Are Warranties Essential?

Thought I would update this having started the thread when I was looking and subsequently have brought an M.

I finally managed to find one with the balance of the BMW extended warranty on the monthly scheme and i renewed the annual warranty one purchasing the car. Due to age and mileage the warranty cost me just shy of £950 for the year...

Within one month of owning the car the sat nav screen started sticking and I took it to BMW Thames Ditton who said as the car wasn't recording a fault they wouldn't fix under warranty. For the next three weeks I filmed the screen every time I shut it down and then went to Heathrow BMW with the footage and they were great and replaced the whole system under warranty to the tune of over £2000. So for all those posters out there who convinced me warranties are essential a big thanks as they really are !!!
 
Thing is all cars have been treated differently and something small can cost a lot of money.

Recently my front calliper was sticking, new calliper, two new front pads, also affected the tracking so they lazer tracked it, the computer has been playing up so they replaced that too, window motor also was playing up so that was also replaced. All in all thats a fair chunk of cash I wouldn't want to spend not just for parts the labour it was in two days. But it was all replaced and fixed under warranty.

Piece of mind. End of worth it for me, but I got a 2 year BMW warranty for free when I bought the car because I said I wouldn't buy it without.
 
TBH a Sat Nav screen can be replaced for under £150 yourself, myself and PVR have a spare one as they are quite prone to playing up. Even the MK IV DVD is only £400.

Warranty for engine and trans on the ///M is the only reason I would bother, but that's just my opinion.
 
Quite shocking to think that for a "cheap" repair of a screen they charge BMW 2k to replace it ...
 
srhutch said:
Warranty for engine and trans on the ///M is the only reason I would bother, but that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...

Yes but the full comprehensive with zero excess is probably only about £20 a month more. If you are going to have a warranty for engine and transmission you may as well go the whole hog. One O2 sensor replacement more than compensates for the extra £20 a month over 12 months.
 
srhutch said:
Warranty for engine and trans on the ///M is the only reason I would bother, but that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...


would you not bother with warranty on the N52 engine, you're the expert on the issues, mine as re-appeared :headbang:
 
Taz x said:
srhutch said:
Warranty for engine and trans on the ///M is the only reason I would bother, but that's just my opinion.
Click to expand...


would you not bother with warranty on the N52 engine, you're the expert on the issues, mine as re-appeared :headbang:
Click to expand...

I did have to level cover on mine til I sold it, but I can't warranty a car forever and I'm only doing 2k a year so seems more sense to bank the money.
 
I bought my 2007 M recently, 22k miles, FBMWSH, last owner had it for 3.5 years, always garaged and cherished and in mint condition. Used as a 3rd car and will likely do 3-4k miles a year. I haven't gone for a warranty.

If something unexpected happens with the car I'll be straight on the phone to BMW and arguing my case. I still have my 320d and the GF has a 120d, so as a 3 BMW 'family' I would hope to get a sensible response. I'm pretty capable with cars so if little stuff goes wrong I'm happy to resolve myself. If it's something like a serious engine problem on a 4 year old car with full BMW history and 22k miles then I'd be asking them to cover it.

One other thing that no ones mentioned yet with regard to warranties is modifications. Is the warranty still valid if it's been lowered \ brake upgrades \ intake mods, etc?
 
Well, I've covered 73k miles in my car and so far only replaced the two rear springs, one under warranty. Tough well built cars.
The average person loses money on warranties, usually made to feel they need one.
On none of the BMW's I've owned have I taken out an extended warranty and am many £££ in because of it (each car would have cost more for the yearly warranty than the yearly repairs done).
Why not open a new savings account and pay £83 a month or whatever it is into it. That will be better most likely. The problem comes when people dont take out a warranty and fail to budget for any repairs. Why fear sudden repairs if you have budgeted well?
 
IKZ4 said:
If something unexpected happens with the car I'll be straight on the phone to BMW and arguing my case. I still have my 320d and the GF has a 120d, so as a 3 BMW 'family' I would hope to get a sensible response. I'm pretty capable with cars so if little stuff goes wrong I'm happy to resolve myself. If it's something like a serious engine problem on a 4 year old car with full BMW history and 22k miles then I'd be asking them to cover it.
Click to expand...

