Has anyone purchased the Factory extended warranty in Ireland with their new Calfornia?

[Mehdime]

Hi,

I had started a thread about my extended warranty issues in the general forum here: https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/threads/extended-warranty-doesnt-cover-anything.62232/ but now realise that there might be something Irish-specific about this issue.

In the UK, Volkswagen has historically offered a Factory extended warranty option for new vans (including Californias) that extend the standard 3 year manufacturer warranty by 1 or 2 years with the same level of cover as the standard warranty. See attached UK PDF. It's typically recommended as a no-brainer option for those buying a new California - typically pays for itself in warranty repairs.

When I bought my new California in Ireland in 2022, I asked for this warranty extension to be added - and it was. It shows up as "5 year unlimited mileage warranty" in the long list of options on my customer order document. Since I had read about cases where Volkswagen failed to properly register their extended warranty in their system, I made sure to ask if it had been registered when I picked up my van and was told that yes, the warranty was registered in the system.

As I mentioned in the other thread though, having now tried to get some warranty repairs done at the 4 year mark, I'm now told that what I have is a "used vehicle warranty" that's different from the manufacturer warranty and excludes pretty much anything you might want to get repaired.

So to those who bought a new Calfornia in Ireland: did you purchase the extended warranty from new? Did you get any T&C or any kind of document that explains what it is. I'd love to see this if you have. Or the exact wording that was on your order for it. It would help in my discussions with the dealer to get this sorted.

 

[L&R.]

Just re-reading your post here. As I am away until mid July, not in my Cali, I don't have access to any of the documentation until I get home. I've put a reminder in my diary to do so and will update you then.

 

[Scoobz1]

Could you perhaps compare the prices of the various policies at the time to work out / prove what you have - plus when did you take it out - i am sure the factory 4th and 5th year one had to be taken out when the vehicle was less than 90 days (madness i know)

Actually the date you took it out will probably work very well ...

• Factory Extended Warranty (Years 4 & 5): This must be bought within the first 3 months of registration. It is a direct continuation of your initial 3-year manufacturer warranty, offering "bumper-to-bumper" cover with £0 excess and unlimited claims up to the value of the van. [1, 2, 3, 4]
• Subsequent Extended Warranty (Annual Insurance): If you miss the 3-month window, you can only buy an insurer-backed policy (administered via Volkswagen Financial Services/Allianz). This can be purchased starting 30 days before your initial 3-year factory warranty expires. However, it generally excludes wear-and-tear, may carry a voluntary excess, and is typically more expensive over time

 

[L&R.]

I have managed to get the details from the dealer, which is presented on VW Commercial Vehicle headed paper stating the details of cover as: "Optional 4th & 5th Year Warranty - California - Mileage limited to 300,000kms", valid until the end of the 5th year from registration of the Cali. There is a single and an aggregate limit equal to the cost of purchase.
Other than that I don't have a copy of the T's & C's, which I must get a hold of, but have been assured by the dealer that this is valid through any VW dealer until expiry.
Obviously the reality would be in the testing of this!

 

[Mehdime]

Thanks @L&R. !

On my side, I was able to get written confirmation from VW Ireland directly that:
- at the time of my order (2021, delivery June 2022), VW Ireland didn’t offer an extended warranty programme at all
- all they offered at that time was a Used Vehicle Warranty programme, which is what the dealer sold me under the guise of an an extended warranty
- VW Ireland didn’t provide details of what the Used Vehicle Warranty programme covers but two other dealerships independently confirmed that it doesn’t provide the same level of cover as the original warranty (unlike the “proper” VW extended manufacturer warranty available in the UK at the time, which provided the same cover).

What’s interesting in your document is the mention of the 300k kms limit. In my case, the line item about the warranty on my customer order document clearly states “unlimited mileage”. So it sounds like what you were sold is different from what I got (and what you have may be the real extended warranty).

When did you place your order out of interest?

 

[L&R.]

VW Ireland had registered a bunch of the T6.1's in September 2024 so there were 4 or 5 available at the time in a number of dealers, with only colour differences between them. We had decided late 2024 to have a look around, and picked ours up in Jan 2025.