Why Car Warranties Are USELESS! | Workshop Update No.58 

100% agree, no one bothers to read the terms of the warranty, when you actually read them you realise they are worthless. It’s good you’re making people aware so they don’t waste their money.

Well said Ricky. Ive been telling my customers this for over 35yrs. Unfortunately it falls on deaf ears !! I will no longer do warranty work or even entertain dealing with them !! Legalised robbery !!👎👎

The chat about 3rd party warranties brought back so many Bad memories. I used to offer them when I sold used HGV's. We had so many issues and annoyed customers from all over the UK and northern Ireland. You can imagine how peed off our customers were with their truck off the road not earning money because the 3rd party company wouldn't pay for oil etc. In the end we started putting money aside out of the deals for our own "warranty pot" we could then at least act quickly and use our own judgement on what we would pay for. Most of the time we covered all items, oil etc because we valued the customers. They usually returned to buy more trucks from us, partly because when things did go wrong we helped. Cracking video lads, keep it up!

Took out the top tier ‘Warrantywise’ warranty on a used BMW from an independent dealer. Both front window regulators went after a few weeks (car had electrical gremlins), they refused to believe it wasn’t pre-existing so only paid out for one, the dealer didn’t want to know as I had the warranty. A few months later the adaptive headlights went and there was no wriggling out of it, they rang the main dealer begging for discount off the several thousand £ quote, I told the main dealer to not give them a penny off!

I’ve had a good experience had RAC warranty when I got my huracan had both rear dampers done at no cost. Then when it was coming near the end of that warranty had the whole car inspected to see if there was anything else to get done under warranty. Thrust bearing was replaced, which was gearbox out.and while it was out a couple of other bearings and seals. All cost free.

Good rant... basically warranties suck, well done at the races 🏁

Congratulations on your race result, Ricky. Well done, buddy 👏👏👏👏

i used to do home emergency cover (plumbing and heating) for insurance companies. it was a nightmare i'd have to take samples of the system water to see the levels of corrosion as this voided the warranty. if they had a leak the cover wouldn't cover tracing the leak only the repair none of the making good. so if water was pissing through your ceiling you'd have to find the leak then i could repair it, you'd then be left with a gapping hole in your ceiling that was your responsibility to repair. some policies would only have £150 of cover that would pay for me to get there have a look and maybe supply a couple of fittings the surplus they had to pay. on a basic cover job i'd only get £70 so it wasn't financial sense for me to be there any more than half hour. biggest problem is as the engineer you're on the front line so when your telling them what is and isn't covered you'd be the one getting the abuse. when the system had corrosion the client would ask can't you just fix it and i wish i could have but i'd have to take pictures of me taking a sample from the system and a picture of the sample, the test tube had a black mark in the bottom and if you couldn't see the black mark then there's corrosion in the system. sometimes i'd even have to send away samples of the water. i'd advise anyone don't get home emergency cover because it doesn't cover squat!

100% truth. Here in south africa we have the same issues with these warranties

Just donated prostate cancer research link respect to all ride safe people 😎😎👌👌

Another great video and spot on rant Ricky👏👏 way too many scumbag companies preying on peoples fears. Congrats on the Oulyin results 🏆 Can’t thank you enough for the mention and your and Davs time as well, already had donations from some of your followers Thanks again from me and all on the 24in24 team Harv

I paid for a 2 year aftermarket warranty from Evan’s Halshaw when I bought my 308 GTI and that warranty was great!!! Being a Peugeot it had nothing but issues but everything was repaired with no excess by Peugeot but this a standard car not an R8 or Huracán

I love listening to Ricks Rants. I had a Jaguar s type about 6 years ago and it came with a 3 month warranty, I was contacted by the warranty company within a couple of days of picking the car up and I was up sold to a higher better policy that covers everything but the stereo and they would pay upto £150 ph labour rate. I broke down about 6 months later, it was taken to a Jaguar dealership and they diagnosed it as a bad injector. They contacted warranty wise and told them what was wrong and whe the dealership told them the mileage was 100108 they were told they would cover it over 100,000 as it’s now classed as wear and tear.

