Warranty, to extend or not to extend. opinions please!

[EddyPee]

My rs4 warranty expires in one month, comprehensive renewal is £820 with £250 excess and RAC assistance.

In the year I've had it ive had it I've had a low cost brake switch fault and 2 coil packs go down, otherwise no issues

The rac assist is £90 on its own to renew and I want that regardless so I'm seeing it as £730 for a years renewal which seems pretty decent. I've been putting aside £200 a month for the last year in case of any problems anyway.

Cars only done 32k miles and has done 8000 in a year. I won't be changing it anytime soon tho.

What's everyone's views on extending? I'm kinda of the opinion if I don't something big will go wrong and if I do it will be fine for a year! However on the basis I'm tied in for some time it's worth extending for the peace of mind.

[HYFR]

Extend

One word

DRC

[TimDogg]

I haven't extended and have been fine but my car is a March 06 so I'm gonna take it as it comes. I'm actually looking forward to the clutch going as I'll put a Sachs one in - the DRC scares me but I'll probably look at replacing but if it's too expensive I'll just go KW route.

[barryrs]

Jeez, why are these renewal prices so much lower than mine

£2600 for an extra year

[EddyPee]

I wonder if they work charges based on age, mileage and possibly fault history as £820 to £2600 is madness

[pDkALO]

Extend

One word

DRC

+1

Assuming that's with and Audi UK or dealer group policy because you'll be covered - some 3rd party insurers will try to wriggle with DRC

[EddyPee]

Yup, that's the Audi comprehensive price

[pDkALO]

In that case it's a no brainer in my book.

I'll be in the same position in a month or so and will probably get quotes for 1 years and 2 year policies.

[stu]

Looks like I'll be in the minority here: save your money.

As an alternative, put a little money aside each month into a special 'rainy day' account - a hundred quid a month or whatever the warranty might've been. That money can then be used on anything you like, including stuff the warranty would never touch with a barge pole. No breakages? Congratulations, you've just saved up for the next set of front discs, alloy refurb or whatever. Just don't be too quick to spend it - it's a rainy day account!

I haven't so far had anything that would be covered by an extended warranty. I had brake trouble which was covered by the Audi parts warranty. I'm comfortable with the risk.

Each to their own though. If you've got a bad feeling about your motor then get a warranty and the odds may be in your favour. But remember, on average, the house wins (such a cliche I know... But it's true!)

[stu]

I haven't extended and have been fine but my car is a March 06 so I'm gonna take it as it comes. I'm actually looking forward to the clutch going as I'll put a Sachs one in - the DRC scares me but I'll probably look at replacing but if it's too expensive I'll just go KW route.

It's sounding like DRC failure isn't the money pit it once was - I think the expensive part was dealers not really knowing what they were doing, replacing the wrong parts and failures repeating. A well thought out DRC repair sounds cheaper than a full KW setup although I haven't done the arithmatic myself. So might be wrong

Just as a side note:
I wonder how much better the dealerships would've been at diagnosing and repairing DRC if it was them, not Audi UK that footed the bill during those first five years...

[sonny]

Depends how long you have owned the car for, if you are a new owner and are unsure if it has had the clutch replaced etc then I would go for extended warranty.

Iv you have owned the car and it has had most parts replaced/fixed etc then put the money into a repair kitty.

Saying that, we have had a fair few cars recently that have had there oil cooler pipe work corroding, this could cause a further engine problems resulting in expensive bills.

I extended my warranty (year 4) at a cost of £1250 limited mile (irrc 12k pa) doing so a week later my clutch pipe split, shattering the fly wheel and destroying the clutch, I was driving through France at the time. had over £1700 pf repair done FOC. (not to forgot hire car, hotel and recovery costs). So it was worth it imo.

If you can afford it, do it.

[pDkALO]

Agree with stu and sonny that if you just put the money aside, you might be in the same position, or even better off, but peace of mind can count for a lot.

In a year under extended warranty I've had both aux rads, vacuum solenoid and 1x engine mount done under warranty - none of which were unusual items, but it's all added up. My car's never had a DRC problem (yet....), so that's one of the main reasons why I'm leaning towards continuing the warranty.

[barryrs]

I wonder if they work charges based on age, mileage and possibly fault history as £820 to £2600 is madness

That would make sense and although my car is 6 years old i only cover 5000 miles a year hence having a thirsty car.

I suspect it has something to do with claim history; the supplying dealer claim to have repaired a CV boot (obviously not covered by my warranty) as a good will gesture but Audi UK have confirmed that a warranty claim has been made but they wont divulge the details of the claim. Its all a bit odd and cant help but feel that the dealer may have fraudulently claimed on my warranty; I have since found out that the head of business is no longer with them.

Just spoke to Audi regarding my renewal and when i said i was taken aback by the £2600 premium he said you must have an R8!; looks like the extended warranty is not worthwhile for me next year.

[sonny]

That is expensive, iv not seen the warranty prices this year, but surly there is a limit mileage option.

[barryrs]

Only 2 options Sonny, unlimited or 15k a year.