Has anyone had any experience with AA Gold Warranty?
Since the C5 is more expensive to repair (ie. less likely to fix things myself) I'm seriously thinking about the AA warranty (£395 for 2 years). I believe that the 3 year old car I am picking up on Saturday has already developed sticky door locks (driver's door failed to unlock on 1 out of 10 attempts) and the indicator stalk seems unusually loose in operation (is that a £200 part?).
Therefore I would like to hear the opinions of others about the AA warranty, whether they are reliable or bend over backwards to avoid paying for a claim. Any experiences/opinions?
Cheers,
GB
C5 & AA warranty
Moderator: RichardW
C5 & AA warranty
05 C5 VTR 2.0 HDI
115k
115k
If you mean the service whereby they pay for repairs up to £500 up to 3 times ayear then it is a waste of money.
I had this back when I drove a vauxhall.
The headgasket blew and they refused to repair it because of the mileage of the car, the fact that I wasn't a business and because when the car had been off the road for 2 yrs before I bought it it had missed a service.
They still charged me for the service for the next 2 years though despite me cancelling it regularly.
I got my own back though by having about £10000 worth of unnecessary towing. They've taken several cars the length of wales for me and a few from mid England to Wales. I also started driving to the pub and undoing the pres regulator bleed screw so that they could tow me home after I got drunk.
I had this back when I drove a vauxhall.
The headgasket blew and they refused to repair it because of the mileage of the car, the fact that I wasn't a business and because when the car had been off the road for 2 yrs before I bought it it had missed a service.
They still charged me for the service for the next 2 years though despite me cancelling it regularly.
I got my own back though by having about £10000 worth of unnecessary towing. They've taken several cars the length of wales for me and a few from mid England to Wales. I also started driving to the pub and undoing the pres regulator bleed screw so that they could tow me home after I got drunk.
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MikeT
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All I can add is you need to read the smallprint. From what I read about standard warranties, they will (if they agree) repair main components like engine or gearbox (providing you can prove you followed their recommendations) up to a limit that, IMO isn't enough to pay for the work. The excess will be payable by you.
Additionally, any items not covered by the warranty but still necessary (consumables, sundries, maybe covers, bolts etc) will probably be charged at an extortionate rate, payable by you.
Always read the smallprint
Additionally, any items not covered by the warranty but still necessary (consumables, sundries, maybe covers, bolts etc) will probably be charged at an extortionate rate, payable by you.
Always read the smallprint -
admiral51
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i pressume you had made a mental note to retighten in the morning nothing worse than having a hangover and not being able to remember how you got home............................................................................... and then have to call them out againelma wrote: I also started driving to the pub and undoing the pres regulator bleed screw so that they could tow me home after I got drunk.
Colin
As said before....."Check the smalls"
A lot of these off the shelf warrantys don't realy work to well, example.
You pop into the garage and say that you have a funny noise fron the drive area, they check the car and tell you thet the drive-shaft is worn and knocking.
You phone the warranty company and they ask if it has failed and you say "well no not actually failed, its been examined by the garage and they advise changing it as it's worn"
They will then tell you that as it's not actually failed then you cannot claim as it's worn rather than failed.
Now you say, "ok I'll leave it untill it fails, then claim for a new one" They will answer, well you can't do that as it has already been picked up as a problem and the advise was to change it, if you ignore the advise, on you own head and pocket be it.
I have had some experience of warranty companys in the past and the general rule is that if it is a sudden and unexpected failure like a clutch failed at 20'000 miles then fine they will fix it. But anything worn, or picked up on a service or a clutch worn at 80'000 miles, then you aint covered.
The final note from the companys allways seems to be "well thats fair wear and tear so not covered"
Read the small print.
Regards
Slim.
A lot of these off the shelf warrantys don't realy work to well, example.
You pop into the garage and say that you have a funny noise fron the drive area, they check the car and tell you thet the drive-shaft is worn and knocking.
