[rsachdeva]

Note from Mod: There are several spelling & grammatical errors in your posts. This negatively affects the board experience for other readers.

Kindly ensure that you proof-read your posts prior to submission. Also, it would be a good idea to use spell-checkers.

[greenhorn]

I think michelin, yokohama etc and their tyres are the biggest offenders under this list. They sell tyres which really can't stand up to bad indian roads, and then offer a warranty that is essentially useless.

I've fallen for the clutch scam too.

Another thing is, If there is a basic issue ( say defective fascia, or faulty power windows), then they will keep fixing the symptoms until the warranty runs out, and suddenly the day the warranty runs out, they'll miraculously discover the root cause

[rajeev k]

The attitude of the dealer also plays a part in the yes - no scheme of things.
One dealer replaced the rubber door beading, power steering assembly and the power window mechanism in my Maruti but another popular dealer refused to replace the steering bushes of my other car which as per warranty terms are covered. I had to fight with the warranty papers to get it removed from the service bill.
Generally rubber bushes are not covered. But the warranty specifically says that all bushings are covered for the suspension and steering sub head.

[lejhoom]

Originally Posted by fine69

I ... would be curious to know if someone actually got a part replaced under warranty when they were originally told that its simply a case of 'wear and tear'.

I have a Fiat Palio MJD. When the clutch became very hard I went to Concorde, Hyderabad. This was at the fag end of the extended warranty. Initially they refused to accept the responsibility under warranty, but when persisted, changed the clutch free of cost.

[F150]

Originally Posted by humyum

Half my car is replaced under warranty.

1.Clutch Replaced at 20 thousand km because it had become hard.
2.Gearbox syncro rings, low speed ratio replaced under warranty at 20 thousand km.
3. One mounting bush replaced under warranty, I dont remember at what km.
4.Wiper mechanism internals replaced under warranty as they were making a noise at 30 thousand.
5.Steering Gearbox replaced under warranty at 36500 Kilometre's.
6.Brake booster replaced to a bigger one under warranty at 30 thousand Kilometre's5 6.Turbo replaced under warranty at 48 thousand kilometre's

Maruti has a freehand compared to other manufacturer's at replacing part if they are found faulty.

Wow, thats a long list.

Turbo replacement. How much would it have costed, had it not been replaced under warranty ? Extended warranty is a must, atleast for turbo charged diesel cars.

Very useful thread. Will remember the clutch replacement scam.

[humyum]

Turbo is 15 thousand odd

Steering Gearbox is 22 thousand for the Swift D

Booster is around 3 to 4 grand if i remember correctly.

Gearbox syncro rings etc etc would have set me back by 15 to 20 grand atleast

Clutch replacement comes to the tune of 8 to 10 grand

Extended warranty is every rupee worth it.

[akbaree]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

I think michelin, yokohama etc and their tyres are the biggest offenders under this list. They sell tyres which really can't stand up to bad indian roads, and then offer a warranty that is essentially useless.

I've fallen for the clutch scam too.

Another thing is, If there is a basic issue ( say defective fascia, or faulty power windows), then they will keep fixing the symptoms until the warranty runs out, and suddenly the day the warranty runs out, they'll miraculously discover the root cause

But if the problem was reported during warranty, it should be replaced under warranty irrespective of when they found the root cause. At least it used to work that way for my Fiat Adventure.

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
Yes to a great extent it is a scam.
I have read umpteen posts where the clutch problem has been ascribed to drivers fault.How do you prove or disprove that?
Has anybody some experience specific to Chevrolet 3 year universal warranty?
What i was given to understand at the time of purchase that if I spend more than Rs15000 in 3 years/100000 km the excess amount will be reimbursed.
Regards

[SAS]

The biggest scam in the extended warranty business is that the manufacturer would force you to perform services at their service centers only, which in the case of several manufacturers is a horrid and expensive affair. The service centers often also force you into using their consumables like engine oil, other fluids, etc while you can get better spec products for cheaper rates outside. Basically you are bonded till the warranty gets over to visit their centers and only use their products..

[Durango Dude]

My car is out of warranty and started leaking engine oil after the last service and went back to Hyundai Motor Plaza they said they have tightened the drain nut of the sump, again it leaked, I shot of a mail to cr@hmil.net and response was almost immediate, HMP called me apologized and the SA called me and they changed the drain nut free of cost, but I had to go the service centre twice for a very small issue, which could have been set right the first time itself. Similarly they didn't bleed the brake lines and I realized it after I took the turn into the main road and brakes were mushy and ineffective; so drove back slowly to the service centre depending on engine braking and got it set right for which I had to wait for an extra half an hour.

[inreverse]

Originally Posted by Durango Dude

My car is out of warranty and started leaking engine oil after the last service and went back to Hyundai Motor Plaza they said they have tightened the drain nut of the sump, again it leaked, I shot of a mail to cr@hmil.net and response was almost immediate, HMP called me apologized and the SA called me and they changed the drain nut free of cost, but I had to go the service centre twice for a very small issue, which could have been set right the first time itself. Similarly they didn't bleed the brake lines and I realized it after I took the turn into the main road and brakes were mushy and ineffective; so drove back slowly to the service centre depending on engine braking and got it set right for which I had to wait for an extra half an hour.

Ouch! This is such a waste of time, patience and money. I sometimes ponder why A.S.S folks don't have the required troubleshooting skills to fix the product they sell everyday?


Warranty/Extended Warranty = Bluff!

