In another thread I mentioned taking out the extended warranty and was asked about the detail. Thought I would start a Warranty thread.

When I first bought the Crossfire a year ago I was after a car with fixed costs for 4 years as I needed to match the money I get from my employer opting out the car scheme and couldn't afford any nasty surprises ! Here is a description of the warranty.

You MUST take it out before the 3 year warranty expires, the option is not available after that.

It costs £700 a year. This is a Chrysler Group EU wide warranty and is equivalent to the first three years "free" manufacturers and works the same way the dealer get paid directly by Chrysler. It also includes Mondial assist. There are a couple of exceptions. Trim falling off and wiring aren't covered, although I am told some wiring problems can be a grey area. This is not one of those cheap and nasty warranties. I know (cos I checked) that it includes such things as radio, heated seats , roof mechanism etc. but not the roof fabric... for those roadsters.

There is another "covers everything" option around £125 a month. I believe you can take this out after the 3 year one expires. This covers the same as the warranty and additionally all servicing costs and all parts that wear out except tyres. I am told the first three services would normally cost around £240 each and the fourth is around £560 without this option. This option includes brake pads, wiper blades essentially everything except tyres. I think this option is only available when the car is three years old or more.

You can only take both these out if the car is less than 6 years old or done less that 80,000 miles when you take it out. Remember the warranty only option has to be continous with no breaks, once you let it lapse you can't take it out again. There may also be a bit of a catch here when the car is 6 years old. As you can only take 12 months out and it automatically starts when the old one expires then the 6 years old date is one day after you can renew when it is 6 years old !! Haven't got there yet and wil try and work out a strategy to overcome this potential problem.

I chose the warranty only. I am assured they are very reliable vehicles ( except perhaps the heated seats ) but as an engine costs £14k plus fitting ! Didn't want a nasty surprise ! I thought this was a good deal to be able to warranty a car up until 6 years old ( maybe more ) is great for me.

Of course you need to read the legalese and check anything I've said as I'm no lawyer. I will see if I can scan the document and upload it somewhere.

Any questions please contact me or your dealer. I have to say that I have been dealing with the Sheffield Hatfield dealer and have been very impressed so far. Much better service than I have had from my Ford's or Vauxhall company cars in the past

I would be interested to hear anyones experiences having to use the warranty to get something fixed.

Hope this helps.

Paul

 

Hi Paul
Usful info and very temping. My Xfire is a June o6 so a while to go yet before I need to consider this option. My current fellings are that the Xfire is not my daily ride and the mileage will remain very low, reliability has been and should remain a strong point. Yes, a new engine is mega bucks, but the chances of busting one, is unlikly, unless you really try. Reading some of posts on track events ( woody & Steve for starters) and the thrashing their engines receive, I feel the engine is the last item to cause me trouble. I could put the £2,100 to better use over three years than a belt and braces job for the Xfire.

We all have various view on our Xfire's and if the extra cover keeps one happy, then why not go for it. Also, age is a contributing factor to spending 2k, mine, not the car's !!


Cheers Ken

 

totally agree, warranties aren't for everyone. This has now become my main transport and I need to get all over the UK for my job and will be clocking up the miles, so decided to take the low risk high initial cost route. One dissapointment is that I couldn't find the info on the web , the dealers were very good but easy to miss out on the option at the end of 3 years if you didn't know about it.

Everyone tells me that the Mercedes components are well proven and "bullet proof", again another reason I chose the car, it should be very reliable. In years to come they will appear in classic car shows still in reliable working order !

Cheers, Paul

 

I've just had my third service which strangely cost £222.22 not too bad I thought. Next service is the expensive one ! Had an interesting discussion on service intervals. Apparently the early Crossfires had variable service intervals that relied on the car displaying when the service was due. Later Crossfires had a 12months or 10,000 miles whichever comes first interval.

As I have an extended warranty on an '05 the advice was to go for the 12 months/10,000 miles option. It was hinted that was best anyway and that the variable service interval may go for 12,000 to 14,000 miles depending on driving style.

Has anyone else been given any advice like this ?

regards,

Paul

 

An update on this warrant thread. Advice from garage changed !! It is 12 months or when the service warning lights up, Did around 12,000 miles and just over £600 for 4 year service replaced spark plugs etc. Also as mentioned on other thread am having the Cat replaced under warranty.