Interesting call from Warranty Direct...

Post by **imacool** » Wed May 30, 2012 7:45 pm

Hi guys, let your engines to cool down and read this. Today a representative from Warranty Direct rang me with an offer to cover my 2003, 100k RS6 C5. His offer was £770 a year with a list of things which are covered. On direct question about DRC and suspension the answer was NO, suspension is NOT covered. I am still on DRC, mind. But the engine, quattro system, gearbox, electrics, all seem to be covered up to the market price of my car. I asked how much the price was, answer "market value of your car when you make the claim". He said he didn't have the info about the current market price of my car.

Interesting part was that he offered a cover from day one, providing I have the car checked by their technician and they wanted me to pay £70 for that. Otherwise the cover would start 3 months after signature.

Anyone got any experience with them?
Anyone got their car checked by them prior signature?

Thanks for your inputs....

Post by **bud-weis** » Wed May 30, 2012 8:11 pm

Hmmm. Interesting.

Post by **amanda1** » Wed May 30, 2012 8:20 pm

Yes I have but I doubt I will be renewing this year as they refused to pay on a gearbox claim

Post by **Mr V10** » Wed May 30, 2012 8:46 pm

Warranty Direct called me too, telling me how expensive the 'quattro system' was to fix, feck off. What proper (torisen) quattro system has ever gone wrong?

Post by **Mr V10** » Wed May 30, 2012 8:49 pm

amanda1 wrote:Yes I have but I doubt I will be renewing this year as they refused to pay on a gearbox claim

Amanda, you need to be one step ahead of warranty companies. They asked you not to start any work on the box untill they had assessed it and you got it fixed before they had a chance. Even now, I would go back to whoever rebuilt your gearbox and tell them it is slipping again, they don't know you have 950nm of torgue.

Post by **imacool** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:04 pm

amanda1 wrote:Yes I have but I doubt I will be renewing this year as they refused to pay on a gearbox claim

Why did they refuse? Could you please spare a few details for me...

Post by **Drummerman** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:07 pm

I had the same conversation with W D after I had gone online to check out the costs. I was offered the same as you with Main Dealer rates which I thought was a good deal. Their Engineer duly came out and checked the car over. About six weeks later my gearbox went bang. After a lot of time and telephone calls I finally got W D to send an Engineer out to look at the stripped gearbox after they initially refused to pay out. This all started in February. Grizz sorted out the car and I had back about three weeks ago. Today I received a cheque from WD for 16.9 hours labour and the cost of replacing the damaged component

Post by **imacool** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:23 pm

Drummerman wrote:I had the same conversation with W D after I had gone online to check out the costs. I was offered the same as you with Main Dealer rates which I thought was a good deal. Their Engineer duly came out and checked the car over. About six weeks later my gearbox went bang. After a lot of time and telephone calls I finally got W D to send an Engineer out to look at the stripped gearbox after they initially refused to pay out. This all started in February. Grizz sorted out the car and I had back about three weeks ago. Today I received a cheque from WD for 16.9 hours labour and the cost of replacing the damaged component

Well, that is not very encouraging...
Did you get a courtesy car from them? They said any repair over 8 hours and you get a courtesy car for up to a week max.
I am assuming the check from them has not covered everything, how much extra did you have to pay, if you don't mind asking?

Post by **Drummerman** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:38 pm

No courtesy car but then I didn't push for one as I have the use of a Mito although when the 6 is around I don't use it!! I paid extra as I had the gearbox and torque converter fully rebuilt rather than just have the damaged part replaced. Final bill was around £4.5k and I got just under half from WD

Post by **imacool** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:09 pm

Drummerman wrote:No courtesy car but then I didn't push for one as I have the use of a Mito although when the 6 is around I don't use it!! I paid extra as I had the gearbox and torque converter fully rebuilt rather than just have the damaged part replaced. Final bill was around £4.5k and I got just under half from WD

Understand.
I was interested in courtesy car option as I only got RS, no other car. But when I hear you need to push to get something from them and then they MAYBE pay half, I am not very interested. I will think about it. As far as I see it now, it would make a sense to have some funds ready when the worst happens and also have a spare old clunker in case you need to leave the car in garage for a few days.

How may of you guys are walking on the thin ice and drive RS6 as the only car? What do you do if something breaks and you don't have a spare car?

Post by **el_ringo** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:16 pm

That headline sums up my feelings for them.

