Warranty decision

[c4sman]

Advice needed (again)

So I am coming up to the end of the first year of ownership for my GTS purchased from a main dealer and the Maserati 4th Year CPO warranty is due to expire in just under a month. The car was first registered in Sept 2010 and apparently because there was a break between the original 3 year contractual factory warranty and the 4th Year CPO warranty being applied it means I cannot extend to the 5th year Maserati warranty. Does this sound correct to you?

The dealer is offering its own warranty at circa £1900 for 12 months that gives me up to £4k of cover per claim. It doesn't feel like great value to be honest but they are offering to inspect the car before the CPO warranty runs out so that it can cover anything that might be wrong at the moment before I renew (of which I am not aware of any problems).

What would you do?

Options I am considering so far are.
1-Go with their warranty and inspection of the car
2-Pay another dealer who is much closer to where I live to do the inspection whilst under the CPO warranty, fix anything that is needed / covered and then go for warranty direct cover or similar
3-pay for the close by dealer to inspect the car, fix everything that is needed / covered under the warranty and then go it alone with £1500 in the bank ready to fix any failures in the next 12 months

 

[ChrisQP09]

Yes I collect my QP with a 1 year warranty and quoted 2k for the same one after 1st year. The thing is, is there such thing as a fix <£1.5k on these cars and how has your 1st year been?

 

[conaero]

Ok, here is my twopenethworth.

The main dealer warranty will not cover trim, fixings or bodywork (interior, door handles etc) it will probably be a mechanical warranty covering engine, ancillaries, gearbox, drivetrain, axle, hubs and suspension.

My first question is have you had your driveshafts replaced? This is a metallic clicking when going from reverse to first and pulling away swiftly. These do go and are quite pricey. If you have or the later cars have had this remedy and your aircon pump is not leaking and your suspension is all in good order and the car has not been susceptible to going wrong all the time, then I would bank the £2k and put it towards repairs.

Ok, if something major did go wrong like the engine failed then your stuffed, but so are all of us who run round in Maseratis so its quite unlikely.

If the warranty does cover all the door handles, interior, nav unit then I would be inclined to take it out.

 

[gingeh721]

I know your car is worth more than my 4200 my05 and you will likely need a higher level of cover but, I have AA parts and labour cover on top of my recovery.

The cover is up to 5 claims per year, up to £500 pound a time, with a £35 excess. It's less than 10 quid a month.

I have used it twice in two months. The first time my F1 clutch hose burst which they paid the full 500 quid. I paid a small contribution as the bill was £700+.

The second time was last Friday when a bolt on my F1 control unit was loose which cost £339. I'm paying £35 and the AA are paying the rest.

So I've paid them less than 20 pound in 3 months and they've dished out just over £800, plus I still have up to 3 more claims between now and Oct next year. You need to be recovered by the AA to claim though.

No brainer for me, merry Christmas AA.

 

[c4sman]

Yes I collect my QP with a 1 year warranty and quoted 2k for the same one after 1st year. The thing is, is there such thing as a fix <£1.5k on these cars and how has your 1st year been?

The only problem in the last year has been a wireing fault in the passenger door that triggered an airbag warning light. other than that it hasn't missed a beat

 

[ChrisQP09]

I know your car is worth more than my 4200 my05 and you will likely need a higher level of cover but, I have AA parts and labour cover on top of my recovery.

The cover is up to 5 claims per year, up to £500 pound a time, with a £35 excess. It's less than 10 quid a month.

I have used it twice in two months. The first time my F1 clutch hose burst which they paid the full 500 quid. I paid a small contribution as the bill was £700+.

The second time was last Friday when a bolt on my F1 control unit was loose which cost £339. I'm paying £35 and the AA are paying the rest.

So I've paid them less than 20 pound in 3 months and they've dished out just over £800, plus I still have up to 3 more claims between now and Oct next year. You need to be recovered by the AA to claim though.

No brainer for me, merry Christmas AA.

This sounds good, it would worry me if the QP parts were included in the same fashion or would they try and dance around the issue? hard choice.

 

[ChrisQP09]

The only problem in the last year has been a wireing fault in the passenger door that triggered an airbag warning light. other than that it hasn't missed a beat

wow so it really is possible to have a hassle free life in Mas

 

[c4sman]

wow so it really is possible to have a hassle free life in Mas

Don't tempt fate!!!!!

 

[c4sman]

Ok, here is my twopenethworth.

The main dealer warranty will not cover trim, fixings or bodywork (interior, door handles etc) it will probably be a mechanical warranty covering engine, ancillaries, gearbox, drivetrain, axle, hubs and suspension.

My first question is have you had your driveshafts replaced? This is a metallic clicking when going from reverse to first and pulling away swiftly. These do go and are quite pricey. If you have or the later cars have had this remedy and your aircon pump is not leaking and your suspension is all in good order and the car has not been susceptible to going wrong all the time, then I would bank the £2k and put it towards repairs.

Ok, if something major did go wrong like the engine failed then your stuffed, but so are all of us who run round in Maseratis so its quite unlikely.

