Is the warranty worth it?

cormie

Hi,
Well I've finally narrowed my search for a van down to two specific contenders (model numbers and everything;)),

1) Ford Transit 350 Long Wheel Base, High Roof
2) Fiat Ducato 15 Big Volume

I don't want one older than 2002 and want to spend a max of 12K, but would much prefer to spend only 8 or 9K (all including vat or without vat if private). It has to be reliable and in pristine condition for branding and ideally white.

Anyway, it seems most dealers only offer 3 months warranty and at the moment, there doesn't seem to be any dealers with either vans in stock in the Dublin area, so if anything did happen, I'd have to get it towed half way down the country. Is it really worth paying a dealer more than I could get a van for privately for peace of mind that I may not even be taking advantage of, if anything did happen?

I was also looking at one in Longford with a UK reg, my dad advised me to stay away from it saying why would an Irish dealer be selling a UK reg'd car without getting it reg'd here first

Also, has anyone successfully managed to get an extended warranty when buying a 2nd hand vehicle before? I'd ideally like a 12 month one:)

Any feedback appreciated!

Seth Brundle

After all your posts about your van's problems you are asking us if a warranty would be of help? A dealer's warranty (as opposed to a manufacturer's warranty) usually only covers engine and drivetrain but still...

How long is the manufacturer's warranty on a van? This should be transferable.

Henry Ford III

Ask the dealer about a longer warranty. If he explains 3 months is tops for a commercial then forget about it.

Nothing wrong iwth a UK reg'd van. They tend to live easier lives. VRT is €50 isn't it?

Get the van fully checked out before buying it too. You last one was a snotter. Get a competant and reasonable mechanic locally too.

cormie

As far as I can tell, Ford give a 3 year manufacturers warranty or 100K miles, whichever comes first I imagine so given that the newest one I can afford is likely to be a 2003, that rules that out:( Never even though of that in the first place.

I know what you're saying about the trouble I've had, but it wont really be any use getting a warranty if I have to go down the country for it:( What would you do? I'd definitely prefer to spend the extra bit to get a warranty but if I can't get one local, then I'd prefer to just buy private. Would I be able to return the van if it gave me a lot of trouble instead of to keep on bringing it back for warranty repairs I wonder?

unkel

Would you consider leasing? It will work out more expensive per month, but you don't have to come up with cash up front and more importantly, you don't have to worry about the van breaking down. You can use all your energy in further growing your business instead!

bazz26

cormie wrote:

As far as I can tell, Ford give a 3 year manufacturers warranty or 100K miles, whichever comes first I imagine so given that the newest one I can afford is likely to be a 2003, that rules that out:( Never even though of that in the first place.

Are you sure about that? Ford only offer 2 years on their passenger vehicles in Ireland so I would imagine the same applies to their commercial range.

cormie wrote:

I know what you're saying about the trouble I've had, but it wont really be any use getting a warranty if I have to go down the country for it:( What would you do? I'd definitely prefer to spend the extra bit to get a warranty but if I can't get one local, then I'd prefer to just buy private. Would I be able to return the van if it gave me a lot of trouble instead of to keep on bringing it back for warranty repairs I wonder?

If your buying from a main dealer then you might be able to get them to transfer the warranty to another same dealer closer to you. Might be worth asking them about this.

This one looks to be a "sold as seen" sale:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=594318

Assuming a mechanic gives it the thumps up and if you have spare cash to put aside for any potential repairs then buying without a warranty might work out cheaper. But the risks are higher which is why you are buying cheaper.

Others to consider:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=560515

cormie

I don't think I want to go down the leasing road at the moment Unkel, see how this pans out anyway:)

Bazz, that transit you linked to is a bit beat up, I'd prefer to spend the extra on something that looks like it's been treated a bit better.

I had my eye on these:
1) http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=644808
2) http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=705099
3) http://search.autotrader.ie/www/comm_advert?country=IE&make=&model=&keywords=350&min_pr=&max_pr=15000&min_year=2002&max_year=&source=&currency=EUR&county_list=&sort=1&SUBMIT.x=40&SUBMIT.y=12&id=200723186156781

If you have a look at 1 and 2, you'll see 1 is from a dealer and the same price as 2 ex vat. Number 1 is also a UK reg though, should I be wary of that? Why would an Irish dealer be selling a UK reg'd car and not VRT it before they have a buyer? Neither have a service history and both look in pretty good condition. The dealer in #1 is down in Longford though which is too far to go for warranty repairs!

bazz26

Most dealers do the same with UK imported cars here, they let the new owner here pay the VRT. I think VRT on commerical vehicles is only €50.

cormie

Is that all I'd have to pay? €50 extra to get a van from the North/Uk? I may as well open up my options to include vans from the North then? Is it complicated to sort out and does it take long? I'd still have the same problem though if I buy a van from the north. Too far to travel for warranty repairs:(

Would you guys buy local privately or from a dealer too far for use of warranty if you were in my shoes?

unkel

cormie wrote:

I don't think I want to go down the leasing road at the moment Unkel, see how this pans out anyway:)

Lets hope you'll be a bit more lucky this time

Still weird that your Transit had so much trouble after your man gave it the thumbs up after what seemed like a thorough examination...

cormie

yeah I know:mad:

Well he told me the clutch had to be sorted.. then I suppose that not being put back properly (or the starter not being put back properly when the clutch was) started the whole chain of events.

I'm reluctant to use the car check service again because of what happened.

mickjohnlong

most dealers selling uk cars will include the vrt in the price but wont pay the vrt untill its sold if they vrt it in there name it adds an owner also with then leaving it on the uk plate untill its sold show they have nothing to hide and are not trying to cover something up

in relation to vrtin the van yourself once you have the v5 and the money the hard part it queing up and you must bring the van incase they want to inspect it

cormie

Ah, that's a very good point about adding another owner! What's the V5 and where do you actually go? So you're saying the hardest part is just waiting in a queue and then it's all sorted? Sounds ok:)

So is that the case with getting a van from the UK too? I thought it was a lot more complicated than that? RoundMooney in another thread said he was looking at some cars in the UK and brought a friend "who knew what he was doing" about getting a car from the UK, so I thought there was more to it

cormie

I've heard stories of people buying 2nd hand vans that are actually still under a lease/hire purchase/finance scheme. How can I avoid these and is there any way to tell by getting the reg does anyone know... and what if it's a UK reg

Henry Ford III

Do a HPI check Cormie.

Better still ask the seller for one.

cormie

Sorry, could you explain what a HPI check is please?

Henry Ford III

Ah come on for goodness sake. Google it.

p.s.http://www.hpicheck.com

unkel

Was gonna post something pretty much identical to that, HFIII

Cormie, what happened to your friend?

cormie

Thanks:o

Will that say if it's on a hire purchase scheme or anything though? So I'd use Hpicheck.com for UK and then cartell.ie for Irish vehicles.

cormie

Went to have a look at the blue one today, didn't get to drive it or anything because your man was away with the keys, he told me where it was as I was in the area and wanted to have a look.

Anyway, it was actually a UK van aswell, I have the chassis number but not the UK reg, and I have the Irish reg. I probably wont be able to find anything out off either cartell.ie since it's probably just been reg'd or the UK one without the reg and don't fancy paying to find nothing out. Is using these services the only way to check if the vehicle belongs to a finance company and not the seller?

cormie

Hmm, been offered a 02 with 72miles with 3 months warranty, full DOE etc that's apparantly in mint condition and was privately owned. €10,000 Including vat

This is opposed to a 03 with 75miles, no DOE (but could probably get it easy enough), that's had about 3 owners from a private seller (so no warranty or comeback) for what I could probably get for €8,500 but is blue and I'd ideally prefer white and has about 3 small dents.

Which sounds better? Is the fact it's a year younger worth it? I know, a year younger could be the difference of only 2 months, or it could be the difference of about 23 months.. Hmmm.

Victor Meldrew

cormie wrote:

Also, has anyone successfully managed to get an extended warranty when buying a 2nd hand vehicle before? I'd ideally like a 12 month one:)

Any feedback appreciated!

got it twice, once 9 month on an 01 audi (this was 2 years ago), got ~ €2K out of it in repairs.
current car has 12 months on an 04 Renault, already got a new battery out of them. well worth it, just make sure if you are able to use the warrenty, the audi was bought in kerry and we insisted that they would have proof of an agreement to have any issues resolved in an audi dealership in dublin. they did and it worked. That car had about 3 months of teething problems.

I like warrenties, but a 4K discount on a private sale buys a lot of repairs

cormie

That's good to know. I might throw in an offer of 8.5K for the 02 Transit from the dealer with 12 month warranty and they also rent vans so I'll say if I have to leave it in, that I get a replacement van while mine is being worked on too;)

Does anyone know if there are any differences between the 02 and 03 transit?

cormie

Ok, so I don't think there is any difference between the 02 and 03 models.

I was talking to the dealer again and he said that if the van does break down and I have to leave it in for repairs, he'll give me a replacement while it's in, now I just hope he knows I'm not expecting to pay for it:)

Anyway, he wouldn't budge on the price so if I'm happy with the condition and test drive, I'll be paying 10K (including VAT) with a 3 month warranty and a full DOE. If I want a 12 month warranty, I can pay €500 and I will be put under some insurance warranty thing they can offer me that I will have a breakdown service and everything is covered I think besides the clutch and some other things too I think. I'm still not sure about paying €10,000 for a 02 though so I might throw in another haggle see how he reacts. Might show him a few threads on here, he might give it for free in sympathy:D

ballooba

Why not tell him you have a deal at €10,000 if he throws in the 12 month warranty and breakdown cover. If you're genuine and offer to shake on that he might take it. You can't then walk away after he agrees to that however. Would a deal in principle be the appropriate term?

cormie

Yeah I'm definitely going to try get him down more. The warranty and breakdown are under the same thing for €500. He knows I'm expecting it to be immaculate so if there's on tiny scratch I'll use that to my advantage;)