2. Warranty Direct — the vendor from whom I eventually bought my car said he didn't offer a warranty as standard but that he could arrange one through Warranty Direct and that he'd possibly go halves with me on it (although in the end he said he couldn't do both warranty and tax, so I opted for tax). So I did an online quote just to see what sort of money we were talking about. They offer two levels of cover, though it's hard to see at a glance just what the difference between the two is because each one advertises a separate list of car parts that are covered. My vendor opined that the cheaper one ("Major care") would be sufficient. WD was quoting just over £200 for a year's cover at that level.
Because I didn't immediately buy, I was telephoned by a sales droid asking what I thought of the cover they offered. At this point I hadn't even bought the car yet, so I said I'd rather wait. Now when I did actually buy the car
bopeepsheep was present and we discussed the possibility of taking up a warranty and decided that if something does go wrong then chances are that the £200 I save by not buying a warranty will adequately pay for the repairs (the phrase "buzzy_bee knows a Citroën guy" came into the conversation…).So come Monday they rang again and I said I thought it was a bit pricey. "Let me see if I can bring the price down — would you like me to put a quote in the post for you?" so I said yeah, whatever.
It arrived. It quoted £275 per year. Yes, they had quoted me on the more expensive level ("Extra care"). They had managed to knock £25 off it, but even so I failed to see the point given that I had told them it looked pricey. I note also that the three major things I had to replace on the Saxo (namely, exhaust, clutch and brake discs) are explicitly not covered because they are routine service items.
So today they rang again and I told them what I thought of the policy. "OK, well you have our details if you want to take out a warranty with us in future," they said and rang off.
Damn it, I had meant to say "…and for these reasons I can't invest in you and therefore I'm out", but I forgot. :-)