I knew Stan Dibben back in the late 70s. He and I were reps for NGK spark plugs. One of the most interesting guys to take to and areal nice bloke

Positive experience with a third warranty. RAC Platinum Plus covered 2x rear shocks on my Giulia Quadrifoglio the bill was near £1900 all in. They paid in full. They also covered a repair to the Harman Kardon amp at £200. They wouldn’t cover a replacement as this was over the claim limit for infotainment.

ALWAYS great on point information and rants ! Congrats on the triple at the weekend !! Pole + FL + RACE WIN...MEGA !! 🏆🥇🥇

Sage advice, backed up with front-line evidence. Free value, right there. Glad to have bought the bobble hat to chip a little your way lads.

I really enjoy your videos. The level of excellence is really impressive. I think this is one of your best videos because your knowledge of the subject is greater than all the warranty companies combined.

Interesting vid. I had £4500 out of my free extended warranty as part of a service plan from Seat from my Cupra for collapsed front suspension and a destroyed subframe. I'd rather just save the cash than waste it hedging my bets on a non-manufacturer one. The car was even modified and they didn't mention it!

Love the channel Ricky and happy tugs and well done at Oulton, I had a recent PSA test and I'm good but I'm certainly not complacent so well done mate in highlighting things that we men seem to ignore..

100% I could not agree more! I had an aftermarket warranty on my 2012 RS4 and they would not pay for anything when something needed doing. I ditched them and now have an Audi Warranty at £60 per month 👍

Decent experience with WMS Group/Opteven on Gen 1 R8 V10. Negotiated a total of 12 months as part of buying the car, having read the terms and coverage and grilled the dealer specifically in horror stories of aftermarket warranties and claims etc, extended to 2 years for an extra £1350. They have paid out £2,320 on rear upper wishbone, oil leak x2 and alarm siren at full main dealer labour rates too. Will be taking out the Audi warranty in the next couple of months when this one finishes I think.

Thorney's McLaren warranty is exactly what you are looking into offering. Seems reliable and good value considering the issues people with Main dealer McLaren.

In my 50 years of owning vehicles it's the first time I've heard someone in the motor trade tell the truth about extended warranty. The fear of buying a modern car has catch me in a 2008 Kia diesel this car is fabulous it doesn't moan at me it starts it stops and I can fix it myself most of the time. Your comment about internet search engines hit the nail sq on the head when you ask Google a question or any search engine they're working for the companies not for you I got turned over applying for an Australian holiday visa was so angry with myself for being so gullible learnt experience

Funny you mention mclaren, Tom Hartley did an interview recently and absolutely slated mclaren to death regarding aftersales! He said the cars are amazing but the dealerships and the company let it down massively!

I’ve had an RAC warranty included with a car before (a 997) and it worked really well. And another one with an F-Type. So I do think it depends heavily on who you use.

Even the Audi extended Warranty try to weasel out the claims I've had to go to the Ombudsman for my claim on my R8.

Good stuff Ricky. I agree the warranties are crap ,I had bad experience years ago. Well done on the race weekend mate 👍

I've told several people that the "after market car warranty" is definitely a scam. Having said that, the company that sold my van (for doing track-days on motorcycle), did pay for a new EGR valve. They didn't pay for the service (that they said "it's recently serviced", which clearly wasn't true).. I'm not sure if the company paid or the warranty company, to be honest. Terry Pratchet said it well: In-Sewer-Ants. Some are sl;ightly less bad than others, but in general, they are very good at finding ways to NOT pay for what you think they promised to pay for...

I 100% agree , brilliant rant . When will the re performance soap box be available on your merch ?

Well done on the weekend mate. Great result. The best insurance you can have is having someone with you that knows the vehicles if you don’t. Anything can go wrong at any time but at least start in a good place. I still love my massive purple bobble hat.