Well the car has done no miles and is getting old... cars that are run often are less likely to go wrong. Good luck with BMW most people have found that they are not interested in helping when warranties are up. They also wont care you have 3 BMWs and are a loyal customer, in there opinion they have offered a suitable warranty period and if the car is out its out. BMW warranties are also available so really they have offered the customer the option. In some cases ye.. they might contribute to something but you will get laden with at least a 70% cost.

Darren M said:
Well, I've covered 73k miles in my car and so far only replaced the two rear springs, one under warranty. Tough well built cars.
The average person loses money on warranties, usually made to feel they need one.
On none of the BMW's I've owned have I taken out an extended warranty and am many £££ in because of it (each car would have cost more for the yearly warranty than the yearly repairs done).
Why not open a new savings account and pay £83 a month or whatever it is into it. That will be better most likely. The problem comes when people dont take out a warranty and fail to budget for any repairs. Why fear sudden repairs if you have budgeted well?
Click to expand...

I agree to a certain point, but what if something major went wrong, worst case scenario engine failure vanos etc even at £100 a month a new engine is 16k (if another poster is correct) so really the car isnt worth the repair especially at the price they are now. Also warranties cover the labour and parts, I have no mechanical experience and wouldn't be willing to mess around with the car I would have it done professionally so you have to budget for labour which in most cases are more than the parts. If you can afford it then ye fair enough, but warranties can pay for themselves my uncles 535d has had 2k spent on it this year for fairly minor problems and payed £500 for the warranty so it payed for itself 3 times. Anything can go wrong... Its really piece of mind for me, but each to their own!
 
I've done OK out of BMWwarranties over the years but really the question is so subjective it's impossible to answer. It all depends on your attitude to risk, the warranty gives the peace of mind that many seek. Others are happy to take a chance and deal with issues if and when they arise. My gearbox replacement made me glad I'd extended the warranty but on the other hand people like Darren M have never had a problem to speak of. For the moment the peace of mind means that I'm happy to keep paying for the warranty but that may change as the cars value decreases.
 
For a daily driver I can understand it, but for a toy car it is useless as it sits a fair amount in the garage not being exposed to constant use and wear and tear, let alone the impact of extreme weathers if not garaged.
 
I spoke to a friend in BMW today who informs me that if you buy a car from a private seller and wish to take out the BMW insured warranty (which you can as long as it has been serviced to BMW's recommendations) they will insist on an inspection being done by a BMW dealer at your cost :o and that anything found during this inspection must be repaired at your cost :o at the BMW dealer before any cover commences.. Apparently they are not very good at informing people of this when selling the warranty.

Anyone got any experience of this on here?
 
Z4vincent said:
I spoke to a friend in BMW today who informs me that if you buy a car from a private seller and wish to take out the BMW insured warranty (which you can as long as it has been serviced to BMW's recommendations) they will insist on an inspection being done by a BMW dealer at your cost :o and that anything found during this inspection must be repaired at your cost :o at the BMW dealer before any cover commences.. Apparently they are not very good at informing people of this when selling the warranty.

Anyone got any experience of this on here?
Click to expand...

Certainly wasn't told this when I enquired.
 
srhutch said:
Z4vincent said:
I spoke to a friend in BMW today who informs me that if you buy a car from a private seller and wish to take out the BMW insured warranty (which you can as long as it has been serviced to BMW's recommendations) they will insist on an inspection being done by a BMW dealer at your cost :o and that anything found during this inspection must be repaired at your cost :o at the BMW dealer before any cover commences.. Apparently they are not very good at informing people of this when selling the warranty.

Anyone got any experience of this on here?
Click to expand...

Certainly wasn't told this when I enquired.
Click to expand...

No I have already enquired and wasn't told this either. She has advised me to ask them directly to avoid any nasty surprises down the line when requesting warranty work. Apparently the Inspection is £150.
 
Z4vincent, that would only be if it had lapsed isn't it? Makes sense to me otherwise - the inspection is fair enough I reckon.
 
Wondermike said:
Z4vincent, that would only be if it had lapsed isn't it? Makes sense to me otherwise - the inspection is fair enough I reckon.
Click to expand...

Yes that's correct. Makes sense to me also but my point is not that they carry it out but the fact that they are failing to inform people of this when enquiring. All I have been told so far is that the car has to have been serviced to BMW's required standards and intervals. I have not been informed that on the top of the price of my warranty I am going to have a further £150 bill for inspection. Fairly important detail I would have thought.
 
Yeah agreed. Once the warranty had lapsed it used to be impossible for a private individual to restart it, so at least there is a bit of progress.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom