Do I need a warranty?

Peace of mind when you are buying a used car is very important. If you are in the market for something that's coming out of warranty - i.e three years old with 60,000 miles on the clock - you'll no doubt need some sort of guarantee that if the car does have a fault, that you won't end up paying a king's ransom to get it fixed.

The one-size-fits-all answer is to pay for an extended warranty from an ‘aftermarket' company. There are myriad options available with prices ranging from as little as £170 a year to £500 a year.

So when should you buy a warranty and how do know if you need one? Here's the Parkers guide to warranties:

Extended warranties:.
Two manufacturers offer more than the industry standard of three years/60,000 miles warranty: Hyundai and Kia.

Kia first offered its seven-year warranty on the Cee'd at its launch in December 2006, so you can get hold of Cee'd now that has a full manufacturer warranty. In this instance there there's no need for an extended warranty.

On January 1, 2010 that was extended to all Kia models. The seven-year deal means you get unlimited mileage full manufacturers warranty for the first three years and from years three to seven you get up to 100,000 miles full manufacturers warranty.

Hyundai's five-year, 60,000-mile manufacturer warranty started in August 2002 for all models in the range. You are covered from the original date of purchase and it is fully transferable. However, Hyundai 100,000 mile powertrain warranty is, technically, not transferable. This warranty applies to the first owner only. Hyundai does cover weird things not normally under warranty such as valve cover gaskets and oil leaks.

Dealer warranties:
When you buy a used car that's out of its warranty period, dealers will usually offer an extended warranty. 

Franchised dealers will tend to offer an Approved Used warranty that is backed by the manufacturer and often comes as part of the deal. Approved Used warranties are tend to be offered only on the make of car the franchised dealer represents. Other makes of car will still usually be offered with a warranty but it may not be as comprehensive, so always check.

Independent dealers will usually offer some sort of cover - usually three months. But if you want a longer warranty then it's a good bargain tool when you are purchasing the car. The salesman wants your business and there's every chance you can get more for your money. So negotiate hard to get that extended warranty. Watch out for the dreaded administration charge, though, and make sure that that is included in the purchase price.

Bangernomics:
Clearly, if you have bought something that is cheap, but not very cheerful, splashing out on warranty cover makes little sense. We think that anything under £1,000 is not really worth covering depending on the type of vehicle. What's more, extended warranty companies have age restrictions on cars. Most companies won't cover cars that are 10 years old or more or have more than 100,000 miles on the clock.

Reliability:
It is worth considering the reliability history of the model you have chosen. Until the brake/accelerator recall Toyota had an exemplary reliability record as did other Japanese manufacturers such as Nissan and Honda. Skoda has proved itself as decent builder of cars, along with Lexus and MINI. Mercedes suffered quite a bit in the 1990s with electronic glitches, but the post-2000 cars have been almost bulletproof. French and Italian manufacturers, as well as MG and Rover and Land Rover don't have particularly strong reputations as far as reliability is concerned.

According to a survey carried out recently by sister publication Fleet News, the most reliable cars are:

1. BMW 3-Series
2. Honda Accord
3. Audi A4
4. Nissan Qashqai
5. BMW 1-Series
6. Ford Fiesta
7. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
8. Toyota Avensis
9. Honda Civic
10. Volkswagen Golf

Find out how much a warranty could be by getting a warranty quote.