When buying any car that is second hand there is always a risk involved. Depending on the age, milage and garage – some dealers will give a warranty on used vehicles but this is usually only 3 months unless the car is relatively new in which case you may get 12 months. These warranties are not always as good as they sound and it is worth checking what they actually cover. They almost certainly wont cover wear and tear on things like tyres and break pads but there are a lot of components on a vehicle that do wear and therefore may not be covered. The warranty may also stipulate that it is only valid up to a certain amount of miles for example 3 months or 1000 miles. Some people will easily cover 1000 miles in a month so you do need to bear that in mind.
You can choose to buy a warranty for your car. This is not in place of insurance, but can help cover the cost of repairs. The garage you are buying the car from may try and sell you an extended warranty or you can choose to buy direct from somewhere else.
Many warranty companies have certain stipulations such as the car having to be under ten years old and done less than 100,000 miles. Often around this age and mileage is when cars start to breakdown and go wrong more often which is why some warranty companies will no longer cover the vehicle. You may find a company that will cover older and higher milage vehicles, but you will often have to pay a lot higher premium. For a car that is about 9 years old and done just under a 100,000 miles you can expect to pay in excess of £60 a month for the warranty. The price will change depending on if you are willing to make contributions to the repairs, use a garage with a lower hourly rate charge and limit the number of miles you do each year.
It is worth weighing up how much you will be paying out on a warranty compared to hoe much you may need to spend a year to make it worth while. If for example your warranty is likely to cost £70 a month then that equates to £840 a year. Even if you do have to spend that on your car in a year, it is unlikely that you will have to spend it again the next year. You may be better off to save the money you would have paid for a warranty towards repairs as and when they come up.
