[Closed] Buying a used car, should i get an AA check or pay for a comprehensive warranty?

Aftermarket warrentees are actually insurance against major defects. Lots of exemptions and so on. Check carefully what would be covered, its often not much IIRC. Paying that much I would either rely on the reputation of the dealer or have an independent inspection

As i said the AA inspection does seem suprisingly comprehensive and i suppose should highlight any issues that are likely to crop up in the future.

Also i'm thinking it may be useful when negociating on price?

According to sales of goods act etc at that price you'll get a 6 month warranty anyway by virtue of the act whatever they say. The onus is on them to prove that a fault did not exist when they sold it in this time not the other way around. There's more on honest john's site that I mentioned in your earlier thread about this.

What sort of mileage are you looking at? Do you know anyone who can look for you or have a local garage you always use who might take a look for you?

ta steve, i didn't know about that but after last time i really could do without the hassle of invoking the act so i guess i'm straying towards an inspection so at i'll have a good idea what i'm getting.

The problem with the Act as well as warranties is they don't cover wear and tear and as the cars have done 60 - 70k that includes more things than i'd like unfortunately.

sorry forgot to say about a garage i use, yes i do have a regualar one but how does that work, i'm guessing they won't just let me take it, i'll have to make sure any deposit is refundable if anything dodgy is found.

If you don't want the expense of a fully warranty the AA offer a repair option when you take out breakdown cover. For the age of car your looking at it would be about £70 and covers the first £500 of any breakdown where the AA recover you.

Just ask if the mechanic could go with you and have a look or take a test drive that goes via his garage etc. Obviously this helps if the cars for sale locally. He might charge a bit but less than an AA inspection.

Failing that just ask a friend who knows about cars or buy private and go with what you think?

If you're not set on an estate my 55plate 115tdci hatch will be for sale soon in Sheffield too. Under 60k miles just serviced, new front tyres, loads of MOT. Was going to advertise for a fair bit more but 4250 would take it.

You can buy warranties off the web etc to cover any car old or new regardless of whether you have just bought it. A mate of mine who works in the trade says they are not really worth it though as there are so many exclusions.

If you want to gurantee reliability your only option is to buy Japanese!

I had a six month warranty on a Ford Focus that I once bought from a private garage. Within that six months, the water pump and the fuel pump went and both were included in the warranty. Total cost was about £3-400 and was fully covered. Not all warranties are crap.

I had a 3 month one with my elise. Unfortunately I didn't check what was covered. So when the alternator went that was cover, but the labour wasn't 🙁

I'd wait until you find a garage willing to put a 12month warranty on themselves- if your paying trader book why not?!!!! They cant have it both ways.

I'd only pay for a AA check/own warranty if I was buying privately. Why do you have to buy from a dealer if there is no benefit?!

Buy privately- I do- you save LOADS. Seriously. If a trader/dealer isnt confident in their car then why should you be?

Plus- the after market warranties- alot have alot of exclusions. The annual fee is say £300 with an excess to pay? Go private and take a friend along when viewing- check everything, try slyly setting off from stationary in 3rd gear and say 'oops' when the car stalls. Don't feel pressured etc-

Seriously, if traders only offer such short guarantees- there is really no 'benefit' in spending over a grand extra is there?

People traditionally bought from traders as they thought they had peace of mind.

Buy private! True - if you had bought that Audi privately you would have been stuffed. Chose a good basic system car- like the mondeo and if need be- get the inspection done.

Warranty Direct gave me a quote. I read the T&C's said one part there was a glitch- "serviced in the last year" (car was serviced 13months ago)- salesman assured me this would noted and fine. I hung up/didnt trust it.

I would like to meet a mechanic/AA inspector that could look under a bonnet and tell me that a water pump or fuel pump or injector wasnt going to pack up within the next 12mths.

From personal experience, a mechanic will tell you if there is a problem at the time, ie running problems or rattle/leaks, but he would need a crystal ball to be able to tell if a fuel pump/water pump etc was 'possibly' going to need replaced. All you will be paying for is a guestimate of the condition of the vehicle at that moment. Pretty much the kind of info the dealer gets when he asks his mechanics to give it a once over in the workshops.

So you either pay for an inspection which i suppose will discount any immediate repairs or you pay for a good warranty and get peace of mind for 12mths. There are decent warranties about.

Oh and any garage will put a 12mth warranty on a vehicle, you just have to be willing to pay for it. 🙂

Are the warranties being offered by the dealers theirs ie they will guarantee the car and get the car fixed no matter what or the insurance type as stated above?

If it's the former then you may be OK. Most stuff will show up fairly quickly if it's being "hidden" by the dealer (as your previous) otherwise it's part of the risk of buying a second hand car.

Example:
I brought mine from a Ford main agent even thou it was far older than they usually stock. They had sold the car twice already and done most of the servicing/work on it, they were happen to sell it on again. The warranty was a 3 month or 3000 mile guarantee by them for all parts and labour (including consumables). It must have cost them as they were true to their word, fitting a new DMF/clutch, starter motor, wheel bearing and drive shaft** inc a courtesy car within the time frame. I guess you could say I brought a duff motor, not now it's fixed.

**Look for the above on the Mondeo.

I bought a 3 year AA warranty. £300 2 years for price of 3.

2 Months after purchase my C-Max had the Diesel Particulate filter go (well, change and recharge whatever it is they do) £400 odd and not covered (a consumable apparently). EGR valve went at the same time, £300 odd and was covered.

The way I see it, the DPF was always going to go eventually and there's no way I could have researched that and known about it anyway, put it down to expeirence (avoid a 3 year old ford diesel with a DPF unless it's been sorted already)

The EGR valve cost the same as the warranty did so from now on it'll hopefully pay for itself. The AA one does exclude a lot of things by default so check what you're getting - it won't inclucde things like turbo and aircon unless you pay extra (which I did).

Well, i went to have a second look at the mondeo but i came away empty handed. They would only offer me £300 for my car (last garage gave me a £1000), they wouldn't budge a penny on the price even if i kept my car and paid cash and they wouldn't give anymore than the legal minimum 1 month useless warranty.

I'm no so fed up with looking on autotrader and going to garages that i think i'll keep my volvo and put the cash back in the bank!

steveh, ta, i'd go for that but it's got to be an estate i'm afraid.

Yep- I bet if you had traded in they would have put your car up for sale on their court for 1k min as well.

to be honest, if you're willing to pay for an aftermarket warranty and a car check, you may as well buy private, as you're not getting one iota of advantage from getting it from a dealership?

well the other garage put it up for £1489!

this garage said they don't bother reselling 'cheap' cars and just send them off to auction?