VGS Warranty.....to buy or not to buy? Any thoughts/feedback?

[krissye86]

Hi all

Placed this on general board this morning but no response as yet so wondered if you guys browsing the best section of the forum had anything to say. I Bought my MGF Trophy yesterday and have had 3 months no quibble warranty included which is dealt with by the dealer itself. As always, they offered to extend this warranty if I would like to via a company called VGS....thought this would be a good idea with the common issue of HGF and just having a general 'peace of mind' feeling. There was a HUGE list of things covered including anything relating to the HG and coolant system.

Thought I'd do a search on the net for any feedback and came across a very negative thread on Pistonheads. This is pretty much the only feedback I could find.

Has anyone had any experience with this company at all?!

I don't want to part with the money if I'm going to have to fight with the company to get anything sorted!!

Thanks loads!

Krissy

[Ian M]

Hi Krissy ,

Not had any dealings with them myself but what sort of cost would you be looking at ? My angle being that it might be better just putting the money in the bank "just in case" if the car seems to be sound ?

[krissye86]

Originally Posted by Ian M

Hi Krissy ,

Not had any dealings with them myself but what sort of cost would you be looking at ? My angle being that it might be better just putting the money in the bank "just in case" if the car seems to be sound ?

I had thought about this but I'm not a great saver these days. If I was to pop some money in the savings for 'just in case' purposes, I would find something else it could go towards. I would convince myself it was a good idea to use it!

I believe the extended warranty to 12 months was approx £230 :-/

[dben]

I looked at warranties for my TF and concluded the only one that was actually any good was from CSMA. Downside was the price - £450 but unlike everyone else you got unlimited claims with no excess and could use the VAT registered garage of your choice. Perhaps the bank idea & a coolant alarm sounds more attractive...?

[mauricei]

I have a Major Items warranty from Warranty Direct. It costs £20.00 a month and they paid out very quickly when my HG went. They paid out well over twice what I had paid to them at the time, so the "put something away each month" woudn't have given me enough at the time. If you are not as unlucky as I was and it was longer until you needed a repair then putting something aside each month would probably be better than taking out the warranty, as the money would stay in your account until you needed it and after a couple of problem free years you should have enough stashed to pay for any urgent repair. It is a gamble whichever way you go.I have read on here that some AA cover will pay out up to £500 per incident several times a year, so it is just a matter of finding cover you are happy with at a cost that suits you with a company that will not try to get out of paying when you claim.

[adrianvvc]

What is the excess on any claim ?
For instance, if you have to pay the first £100 on top of your premium of £230. How many claims per year ? Check the exclusions list...many of them exclude HGF, or charge extra premiums for exotic cars like MGFs.

I had a policy with my car last year from a dealer with Warranties 2000/Olympic Warranties cost £370. The dealer said that I get the second year free. I chased this up but was told it was only 12 months. I tried to get a refund from dealer and credit card company but told it was his word against mine.
A MGR garage tried to claim for a faulty O2 sensor and leaking hydraulic pipe on my behalf but these were not covered under the policy !
Three months after purchase, I had a letter to say the dealer had not sent the payment for the warranty. So i tried to claim this back from the dealer, who would not respond. Luckily I had paid by credit card and got immediate refund.

I would not buy a warranty for anything now.

[g7nbp]

Warrantys - waste of money, if you can afford to buy one you are better off putting the money on one side.

I bought an extended warranty 10 years back, only to discover just two weeks later when the engine all but fell out of the car that basically nothing was covered, and that what should have been covered was described as being - "just wear and tear rather than a gross mechanical failure" I didnt get a penny, had to find £1300 and to add insult to injury had to continue parting with money each month for a further 11 months for the worthless warranty (or the warranty company was going to try and recover debts by getting bailiffs to steal the car back!!)

Lyn had a very similar experience to Adrian, Dealer hadnt paid the money Lyn had paid, promised extra year - then decided that no it was just one year after all and when it was eventually sorted and she needed to claim on it for work a) the item was "not covered" due to some weasel wording on the small print and b) even if it was - was only going to cover repairs upto £500 - less a £200 excess which wasnt previously mentioned.

To make matters worse, you had to go via the warranty people before going to the garage - so they got to pick and chose who you took the car to. If you went to garage first - no cover - how often is that likely?? - that you have a broken car and it doesnt end up at a garage??

Dont waste your money.

[jordimussol]

Other than the 'feared' HGF, these cars are quite reliable. I've been on this site for just over 6 months and the usual breakdowns are down to simple htings non-related to the flaws of an MGF/TF.

I mean the electrical wiring is good, no known gremlins except for the boot loom. Electric windows work fine, central locking works fine... to get to the point. I reckon you'd be paying that extra for 'piece of mind' and I don't think you'd end up using it. If you were to get any faults, I would expect only normal wear and tear of parts. It all depends how well the car had been looked after. Has it been serviced recently?

Coolant alarm if you're not much into fiddling the cars and checking it every week or so.

I consider myself fairly 'hands-on' and most of the repairs I do them myself. I do all mods. Though I'm quite the DIY guy you do realise it's just about taking to bits and reassembling again. 3D puzzles really. Other than the engine is not as accessible as others, this car is quite easy to work on.

[Captain Klang]

Hi, I bought a warranty thru the finance company when I bought Tish in july 2009. I also got a 3 month warranty from the dealer. The warranty was from the AA and I was told that it was unlimited, which is why I bought it. When I got the paperwork two weeks later, the cover was limited to £300! I was told by the finance company that they would also make sure that the warranty would kick in as soon as the dealers warranty expired so I wouldn't lose anything. Guess what, my warranty expired exactly one year after buying the car. When I asked the AA this they said they were never informed and when I questioned the finance company they said”oh sorry, we forgot”. Nice!!
I had HGF 4 days before the dealers warranty ran out and he fixed it for me with no questions and no cost to me. Even offered me a free courtesy car for the week it was being done.
Personally I wouldn't recommend one to anyone, a huge waste of money.