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Is the Nissan extended warranty worth getting - 3yr old Z


glastoveteran

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Hi all,

 

First post - great forum!

 

I'm picking up a 3 and a half year old 350Z GT on Friday from a Nissan dealer and trying to decide whether to go for the extended warranty, and if so how long for. It's got 35K on it and was serviced at 34K. 3 owners from new.

 

Costs I've been given are £399 for 12 months or £699 for 24, including the highest level of RAC cover.

 

Might well drive the beast to Italy soon so European cover would be good, which the Nissan warranty includes.

 

What's everyone's thoughts?

 

Thanks all!

 

Alex

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Welcome Alex.

 

In Ireland where I live there are no extended warrantys but if there were I'd get one as soon as my existing warranty runs out.

 

I get it for piece of mind and it does help to have one when it comes to selling.

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Its hard enough to get the dealer to do stuff under 'normal' warranty, don't imagine it to be any easier with an extended one :dry:

 

Although, of all the warranty fixes there have been how many are going to return in year 4, 5 or six :surrender:

 

PS :welcome:

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Well it depends on how you value piece-of-mind really. You could always stick the money in an ISA and wait it out..?

 

Even though the Zed has been faultless, I ended up opting for an additional 2 years warranty for £499 from my local dealership. It's a non-Nissan warranty which (besides being cheaper) is easier to access according to the dealership.

 

If the Zed continues the way is has, it will be dead money, but you never know. This way, if I get a weird noise from the engine bay, it doesn't automatically signal a brown-trouser moment...

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In my experience extended warranties are generally worthless, with get-out clauses a plenty .. :dry:

 

Better to save the money you would have paid in the building society..bear in mind also most warranties expect you to have the vehicle covered serviced at time intervals as well as mileage ... :headhurt:

 

They also wont cover the things that will give trouble on older cars, Clutches for instance.. :surrender:

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:welcome:

 

this has been raised in the past. Seem to remember someone finding a indepent company who did warranty for less money. May be owrtha search on here or on the net for other companies offering warranty cover.

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I opted for the Nissan Warranty on the basis that they underwrite it (so is more secure than a dealer / independent company that may fold) and I know I'd get Nissan parts. As has been said though, it could well be dead money but then my gearbox work in parts alone cost £650 so it could easily pay for itself......

 

Welcome btw! :)

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As has been said though, it could well be dead money but then my gearbox work in parts alone cost £650 so it could easily pay for itself......

 

My thoughts exactly... If that little yellow light does ever come on for example, I feel safer knowing I have at least something behind me :)

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Hmmm, Wolverhampton. Maybe they're pulling a fast one!

 

Price seems good though - November 2003, 35K, full GT pack plus satnav and 350Z mats, FNSH. Was on their website at £16995 and when I got there was on the forecourt at £18495 and claimed the internet price was wrong, but they still gave it to me at the lower price.

 

Obviously you can't tell without seeing the car, but does that sound like a reasonable price?

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Actually it seems to depend on whether it's a Nissan Approved car, and if it is you get at least 12 months for free. I guess mine isn't, and now it's been taken off the website I can't check.

Thats right. If its Approved then you get 12 months, otherwise the standard is 3 months.

 

I'm off to my stealers tonight to question mine on those grounds as I got some paperwork through headed up as "Nissan Approved" but they charged me for a 12month warrenty. Also going to complain about the poor service to see what I can get out of them. Hopefully they'll play nice or NMGB will be called in.

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Actually it seems to depend on whether it's a Nissan Approved car, and if it is you get at least 12 months for free. I guess mine isn't, and now it's been taken off the website I can't check.

When I bought mine I was told the standard warranty was 3 months for non approved cars. Since the car was only 2 years old, I didnt care as it had the balance of the manufacturers warranty.

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OK I got some more info on this from my dealer after having a rant last night!

 

Non Approved cars come with 3 months warrenty.

 

Approved cars have it bumped up to 12 months. Apparently all approved means is they do a few tests (history, milage, HPI etc), a check over (and service if needed), and the extra warrenty. Apparently this extra warrenty costs them more than it does to sell the aftermarket one to bump it up to 12 months and that is why my car wasnt an approved car. All the other checks were carried out.

 

Not sure how much of that is BS, but thats what I was told.

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In my experience, which is over 20 years in the Motor Trade, after market Warranties and extended Warranties are not worth the paper they are written on. I've dealt with many Warranty companies over the years - probably just about all of them - and they all employ very clever people to sit around and think of excuses for not paying up.

 

Warranty companies are nothing more than insurance companies. They are in business for profit - NOT for your peace of mind. Once they have your money the only way they make a profit is by NOT paying out for claims.

 

Warranties which are included are fair enough, but I would never tell anyone to pay for one. As a car dealer I am unusual in that I do not sell Warranties. This is because over the years I have sold Warranties to my customers in good faith and then ended up paying for the fault out of my own pocket when the Warranty company refused to pay up. Now I don't bother with Warranty companies at all and I stand by my cars myself because I don't want my customer service ruining by some third party Warranty company.

 

Warranties are viewed by most dealers as an additional profit centre and they are NOT sold to increase their customers peace of mind. A Warranty they sell for £299 will typically cost them about £130. It's all about profit, not customer service.

 

My advice is to keep your money, make sure the car is right before you pick it up, then pay attention to any problems because the best protection you have is the Sale of Goods Act and the Dealers attitude to customer service.

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