If the warranty does cover all the door handles, interior, nav unit then I would be inclined to take it out.

So no Drive Shaft replacement and no clicking that I have detected. It is a 2010 car so not sure if this is a "later car" or not. No idea about air con pump leak or suspension problems as it all seem good to me but what you are suggesting seems to lean toward paying for an inspection, getting any of the above fixed under warranty and then going it alone.

I think this is the lead option for me at the moment, maybe added to the AA cover suggested above.

 

[bigbob]

The Maserati warranty situtation is correct. You can extend the warranty before the end of the three years for one or two years or one year and then one year a year later if that makes sense? What you have is the CPO approved one year warranty which is not the extended warranty but is just as good. You can get a CPO two year warranty but I am not sure if you can buy the second year at a later stage as you are at now.

As to what to do I would take up the dealer's offer of a full inspection and then work as appropriate under the warranty. Thereafter I would take the risk as that warranty quote is expensive.

 

[c4sman]

The Maserati warranty situtation is correct. You can extend the warranty before the end of the three years for one or two years or one year and then one year a year later if that makes sense? What you have is the CPO approved one year warranty which is not the extended warranty but is just as good. You can get a CPO two year warranty but I am not sure if you can buy the second year at a later stage as you are at now.

As to what to do I would take up the dealer's offer of a full inspection and then work as appropriate under the warranty. Thereafter I would take the risk as that warranty quote is expensive.

sounds good

 

[c4sman]

As to what to do I would take up the dealer's offer of a full inspection and then work as appropriate under the warranty. Thereafter I would take the risk as that warranty quote is expensive.

So, I thought I would report back on the end of warranty inspection after 12 months and nearly 7k miles of ownership. The items that needed attending to were.

- Both Cam cover gaskets replaced due to small leaks
- Sport button surround needed to be replaced as there was a break behind the surround meaning it needed to be pushed in, over use if you ask me
- Replaced corroded dipstick????, and yes I do check the oil regularly but it never used any
- Perished F1 fluid hoses need replacing (not been done yet as parts don't arrive until the end of Jan but car is booked in)

All the above has been covered by Maserati Warranty FOC as well as me managing to get a free mid service interval oil change (great as I would prefer to change the oil every 12 months)

- Only advisory was the inside of front tyres are showing wear (they have done 7K miles from new) but geometry OK and dealer thinks this is normal???

And the car passed the MOT

That's it. Any thoughts?

 

[hodroyd]

No real big stuff to worry about there, the corroded dipstick is weird, as if it's had condensation or something, which it should not have..!! Perished F1 hoses, how old is the car..??

 

[bigbob]

Tyre thing is normal and is disappointing. Think about Michelin Super Sports as they have a higher treadwear index?

 

[c4sman]

No real big stuff to worry about there, the corroded dipstick is weird, as if it's had condensation or something, which it should not have..!! Perished F1 hoses, how old is the car..??

Car is a 2010 so yes strange about the F1 hoses. Aparently it was a dipstick spring?

Tyre thing is normal and is disappointing. Think about Michelin Super Sports as they have a higher treadwear index?

Thanks for the tip!

 

[npaskin]

Tyre thing is normal and is disappointing. Think about Michelin Super Sports as they have a higher treadwear index?

You can also adjust the geometry a little (more toe-in) which helps: http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showthread.php/8123-QP-front-tyre-set-up

 

[c4sman]

You can also adjust the geometry a little (more toe-in) which helps: http://www.sportsmaserati.com/showthread.php/8123-QP-front-tyre-set-up

Thanks, I will investigate as the tyres are still in good condition so caching it early could save quite a bit.

On another note, I have been offered a 3 year warranty deal on the car by warranty direct for under £1300 per year. It is their highest level of cover and includes wear and tear induced failures and main dealer labour rates. Below is an extract from the information sent.

"PERFORMANCE & PRESTIGE EXTRA CARE. Warranty Direct cover you for Wear and Tear claims on your vehicle meaning that if part has failed because it has “worn down” then we still cover the claim, this may sound straight forward but beware of some companies offering cover only against “Immediate sudden failure”. If wear and tear isn’t covered, almost any claim can be turned down as a result and wear and tear claims account for a large percentage of our work.

In addition, we cover problems found in your MOT or annual service which is a massive factor and we also cover consequential damage (damage caused by uninsured parts). If you don’t have these four areas covered on your policy then the warranty has a readymade get out clause."

Each claim is limited to the value of the vehicle.

Would you go for it or bank the money for repairs, with the potential upside of you may end up spending less on repairs?

 

[bigbob]

Sounds very good but I have limited knowledge in this area. Is it transferable and is it payable up front or each year?

 

[Michael]

Had warranty direct on my Merc - they were very good and it was a lower level of cover to the one you are looking at.

 

[c4sman]

Sounds very good but I have limited knowledge in this area. Is it transferable and is it payable up front or each year?

It's payable in advance but in 4 instalments interest free in the first 4 months of cover. It is also transferable which appears to be a big upside for a buyer if I choose to sell the car privately at a later date within the next 3 years, probably get my money back.