Hi, totally agree with your views on warranty. The 3 months with the garage gives🤯 some piece of mind but the third party warranty is dire. I think it just goes on the "engineer" that you speak to on the day and their mood. It always seems to me like they are more versed in stopping a claim than paying one. The price they charge is competitive with manufacturers anyway .... Saying that when I went in to range rover to get the panel on my door (velar lower plastic panel) replaced that had blown off when driving ....I was told by one guy "you must have hit something as these don't come off"....a second person at the same garage told me " it's pretty common this and is to do with the fixings and we'll order one , get it sprayed and arrange for you to come in" that's the same dealership!! So ...I think again it's who you talk to 👍🏻👍🏻

Customer of mine needed a Front Crank Seal & Belt Replacing on a T6. Total cost was just short of a £1000 and Warranty Authorised £275. His excess was £250. 😂😂😂

Great points, good video. The irony of even the Audi warranties? You would not believe the internal haggling that individual branches have with the central Audi brand to try and achieve coverage. Now if Audi themselves are playing that game, is it any surprise that the "independent" places are even worse?

Based on this, I think I was very lucky with my after market warranty that you dealt with in January. Oil cooler, oil pipe, PAS pipe, rear shock and noisy fan, as well as oils, seals etc all paid out by Evolution Warranties Ultimate cover, which was a fully comprehensive cover and up to £200p/h labour rate. Claim value was just under £4200. I hope that they paid you your actual labour rate not the £60 p/h you've said most pay!

Appreciate everything you’re doing for me. Totally agree. But a good dealer should check over the car before putting a warranty package on it. Without doing that the customer and the warranty company are screwed. I’ve been put off buying a car from any dealer now. I’d rather buy privately once the car has been inspected by a professional and take my chances. My car i bought .. was a sale on return car. I think the dealer just made it look pretty with a good detail and left me / warranty to pick up the pieces. You go to a dealer and pay a premium for security. I’ve had nothing but dramas and no help from dealer. They just kept saying I’ve got warranty 🙈 But I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel 👍🏻👍🏻

Ricky, what a spot on rant. Absolutely on point with this. I remember years ago, Quentin Wilson was promoting a warranty. But, they just wanna take your money, just like normal car insurance does these days. You just hope & pray that you never have to pick up the phone and speak to the 'company' at the other end. Your idea of an RE Performance warranty, given the attention to detail that you guys have, would be a no brainer to the masses that flock to you, day in day out. I'd certainly try to explore this further, if you have the time.

Great episode. I had an Auto Trust warranty. Three attempted claims on my DOG of a Subaru XV. Not a single garage within 20miles would work with Auto Trust. All said they could never get approval or if approved took up to 6 months to get paid.

So true on the warranties… complete waste of time, paper, ink, everything… Had similar experience to your eldest with my daughter booking her theory test a few years ago… double costs cos she searched on google and top 4 or 5 hits were scam artists charging double to do something for you… but it’s a sad indictment that younger generations and some older just believe what’s on the internet…as if it can never be wrong “cos the internet wouldn’t do that to me..!!” Loved to live podcast at podium last night… looking forward to some more 👍🏻

Really great information for vehicle buyers. There are so many pitfalls that drivers can be caught out with nowadays. Jealous of your engine room.

On the money about scam warranties. When it comes to making a claim after already paying for their ‘product’ you’ve no leverage over them so they can just shaft you

Very informative as allways mate 👌 I'm sorry I missed your live gig were can I watch it back on ?

