Best mechanical warranty/insurance

Helping my Dad out with a car purchase off a private sale, Car has just been checked by AA and they have given it the ok except for back rotors needing to be skimmed and pads replaced.

He's keen to get a mechanical warranty and we looked at Autosure but they only sell off yards/dealers so wasn't available for him.

The other option was AA- I understand they are still underwriiten by Autosure.

Looks like the process is to get it checked then select an option of 1-3 years. Are AA a good option? I understand it doesnt cover wear and tear and you have to get it serviced to schedule which Dad will do

Car is a Subaru XV auto, 2010, done 104,000kms

TIA

Sober reading

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/money/68851254/looking-under-the-bonnet-of-mechanical-breakdown-cover

I usually do the math for European vehicles so bare in mind Japanese might be cheaper (although I wouldn't be surprised if a Subaru falls in to some sort of expensive category).

Working "backwards" and applying the warranty to the many many vehicles I have owned of lots of different makes and models. There was one clear winner when it came to mechanical warranty's.

The winner. self-insurance. Put the money you would spend on the warranty in to a separate account every year. Before long you have more than enough to cover any conceivable mechanical failure. Best of all there is ZERO excess to pay, no limits to what you can claim for or any other limitations. Amazingly, you are guaranteed a full return on your initial investment as well.

Insurance makes a lot of sense for things that would cripple you financially to replace but you are highly unlikely to need to. (Like house insurance for instance)

For things that are highly likely to fail but won't cost that much to repair insurance becomes less economical.

Remember the insurance company wants to make money, a lot of money and they have admin costs, people ripping them off and people doing stupid things to cover as well.

Its a very hard equation to make work.

My 2C

I stopped doing repairs for mechanical warranty companys,like insurance companies they dictate the terms. sometimes it was frustrating trying to look after the customers rights ,while listening to the warranty guys trying to justify why they wouldn't pay out.Jazz's blurb about self insurance is what I tell my customers.

Similar, but different. I applied a similar scenario to the jazzmans to health insurance and was harped at that it made sense and my attitude to health insurance didn't. Long story short, one of my advisers hit 65 after paying health insurance premiums for 30 odd years and the premiums went thru the roof and they could no longer afford the premiums on the retirement income and would have had to dig into their savings to pay the premiums. 3 weeks after cancelling his ticker packed up and they had to pay $45,000 out of their savings for a triple bypass privately, or elect to go on the public list and hope you didn't die first!

I am impressed. So few people challenge their own assumptions regularly and adjust their actions to what is logical as opposed to what their emotional biases make comfortable.

If we all did this regularly the world would be a much better place. Congratulations on the critical thinking!

Some people have a win on the insurance.
VAG not far behind ether.
From the comments

"I paid two lots of $1650 for 2 x 3 year Warranties on my Range Rover during 8 years of ownership.
I had a little over $40,000 in mechanical claims paid for by insurance over 6 years. A great endorsement for the Insurance. not so much for Range Rover build quality!"

"Yes not the most reliable car in the world, I spent $750 on a warranty and claimed about $12,000 in 2 years on my Range Rover"

I’ve only purchased Holden’s , Falcons & years ago Valiants & never purchased mechanical insurance, no need, perhaps you do with the euros & jap vehicles.

Autosure and AA ARE the same warranty.one is yellow paper one is blue. With the AA warranty on a private sale you do need to get a PP inspection done. Servicing for a petrol is 12 months/15000km. You can do it sooner if you choose to. Be aware though that if the cambelt hasn't been replaced you won't be covered for failure due to it being overdue now.