Extended Warranty
 

My friends at Volvo have offered me the chance to buy a 4th year warranty for £445. What does any one with experience of this offer think about it?

It's a gambling question. But remember; the house never loses!

My V70 is nearly 8 years old and 108k miles, never had anything needing doing to it that would have been covered under warranty.

So if I'd put aside £445 every year for the last five years I'd have £2,225 in the bank for any unexpected hiccups.

I have posted this before but I'll say it again. The Volvo Selekt warranty given on my XC70 didn't actually cost me anything but it did show how straight dealing Volvo are. When my sat nav software was uprated to allow online downloaded map upgrades, the hardware refused to allow the uprated software to load. So Volvo replaced the entire sat nav with a new one and didn't even charge me for the uprating which was to have costed £60, as they said that the new unit had to have the latest software and that it all came under the Selekt warranty. So you might lose the gamble and not have any faults to cover but if you do, Volvo are very good about the terms of their warranty.

My Volvo was bought from a main dealer and came with a one year Selekt warranty.
The 1st year came and went with no issue.
As the anniversary came around, I was offered the chance to buy another year. If I recall correctly it was about £550 for the year.
I took it as it felt the right thing to do. My XC70 has many options fitted to it, inc 4C suspension. I’m sure the cost to fix the camera’s, adaptive radar, shocks etc would be eye watering. Since I bought the car as it was fully loaded, the thought of driving it without certain toys made no sense.
At £550, it’s less than a tank of fuel a month, so very easy to justify.

Year one - first year selekt warranty - no issues
Year two - £550 - windscreen leaking. (See other threads, replacement glass not covered.)
Year three - came along at >£700. I guess the car is a year older, with 10k more miles on it, so the insurance policy has gone up.

I managed to pursuade myself into paying for this using the following logic.

Many friends have PCP deals on low spec small Beemers or Audi’s. They are paying >£200 a month for a car they don’t own, but it’s a ‘new’ car with a manufacturers warranty, with no service costs.
I have a service plan with my dealer where I’m paying ~£45 a month for all servicing, MOT and get a years breakdown cover.
I then add on ~£70 a month for my manufacturer’s warranty and I have a bill for about £115.00 a month for a car I do own and has all the benifets of a PCP package, but is a premium car. (Albeit a 6 year old one)

It’s easy to justify the cost using the logic this year. Ask me next year when the cost will have gone up and it’s a 7 year old car.