 month warranty with every used car. Simple reason 90% of the claims were never paid out. Excuses the warrant company gave was.

Wear and tear.
Not serviced as per terms and conditions.
Not covered under this warranty. Should have bought the more expensive one.

When the warranty claim was refused then the the garage owner would step in and say under warranty it would be £xx.xx but as a gesture of goodwill we will fix it for you and you will only have to pay 75% of the cost is should have been. Needless to say the estimate was way over priced in the first place.

Eventually he was caught out as he was charging for the warranty and did not actually purchase one for the car. If the owner came back he would just say the work was refused but he will do it cheaper for cash.

He went to jail for fraud and lost his business and house.

This was 20 years ago but I bet it still goes on.

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[DanielFord]

OK @Easyliving I shall supply you with the wisdom of my father. This is what he used to say to me:
So the manufacturers obligatory warranty has run out, and you have a company touting to sell you their product. I have only one question, are they going to make money? If they are then you don't need their warranty!

 

[Brightspark]

Our 3 year warranty is with 'autoprotect' and we asked at the time of purchase is it worth the extra £400. I'm pleased we decided to keep it as it's only stipulation is that it's serviced every year (mechanical & habitation) which we would have done anyway & they have paid out for a new electric element in the water heater then a year later a complete new water/heater boiler at £1100 + a 240v panel in the old thetford fridge then this year a new fridge/freezer at £1300

You pays your money, you take your chance. I think we have had our monies worth.

 

[s20hymer]

We certainly have had our monies worth with the extended warranty we took out on our new to us Hymer, each year we have had to claim for something or the other, well worth having to get a habitation check done.

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[stcyr]

We bought our current MH about 6 years ago from a used MH dealer in west Wales. As a matter of course the owner gave his own 6 month warranty. Absolutely everything was covered, mechanical, electrical, habitation ... The presale inspection, preparation and automatic replacement of cambelt,& full service etc. meant that after 5 months of use just the rear drumbrakes needed adjustment - all done straight away with no problems. He does exactly the same for any MH he's selling, even if he's selling on behalf of someone, like ours. We never experienced this level of service from any main dealer, even when buying vehicles for 5 or 6 times the price of this one.

 

[St Piran]

We had an insurance based extendent cover on our last MH from a company called MB&G insurance. Cost me £320 for 24mths the only stipulation was it needed to be serviced and hab checked annually.
Had a new alternator which was £212.00 cost me the £80 excess and I had a new clutch which was £800 they paid £500 and I paid the balance. Soon as the manufactures warranty runs out on my current MH I shall be contacting them again for a quote.

 

[Minxy]

The manufacturers warranty on our van is finished in a couple of weeks time and I was wondering if its worth buying another?

As an aside, made sure you get your base service and habitation check done BEFORE it runs out, that way if they find anything it will be covered.

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[Easyliving]

Thanks for the replies. As has been said the various warranty companies are out to make a few quid but I think it seems to be worth the outlay to get peace of mind.

Paul

 

[Minxy]

Thanks for the replies. As has been said the various warranty companies are out to make a few quid but I think it seems to be worth the outlay to get peace of mind.

Paul

Just make sure you read whats included and to what extent, and what isn't.

 

[knokinonabit]

We have an extended warranty on our MH and it has already saved us money for repairs/replacements.
Currently we are waiting for a replacement entertainment system and a repair to the Sargent PSU which causes the Thule step to not operate correctly.
The warranty company, MB&G, have authorised these to be done.
As has been said, as long as the vehicle and habitation services are up to date that is all they ask.

Hopefully these will be the last two repairs in a long running saga.
See the thread "Autotrail woes" for some night time reading.

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