New Member - Advice regarding S3 order.

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TurboBen

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Hello all, just signed up.

I put a deposit down the other day on my first Audi, Sepang Blue S3 Saloon.

I was hoping someone could give me some advice on one of the protection products that are being offered with the vehicle called C.A.R.S. plus, which is a minor damage repair insurance. I believe it also includes GardX paint protection. I've been offered this for £250 which covers 3 years of claims. Has anyone had this and did you feel it was worth it. It seems like a good deal to me, but would be interested to hear other opinions, and espescially if anyone has it and has made a claim.
 
Hi and welcome.

Firstly, I'd steer away from anything around paint protection, but that's only because I like to look after my own paintwork, and try to avoid others having to touch it - including the dealership!

That said, my OH has minor damage and alloy cover (and also tyre cover) on her A1 and has has to use all three during her 2.5 years of ownership. For her, I think that the tyre cover has proved most worthwhile as she has had to claim 2 or three times for irrepairable punctures (there's no spare in the A1), followed by a couple of minor ding repairs. An alloy repair was handled at the dealers by their tame alloy repairer, and all have been hassle free with excellent results.
 
If they gave you any information look at the small print, they will try to get out of doing anything. It may say 'has to be in a certain area', and 'no bigger than...' etc. They tried to sell me alloy wheel protection for the S3, I asked are diamond cut alloys covered....after a look in his info = "No".

If you want to spend £250, I'd say tell them not to clean it ands take it to a proper detailing company to give it a new car detail.
 
Thanks for that.

Wonder if it would be worth trying to negotiate a price for the minor damage protection without the GardX. I have been offered alloy and tyre protection too, again £250 for 3 years cover. I can see a replacement tyre been pretty expensive (I've gone for 19" wheels) so may have to consider this too.

I've had a look at the documentation I got and all it says about diamond cut wheels is that they may need to be sent away for repair, so they must be covered.
 
Last edited:
Just looking at my paperwork and what they offered me on the day of collection:

GardX vehicle protection system= £500
Extended warranty 24 month= £1050
Tyre Insurance= £250
Alloy wheel insurance= £250
Minor repair protection= £499
Retail price protection= £999 (GAP)

Total= £3298!!! lmao said no to the lot.

I got 4 years (Combined Vehicle replacement) GAP insurance which takes me back to the car I'm in for £214. Less than a 1/4 of what they wanted.
I also took the GAP cover from day 1, a lot of insurance companies say they will give you a new car in year one to replace yours, BUT then in the small print "As long as one is available in the UK", when I called and asked 'what if one isn't available?', they said it would then revert to book price!!!

I didn't do the alloy wheel cover mainly because from the age of 17-43 I've only ever caught one alloy, so with the cover being £250 and an average repair costing £100 I'd have to be unlucky to make it worthwhile.
 
24 month warranty for £1,050! It's £245 for a 4th year then £545 for a 5th year.
 
Well, looks like £250 is good for GardX and minor damage protection. £250 for alloy and tyre insurance seems pretty reasonabe too.

I've also been offered GAP insurance for £250, is that worth a look?

I have gone for the 4th year warranty at £245.

Thanks for the advice so far!
 
I took gap insurance at £300 with Guardex thrown in as a sweetener.
The tyre cover only covers for 'sudden deflation' from memory...
As we all know, the Extras are for the sales team to hit their F&I targets
 
GAP insurance is a must. We have it, our car is an expensive treat to us and we want it protected!
Example:
Say you pick your brand new high specced S3 up, and a couple of months later it's stolen or totalled (forget who's fault it is for this). Your 40k car, which you've only paid maybe £1k off (excluding interest) has a book (therefore payout) value of maybe 36k (these are all loose figures, just an example!). You're instantly a few thousand pounds in debt to the finance as you can't settle the car let alone replace it! Decent GAP insurance (Audi's own seems pretty tight) covers the difference and will actually get you a new replacement car with that difference. There will be a point in your PCP where book and settlement figures will level out and that is when the policy ends.
 
