I have never been able to understand why Audis, Skodas and SEATs have 3 years of free breakdown cover from new, but Volkswagens only one, despite otherwise identical 3-year warranties.
I eventually got round to sending VW an E-mail to ask the question. Someone rang me last week and gave what he thought was an explanation. He said that VW try to match their competitors, which are apparently Ford and Vauxhall, and as they only give one year, so do VW. I asked him who he thought Skoda's competition is, but that wasn't in his script. He just said that each part of the VW Group makes its own decisions.
I didn't find that convincing. Ford and Vauxhall sell mainly to fleets, for whom maybe this isn't such a priority.
I suspect that the best thing to do, if you want to buy a new VW, is to wait until the salesman has very nearly closed the sale, and then say that you'll do a deal if he will throw in free 3-year breakdown cover.
Or buy an Audi, Skoda or SEAT. Or of course (to save about 57 of you posting) something outside the VW Group.
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Ford have SARA (Service Activated Roadside Assistance) it's free when you have your annual/mileage dependent service carried out on time. It is not restricted to 12 months from new.
As long as a Ford dealer carried out the full Ford specified service you have breakdown cover.
Volvo and Mercedes do a similar thing. Probably most others will be doing it now.
Last edited by: gmac on Sun 12 Jul 15 at 17:54
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Ford and Vauxhall sell mainly to fleets...
...who apply very sticky stickers. I was following a 63-registered Corsa yesterday, which still bore its curly-e green sticker. Now [pirate] I ain't rented a car these ten year [/pirate] but when I used to, nothing was more than six months old. Has that changed, or do they just not remove the sticker when the car is sold on? (Does it increase the value if the second owner can pretend they're just renting?)
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I'm forced to mostly use Europcar by company policy, but I've noticed they have a few leggy rentals in. Most are under 12 months / 10K, but you do get the odd 18 month / 30K model - usually on one way hires from / to the airport as the site are trying to shift it on to another depot
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Quite common in other parts of the world. About two years ago i had a mk1 focus as a rental. I think it had about 160k kms on it. Uk hire cars do seem to be newer than other counties.
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I assumed the hire companies earn their crust by buying their fleets at a huge discount and selling them on at six months or low miles at a profit. The hire is a sideline, a bit like the expensive credit business model sales of cars and many other goods.
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>> I have never been able to understand why Audis, Skodas and SEATs have 3 years
>> of free breakdown cover from new, but Volkswagens only one, despite otherwise identical 3-year warranties.
>>
>> I eventually got round to sending VW an E-mail to ask the question. Someone rang
>> me last week and gave what he thought was an explanation. He said that VW
>> try to match their competitors, which are apparently Ford and Vauxhall, and as they only
>> give one year, so do VW.
We switched one of our cars from SEAT, which had 5yrs roadside assistance (and needed it) to VW and I too, was dismayed to find it only had 1 yr.
I also emailed VW and someone replied that most people had premium bank accounts which include breakdown cover! To make that reply even more ridiculous they added that Phaeton and Touareg do have 3 yrs cover!!
What strikes me as particularly ridiculous is that VW don't do the thing mentioned above that Ford, and various other manufacturers do, and extend the breakdown cover with each service. For people humming and harring about dealer or non-dealer servicing, it would tip the balance in many cases. It's the reason my 10yr old Merc still goes to the dealer.
Last edited by: Bill Payer on Sun 12 Jul 15 at 21:15
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Its never stopped anyone buying a VW
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>> Its never stopped anyone buying a VW
>>
After our Golf my overall dissatisifaction with VW UK and the dealer was such that when I bought another new car last year I didn't even consider anything VAG.
And all our other cars are dealer serviced - the Golf goes to an indie.
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I think you will find that if you have your Ford dealer serviced the breakdown cover is extended.
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As someone had already said!
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>> >> Its never stopped anyone buying a VW
>> >>
>> After our Golf my overall dissatisifaction with VW UK and the dealer was such that
>> when I bought another new car last year I didn't even consider anything VAG.
But you knew it only had 1 years breakdown cover when you bought it.
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>> But you knew it only had 1 years breakdown cover when you bought it.
>>
Overall, I still can't quite believe the deal - new Golf mk6 for £13K - so lack of extended assistance wasn't a show-stopper. However it becomes a very irritating ommission when a fairly ordinary Golf is now £20K or so.
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VW - only one year's free breakdown cover - ....
