philsayer
01-10-2012, 05:57 PM
I moved my ancient-but-wonderful A8 on a few months ago, and bought a Q7. (AND a Volvo XC90, but that's another story for another day.)
2007 SE, 76K miles, very very clean, £18K from non-franchised dealer, actually a leasing company, who offer only a one-month warranty.
To be safe (I thought) I bought a warranty, and chose Warranty Direct, with a 24 month top-of-the-line package, with work done at Audi dealership.
Shortly after we took out the warranty, I spotted the amber light of dread on the dash, and took it to Bolton Audi. They said it needed BOTH inlet manifolds replacing - one had a mechanical fault, the other an electrical fault. Audi (knowing it's an issue, I presume) offered to pay 75% of the cost of the two new manifolds.
Warranty Direct, within two days, decided it was covered. Then that it wasn't. Then they rang again and said it was. And finally - it wasn't. Hmmm...
Reason for refusal was that the diagnostic print out - all 18 pages of it - revealed that one of the manifolds had gone faulty - intermittent fault - before we bought the car. The other one went kaput - and caused the constant engine warning light - AFTER we'd taken out the warranty.
Warranty Direct logic says this. If ONE of the manifolds is faulty, Audi recommend replacing the pair. (I can see some sense in this - while it's being stripped down, you might as well, etc. etc.) And because both would/should have been replaced when the fault first occurred, then no part of the job is covered. All I wanted was £300 to cover the remaining 25% of the part cost of ONE manifold, and half the labour. But they are resolutely sticking to their guns, and won't pay.
Next up - a fault that also showed up on the diagnostics at the same time, but which Bolton Audi mysteriously didn't bother to advise me of - the air control flap (and/or its motor) on the passenger side isn't working, so whatever temp you dial in, it's Arctic. During the summer, we hardly noticed, but now it's colder, it's VERY noticeable. And, no great surprise, that isn't covered under this "everything's covered" warranty.
I post this, not because I think WD have been particularly dishonest, but because the reality seems to fall some way short of the promises made at time of purchase.
I made the mistake of asking for a quote from Q Wilson's outfit - they have spammed me almost every day since with increasingly generous add-ons... maybe if those had been there in the first place, they'd have got the business...
Are ANY of these warranties worth having? Mine cost £1300 for 24 months, and that's lower than it should be, because they misquoted but honoured the original. (That price should only buy repairs by a non-franchised repairer.)
One thing is for sure. It's great to buy £50K cars for £18K. But unfortunately they still come with £50K-type bills...!
(If anyone is interested, I'll tell you some time about the XC90 that has so far had a refurb gearbox, transfer box and torque converter for £4K, a new intercooler for £500, and is still a crock of *****.)
:zx11:
2007 SE, 76K miles, very very clean, £18K from non-franchised dealer, actually a leasing company, who offer only a one-month warranty.
To be safe (I thought) I bought a warranty, and chose Warranty Direct, with a 24 month top-of-the-line package, with work done at Audi dealership.
Shortly after we took out the warranty, I spotted the amber light of dread on the dash, and took it to Bolton Audi. They said it needed BOTH inlet manifolds replacing - one had a mechanical fault, the other an electrical fault. Audi (knowing it's an issue, I presume) offered to pay 75% of the cost of the two new manifolds.
Warranty Direct, within two days, decided it was covered. Then that it wasn't. Then they rang again and said it was. And finally - it wasn't. Hmmm...
Reason for refusal was that the diagnostic print out - all 18 pages of it - revealed that one of the manifolds had gone faulty - intermittent fault - before we bought the car. The other one went kaput - and caused the constant engine warning light - AFTER we'd taken out the warranty.
Warranty Direct logic says this. If ONE of the manifolds is faulty, Audi recommend replacing the pair. (I can see some sense in this - while it's being stripped down, you might as well, etc. etc.) And because both would/should have been replaced when the fault first occurred, then no part of the job is covered. All I wanted was £300 to cover the remaining 25% of the part cost of ONE manifold, and half the labour. But they are resolutely sticking to their guns, and won't pay.
Next up - a fault that also showed up on the diagnostics at the same time, but which Bolton Audi mysteriously didn't bother to advise me of - the air control flap (and/or its motor) on the passenger side isn't working, so whatever temp you dial in, it's Arctic. During the summer, we hardly noticed, but now it's colder, it's VERY noticeable. And, no great surprise, that isn't covered under this "everything's covered" warranty.
I post this, not because I think WD have been particularly dishonest, but because the reality seems to fall some way short of the promises made at time of purchase.
I made the mistake of asking for a quote from Q Wilson's outfit - they have spammed me almost every day since with increasingly generous add-ons... maybe if those had been there in the first place, they'd have got the business...
Are ANY of these warranties worth having? Mine cost £1300 for 24 months, and that's lower than it should be, because they misquoted but honoured the original. (That price should only buy repairs by a non-franchised repairer.)
One thing is for sure. It's great to buy £50K cars for £18K. But unfortunately they still come with £50K-type bills...!
(If anyone is interested, I'll tell you some time about the XC90 that has so far had a refurb gearbox, transfer box and torque converter for £4K, a new intercooler for £500, and is still a crock of *****.)
:zx11: