4 or 5 yr warranty?

[mcmaddy]

As it stands at the moment I've gone for the 5 year warranty but can't understand why the 4 year one is £209 yet the 5 year is £490. I'm sure on the seat's it's cheaper to get the 5yr than the 4. is the 5 year warranty worth it or would the 4 year be sufficient with the option to shop around for a fifth if needed?

[Jimble]

I don't really understand what your asking? The 5 year one will obviously cost more as it's an extra year and as we all know, the older a car gets the more things start to fail, if you are definatley going to keep the car for 5 years then imo it's worth taking out the 5th year at purchase because you can bet your life it'll cost more than the £281 difference if you take it out later!   But if your not sure then i'd go for 4 years because you won't get that money back if you sell/trade it after 4 years.

[monkeyhanger]

Completely depends on how long you want to keep the car. If you're stuck on Golfs and won't fancy a change before 5 years (can't see MK8 being in before that point) then getting the 5 year warranty is the sensible thing to do. My dad will keep his car a long time so I will urge him to add the 5 year warranty. At £490 for an extra 2 years comprehensive warranty cover it is a bargain. Year 5 cover is a little more than year 4 as there is slightly more chance of a component failure that would come under warranty in year 5 than year 4.

If I knew for sure that I would keep mine for 5 years i'd rather buy this cover than some aftermarket one with exclusions for migh on the same money.

As it is, I usually change my car every 2 to 3 years. Right now i'm the only person in my household who drives. I'm coming from a Scirocco to something that won't look as good externally (IMO) but the extra equipment, higher output engine, practicality of 5 doors, significantly better economy and superior residuals make it the car to get. If my wife drove, i'd probably have her own the "sensible" car of the household and maybe in 3 years time i'd be getting myself into the next generation TT or Scirocco again. Or maybe after 3 years i'd be back in a newer GTD.

The way Solutions is set up, it's almost as cost effective to own 2 GTDs back to back in a 6 year period as it is to own one and see it's p/x value at 6 years drop to maybe £6500 (£20k depreciation in 6 years as opposed to 2 x £11k depreciation in 3 years). For an extra 10% cost over owning 1 for 6 years you can be driving a new one again at year 4, and maybe there have been some advancements available on the newer model etc. For me I definitely think i'll be into a new car (whatever it may be) 3 years after buying this one, so for me the warranty is wasted money.

[master_hayabusa]

Basically, if you go for 5 years, it's costing you £245 per year. And £245 today will not buy the same in 4 years time taking inflation into account. So, as mentioned above, if you are definitely keeping it for 5 years, it's a no brainer.

[Hawaii-Five-O]

I tend to keep my cars 4 years so I've only taken out the 4yr warranty. Gives me peace of mind and at only £205 and should the DSG or ADC go bang it would pay for itself no problem.

As the others have said if you plan to keep the car late into its 4th year then 5yr warranty cover is definitely worth it, especially with all this new tech!

If you're risk averse (like me), I say go for it!

[JonnyG]

As above ..  it all depends on how long you intend to keep the car.

Either way, both the 4 year and 5 year extended warranty options are an absolute bargain (if needed) and well below what you used to have to pay.  I got a call from VW when my standard 3 year warranty was about to expire (on a Mk 5 ED 30) and they quoted me over £500 for one more year (i.e the 4th year).

If you have a DSG car, and intend to keep the car 4 or 5 years or more,  it's a bit of a no brainer really IMHO unless you intend to mod of course.

[mcmaddy]

No dsg and definitely no mods. Just down to how long I think I might keep the car.

[Squit]

I think that comments like it's a 'no brainer' (I particularly hate this idiotic term) or a 'bargain' are wrong.

Extended warranties are just another form of insurance. For the majority of people they are a waste of money.

[monkeyhanger]

Squit: Some forms of insurance are a waste of money. I consider GAP a waste of money (an insurance policy to supplement an insurance policy) but i'll happily accept a free policy as a sweetener.

VWs don't have the kind of bulletproof reliability they used to pride themselves on and as they get ever complex equipment, in-service failure is more frequent than it ever used to be. As someone who has owned 6 VWs from new I can tell you that every one has had warranty work that would exceed the cost of £490 if I had to bear the cost of it myself.

For the peace of mind that the VW warranty extension offers at a price equating to 2% of the list price of a GTD/GTI I would consider it fantastic value for money if you planning on keeping the car 5 years. A single minor failure with just a few hours labour at VW dealership rates could more than swallow the cost of this extended warranty.

For almost any other item you could buy with a fraction of the complexity of a modern high-spec car, most would extend the warranty if it cost just 2% of the item purchase price.

If I could assure myself that I would keep my car for 5 years then I would consider it a "no brainer" to get it. You are paying for peace of mind by taking it out, and if nothing goes wrong in the coverage period it wasn't a waste of money. No one can be sure nothing will go wrong in years 4 and 5, it isn't massively unlikely that you will end up making a claim.

Unlike all of the aftermarket warranties with a raft of exclusions, this extended warranty is as good as the one which comes with the car for the first 3 years. If that isn't worth 2% of the car's list price then you must have an extreme view on "value for money" which I assume a new VW wouldn't qualify as.

After the first 3 years of relatively flat and predictable costs of running your VW (save for maybe replacing the front tyres), years 4 and 5 can be a bit iffy if you're still financing the car and are open to potential repair bills - the extended warranty is a huge safety buffer against the unpredictable for comparatively low cost.

I do think that as 5 and even 7 year warranties become standard issue for many marques (but none of the German ones) VW could bring it in (but they'd just add £500 to the list price to achieve it!), even Alfas come with a 5 year warranty now!

[Squit]

I see what you are saying, but I maintain that for the majority of people, most will lose out. Unless I'm mistaken, that is exactly why manufacturers offer extended warranties - overall they make money!

You say that if nothing goes wrong in the coverage period, it wasn't a waste of money?! Surely it was - you've paid hundreds of pounds for nothing.

I don't entirely disagree with extended warranties, it's just I take issue with people saying it's a 'no brainer'. Just because it's only a few hundred quid, that doesn't make it good value, it just means that for most people that's all they lose.

Of course, there are always exceptions and by the sounds of it, with your past luck with VWs, it might actually be a no brainer. At the same, I've never bought a warranty and in doing so I've saved thousands...