GAP insurance???

[monkeypunk2]

Did anyone buy GAP insurance outside their dealer??
I've seen a number of online websites offering GAP insurance - much cheaper than my dealer!!
Anyone know a good site to use???

Any information will help please!!!

thanks

[juniorbanks]

I during the happiness of ordering the Roc took out VW's GAP without researching the alternatives .. rookie mistake

[RW1]

I've seen a number of online websites offering GAP insurance - much cheaper than my dealer!!
Anyone know a good site to use???

I think if you search back through topics with "GAP Insurance" you'll find a couple of good long topics with all the why & where fors illustrated. iirc the opinion was to go independant. Which is what I did as result of those topics. (Surf & Protect)

The thing I note is that the (S&P) products have been adjusted since then.

What we don't know if they've been OK since 2009 if someone has been unfortunate in having to use the protection??????

C.

[jimma1983]

I got the GAP insurance through VW when I ordered the car. A bit of haggling and they gave it to me for £120, well worth the money when they sell it at £410 full price!

[cornelce]

I got the GAP insurance through VW when I ordered the car. A bit of haggling and they gave it to me for £120, well worth the money when they sell it at £410 full price!

Sounds like a bargain! I might just have to try that when I go and pick mine up... (In like four months ).

[JamesCB]

I've read that most policies don't pay out if the car is stolen using the keys. Which is surely pretty likely if it's going to be stolen, at least for a car like the Scirocco.

[Shaun]

I got GAP insurance thown in as part of the deal when i bought mine, its with VW and i have no idea how good it is !

[maisbitt]

I'm being offered free GAP or free lifeshine with my car.

The GAP in question is back to invoice, some only cover the depreciation down to used retail price e.g. car written off at 2 years old and only get the price of replacing for a 2 year old model from a dealership etc. I would expect a payout from my insurer to allow me to do this anyway. If I couldn't buy the same model of car of the same age/mileage/condition with teh insurance payout then i'd feel short changed and I would challenge the payout.

GAP is generally incredibly overpriced. For most fully comp policies by major insurers, the insurer will replace a new car if it's written off or stolen and not recovered within the 1st year, so in that instance GAP will only be covering years 2 and 3. On a car like the Roc which has great residual values, the contribution of the GAP for a full loss claim will be a lot less than for some other marques of a similar price that depreciate more.

If you think it is right to get full invoice price back for a 2 or 3 year old car should the worst happen then get the GAP, but aim to pay less than 1/2 what the dealership will charge.

As it is free, will I go for it? Not sure, the biggest draw for the lifeshine treatment is not in the treatment itself externally, but in the Scotch-Guard type treatment on the inside, and I could do that myself for about £18. Is lifeshine good, or is it just for lazy sods who can't be arsed to wax/polish?

[Shaun]

Lifeshine is a waste of money IMO, it wont last any longer than any normal wax etc, just do it yourself and take the GAP

[wigit]

I got GAP insurance thown in as part of the deal when i bought mine, its with VW and i have no idea how good it is !

same here as easier for dealers to throw this than discount the car further

Lifeshine is a waste of money IMO, it wont last any longer than any normal wax etc, just do it yourself and take the GAP

as the man says

[maisbitt]

Looks like i'll get the GAP, i'd rather just have another £100 off the car, but it was a freebie in addition to my deal. Just got 2 buy 2 cans of Scotch-Guard from John Lewis for £6 each (1 for the seats and 1 for the carpet) unless someone can recommend better stuff that does the same job (had this on my last 2 cars).

[JamesCB]

Did the offers of free GAP insurance just cover the RRP of the model, or the options as well.

My brother is considering a Scirocco and we've been looking into GAP, seems there are a few pitfalls to avoid in the wording of the policy - http://www.carbuzz.co.uk/blog/post/GAP- ... th-it.aspx" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[maisbitt]

I think the "invoice value" policies will cover the invoice value of the car, including factory fit options as they will form part of the car's invoice price. Dealer fit options might be itemised separately to the invoiced cost of the car, so these may not be included on certain policies.

