To extend or not to extend that is the question??

[R88PER]

Whats your thoughts on this guys. Should I extend the warrenty on the car or not. It runs out on 14/02/03 I've had a rough price its about £500. I've had the car since 13/12/02, its a MY00 S3, MTM chip, magnex exhaust, eibach springs(I think), 18"RSTT's,Spacers, done 49500 miles. I've thought about worse case senarios, engine, box, haldex etc. But how realistic is a £500/year warrenty against what ifs.
What are your experiences of things going wrong?
Thanks in advance for any feedback.
R88PER

[Bushy]

I think is it a case of can you afford not to

At that mileage something may or may not go wrong

I personally would go for it

[Hopsta]

Personally I would extend, bush is right.. its a case of can you afford not too. Xenon headlamps are £450 each on an S3 and i've had 3 changed in the last 2 years. You could find that with 1 repair job the warranty will come into its own remember labour is usually c£50 p/h.

[Bushy]

average dealer charge £65 per hou, some up to £85 - probably the ones Phil uses with the palm trees [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[ChelseaMick]

Hi R88PER and welcome to the site

My S3 is now 3 1/2 years old. My warranty run out on 30/7/02 and Audi didn't even write me a letter to invite me to extend. I didn't bother to do so either. Didn't even ask for a price. The reason being, like yourself I have quite a few mods and unless you are lucky dealers don't usually cover such things. I am prepared to take the risk of something major going wrong with the car that might not be covered by the warranty if your car is modded. If I do get a major problem then I would probably go to an after market tuner anyway. For example the gear box. I wouldn't go to Audi for one as too expensive. A.N.Other gearbox specialist would be cheaper anyway for a stronger box.

Hopsta mentioned Xenons which he is correct are very expensive, but there are people out there where you can get good discount. I have recently been offered the later model Xenons for £353.50 for the pair including VAT & posting...(I'm not saying where though [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img])

At the end of the day (in my opinion) I felt it would have been a waste of money to extend. You still have to pay for the servicing. Depends if you are lucky enough that nothing major goes wrong with your car.

Does the warranty cover normal wear & tear on moving parts? i.e track rod ends, clutch, wheel bearings, gearbox etc....

What do they calss as normal wear & tear anyway?

Just my 2p's worth anyway.

Cheers

Mick [img]images/graemlins/s3addict.gif[/img]

[PhilT]

While I had my S2 I had the same thoughts. I ended up making the same decision as Mick, and for more or less the same reasons.

[R88PER]

Cheers Mick,
I'm sort of thinking along the same route as yourself. Although I have just had the two trackrods done under warrenty, even though the car is lowered [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img], The dealer did'nt even mention it [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img], but I dont think the turning a blind eye would extend much further than a couple of track rod ends [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img].
The way I'm thinking at the moment is, I'm quite nifty with a spanner, couple of engine rebuilds on one of my previous cars [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] dont ask [img]images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I can get the parts at trade cost so thats a bonus and my mate works for VW, not Audi I know but its close enough so anything too tech and he's the man.
I'm just in limbo land at the moment and am trying to find out as much as possible, things that have gone wrong etc,from forums like this [img]images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img].
Have a lot of people had major things go wrong on them ?
Mick what have you had to have done in your 3½ years?
Cheers
R88PER

[ChelseaMick]

Mick what have you had to have done in your 3½ years?

R88PER

Only had the car 18 months now but in the last six months had :-

1. MTM 254 bhp chip
2. MTM Paddle Clutch
3. Porsche front brake conversion
4. Koni dampers
5. H&R springs
6. 18" RS4 replica alloys (Used to have 19" ACE130's )
7. 10mm spacers front 15mm spacers rear
8. Just brought Miltek off of Dean to be fitted when I find the time

Have got to have the adjustable tie-bars fitted to the rear when time permits.

Got more to do but there is a big jump in price to go to the next stage. (i.e bigger turbo) Moving house at the moment so finding time/finances a bit stetched at the mo...

Cheers

Mick [img]images/graemlins/s3addict.gif[/img]

[R88PER]

Mick,
Guess you've got the modifying bug then [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] [img]images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
I Think I'll be investing in some of those adjustable tie bars for the rear also. The camber on the rear wheels is quite noticable. I also read on one of the forums that it tones down the tramlining effect, which is a good thing [img]images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].

[ChelseaMick]

Guess you've got the modifying bug then

Yeah you're right...
Only got into modding after getting on these forum thingies... [img]images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

I'll probably get the tie-bars fitted when I get down to Kim Collins next. He'll be fitting the Miltek as well [img]images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

As you say, the camber is too servere at the moment and the wheels don't fill the rear arches at the top as they should.

Mick

[DuncS3]

Regarding extended warranty - I suppose it is only valid if you continue going to an Audi Dealership for your servicing? Instead of someone like AMD?

Dunc [img]images/graemlins/s3addict.gif[/img]

[sirebank]

Just bought S3 from a main Audi dealer, complete with re-chip and Milltek exhaust! Already had warranty work carried out (only off-side door sensor, I know, but still no sign of a quibble).
You could try a third-party 'insurance' who will be a lot cheaper, e.g. warranty holdings - but check the small print.