Extended Warranty

[chrisbradley]

The time has come to decide whether I go for an extended warranty on my 04 986 Box S. I have seen some discussion previously on this forum when opinions seem to be divided. £725 seems a lot of money for a years cover on a car which is supposed to have a superior build quality, particularly since I have a full AA membership which partially duplicates the Porsche Assistance roadside cover.
My car has only done 17000 miles and is now a second car, having recently purchased a Suzuki for everyday local mileage.
Also, I have seen mention on this forum of a need to have some kind of inspection by OPC before they will extend the warranty, but there is no mention of this in the paperwork sent to me so far (but they have omitted to send the Policy Document and Policy Summary ! )
I would be pleased to have the views of you guys who are far more knowledgeable in these matters than I am - should I or shouldnt I ?

Chris

04 986 Boxster S Atlas Grey

 

[Mark_Bennett]

If you buy the warranty before the old one runs out you don't need the inspection (if that helps!)

 

[JCB..]

Should I or shouldnt I ?
Chris
04 986 Boxster S Atlas Grey

Only you can answer that Chris I didn't and my car is 6 years old this month. So I have saved nearly £3K by not taking it.

The mileage on the car is fast approaching the point where I would be unable to take out a Porsche warranty and I haven't seen a decent third party scheme yet. I have had the coolant tank split which isn't covered by the warranty apparently.

Actually the £725 is pretty scandalous as that is now twice what it costs me for my normal road risk cover. Despite the odd horror story these cars are pretty well put together so it's a nice little earner for someone.

JCB..

 

[chrisbradley]

Thanks guys for the comments. I think I will wait until I receive the policy details (telephoned OPC this morning to point out to them that I do really need to see the ploicy before signing up to it ! ) and then read all the small print ( like a good ? lawyer should ) before making a decision.

Chris

04 986 Boxster S Atlas Grey

 

[Keith]

My Boxster was just over 2 years old and 20k miles when the RMS went. Fortunately for me, I had decided to take out the extended warranty just a few weeks earlier! Recouped the outlay straight away. My reckoning was to buy piece of mind as whilst these cars are well put together, they cost an arm and a leg to fix when something major goes wrong.

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: Keith

My Boxster was just over 2 years old and 20k miles when the RMS went. Fortunately for me, I had decided to take out the extended warranty just a few weeks earlier! Recouped the outlay straight away. My reckoning was to buy piece of mind as whilst these cars are well put together, they cost an arm and a leg to fix when something major goes wrong.

I wouldn't be too quick to present the RMS issue as a reason to get an extended warranty as very few of the reported cases are actually serious enough to justify the seal being replaced.

In effect you recouped nothing and have paid for an RMS replacement anyway! [&:]

(Just IMHO of course).

JCB..

 

[THX911]

If you decide to sell the car then the extended warranty will pay as buyers are more ready to part with their cash for a private buy even if the warranty has just a couple of months remaining (just my humble opinion of course, no stats to back it)... Since you are coming to an end of your 2 years warranty you will not need the checks (additional cost) and the extended warranty will simply take over...

 

[JCB..]

ORIGINAL: THX911

If you decide to sell the car then the extended warranty will pay as buyers are more ready to part with their cash for a private buy even if the warranty has just a couple of months remaining (just my humble opinion of course, no stats to back it)... Since you are coming to an end of your 2 years warranty you will not need the checks (additional cost) and the extended warranty will simply take over...

Yep thats a very good reason for having it!

 

[Keith]

ORIGINAL: JCB..

I wouldn't be too quick to present the RMS issue as a reason to get an extended warranty as very few of the reported cases are actually serious enough to justify the seal being replaced.

In effect you recouped nothing and have paid for an RMS replacement anyway! [&:]

(Just IMHO of course).

JCB..

OK, but I now have a car that doesn't dribble and an extended warranty to cover any other horrors plus adding to the 'value'. Would you really want a beautiful Boxster to drip drip oil when its only a couple of years old? What does that do for your pride of ownership?!

 

[chrisbradley]

As it happens, the RMS was fixed by OPC after the first service flagged it up as a problem (one of 7 visits back to OPC in 2 years !) I'm coming round to taking the warranty, but will read the small print first knowing how prevalent it seems to be for OPCs to wriggle out of responsibilities.

Chris
04 986 Boxster S Atlas Grey

 

[THX911]

ORIGINAL: chrisbradley

As it happens, the RMS was fixed by OPC after the first service flagged it up as a problem (one of 7 visits back to OPC in 2 years !) I'm coming round to taking the warranty, but will read the small print first knowing how prevalent it seems to be for OPCs to wriggle out of responsibilities.

Chris
04 986 Boxster S Atlas Grey

Everyone should understand how warranty and extended warranty claims work before jumping on to the OPCs: All warranty claims are first taken to Porsche UK and then eventually to Porsche AG for approval (OPC don't get paid if the approval has not been made) and that is why your OPC will not carry out any work immediately unless it is an obvious claim.

At the end of the day they want the warranty work to be done at their center as that is revenue for them; the mechanics are full time staff and get paid whether their is work or not on any given day. OPC can fight your case (this is where your relation with them helps) and get goodwill claims; they would probably do this if they are less busy too i.e. to keep the work flow going. Finally, some OPC will take a small loss to keep you happy and give you a compromised claim (this is usually when they tell you that they will pay for the labour you pay for the parts). This is really no loss to them as the staff are paid monthly anyway, it is usually on how busy they are...

