My first Omega came with one-year warranty, so I bought Vx SureGuard for another three-years / unlimited mileage for just under £1,400. SureGuard was only available for up to 4 years, so I could not renew it after that.

It was very good, any problems were fixed for free by the dealer during normal servicing so from my point of view there was no difference between this and the original warranty.

Financially it did not pay off though, the actual repairs the car needed in the first four years were only a couple of drop link and some bushes so definitely less than £1,400 even in Vx money, but it did give me peace of mind.

(incidentally, the tensioner went at 60k, just one month after the SureGuard expired – the dealer would not repair it under SureGuard but Vx did later agreed to refund 70% of the repair cost)

My current Omega came with 3-years warranty, so I didn’t bother with the SureGuard. I noticed they are still selling it though – but I am not quite sure why would anyone want to buy SureGuard for a car that has three years warranty anyway?

I had a look at some mechanical breakdown warranties recently, and was not impressed, as all had a very low maximum pay out – e.g. £250-£500 etc – not enough to cover the cost (in garage money, not DIY money) in case of engine damage due to cambelt failure. In order to get some more substantial maximum e.g. £1,000 the premiums become unreasonable. So no warranty for me since the first 3 years expired in 2004…

If you already have your car Vaux serviced then take out the MOT insurance.....it covers pretty much everything bit wear and tear items (i.e. brakes, tyres bulbs...) buit, does cover wishbone bushes, rear springs etc.....and only about 40 quid.

Marks DTM Calib wrote on 23. Aug 2006 at 08:41:


I nearly took something on like this with the AA once but never went ahead with it.

Auto Addict wrote on 23. Aug 2006 at 11:22:


pmsl