Extended warranty on a 5 year old van?

[crob]

I have had this Hymer S class since new and have had the benefit of an extended warranty with MB & G Insurance. It is due for renewal shortly, and although the premium isn't going up much, the van now has to move from the Gold plan to the Silver one. This doesn't cover as much as the Gold plan, but it also has a £1,000 limit per claim. This may sound a lot, but with labour rates of £75/hour + parts + VAT it can soon get eaten up.

 

Does anyone know of any other companies offering extended warranties on "older" vans, but with a higher or no limit?

 

They do get expensive, don't they? I know I should swap for a newer one, but so far we haven't seen anything we fancy.

 

Hope for some good news from someone. Ta.

 

Colin.

[Brian Kirby]

Hope these are not rude questions, Colin, but what is the premium, how much has the van cost in warranty repairs over the past 5 years, and how many of those claims cost over £1,000?

My instinct is that these insurances (sold somewhat misleadingly as warranties) are seldom worth the premium, mainly because folk seem to discover that whatever fails, somehow isn't covered!

One has to bear in mind that the collective premiums must produce more income to the insurer that the claims cost, or the consequence is obvious.

Most vehicles these days have two/three years warranties, most of the componentry in motorhomes has a one year warranty, and quite a number of the conversions have five/six year warranties against water ingress.

As a generalisation, as things get older they do become more liable to fail, so one would expect the premium to increase, or the cover to reduce.  As another, most items such as fridges, heaters, habitation electrics and water systems are either faulty when delivered, fail early, or work happily for years.  Provided the van gets reasonable use during it's first year, so that the equipment is well tested, the manufacturer's warranties should prove adequate for any "infantile" failures. 

The rest is a risk, and one has to balance the certainty of paying the "warranty" premium, against the possibility of something failing and costing more to fix than you've spent on warranty premiums.  It's a judgement, of course, and in the end you just have to do what gives you greatest comfort.  However, before deciding, I would check very carefully what will be covered, to what extent, and then compare the premium against the cost of the most likely repairs.

[brayn]

I agree with Brian. The extended warranty is seldom of any use. I was given one 'free' by Deepcar but it transpired that it only covered a sudden failure of a part. If there was any warning then it was invalid because any action in continuing to drive was exacerbating the problem They did not cover resultant damage either. I queried the usefulness of such a policy with Deepcarand was told they give it because people expect it, not because it is any use.

[crob]

Thanks for responses so far. I've paid out just over £1,100 for the warranty and habitation checks over the last 3 years and had reclaims of over £1,900, albeit one of these was about £1,000. So, it has been more or less worthwhile. But who knows about the future???

 

Still awaiting any info on other warranty companies doing good deals.

 

Colin.

[Rapido-lass]

Insurance is on the whole weighted in the Insurance companies favour, bearing this in mind, you are really paying for the idea of 'peace of mind' (unless legal requirement) should anything go wrong. But like murphy's law - Insurance companies have a wonderful way of telling you that somehow that part isn't covered or that you've made it worse by doing this or that / not having done this or that, hence you've conveniently for them, invalidated your insurance.

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

crob - 2008-11-11 1:07 PM Thanks for responses so far. I've paid out just over £1,100 for the warranty and habitation checks over the last 3 years and had reclaims of over £1,900, albeit one of these was about £1,000. So, it has been more or less worthwhile. But who knows about the future??? Still awaiting any info on other warranty companies doing good deals. Colin.

That sounds quite a high rate of claims to me on a 5 year old Hymer S class.  Have you done a high mileage, or used the van very extensively?  Those warranty/habitation checks also seem to have been quite expensive.  Can you say any more about what has been going wrong?

[crob]

The two major cost items were the air brake that seized up cos of rust - being stood around a lot doesn't help these vehicles, and the supporting arms on the over-cab bed broke, probably cos the hydraulic strut seized - don't know why. Hymer would have paid for the bed if I hadn't had the warranty, so it's probably not fair to count that in the warranty reclaim figure. That means that I made a small "loss" on the deal.

 

The habitation checks, including the annal water ingress test, have cost about £250. If there is a cheaper place to go other than Hymer/Brownhills, I would love to know about it. It is this cost that is pushing me not to renew the warranty.

[Guest Tracker]

Without doubt a local to you independent Caravan or Motorhome specialist would do the Hab service for a lot less than Brownhills so why not get the yellow pages out and locate and visit or phone a few?

 

Was the air brake repair done by a main dealer or an independent as once again there might have been a cost savings available had you been paying?

 

A warranty has two sides one is peace of mind which is almost unquantifiable as we all see things differently, and the other is perceived cost to benefit value which again is down to individual taste or just pure luck?

 

Only you can decide, but personally I would take the risk myself and not bother with the warranty.