In desi terms "Guarantee Kya Hain?" is what an Indian mind thinks before pouring its hard earned money into buying a depreciating asset and I believe that most manufacturers/A.S.S are cashing on it.

I currently drive a FIAT and have done about 30K, FIAT is still busy fixing niggling issues with the car even before I can hit self induced issues like clutch, A/C etc....

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

...tyres are the biggest offenders under this list.

I've fallen for the clutch scam too.

Generally speaking, we have to assume there's zilch warranty on any rubber component. Tyre warranties are practically meaningless, and even if you report cracks on the sidewall within 2 days of purchase, it would be blamed on your hitting a kerb while driving.

For the clutch to be honoured under warranty, blame the actuating components, never the friction plate, when you report to the A.S.S.! A hard clutch will be opened up under warranty because the likely culprit is either a bad pressure plate or bad hydraulics (both covered under warranty / EW). Tell them your clutch is juddering / slipping / you have difficulty in changing gears, and they'll be more than happy to blame your driving style and ask for a PAID clutch replacement. Once the clutch is opened, take your own call about how much material is left on the friction plate (compare with a new one), and decide to pay only for the friction plate (which, like tyres, has a meaningless warranty anyway).

Similarly, bushes and oil seals are also rubber, and don't expect warranty to cover them (not even regular warranty, even though you might have the suspension covered for 30k km or whatever).

That said, a non-functional ECM or dashboard console or turbo would set you back a pretty packet if not covered under extended warranty, so I am happy to take that EW only to cover such critical components whose failure cannot be blamed on any kind of brainless driving.

[Samurai]

Only once I needed to use warranty in one of my cars, and that was with the Baleno. This is what happened:

Originally Posted by Samurai

The bill came to Rs.33,672 just for this repair. I was only shown this bill, thanks to 3rd year warranty, Maruti will pick up this bill. I only paid Rs.775 for paid service and brakes overhaul.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Nice thread, I agree to the fact that most manufacturers mint money of customers by stating the fact that the particular part isnt under warranty. And its nothing but stories and people just pay the bills and come back.

Well, I have taken very few warranty claims and let me put them here..

1. Volkswagen Polo

Problem: Compression leak from exhaust side of engine head at 11k kms on clock..

Solution: took 3 visits to ASC to diagnose the problem and complete HEad assembly (excluding camshaft) was replaced under warranty. Billing was 1.3 Lacs excluding labour and taxes. Time taken by ASC, 9 days and VW refunded us taxi fare of some 8k for those 9 days..

Absolutely no problem in claiming warranty.

2. Cousin's Honda Civic

Problem 1: car used to consume over 1 L of engine oil in 5k kms

Solution: Ring Road Honda ASC showed us the owners manual where it stated that the car can consume upto 1 L of oil in 1k kms (Fine Prints, I tell you). And said good bye and thank you. On asking to take the oil out to measure the amount that comes out of engine, I was refused access to service area. Later I forced them to let me in. When I tried to take snaps, the adviser said: I let you inside service area, if you take any pictures, I will have to call the guards. Never in my life did I ever want to beat a service adviser soo badly..
On escalating the matter, even the GM told me that the oil consumption is normal. Cousin didnt want to take the matter up, chapter closed.. Later switched to Ide-Mitsui synthetic oil from Honda, the oil consumption went almost nil..

Hopeless Service..


Problem 2: Engine Mount gone bad at over 40k kms. Almost all civics here on team bhp have had their engine mounts changed within 30-40k kms and Honda has no answer. The part should have ideally been recalled..

Solution: Sir, its a rubber part not covered under warranty, you will have to pay Rs.8k including labour for the same.

Again why dont they add it as a replacement part in service intervals every 30k kms.

3.Mitsubishi Cedia

Problem: Airbag clock spring can go kaput any time, it can last for 1 year, or 2 year, 3 year or 4 year as in my case..Again a part for recall.

Solution: if the car is under warranty the company will replace it. If the car is not under warranty, you will have to shell Rs.12k from your pocket. Few BHPians got it changed under warranty but mr friend whose cedia was 3 year old and 38k kms on clock had to shell Rs. 12k. Brothers cedia 4 year old and 65k on the clock had to pay for this. My cedia 4 year old and almost 80k on the clock has this issue. Have seen N number of cars at the ASC which had their clock spring changed at owners cost. Bhpian sukrit escalated the issue with Mitsubishi for his 3 year old and 12k driven cedia and got 50% off on the part..But I have seen the company providing good will warranties outside warranty without problem if issue is escalated.

4.Maruti Swift

Problem: Hopeless clutch

Solution: owners had to change it within 10k kms and pay from their own pocket.. Ours though lasted for 52k kms..with some stretch..

[rrs5]

This is my experience with extended warranty - Have attempted two extended warranty claims. One was successful and the other wasn't.

Tata Indigo - 2004 model
Sometime in 2007 I needed to drive to hyd in my Indigo - took the car for inspection and they noticed that there was some water leakage at the front bottom - was determined to be water pump. Tata refused to give extended warranty stating that I should have all the regular service bills available for inspection etc. Finally gave up and covered it on my own cost

Fiat Punto - 2009 model
2 years old Punto had a hard clutch - this was immediately after the 3rd free service. I was promptly told that this was a clutch problem - standard warranty was just over (10 days past 2 years). Extended warranty does not cover clutch plate. I said I would escalate to Fiat - they did something and the service was carried out free of charge.

My personal take - never buy extended warranty - it is a waste of money. Dealers add this amount to the on-road price without consulting buyer. For my next car, I will not buy any form of extended warranty.