I wouldn't let the dealers apply any paint protection £250 may sound good but the dealers are clueless and will damage the paint, pay abit extra around 350 and get a new car detail by a professional detailer that way the paint and interior will be perfect
 
Just read the small print regarding gap insurance, and I won't be covered if the vehicle has been modified in any way. Not sure I could go 3 years without indulging the modding urge. I'm raising the cash with a remortgage, so I won't have any finance to pay off should the worst happen.

While on the subject, how will modifications affect the manufacturers warranty?
 
TurboBen said:
Just read the small print regarding gap insurance, and I won't be covered if the vehicle has been modified in any way. Not sure I could go 3 years without indulging the modding urge. I'm raising the cash with a remortgage, so I won't have any finance to pay off should the worst happen.

While on the subject, how will modifications affect the manufacturers warranty?
Click to expand...

Cover / exclusions will vary from insurer to insurer. I've got ALA replacement gap, with no exclusion for modifications (provided of course that any mods have been disclosed to you rprimary insurer).

I've already had a warranty claim declined after a wheel bearing failed after less than 500 miles from new, Audi allege failure due to the car being lowered, discussion with Audi UK ongoing.....
 
audi upgrades
I had a look at ALA and a few others last night, works out much cheaper than the GAP insurance I was offered from the dealer, even with an extra years cover included. I couldn't see any exclusions for modifications either, so that's looking like it may be my best bet.

A wheel bearing at less than 500 miles? I've owned plenty of lowered cars, some with starship mileage, never had a wheel bearing go!
 
My point exactly.

The other 3 bearings didn't fail, and the replacement bearing hasn't failed, despite the car still being lowered. I get that modifications will affect your warranty, but only if they cause the failure, and legally the onus rests with Audi to prove that the modification caused the failure (which they haven't even tried to do). However, they just keep parroting "car has been modified, warranty claim denied".

We'll see how it goes, but modifications carry a risk.
 
audi upgrades
I agree with the others about paint protection. Either use good quality products yourself or go to a detailer.

Remortgage sounds like a very expensive way of funding a new car or anything that depreciates come to that, much cheaper options about surely?
 
Remortgage is the only way I could afford a car like an S3. I don't earn a massive amount, but i do have a house that I've spent a lot of time and money doing up. This means I can get a mortgage at 75-80% LTV to cover what I still owe on the house and pay for the S3. Can't afford finance and a mortgage at the same time, and no way would I be able to get the final payment together. My mortgage will be about £320 a month fixed for 10 years, with a loan adding an extra £220 odd for the first 3 years. However, the loan keeps the LTV of the mortgage at 70% which means a really low interest rate. I'll be keeping the car for as long as possible (unless the RS3 Saloon is released in the UK :racer:). I may be paying for the car for most of the rest of my life, but I'm prepared to accept that. Besides, it's peanuts a month and with such a low mortgage, large overpayments will be possible to bring the term right down.
 
audi upgrades
It's obviously your choice how you pay/finance for your car but by your own admission you don't earn very much so please bear in mind an S3 has high associated running/servicing costs attached with its ownership!
 
Insurance, road tax and petrol are only slightly more than the knackered old Vectra I'm in at the minute, in fact I was surprised how cheap insurance is. I don't do a massive number of miles, which is why I'm expecting at least 10 years out of the car. Yes there are servicing costs to consider, but at the same time I won't have to worry about MOT for 3 years.

I didn't say I don't earn much, but not enough to be comfortable paying a £300 mortgage, £350 finance and also save for the final payment. Not to mention finding a deposit. It might take me twice as long to pay the car off, but the interest rate will be half that of any finance deal, so probably not all that much more expensive in the end.

Anyway, while on the subject of servicing, I noticed that is one thing the dealer made no mention of. What sort of costs should I be budgeting for over the first 4 years (while the vehicle is under warranty)?
 
No need to apologise, you have a valid point.

I've had to defend my decision to use a mortgage to buy a £32000 toy to a lot of people, not least of which is myself.

It's also raised a few comments that I've put a £1000 deposit down on the car before my mortgage has even gone through :whistle2:

Again, it's a risk I am willing to take to secure a vehicle in 8 weeks rather than waiting 20.
 
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