I do find the concept of GAP a bit odd, why would anyone expect to get more back than their car is worth at the time of an incident for a total loss/theft? If it's given as a freebie then i'll take it, but insurance on top of insurance doesn't seem right. I'm sure it's an encouragement to some iffy people to get their car torched/stolen at 3 years old and get a new one for no extra money.

[RW1]

I do find the concept of GAP a bit odd, why would anyone expect to get more back than their car is worth at the time of an incident for a total loss/theft? If it's given as a freebie then i'll take it, but insurance on top of insurance doesn't seem right. I'm sure it's an encouragement to some iffy people to get their car torched/stolen at 3 years old and get a new one for no extra money.

Insurance will only pay out the book trade value, even then you will not be able to buy secondhand the same as its not the forecourt price. So gap is an additional separate policy supplement.

If like me, I've taken out the "return me onto the road" with a brand new "equivalent" at prevailing brochure prices including the options, valid for upto 4 years from the original purchase. It wasa no-brainer for the small premium over 4 years. And oh, I won't be torching mine at 3 to 4 years, some of us are honest people!

Why? 20 years ago I had a right front end smack with a red light runner one morning leading to a write-off. Insurance fell short by £2k on a £7k Scirocco - 3 years old in low mileage mint condition. Despite bitter arguments with the insurance comapny, they valued the car on Glasses trade price, not VW forecourt price. So like for like even, I was £2k short (30% down) let alone brand new.

Standard insurance will not put you back on the road as prior to the write-off accident, not sure it applies to all but it applies to mine. If its an agreed value policy, even then they will argue as one case late last year with a friend's car where rather than agreed value, they started re-valuing downwards after the accident.

C.

[maisbitt]

Insurance, by definition is supposed to put you back into a position that you were in before unfortunate events took place. If I couldn't buy a viable replacement of equal age, model/spec and condition with the insurance payout, I would take legal action, trade price is not enough to replace a car unless you are in the trade.

How cooperative your insurance company is in providing you with an adequate payout depends mainly on who they are. This might require a bit of research on your part. If your car is less than 3 years old and there aren't many examples of that model outside the dealership network, then you should get a price for an equivalent used car from 3 different dealerships to show that you are justified in your requirements for payout to replace the previous car.

Some people will just roll over and take the insurance company's first or second offer - you may need to prove to them how much your car will actually cost to replace.

I've never had a write off, but my Dad has - Direct Line were very good at settling his claim, with a reasoned offer that allowed him to get the same car, same age, similar mileage, though I suspect others will be a nightmare to deal with.

The GAP insurers will be fighting to get your insurance payout as high as possible, because the higher the main insurer payout, the lower the GAP payout.

Not all insurers only pay out trade price when pressed to provide a realistic payout, unfortunately you only find out how good or bad an insurer is when you have to make a claim, cheapest isn't always best.

It might be harder to get your perceived value on a car loaded with options, as most of these options don't hold value anywhere near as well as the car. An example of this is that I was debating whether to get leather for my forthcoming new Roc, more for it's look than for it's practicality, only to be told by the dealer it would only add £300 to the 3 year trade in price.

[MickeyCheetz]

I have just bought a two year old scirocco, and the dealer offered me the GAP insurance for £400, but they offered me the next two services included in that.

[veeedubba]

Just bought an R and dealer offered me GAP for £500 i politely declined and looked on the net and found £15K of cover for £295. Went to dealer and he matched it without argument.

[fun meter]

Anyone recommend an independent GAP insurance cover. Seeing what my insurance renewal valuation was, GAP is something i want to look at.

[RW1]

Try having a look through these for historical choice..... a lot of branch off links included..... Gap insurance Info

C.

[etotheip]

Does anybody recommend any particularly good company selling this?