Post by **Drummerman** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:22 pm

Well I look at it like this - WD have paid out three times what I gave them as a premium so from a gambling point of view I am ahead. My car was with Grizz for around six weeks altogether so of it was my only car it would have been a pain. What I have learnt since owning this car for nearly a year is that you need deep pockets to run them. While my car was with Grizz I spent another £3k on other necessary work and probably could spend the same again before the year is out. So if it is your daily driver and your only car you better have some serious spare cash or a big credit limit on your flexible friend!!

Post by **bam_bam** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:37 pm

Drummerman wrote:I had the same conversation with W D after I had gone online to check out the costs. I was offered the same as you with Main Dealer rates which I thought was a good deal. Their Engineer duly came out and checked the car over. About six weeks later my gearbox went bang. After a lot of time and telephone calls I finally got W D to send an Engineer out to look at the stripped gearbox after they initially refused to pay out. This all started in February. Grizz sorted out the car and I had back about three weeks ago. Today I received a cheque from WD for 16.9 hours labour and the cost of replacing the damaged component

I had similar. It took 9 weeks of incessant correspondence on my behalf. The 'box was sat stripped down and in that period the engineers showed up no less than three times to peer into it.
- The first time (after ludicrous amounts of emails and phone calls), I was told the 'box had failed, ATF return pipe cracked and burnt slipper clutch but I had to await engineer report before sign off.
-Still no sign off after 3 weeks, I get very very shitty and after demanding an answer, I'm finally told the photos that their outsourced warranty engineer took were corrupt, they asked if they could reschedule another inspection, I said yes. I called the gearbox shop apologetic about this and tell them the story and the gov says "mate, that engineer didn't even have a camera! He poked his head in, I pointed out what was wrong and then I went to look him in the eye to chat about the slipper clutch and he was walking out, rude <beep>. Said he'd get it signed off".
- Second engineer visit and I'm left waiting and told the report and photos are taking a long time but it'll be signed off any day, I call or email everyday for 3 weeks. I'm told "tomorrow", pretty much everyday. Finally I'm told it'll be signed off for sure the next day. I leave it 3 days, no call, so I call them and I'm told the photos were too blurry. I lose my sh!t and tell them that's not my problem and I want it signed off immediately.
- A third visit photo shoot of my gearbox is arranged at week 6. This time the photos are confirmed good but then I'm told as it's a pay out over a certain amount, it needs to be approved by the MD and he's sick. I called everyday for a week, sold the same story. Then I'm told it's on his list of things to do! I lose my sh!t again and take legal advice and I start formal requests for all information held about this claim and my person. I'm called and told the MD is on holidays for 2 weeks, I say I don't care and I want my claim expedited, it comes to a head at week 8 when I don't stop calling, I start on a Thursday morning and I sit in the WD phone queues all day. I get bounced everywhere but I repeatedly ask where my claim sign off is and I dismantle every argument they throw at me. Rinse. Repeat. All day. My whole office were in tears of laughter, my direct questioning and level of commitment made me an absolute fucken nightmare to deal with, I would get anyone I spoke to all twisted up on their stories. The more they squirmed the more tenacious I became. The next day I commenced another all-out assault and mysteriously the MD came back from the dead and signed it off by 11am. I got a call from the gearbox rebuilder saying they'd received go ahead paperwork. It was rebuilt in two days and shipped to MRC.
- Another battle to extract the claim cheque 3 months later and I got £3600 for 16hrs labour and some gearbox parts. I'll tell you right now, it wasn't worth it. My time and about £1,400 in car hire, plus lost road tax, insurance and parking permit. It was a false economy.

Why did they stall? Because they wanted me to think it was a dead cert and then go ahead with the rebuild, then they'd say "pictures are corrupt/lost/eaten by a dog and there's no proof, can we look at it again?", "well no, I've already had it rebuilt", "sorry, rule 1, no pictures, no proof, no proof, no claim".
Have fun with WD, personally, I hope they all get misdiagnosed with cancer and are forced to have chemotherapy. Front bottoms.

Post by **imacool** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:54 pm

Drummerman wrote:Well I look at it like this - WD have paid out three times what I gave them as a premium so from a gambling point of view I am ahead. My car was with Grizz for around six weeks altogether so of it was my only car it would have been a pain. What I have learnt since owning this car for nearly a year is that you need deep pockets to run them. While my car was with Grizz I spent another £3k on other necessary work and probably could spend the same again before the year is out. So if it is your daily driver and your only car you better have some serious spare cash or a big credit limit on your flexible friend!!

Thanks for all the info.
I bought the car because is big, practical (estate) and fast. As it was the best Audi at the time, I expected they put the best components in. It was built for a massive power and speed, so I thought when driving it with care and give it an occasional blast, it would last forever. Well, it looks I was wrong.

But I love the car anyway.

Post by **HYFR** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:59 pm

well said Bam

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