middy2000 · Jul 2, 2006

Has anybody good or bad experience with extended 3rd party warranties for Freebifters. I had a 3year warranty on mine when I bought it which was lucky as I certainly had my monies worth....rear diff, alternator....lambada sensor to name but a few. This policy cannot be renewed as the company has now gone into liquidation (too many Freebifter owners).

I've a 2000 1.8 with 60k coming up on the clock so I'm prime time for a head gasket failure.

I've had a quote of £470 quid for the year from warrantydirect for a gold cover which I've queried and they are happy should the head go it's included in the policy.

Is this warranty worth the paper it's written on?

marksurry · Jul 2, 2006

My experience of warrantys is they're worth crap.
Most have a claim limit per claim. Mine was £1000 per claim which sounds great except my HG cost more than twice that on a V6 Freelander.
My advice, read the small print very carefully. They often want a strict service routine too. Even a few miles over on a service will void the warranty.

mondo · Jul 2, 2006

RAC do one £180, (td4)
but like mark say limits apply but i would have thought £1k should cover a new head, providing you catch it quick enough before it damages out else

middy2000 · Jul 2, 2006

Oh I'll certainly be checking out the small print...I'm not one for having the wool pulled over my eyes. The claim limit is 5k a year, regardless of if it's 1 claim (less likely) or 10 claims (more likely). They just have a limit of 5k per year.

I only do around 6-7k a year so it's easy to stick to a service schedule, I've a honest mechanic mate that can sort out that issue for me should it be a problem.

On the subject of the dreaded head gasket failure, how much are we realistically looking at should it happen. I've seen people say around 600 quid going up to 3k. Not being tecnically minded, is it a new engine job or is that only is the most serious of cases?

marksurry · Jul 2, 2006

middy2000 said:
On the subject of the dreaded head gasket failure, how much are we realistically looking at should it happen. I've seen people say around 600 quid going up to 3k. Not being tecnically minded, is it a new engine job or is that only is the most serious of cases?

A new engine is only normally required when the engine overheats causing the head to warp. I caught mine pretty much straight away because she was chucking steam out of the back which is not normal. Turned the engine off and checked the coolant level......empty.
Mine was just over £2.5k to fix but she has 2 heads and 3 cam belts, both heads were skimmed too.

middy2000 · Jul 2, 2006

Hmmmm...not sure what to do now, at the end of the day if the engine goes I'm looking at some real money,

I might really try and get the small print read to make sure everything is covered.

If I go for it I'll try and pay over so many months, it doesn't hurt as much as paying in one lump sum. Has anyone any experience of the company www.warrantydirect.co.uk

middy2000 · Jul 2, 2006

Mark,

If you caught yours quick and avoided warping the engine, how come it still cost 2.5k.
Can you clarify what catching it quick entails, is it checking to see what going on with the collant or just switching off the engine when the proverbial s**t hits the fan? I've read plenty of posts that basically say there's nothing that can be done in advance to prevent the fault, nothing that doesn't cost the earth anyway.

ming · Jul 2, 2006

Well tell tale signs to watch out for,steam from exhaust, milky oil, coolant drop,or rise, overheating, the overheating can very quickly warp the head or as in Marks case heads as he had a v6, so if yer catch it before then just head gasket replacement,but others try and get home or to a garage with steam and oil spewing out, and hence warpy head syndrome. . .

marksurry · Jul 2, 2006

Middy, mine cost that much because it was a V6, twice the price as it had 2 heads you see.
You can't really predict when it's going to happen but you can tell when it's happened in most cases. Like mine, as soon as I saw steam coming from the exhaust I turned the engine off and it stayed off. Went to the garage on a low loader. Like Ming said, if steam is coming from the exhasut people make the mistake of thinking they can limp to the garage. BIG mistake. If the engine overheats, and it probably will, you will warp the head.
Warped head = lots of cash or engine replacement.

Best advice I can give is to check oil and water once a week for signs of cross contamination, water in oil or oil in water.

Remember, the K series engine has a 100% failure rate. It's a pile of poo

mondo · Jul 3, 2006

marksurry said:
Remember, the K series engine has a 100% failure rate. It's a pile of poo

Oh just cheer the lad up ,Mark

Te! He!

The k series int a bad little motor, they just dont seem to like bin fitted to the Freelander, and theres loads of em in the breakers yards to be had if / when yours dies.
So dont go stressin yersell

marksurry · Jul 3, 2006

Mondo, they blow head gaskets in the MG TF too. They're a poo engine, stop with the excuses

The MG produces 160bhp out of the 1.8 litre K series engine, amazing!

mondo · Jul 3, 2006

marksurry said:
Mondo, they blow head gaskets in the MG TF too. They're a poo engine, stop with the excuses
The MG produces 160bhp out of the 1.8 litre K series engine, amazing!

he he!

marks bought a duffer,
marks bought a duffer,
again

marksurry · Jul 3, 2006

mondo said:
he he!
marks bought a duffer,
marks bought a duffer,
again

That's right. I like taking risks

Richtd4es · Jul 4, 2006

middy2000 said:
Hmmmm...not sure what to do now, at the end of the day if the engine goes I'm looking at some real money,

I might really try and get the small print read to make sure everything is covered.

If I go for it I'll try and pay over so many months, it doesn't hurt as much as paying in one lump sum. Has anyone any experience of the company www.warrantydirect.co.uk

Hi there, i had a quote from these people £650
they claim to be the best,

There cover is for ..Ware and tare /Consequential loss (sp?)

and that covers all the major items
i think monthly payments are the way to go

if you press them you will get 13 months for `12

Hope this helps
richtd4es

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