For extended warranty it is stlightly different for them as they deal and get paid by another insurance company who actually provide the actual warranty but again such companies don't approve the claim if Porsche AG decline the claim in the first place. At the end of the day it is just a business...

 

[channella]

I've advocated against in the past, but have changed my mind on considering the input from others. I will be taking a warranty.

I am fortunate that my Boxster is a company car, but I plan to buy it off the lease at the end of 3 years in September. There was no point in buying the extended warranty when the 2yr warranty expired because the company would pick up any bills. Now I will have to pay for an inspection (about £200) on top of the warranty.

The car was recently serviced (about 4 weeks ago) at 36k, but there is no way I can get to the 48k service to get the inspection "free", i.e. as part of the service. When I suggested to the OPC at the 36k service that since they had done all servicing and any warranty work, that it surely wouldn't need an inspection I was told "but something might go wrong between now and September."

For the sake of customer loyalty, goodwill and £200, it is really disappointing that the OPC shows little faith in its service or the product they sell... With that history the chances of needing the warranty should be low, compared with the certainty of getting £725 per year - maybe they know something I don't - yet!

 

[chrisbradley]

I have now received the small print of the proposed warranty and have read through it thoroughly. I have decided not to extend the warranty for the following reasons -
My Box is now my second car and will only do about 5000 miles a year
My AA membership covers most of what Porsche Assistance offers
The warranty specifically says 'For the avoidance of doubt the clutch is not covered' (My main problem for the last two years)
£725 is a significant sum for a car which is supposed to be well put together and have a reputation for longevity (and would probably cover most of the likely repairs in year 3 with a good independent garage)

I may live to regret my decision - watch this space !!!

Chris
04 986 Boxster S Atlas Gey

 

[flat6]

Have you made much use of the warranty in the 9 years?

 

[BartyB]

I'm sure that the figure you quote includes breakdown and recovery which is optional if you read the small print meaning you could reduce it by a £100 or so.

Up until this year I had extended the warranty but having added up the total cost of extending the warranty since purchase and the total cost of warranty work that has been done in that time, it worked out that the total cost of the warranty was twice that of the cost of all the work done. Bear in mind too that in order to maintain cover you must always use Porsche replacement parts. If I factor in the cost of replacing two of the useless Porsche branded Moll batteries (which failed and were not covered by the warranty) with one decent Bosch or Varta battery and things like windscreen wiper blades bought from PCs, the cost advantage swings more in favour of not renewing.

And, if you do decide to go ahead, there's the 111 point pre-warranty inspection to get through. Anything untoward like an overspeed logged in the ECU will require further expense to check (£600 to do a compression check) before a new warranty policy can be issued. You pays your money...

 

[jasonp]

ORIGINAL: flat6

Have you made much use of the warranty in the 9 years?

hiya rufus,,i would bite the bullet and take the final years warranty,,sods law and all that but i am overly cautious, good luck,,regards jason p

 

[Glyn]

Rufus, go have an holiday instead, I would be of the opinion that if it hasnt gone so far then its unlikely to go now.

personally though i am comfortable with a bit of risk, Im also quite logical in that Porsche wouldnt offer a warranty if there was any chance they would pay out more on your car than the policy generates, and, as you know Porsche do quite well with the "only genuine Porsche parts" policy and of course they get the servicing too.

I do accept that a major issue does cost Porsche a tidy packet but overall the policies generate more revenue than they pay out - this always leads me to never having extended warranty on anything- and so far - I'm well in pocket.

Your first warranty extension probably cost you 2% of the value of your car - however, now its more like 10 to 15% - with figures like that id simply get an AA breakdown cover with relay and hire car and at least if the worst happened you could have the car taken to where you want the work doing, good Indies like Revolution are half the price and double the customer service.

 

[Rufus]

Thanks guys for your thoughts. I have certainly spent more on the warranty than i've had back in claims

 

[Incept]

Hi,

You might want to take a look at warranty direct.

They have a Secure Care Lite cover that covers you in the event of a roadside failure. I'm looking at this at the moment.

The one year cost is £265, with discounts for 2 and 3 years. They also require parts cost contributions for vehicles over 6 years old. However, I guess labour charges are more of a problem!

Cover ceases at 13 years old and although wear and tear IS covered, there is a 90 exclusion if the vehicle doesn't have a current warranty in place immediately before the new cover commences.

Labour is covered upto £200 per hour.

I'm still debating this myself, but it would cover a catastrophic failure.

A link to the cover document is here:

http://www.warrantydirect.co.uk/pdfs/SecureCareLite.pdf

I'd be interested in everyone's thoughts on this.

Cheers,

Chris

 

[daly747]

Don't forget our Business Partner UVW (used vehicle warranty) who provide an excellent warranty tailored for Porsche Club Members. They offer 10% discount to members and PCGB gets some revenue from the sale of every warranty. There are no excesses to be paid and all work to be carried out at your local OPC. Limit is up to the value of the car. Full details are on the website (just click on UVW) and details can be found in Porschefile.
I recently made a claim and the procedure was swift and painless.

Brendan Daly
Operations Director
Chairman Motorsport
PCGB