My S3 is 3 years old in 6 weeks, extended warranty

[A4CAB]

My (8p) S3 is 3 years old early December, think it was one of the first on the road and a great car since delivery.

Been a bit silly with the £'s in the last 10 years and have replaced previous cars before the usual MOT and warranty expiry etc mainly due to boredom but the S3 has been fantastic and finances require it to stay for 12-18 months.

My car only has 29,000 miles on the clock and is used as my to work car 5 days a week. I have contacted warranties direct and Audi directly and the top cover for both is around £680 for the year including breakdown cover.

I dont usually buy warranties but feel with the complexity of the modern car I feel it is worth the money.

Thoughts welcome ?

Thanks

 

[JohnS3]

Hi Paul,

£56 a month for peace of mind. Take £10 away for breakdown cover and it's only £46 a month for the warranty. Mmmm, worth thinking about!

 

[paddy]

Audi's are built to last 3 years and a week or so.........get yourself the best warranty you can!!

 

[Staz]

I've got nothing to compare it against but it seems like a lot of money to me, especially when you've had a trouble free time so far. The reliability of these cars is pretty good overall and you have to think about what would have to go wrong in that time that would cost over £600 to repair. Personally I think I'd take the risk.

One thing that influences that is the fact that the 8P is over 5 years old now and this forum isn't exactly inundated with threads talking about problems with them.

 

[kaz219]

If you buy the warranty, nothing will go wrong. If you dont, something will! lol

Just buy it - £56 per month isnt too bad at all.

 

[MG]

For £680 a year, I'd risk it. You know how you've looked after the car and as Leon says, how likely is it that if something does go wrong, it's going to cost that much to fix?

Have you haggled with them? I nearly took out an extended warranty when I had a Z4 and they came down in price a lot when I haggled.

 

[dipstic]

The other half and I put away a £100 a month to cover all the possible unknowns with car ownership and it always comes in handy at service time,tyres etc,if you can cope short term then put a sum away each month,you know the car and as quoted there are no real issues with the 8p platform so why pay for an insurance that you get no return on,unless you have a major issue.

 

[Staz]

The other half and I put away a £100 a month to cover all the possible unknowns with car ownership and it always comes in handy at service time,tyres etc,if you can cope short term then put a sum away each month,you know the car and as quoted there are no real issues with the 8p platform so why pay for an insurance that you get no return on,unless you have a major issue.

Ditto, I put £150 a month aside myself. At first I did it to pay for insurance and tax at the end of the year but I upped it a little and I have just paid a full years insurance, a years tax and I still have loads left over.

You can get roadside recovery with your insurance for less than directly with the AA/RAC too.

 

[Boydie]

I am in the same boat - my car is 3 years in January with only 24k on the clock and have been contemplating extended warrenty!

A friend of mine has had several major overhauls on his S3 under warrenty at high miles which I do not fancy paying for come my turn if it occurs!!

£680 doesnt seem to bad, like paying two insurances though :S

 

[Chimp]

I know its not an S3 but my Girlfriends MINI Cooper S ticked over 3 years old at the begining of the year and BMW/Mini wanted £500+ for a year.

I spoke to Warrany's Direct and they quoted slightly less at first. I left a week or so and they contacted me again and offered a mich better deal.

Then I really started turning the screws, I asked for the Top level cover, and unrestricted labour charge, and being able to take it back to the dealers not approved garages they use.

This i eventually got down to £330 - I think that someone like tesco's or sainsburys do extened warranty too and used them as comparisons to get the price down (dont fully recall which one sorry!)

Typical though...touch wood nothing has happened with the car apart from the bloomin windscreen needing replacing twice in 1 year... damn resurfacing with massive chippings around here.

 

[Wai-Fan]

My car is over 5 years old now and I went with Warranty Direct, I bet nothing goes wrong but I like the peace of mind.

Audi wanted over £800 for an extended warranty! Warranty Direct matchs whatever the Audi warranty covers and they wanted £500 at first but I got it down to £400.

 

[Chimp]

Oh and just noticed, if you configure a new Audi they offer 1 or 2 years extended warrantys... typical for my TTS its like £365 or something for a year seems alot less than what they offer it at the end of the first 3 years...

 

[Spin140]

I'd just bank the money each month and keep it as a slush fund the 2.0T is pretty reliable and yours is low mileage, £500 per year pays for a pretty big repair at an independant.

 

[Lee_R]

I'm a big naysayer to these extended warranties, same with everything, TV's, mobile phones, travel insurance too. I've been burnt by the small print in the past and once bitten twice shy!

They are sure to try and find some way of wriggling out of paying, they always do.

 

[N8]

Another one for banking the money.

 

[VAG_Club001]

i would go extended but not for 680 quid. Something to the tune of 300 is more realistic.

 

[Kris]

I'd not go for an extended warranty especially with the relative low mileage you do, if did decide to go for one I'd personally take the Audi one out. If it softens the blow for you the Porsche extended warranty is £1250 per year, non negotiable and all work has to be done through main dealer or the warranty is void!

 

[Spin140]

If I were you I would Just get yourself along to Stattller Kris, I've lost count of the amount of Porsche I've watched the Guys there strip they certainly know there stuff.

 

[Kris]

If I were you I would Just get yourself along to Stattller Kris, I've lost count of the amount of Porsche I've watched the Guys there strip they certainly know there stuff.

Yeah but then I'd be chatting to him about what tweeks he could do and the long journey would then commence

Pondering on a warranty at the moment as No6 piston failing and destroying the engine is not uncommon regardless of low miles on 911's and which Porsche won't acknowledge as a design fault.

Sorry for going off topic guys.

 

[ianspibs]

I weighed up all the options and have gone for the Audi Warranty for a second year running (Car is registered June 2005).
I am doing 20k miles a year and use my car for work, including travel to London at least once a month. The Audi warranty gives me extensive cover, roadside assistance from Audi technicians or the RAC, recovery, and a courtesy car if my car needs a warranty repair. I don't need to worry about sorting all of this out seperately. I weighed up all the options and decided that because of my circumstances I could't afford to be without it.
Its now paid off because I've got the dreaded 2.0TDi cracked cylinder head. Car has been in for a week and I'm driving a brand new A4 at the moment.
I think you need to weigh up how much longer you will keep the car and how much you use it.