Extended Warranty
 

Hello Folks,

Wish everyone A Very Happy New Year! It's been a while since I lurked on these boards, but glad to be back.

My 08 E70 and 09 E93 are both going to run out of OEM warranty this year, still have a lot of miles to go. I am therefore starting to shop early for an extended warranty for both. The dealer had sent me a promotional discount offer sometime back but I understand folks have purchased extended warranty for a good discount from some dealership(s) around the country?

I will appreciate your thoughts on the following:
1. Advantages/Disadvantages of purchasing extended warranty from BMW vs 3rd Party
2. Cost comparison between BMW and 3rd Party Ext Warranties, does buying for 2 vehicles offer any bargaining leverage?
3. Experiences
4. Recommendations for buying Ext. Warranty.

Thanks

Hi Jeep.

I've had new, used, and CPO cars that I've had extended warranties on, and have had great results over the years. I just went thru this whole dillema again and ended up buying BMW extended warranty on both my new cars since I plan to keep them both for a long time. Here is what I can share with you from my personal experiences.

1. Advantages/Disadvantages of purchasing extended warranty from BMW vs 3rd Party:

Your dealership probably sells both so you should ask them to differentiate. From my research, I found that the key differences are a) BMW uses only genuine BMW parts, b) third party warranty charges a deductable for each problem that you bring the car in for, where BMW charges for each visit. In other words, you only pay one deductable to BMW each time you bring the car in, even if you have three separate problems. c) The actual warranty term from the 3rd party is based on when you buy it, where the BMW term is based on the end of the BMW standard warranty. You can usually end up with the same coverage term, but be sure you are comparing apples to apples on this point.

2. Cost comparison between BMW and 3rd Party Ext Warranties, does buying for 2 vehicles offer any bargaining leverage?

You would think it would, but like most things BMW, the pricing is pretty well controlled and the dealers only have so much lattitude. I have recieved similar discount offers to the one you mention from time to time. The best I was able to do buying two plans for two cars is to get a 15% discount off the retail price. This came down to close to what the dealer paid for it, so I decided to take the deal. You might find your dealer has more lattitude with the pricing on the 3rd part, but probably not much as they are set to be competetive with the OEM. In either case, the retail price they offer is based on the type of car you own, so expect your X5 to cost more than your 335.

3. Experiences

One reason I keep buying extended warranty is that it's actually saved my ass more than once. There are a lot of people who will tell you to not extend, and save your money in case something happens. I personally would rather spend the money and be covered. When the transmission went out on my '05 X5 (just after the factory warranty expired) I was very happy I had the extension. It took numerous visits to repair it, and eventually we ended up with a replacement transmission. I don't even want to thing about how much that would have costg me, but it would have been a lot more than the $2k I paid for the extension. I also ended up with an power steering pump and windshield washer reservoir replaced on that car, so the extension probably paid for itself like 5 times over.

4. Recommendations for buying Ext. Warranty.

See #3 above. I should mention that on my new E70 X5, I extended to 7 years, 100k miles and I also extended the ultimate service to 6/100 (as far as it's offered). This was a pretty easy decision for me, since it means that just about everything (including my DEF) is covered for as long as I expect to own the car. Because I paid the extra (and it WAS a lot) to get the "Platinum" version of the BMW extension on both my cars, everything including the electronics and infotainment systems are covered for the full term. Now if my Nav, HUD, or any similar system fails 5 years from now (when labor will be higher and parts getting scarce), I won't have to pay some obscene amount to fix them.

Remember, this is all just one man's experience. I'm sure other people may differ with me. My recommendation is to buy the BMW extension, and get the best plan that you can afford.

Good Luck,

Crash

The biggest issue with extended warranties are the POLICY LANGUAGE and the COMPANY BACKING the warranty.

Probably 1% of customers read the policy prior to purchasing- most rely on the brochures, or even more astonishingly, the salesman's assertion about what is covered.

The cost difference between a decent 3rd party and a BMW warranty isnt much- maybe 20-25%. so 3k vs 4k.

With 3rd party stuff you just never know how they will be in 2,3 years when you need it.

How much?

Keep in mind BMW's extended warranty doesn't cover the same as the original warranty. I think NAV (or one of its components) was a questionable item, but they were overpriced and covered a shorter period anyway so I didn't pursue.

I got in on the $0 deductible with Warranty Direct. And I can bring it into the dealer just the same - they pay up front (no needing to submit a claim after). Same BMW original parts. I get to test WD's reputation starting in 6 days.

Crash513, thanks for your detailed reply. Can you share how much you paid for ext. warranty and ext. service contract?

Thanks

The extended maintenance is a sucker play- usually overpriced, and unless you are (1) sure you will need brakes and (2) unable to find an indy to not screw you, you are spending for a plan you don't need. Maintenance costs are very predictable and controllable- with both cars you can probably plot your visits for the next 2 years for eah.

OP- where are you located? Buyers in California (and perhaps other states) are limited in what they can buy...another way to express this is to say 'you need to know WHERE people are as you evaluate their stories and deals'