Can't get a Straight Answer from the Dealer about CPO & Maintenance
 

Has anyone had experience or know what the CPO warranty covers for an CPO'ed 06 X5? I found some 06 X5's in the 26K range with about 50K miles and the dealer says the CPO warranty covers the car for the next 3 years, or 50K, which ever comes first. He says, it's "like buying a new car".

I asked him about maintenance and he said "just take it in and we'll take care of it.". Seeing how on this forum some folks are getting quotes of 2000+ just to get something fixed is scary.

Does buying a CPO car mean I don't have to pay for something if it breaks? For example, the expansion tank, valve cover, or radiator?

Also, what about routine maintenance such as Inspection I & II's?

I really want to buy one and use it for the next 7 years (hopefully) but the i'm leaning more towards the Honda Pilot b/c of maintenance costs associated w/ the X5.

And I can't stand the dealer's answer "just take it in and we'll take care of it."

Complex question, no easy answers...
1-It is not like buying a "new" car; you are looking at a 4 MY old car,
with 50K on the clock.

The CPO coverage is good for another 50k or 3 yrs, whichever comes
up first.

2-"Maintenance" items are not really covered under CPO; a seperate
Maintenance Program Extension can be purchased for ~$1800 from
any dlr, after the fact.

3-"Routine items" are hard to define, piece by piece as the CPO "coverage" is
a bit vague; see link to BMW's "official" CPO language below...
also note the "not covered" section. It is genius double talk, imo.

4-Inspections are not covered under CPO; again, those are part of a Maintenance program.
Inspections tend to be 30 mins on a lift, with the SA producing a list of things to fix, often
many not covered. A good Indie can do a more thorough Inspection for 2/3rds the cost.

5-Honda Pilot: nice car, not in the same breath; but, BMWs tend to be
more expensive in repairs, over time.

6-Re: "just take it in and we'll take care of it." Verbal bs, unless that
SA/salseguy/Dlr is your brother and you are on good terms.

The CPO is designed to offer an accomodating and reassuring bit of "warranty" for the used car mkt.
It is less than the orig/oem warranty, but many here have posted good results. The key(s) seems to
be in the CPO inspection process, (how thorough it was), and one's relationship with any dlr at
which you are trying to get CPO "coverage" items repaired.

It is very difficult to offer more than broad responses or anecdotal tales to your question.
The Search TAB will turn up pages of threads on the topic, some of which I've tried to offer
in very succinct bullets, in my opin, here.

Here's the BMW CPO official program link:
BMW North America

Do some reading on the Search Tab, ask more questions, keep looking
and Good Luck.
BR,mD

Edit...sorry for the crummy indentations/paragraph look; my WYSIYG
is not working again on this site...

Great answer (as always)...

Only thing I can add is this:
Read the CPO program guidelines in the link provided. It really looks good on papar but I have found that the dealers have very 'liberal' interpretations of the rules.

As MD said... is the SA is a brother, then you've nothing to worry about.

and dont forget the $50 dollar service charge for a cpo repair that is stated in the agreement...if the dealer charges it or not is another question..rob

Thanks for the reply! That really helps and I'll keep your feedback in mind as I shop for X5's.

just got an '06 X5 with the 0.9% apr for 36 months for 25.5k+ttl+199 doc fee. Its an off lease vehicle for 2yr 11mo according to carfax with 39k miles on the odo and does not have ANY options installed, just the automatic transmission..lol.. barebones i tell you. I drove to three dealerships over a week before I decided on this. Mostly, it was the price and the mileage on the vehicle that were my deciding factors; of course, I looked at the service history printout from the dealership to guess whether it was a lemon/driven rough etc etc etc. I saw other X5s with lots of options, but I wasn't gonna pay retail for all the options installed lol... It looks like you can talk down the dealership for X5 without any options installed. After I got mine, I did a search again and saw another '06 X5 with 18.5k miles with all options except navi installed for 30k (dealer asking price). I guess it pays to be patient lol...

i just found out that thrust arm bushings and associated ball joints are NOT covered in cpo. But I did get BMW to cover the parts, while i pay for the labor. Also, it's worth noting that I had an e46 M3 and something went wrong with the standard tranny. Cpo covered $6k worth of transmission replacement, THANK GOD