Congratulations on the weekend racing. True about warranty companys

Had warranty Direct On a 2002 Mini Cooper years ago. Power steering and clutch went and they said power steering wasn’t essential and, as I could still force gear changes, the clutch hadn’t completely gone either. I only got it through as a claim by stating “so, if I drive it off this car park now and have a collision and tell them I knew the PS and Clutch were FUBARed but YOU told me they weren’t totally broken yet so to carry on regardless until they did totally fail you’ll sort it all out with the police and my insurance?” Initially they argued they hadn’t explicitly said to drive it but when I forced they weren’t explicitly saying not to drive it and were actually encouraging me to cause a catastrophic failure and I’d report that to the police they suddenly backed down and agreed to have it collected and repaired under warranty. I’ve never had after market warranty since

I just set aside what I would have spent on a warranty to maintain my RS6 as well as I possibly can. I just hate the thought of handing over cash for something I won't need, or if I do, won't even guarantee a full repair.

Great content as normal and congratulations on the racing pal

Always look forward to your Blogs (prefer car content to bike!) and your "rants" are especially thought provoking Bought an R35 in 2015 with dealer supplied 6 month warranty (from Customer Protect) for parts and labour (INC wear and tear) Within 2 months had a transmssion issue (known R35 defect where it flicked between R and 1 when initially selected R). ACSpeedtech (Warringon R35 specialist) handled dealing with warranrty provider who actually paid up for the full cost of repair (about 5K) at £100 ph labour rate. Just lucky I guess! Now trundle around in an RS4 (V8) and hoping you get round to working on yours sometime! Slower (a lot!) than my R35 but less of a "target" for those who want to brag about how their s**tbox spanked an R35 in some "race in their little mind"! Good luck for rest of your race season.

My warranty has been good so far. Replaced my steering rack at a cost of 6k on my land rover discovery.

Hey Ricky watching this I realised I am either very lucky or was dealing with one of the few warranty companies that exist. Back in 2022 I had a SL63 AMG. I bought it used from a great company called Performance 28. Dealing with Tony was fantastic. He sold me the car with a warranty from a company called MB&G Insurance. He assured me that they were good for their warranty. One of the few good ones out there Almost a year after the purchase and a week before the warranty was due to expire the hydraulic suspension on the SL was found with a leak. It cost 2.4K to fix. They went to my mechanic inspected the failed suspension and paid with no argument at all. .

Only "External" Warranty company that I'd deal with is Car Care Plan (They also underwrite for many big companies like Marshall/Hartwell/Eden and such)

I was a passenger on a Left Hand Grass Track Outfit for a few seasons in the 70’s.

Well done on the bike weekend, must be the extra fitness!? Great video as always guys, thanks. Hi to Kate 👍

Good rant

Cheers Ricky , wise words 👏☺️👍😎

I worked in a Ford dealership in the Seventies and the aftermarket warranties were rubbish then. I hoped they would have improved by now but obviously not.

Alas even the Audi warranty is insurance backed. Paid for a thermostat and oil pump on my 14,000 mile 2018 S4 which was a 4 hour and £7-800 job, though. Given thermostats are a known fault, I was pretty upset that Audi wouldn't cover the cost of the excess only a month outside expiry of the manufacturers warranty and 6 weeks after they'd serviced it.

Congratulations on your racing success

spot on ricky

Had timing chains done on v8 audi b6 through warranty direct, same as you said in the video where diagnosing concerned as in the engine needed removing and chains and guides inspecting before they agreed it was covered by warranty so if they had said it wasn't covered I would have been left with the full cost, however once inspection was done they honoured the warranty and did a full inspection of the car and also did a couple of other repairs to issues they found so good experience in the end just squeaky bum time waiting for the thumds up on diagnosing. I had the gold warranty package which was around £800 a year. It was ten years ago when this happened so things may have changed now.

Congratulations on the race results Ricky. That sounds like a good weekend was had 🏁🏆😎. I see you’re sporting the 300V logo. Would you recommend the 300V for a road only V8 R8 that will maybe do 3k miles a year. Could you also remind me what oil you recommend for the manual gearbox please? P.S. Good on you for helping to promote such an important charity ❤

Never had a good experience with aftermarket warranties tbh - not worth anything….. Also had dealers trying to wriggle out of warranties on new vehicles.

