RAC Gold Warrenty...any good?

[David1975]

Hi Guys,

Do any of you have an RAC gold Warrenty? If so, what do you think?

Have you had any work done under it and do you know whats covered and whats not? The ///M Coupe i may be buying it for has done about 35,000 miles if this makes a difference.

Thanks

David

[Rags]

Hi david,

Its a good question.

On paper it looks excellent, but when it comes to payout, you never know.

My concern would be the Vanos coverage.

I know the BMW car club have struck a deal with Warranty Direct for M Cars. Perhaps they are worth a bet.

Rags

[vanman]

Yeah - just got a group purchase on the Warranty Direct with ZRoadster.net - covers VANOS and, as important, wear and tear on parts - which BMW used warranty doesnt (as I found out).......cost £450 :) :)

So assuming they pay out (which speaking to mechanics they do) you get a pretty good level of cover for 1/4 of BMWs renewal price of c. £1800 (my car has done 75k) :!: :!:

[David1975]

any idea how they charge if i was just buying solo?

cheers

[gsi]

if you want to know about the WD warranty David, it'd be worth a search on here (if the posts are still around) or on the zroadster.net forum or whatever it's called. After the guys on there had the group buy, one or two had a few choice words about it as I recall - put me of spending my money on it!

[Rags]

if you want to know about the WD warranty David, it'd be worth a search on here (if the posts are still around) or on the zroadster.net forum or whatever it's called. After the guys on there had the group buy, one or two had a few choice words about it as I recall - put me of spending my money on it!

Oh right?

NO payouts or something? :shock:

[vanman]

if you want to know about the WD warranty David, it'd be worth a search on here (if the posts are still around) or on the zroadster.net forum or whatever it's called. After the guys on there had the group buy, one or two had a few choice words about it as I recall - put me of spending my money on it!

Well zroadster.net have had several years of group buys so I guess they cant be that bad...when I had a Fiat Coupe a well respected indi said rthat they had paid out quite a lot on claims through him.......you may well be right but I am going to chance it and will feed back any claim history....gotta be better than the squirming stealers who, at least in my experience, seem to hide behind wear and tear..

[gsi]

wasn't knocking the group buys, I know they've been through the process before with WD so they can't have been ALL bad.

However, I know there was some negative feedback on WD wriggling out of payments - particularly in one case I recall for the VANOS.. I guess they got it resolved, but it would pay to do your research before buying. I know they're the best of the rest, but I've heard equally good things about the RAC warranty - hence offering it to David.

Given the choice I'd go for RAC, but as I'm not it's up to you lot! :D

[David1975]

Thanks for your input guys/gsi.

cheers

[optionclick]

I've heard too many bad things about WD to be confident in their warranty.

My local dealer recommended the RAC warranty - I spoke to them and they confirmed that VANOS is indeed covered. I think Lee managed to knock them down to a really good price.

My EW expires in November, so I'll be swtiching to RAC.

Hope this helps.

[Forever_Driving]

just out of laziness - is there an excess on the RAC warranty?

[vanman]

GSI

Have doen some more research and, as you say, there do appear to be some issues - these are around non payment for breakages found when serviciing. I will clarify this (in writing) with WD when taking out the policy.

I cant seem to find the RAC warranty on their website - where do you get them from.

Cheers


Paul

[optionclick]

http://www.racwarranty.com/cars_mbi_gold.htm

[gsi]

what he said :D

[Dare2Fail]

Just to add to the confusion read some horror stories about RAC aswell as WD. I'm pretty sure that the RAC warranty is just another providers warranty but marketted under the RAC name. There was an absolute horror story on Pistonheads Porche forum about an RAC warranty not too long ago.

I think if you go into any of these warranties with your eyes open you will be fine. You need to accept that you will have to fight tooth and nail to get your claim approved, and if it is a big claim you may have to wait a while/argue back and forth/involve lawyers to get the contract honoured. At the end of the day the warranty company makes more money if they don't pay out and they are not in it to be a charity.

[gsi]

I'm not sure about the others, but the RAC one isn't actually a warranty. It's mechanical breakdown insurance - a bit like the crappy level the AA offer you along with your membership. It insures mechanical parts for failure/breakdown and covers their replacement & repair. The end result is the same, but because it's an insurance rather than warranty I expect there are some different legal implications of them not paying out... having said that you're not 100% sure that BMW would pay out given increasing age/mileage etc.

[vanman]

Phone RAC - limited cover for a 1998 car (3star) £1.5k per claim and reduced benefits.

Called WD back re some specific concerns I had read about - namely VANOS Cover, Failures discovered when being serviced or having an MOT done. They are re writing my policy to specidcally mention that VANOS is covered, all failures will be covered if insured i.e. regardless of an MOT or Service being carried out.........