Notwithstanding the inconvenience, the repair costs can send your budget out of the ballpark. If your car is out of the motor plan and less than 10 years old, you should consider getting extended car warranty insurance.
A warranty covers up to 21 major components and mechanical breakdowns. It also provides you with free 24/7 roadside assistance, which is particularly reassuring over the festive season as friends and family may be out of town and unable to help.
You can get car warranty insurance for as little as R159 per month. In contrast, getting towed can cost you over R1500. So the towing fee alone is worth getting cover.
There are however some rules to qualify for this type of insurance. Your car must be a passenger vehicle, it must have less than 200,000 km on the clock, it must not be used for commercial purposes and if you take it on the track on Sundays or any days, you will not qualify.
The extended warranty does not just cover you for breakdowns it covers you for being forgetful or even plain careless. If the battery runs flat because you forgot to turn off the lights or you locked your keys in the car or you played chicken with your petrol gauge, you will be able to get assistance.
Extended car warranties work on a sliding scale depending on the level of plan you choose. So for example, if you choose the basic plan it would cover up to R10,000 on gearbox repairs the top plan would cover R25,000. Even if you only opt for the cheapest plan it will be R10,000 that you won’t have to spend if things go wrong. For many people paying around R200 per month for a warranty from their budgets will not even be noticed, but it will come into sharp focus when you need to claim. As with all insurance policies make sure you read the terms and conditions so you understand the benefits and limitations. If you are going on a long trip this year it may be one of the best presents you have ever given yourself.
Hollard Life Assurance Company (Reg. No. 1993/001405/06) is an authorised Financial Services Provider.