Love the videos guys- I tune in for each update and it's one of the only things on RU-vid I really enjoy watching - I have a question to submit to question time! I have an R8 Gen 1 facelift V10 and I fitted a battery to the car myself - it was a decent 950cca rated one - Since then it's had a 'low battery warning' on the dash. Audi tell me they cannot code this battery and I have to fit a new one (£650 fitted) for them to be able to code it in. Is there something particularly special about the genuine Audi batteries in the R8?! Thanks! Marcus

McLaren are well-known for really poor after-sales service. Have once had the Audi genuine warranty on a second-hand car I bought from them and it was superb, as you say.

I had negative experiemce with warranty over 20 yrs ago. Never bothered with one ever since. Prefer to spend good money on best vehicle I can find, keep up with servicing and preventative maintenance. Fix things myself whenever possible.

Thanks for answering my question in regards to the difficulties on working on the spyder v coupe. Follow-up then, why do you prefer the coupe? Is it a performance/weight thing, aesthetics, or....?

I have had Audis for twelve years now and my latest is the first brand new car I have ever bought 69 plate Q3 sport back I have had for nearly five years and I have extended the warranty through Audi officially with no problems and Audi have completed items for me during the ownership I do have a good relationship with my local dealer which I think helps. I did have a dealer warranty on my zx7r which covers nothing so I didn’t renew after the first 3 month “free” purchase part I just fix it myself. Great video and rant and well done on the bike wins at the weekend. What race calendar are you doing this year on the 600 as if you are at brands or thruxton I will come down to support.

By law dealers are responsible for all faults for 6 months. Warranty is just a front, your statutory right supersede any warranty. After 6 months you have to prove that the fault was pre existing and the dealer is still liable if so. So ignore your warranty, take it back and reject it as not fit for purpose.

I'm in south Africa and you are mandated to take out a warranty when financing.About a month after buying my car the charge pipe blew up , they wouldn't cover it because they don't cover " pipes/ hoses"😂😂😂 wasn't surprised though. Ordered the charge pipe and fitted it myself

Warranty companies take the p**s My M4 spun the crank hub, I supposedly had a bullet-proof warranty, I asked when I bought the car. They came back and said because the repair involved replacing the crank bolt, they didn't cover fixings so they wouldn't pay for any of the £2000 repair on a 30k mile car that had been serviced every 9000 miles and had only had a service 3 weeks before the failure. They said the timing components of the timing were serviceable items when I contacted BMW and proved the warranty company wrong. They came back with 4 or 5 excuses, and I ended up giving up with them. What really made me laugh is they phoned asking me if I wanted to renew the warranty, I said if they paid the repair bill I'd renew......they hung up the phone. I will never buy another warranty

Ive had multiple claims with Audi extended Warranty, including 3k for a new DRC (the fancy hydraulic suspension on RS models) pump .....been a pretty good experience tbh

You might get a phone call from Tavarish

A used car sold by a recognised dealer is covered for 6 months under sale of goods act ! So in theory extended warranties apply after that period

Congrats on your supersport successes 😎👍🏻 Detest those do you want to sue your diesel car manufacturer, utter bullshit......

I have a Range Rover manufacturers warranty and it does not cover the petrol tank shield which has rusted through in just 5 years. This is a safety issue as it protects the tank from the heat of the exhaust. Lots of labour for the job, so I'm now in for a £1000 bill.

In some cases it does payoff to get an extended warranty. I paid $5k for an extended warranty on a low mile SL550. It also had an additional one year MBZ CPO warranty. Almost at the end on the CPO warranty, ABC light came on. The a shock was bad. The dealer said shock where not covered by the CPO warranty. But guess what, they where covered by the after market warranty. Cost saving $4k. A year later the ABC control module failed. Another $5K covered by warranty. So I’m 4K ahead by having the warranty.

Hi there Ricky. any comment on ceramic coated piston tops? Does it actually help keep the motor running cooler? Any power advantages? thank you, sir!

AA BRC, has been decent for me max 5 claims per year, customer pays first £35, limit £500 per claim. Chose your own garage.

