Why Have an Extended Warranty?
An Extended Warranty Provides Peace of Mind and Protection From Unexpected, and Unbudgeted, Big Garage Bills.
Are warranties worth the expense?
We know that cars can go wrong at any time, but we hope that our vehicle will be reliable. We keep it regularly maintained, at considerable cost, so why add another expense onto our already large motoring bill? To answer that we need to look at the average cost of typical parts that might fail, and balance that against the cost of the car warranties available on the market today.
Typical waranty claims costs
We've been speaking with our warranty administrator Autoprotect for their views on average repair costs and also been looking at the
competiton for their veiws. broadly its all pretty similar, though not always that easy to find out.
Tesco have some interesting information around their experience of average costs of repairs. These include: water pump £195, gearbox £887, alternator £225, electric window motor £313. Data from autoprotect provides some broadly similar average prices based on their current fleet of covered vehicles: gearbox £1011, ECU (electronic control unit) £600, starter motor £264, alternator £225. Autoquake, the UK's leading on line used car retailer has its own average data: Wheel bearings £189, cylinder head gasket £308, starter motor £204, ECU £451, ignition coil £113
If these are the typical costs per claim why have a £5000 per claim cover? A CarCare Direct warranty plan lets you choose the claim value cover either £1000 or £2000 per claim (an excess in reverse), and ours is a multiple claim policy.
Comparing the warranty cover costs
Comparing the premium car warranty offers is the easiest comparison to make. All comprehensively cover electrical and mechanical breakdown with only a few exclusions. These exclusions tend to be components such as ABS and air-conditioning and wear and tear (ours include these items see our full parts list), where the use of a part has lead to it reaching a point where it failed. All exclude service and serviceable items (these tend to be covered by servicing plans) and most have additional benefits.
The Which Magazine consumer report looked at Warranty direct, Warranty Wise and Tesco Car Warranty. This unbiased report shows the rough costs of the 3 best known warranty providers. The CarCare Direct warranty should be compared to the premium warranty offerings, though remember you have the benefit of managing the cost of our warranty as you can choose the value of claims cover value. This enables us to give the same levels of cover but at an affordable price, allowing you to rationalise the balance of cost to cover.
What should a premium warranty include?
Warranty guide is actually linked to warranty direct but the points they make are very good. Our warranty is a bit different in approach to theirs but we still score well using their scorecard. Remember our warranty is designed to give you the greatest level of cover at the lowest possible price so rather than giving you a claim limit you are unlikely to need we let you choose the claim cover you are comfortable with. Visit our full parts list to see all item covered, but as you'd expect our warranty also comes with a number of benefits such as no excess, multiple claims policy and some added reassurance:
1. Vehicle Recovery included
Up to £100 towards the cost of recovery to the repairing garage
2. Replacement Car Hire included
Up to £30 a day towards the cost of a replacement vehicle while your car is being repaired for up to 7 days
3. Overnight accommodation and rail fares included
Up to £60 towards hotel expenses or a return rail ticket.
4. European Cover included
Up to 60 days cover for driving in the Republic of Ireland and mainland Europe
5. Twenty one day money back guarantee
21 day Money back guarantee from the date the policy was purchased to cancel your policy (providing you have not made a claim during that period).
CarCare Direct Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. FSA no 501301 
