As an ex main dealer senior manager.
There are many factors with warranty/extended warranty you should consider.
whilst it is possible to maintain warranty outside of the dealer network by using 3rd parties with genuine parts. You will loose out on what is called good will. Good will is an extension to warranty that is often contributed by the manufacturer and dealership network franchisee.
a car coming to the end of warranty your extend your good will cover into a 4th year when outside of warranty. Whilst you may pay for parts or labour good will is a measure of brand loyalty and can often be 100% of the cost.
an example of how this works;
customer services their car for the first 3 years at the same dealer franchise.
within the 4th year of ownership (prior to the next due service) the engine throws a warning light. This is diagnosed at the main dealer as a fault with the oil pump. The cost of repair and diagnosis is £890.67 at the cost of the customer.
The customer requests support (discount) this is raised as a goodwill claim. The manufacturer approves the claim, based on brand loyalty or other factors such as frequent servicing or customer has bought into the franchise prior (good history). The main dealer with the car on the ramp is supplied the oil pump free or charge. The customer is required to pay the labour only (£235).
A lot of customers are not aware that there often are historical campaigns that are hidden with known faults or failures. These often never get issued as a recall, unless safety related or faults likely to happen within warranty periods. As a result there ste goodwill campaigns that dealers have access to which could save you a lot of money.
DSG control unit for dual clutch transmission have always been an issue since day dot. Lots of campaigns. I’ve seen plenty of these replaced at 0 cost on 3-6 year old (VW, Seat, Skoda) vehicles.
this is by no means saying stay with main dealers but consider whether you can carry out servicing in a format that may entitle your vehicle some goodwill outside of warranty by doing so.