It’s a shame because I was looking at buying an r8, but I trust you guys more to work on the car over Audi main dealer which is why I was considering a 3rd party company so you guys can work on the car instead. Looks like I will have to go with Audi warranty now after your advice, but if you ever did do your own warranty I’m sure you would have many customers that would sign up. Thanks for the advice!

24 years in the trade and never had a good out come for me or the customer .so i wont waste my time with them .also mention the wasted time on the phone waiting for them to tell you computer said no

The problem with warranty is modifications. You want to modify your car but manufacturers won't warranty a modified car.

I'd sign up for an REP warranty at similar money to the Audi one. Only reason I haven't taken one is that I don't want to deal with them or have them work on my car.

Warranties! Who'd 'ave 'em?. Here's a future discussion/rant theme. Audi / Sauber / F1. What do you think? Many thanks as always foryour enightening video explanations.

Re: "The Rant" - do you have any customers who actually got back more from the warranty company than they paid out in premiums?

Always insightful. It’s always funny that as independent workshops we always go through the same struggles no matter which part of the world you from😂😂. I’m from South Africa we also experience this shitty nonsense from this after market warranties. “Wear and tear is the number one thing not to ever say” BMW motor plan in South Africa is far the best. They cover every thing and anything on a car unless if it’s customer negligence. 100000km or 5 years which one comes first.

I'm a Triumph Daytona 675 man 👍

Brilliant channel, got a question about overheated con rod caps, the bearing went and it got so hot the cap went black , I’m changing the crank but should I change the rod and piston as well , as in could it have went out of shape with the heat , ps it’s a 4cylinder diesel , thanks

Toyota 10 Year 100k warranty on dealer serviced cars in the uk now, Just had 2 rear hubs/wheel bearings on a 7 year old 72k car no problems at all, Aftermarket Warranty is so unpredictable to be a waste of time usually.

Got a warranty with vw for a 6 year old Passat I bought off a dealer. Problem with rattling dash and boot light not working. They know what needs to be fixed as did free diagnostics but you have to pay the £190 an hour labour costs to get to the faults, 2 hours for the boot light as roof lining needs to come out to replace a faulty wire and hour to strip the dash to basically put new clips or tape in. What a load of shite. Took it to the sales guy and suggested he has it back and suddenly being fixed, I’m sure he will claim it’s in the docs and he’s doing me a favour.

I bought paint protection warranty years ago when i tried to call them over a 1 inch scratch because of a dog jumping up they refused because it was an act of nature 😭😭😭

mis-shifts on any lease are more expensive than rollovers

Hi Rick, As you touched on dealerships, I’ve worked in them for the last 13 years and the quality of work in them is so poor now. What’s your take on their decline? Also, do you service cars that are in warranty and do the dealers try and knock back an engine claim for example If they’ve not been serviced by a dealer? Thanks 👍🏼

Your rant about warranty companies applies to insurance companies too. The cheapest option insurance companies don't pay out for sh1t.

Bought an early panamera turbo 4 years ago, still had 3 months Porsche warranty on it . Rear spoiler packed up, refused to fix stating “outside influence”. We can put a new one in for £3.5 k though . Bastards .

Would be good to a race day bike vlog

I have the Porsche extended warranty on my GT4, £680 a year. No way I would have a third party warranty

I had a warranty once that only covered the engine block itself when you read it. By that i mean it only covered that part and nothing else. Redicuous. Suffice to say i spent double what i paid for the car repairing it over the next 6 months. Modern warranties i have seen ALSO dont cover things that are "electro=mechanical" So what is that exactly? Isn't almost everything electromechanical on a new car?

I always buy used cars and bikes .... warranty got no use for me .... I'dcvoid the warranty on a new Proton in 90 with twin webber under 3 months😂

Hi Ricky. I have a B7 RS4 with Audi extended warranty. Will it be null and void if you service the car?

Warranty is and always has been a complete and utter scam.

Eric Oliver 👍