You phone the warranty company and they ask if it has failed and you say "well no not actually failed, its been examined by the garage and they advise changing it as it's worn"
They will then tell you that as it's not actually failed then you cannot claim as it's worn rather than failed.
Now you say, "ok I'll leave it untill it fails, then claim for a new one" They will answer, well you can't do that as it has already been picked up as a problem and the advise was to change it, if you ignore the advise, on you own head and pocket be it.
I have had some experience of warranty companys in the past and the general rule is that if it is a sudden and unexpected failure like a clutch failed at 20'000 miles then fine they will fix it. But anything worn, or picked up on a service or a clutch worn at 80'000 miles, then you aint covered.
The final note from the companys allways seems to be "well thats fair wear and tear so not covered"
Read the small print.
Regards
Slim.
Cheers guys.
I went through the small print a number of times, and yes, what you say is all true!
It seems a part must completely fail before they even consider paying out a claim! Besides, the list of excluded parts and the consequential damage issues make this warranty just useless. I think it would be a bit of a lottery making a claim anyway - not knowing whether they would pay or not gives me no confidence in their product at all.
Well done guys, you've prevented me from throwing £400 out the window!
Cheers,
GB
I went through the small print a number of times, and yes, what you say is all true!
It seems a part must completely fail before they even consider paying out a claim! Besides, the list of excluded parts and the consequential damage issues make this warranty just useless. I think it would be a bit of a lottery making a claim anyway - not knowing whether they would pay or not gives me no confidence in their product at all.
Well done guys, you've prevented me from throwing £400 out the window!
Cheers,
GB
05 C5 VTR 2.0 HDI
115k
115k
I totally agree, these big companies will take what they can and then make life hard if you want to claim.
For them to pay you would probably need full service history from a main dealer with stamps, and only then, like everyone else said, a sudden failure, like clutch, cambelt etc.
The bottom line is, not many things fail without warning, besides the above. And these warnings would be spotted if the car is serviced regularly. So if you keep on top of the timing belt change for instance, which is say £300 a shot, then you should be ok, rather than paying the AA £400 for a failed one which would not have failed if you had paid the £300 to get it changed on time.
Plus once the car gets over a certain age and mileage then they won't cover you anyway will they. As everyone says, it's all in the small print!
For them to pay you would probably need full service history from a main dealer with stamps, and only then, like everyone else said, a sudden failure, like clutch, cambelt etc.
The bottom line is, not many things fail without warning, besides the above. And these warnings would be spotted if the car is serviced regularly. So if you keep on top of the timing belt change for instance, which is say £300 a shot, then you should be ok, rather than paying the AA £400 for a failed one which would not have failed if you had paid the £300 to get it changed on time.
Plus once the car gets over a certain age and mileage then they won't cover you anyway will they. As everyone says, it's all in the small print!
Good decision,
I resent the AA being paid money nowadays as they do their best to cut you off.
My last policy had unlimited callouts and towing but they would always try to charge me extra as they said I'd used my allowance.
With greenflag now who are great. They don't send a monkey out to try and bodge your car either, just a recovery truck. Which is what most of us here would want as we know when our car can or can't be fixed at the roadside.
I resent the AA being paid money nowadays as they do their best to cut you off.
My last policy had unlimited callouts and towing but they would always try to charge me extra as they said I'd used my allowance.
With greenflag now who are great. They don't send a monkey out to try and bodge your car either, just a recovery truck. Which is what most of us here would want as we know when our car can or can't be fixed at the roadside.
The AA's breakdown repair cover is only £67 for a car under 10 years/100k miles if your already a member.GB wrote:Well done guys, you've prevented me from throwing £400 out the window!
GB
http://www.theaa.com/breakdownrepaircover/index.html
seems like a not bad deal, you can have 4 claims per year upto £500 with a £25 excess. however it must be a breakdown where the AA patrol has attended. If you have a duff battery call out the AA they replace the battery & you pay just £25.