General Fiat 500 warranty

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General Fiat 500 warranty

skotl

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Hi all
looking to buy our first Fiat (a 500, obvs...) and I was wondering on the topic of warranties. I've currently got a ten year old BMW 540 and pay a whopping £70 a month for its warranty, yet it's paid out on around £9k of repairs over the last three years.

The dealer (Arnold Clark) that we are looking to buy the 500 from offers a 2 year warranty at £249, which seems pretty good value, considering. I did a couple of quick googles on third party warranties and was astonished at the prices they were coming back with. They seemed to centre around £50 a month, which is a) not that much cheaper than a 10 year old V8 BMW and b) equate to £600 a year, or £1,200 compared to the Arnold Clark warranty.


So, I guess I have a whole bunch of questions;
  • Are warranties actually required? What's the most expensive repair that a 500 would require?
  • Does anyone have experience of 3rd party warranties on a 500, and what do you pay?
  • Does anyone have experience of the Arnold Clark warranty?
  • Is there such a thing, as there is with BMW, of a manufacturer extended warranty? I checked the Fiat website but could not spot anything
Appreciate all thoughts as we're hoping to purchase within the next few days.
Cheers
Scott
 
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Arnold Clark warranty fixed my Marea after a bent con rod wrecked the bottom end. If I were buying another car from A/C i wouldn't hesitate on the warranty.
£600 a year seems steep, but it's piece of mind I suppose if it. If you don't want to get oily yourself.
 
Warranty companies make money because they spread the risk over a large number of policies and charge more than the average cost of the necessary repairs.

From a purely statistical/probability perspective, you would be better off "self-insuring" and putting the money aside each month, because chances are you won't need it, or if you do you won't pay as much as the premiums you would have paid.

Of course, you may benefit hugely from having such a policy, like any insurance.

Personally, I would worry that unlike, say, home insurance, they complex nature of a car and what can go wrong, tied in with a warranty company that will only pay out if it has to, would mean that there is too big a risk of a claim being excluded.

PS I'm not aware of a Fiat extended warranty.
 
The main issues you're going to run into with the 500 is suspension problems. Things like droplinks, balljoints this requires the replacement of the wishbone!

I think in all the time I've been posting on this forum I've seen one dead engine (a 1.2) and a couple of dodgy gearboxes. Consider the fact that if someone has a faulty engine or gearbox that they're generally going to vent on a forum, then that's a fairly good failure rate.

The one thing I'd want to check before signing on the dotted line is whether or not the warranty covers the suspension because that's the part of the 500 where most of the issues seem to be. £249 is a fairly reasonable price for 2 years of cover, but they are stinging you on the price of the car so they can afford to give you cheap cover especially if it only covers the drivetrain which is unlikely to have any problems.
 
The dealer (Arnold Clark) that we are looking to buy the 500 from offers a 2 year warranty at £249, which seems pretty good value

If you live in an area like Alfatastic who recently sold his 1.2 Pop because it couldn't cope with the roads - the warranty sounds great. I hope there isn't a 'resonable wear & tear' small print dealer 'get out of jail' bit. I would strongly consider paying the £249 for the 2 years if it was offered to me but if you drive like a Mary there probably isn't any point.
 
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If is doesn't cover wear and tear then in my own opinion there are too many get out clauses.

A luxury care warranty from Warranty direct is about £280 a year (with franchise hourly repair rate) and that covers almost everything and includes wear and tear. Just don't buy it on the internet, wait for them to call you.

I have it on several vehicles and not once have they not paid up. Even paid for worn bushes on a Land Rover at 65K miles.
 
If you are buying a new Fiat, chances are the warranty is enough to cover you for three years without paying much. By looking at what can go wrong on a car such as the Fiat 500, the answer is not much! Live with risk and be happy = ) No need for the warranty, there are MANY more things that can go wrong on a BMW and the parts are of course far more expensive!

Get fully comp insurance for your lovely new Fiat and say no to any other 'insurance offer' they offer you!
 
If you are buying a new Fiat, chances are the warranty is enough to cover you for three years without paying much. By looking at what can go wrong on a car such as the Fiat 500, the answer is not much! Live with risk and be happy = ) No need for the warranty, there are MANY more things that can go wrong on a BMW and the parts are of course far more expensive!

Get fully comp insurance for your lovely new Fiat and say no to any other 'insurance offer' they offer you!

It's only 2 years Fiat manufacturers warranty. 3rd year is dealer and if it is deemed that its a 'wear and tear' item e.g. shocks etc this may not be covered. Hearing about the state of the roads in Greece - you might be glad of the additional warranty protection. :)
For any white good that I'm buying now I'm been offered a type of 'no quibble' warranty and I'm been encouraged to buy it. When something went wrong recently I regretted not having bought it.:eek:
 
Suspension wear would also be covered to a certain extent

I got the rear shocks replaced on a '08 last February on a 38K miler. But on a recent visit to with a '09 with only 5,400miles that is 'just in' it's 3rd year I had to coherce the service manager to reconsider refusing replacing the rear shocks which cost €69 each. Left shock is rattling and the right side I'm getting a cluck. With the squeeky rear disc brake problem on the 1.4 this was resolved 'free of charge' by de-glazing the pads. If I cann't get the rear shocks done under warranty I'll just buy the cheap shocks and I'll either put them in myself and get someone else to do it.
 
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I find most warranties are a waste of money. They cover everything except the part that goes wrong!! As others have said,i would sooner just put some money away each week to cover any problems.
Mind you the best thing would be to buy a car with a good warranty in the first place,like Toyota and Hyundai 5 yrs or Kia 7 yrs.
I can't really talk as my Smart only has a 2 yr warranty,but with the low mileage i do, i keep my fingers crossed.
 
From 1st hand claims experience, Warranty Direct Luxury care have paid out for items which the 3rd year Fiat warranty would reject.

For the money I think they are a good proposition. As with all insurance you are spreading the risk. If you self insure (i.e put money in the bank), you haven't spread the risk. If something happens you cover the total cost. You may loose out if you don't claim, but if something big happens then you benefit from all the other people's premiums who haven't claimed. So it is really a case of whether you can afford a big bill if it comes.

It's a bit like car insurance, even if it wasn't law you would still take it on a new car. The more complex and expensive the car the more the cost is likely to be.

I guess in the case of a Fiat nothing is hugely expensive to replace, which is why the premiums are quite low.
 
Thanks for the responses, all.
The dealer (with a poor reputation) offer two years for £249 so I will probably take that.
 
Thanks for the responses, all.
The dealer (with a poor reputation) offer two years for £249 so I will probably take that.

Do you have a URL or a pdf that has the warranty details on it. I'd love to read the small print. For £249 at the standard £75 hourly dealer charge you could easily cover your outlay.
 
Certainly worth a careful read. A few years ago I bought an MX5 from a main Mazda dealer, covered by the Mazda used car warranty. After a few months the aircon failed due to a corroded metal pipe and the garage refused to fix it under warranty as pipes and hoses were specifically excluded. They asked for £600 for the fix. Shan't be buying another Mazda! Converseley, when my wife's Renault was 3 years old, we were offered two year's extension for about £300. This specifically included aircon and all pipes and hoses. Just shoes the variations you can get.
 
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