dealer or indy

B

Bug

Member
Hi folks,
I'm overdue for an inspection service and just within the 1,000 mile limit.
The car is currently out of warranty so I'd like to take out the BMW insured warranty
with Mondial who require that the car be serviced in accordance with the BMW schedule.
Do you think it would be best to get this service done at a dealership or an indy, I was
hoping to use Grosvenor in Reading or H&C in Maidstone.
Thanks
 
The official BMW extended warranty is a form of insurance rather than a warranty per say, so they can impose their own conditions and I'm pretty sure one of them is that it's serviced by main dealers only....should be able to get cheaper rates when it's 4 years old though.
 
I think you can get your car serviced anywhere if it's out of warranty,
Mondial just need to verify with a main dealer that the servicing
has been done.
I'm just a bit concerned with it being so close to.the limit at
850 miles overdue.
 
You can get your car serviced anywhere you want even if its under warranty; as long as the service agent uses OEM specs and OEM parts, your warranty will still be valid and it is illegal for any manufacturer to claim otherwise. In such a case though a BMW dealer would not take it as trade in, if that matters (he can't sell it as an AUC if it doesn't have FBMWSH).

HOWEVER.....on my extended BMW warranty it says I can only use main dealers; they can specify this because the 'Extended Warranty' is actually an 'Insured Warranty Policy', i.e its sold as insurance and not a factory warranty. I'm not sure if this has changed recently, I took mine out about a year ago now.

If they now do let you service anywhere, 850 shouldn't be a problem
 
Are we 100% sure of this? I’ve been told otherwise, which I don’t know if it’s correct or incorrect.

I recently spoke to BMW warranty customer services, as I wanted to find out my options - My car is still within its 3yr new car warranty and I will be looking to purchase the extend warranty when the time comes.

I was told I can use any Indy to service the vehicle and my warranty will not be invalidated. I will also be eligible to purchase the extended warranty.

Obviously I need to ensure that BMW parts \ specs and service intervals are used \ adhered to.

I was advised that (from their guidelines) the below is the case for the new car warranty and extended warranty,

“If servicing has been carried out by a workshop that is not authorised by BMW, the authorised BMW Dealer or BMW Service Authorised Workshop reserve the right to reject any claim where the cause of the defect is due to the use of a non-genuine BMW part or inadequate servicing by the non-authorised workshop”

I asked for them to tell me who my BMW Service Authorised Workshop in the area are – they were all main dealers, so I don’t know the difference between a BMW Service Authorised Workshop and a Authorised BMW Dealer.

With regards to the AUC scheme all it says on the website regarding Service History is,

“Only BMWs which have been maintained in strict adherence to BMW servicing recommendations can qualify as Approved Used BMWs”

Cannot find any mention of must having FBMWSH.

I would be very interested if anyone has had any problems with warranty claims after using Indy’s or been turned down part ex by a BMW dealer.

Thanks,

Dan
 
What ksher says, and if your buying an AUC then do all the checks with regard to servicing as BMW are not as strict when selling cars from what I have read, with services missing etc.
 
DK55 said:
I asked for them to tell me who my BMW Service Authorised Workshop in the area are – they were all main dealers, so I don’t know the difference between a BMW Service Authorised Workshop and a Authorised BMW Dealer.
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It's quite simple:
  • Authorised BMW Dealer = franchise with sales department
  • BMW Service Authorised Workshop = franchise with service department
In mainland Europe you can be a BMW Service Authorised Workshop without first having to pay the millions to be an Authorised BMW Dealer (which seems to be the way it's done in the UK, and part of the reason for the high UK labour rates compared to mainland Europe).

Same goes for parts & bodyshop - it's rare that you'll find an 'Authorised' body shop or parts department without a sales department, as BMW UK/GB's rule tends to be "pay us to allow you to have a sales dept and then we'll consider your request for the other depts".

It's one of the reasons that you tend not to see multi-manufacturer new car dealerships in the UK compared to mainland Europe (except maybe within the same manufacturer group such as VW/Audi/Skoda/Seat, BMW/Mini, Mercedes/Smart, etc.)
 
DK55 said:
I recently spoke to BMW warranty customer services, as I wanted to find out my options - My car is still within its 3yr new car warranty and I will be looking to purchase the extend warranty when the time comes.
Click to expand...
The fact they use the word 'Extended' is a bit misleading IMO; you are not getting a continuation of the product you had before. When the car is new, you get a manufactures guarantee...after three years, you can buy an insurance policy to keep the same protection (Extended Warranty).

I was told I can use any Indy to service the vehicle and my warranty will not be invalidated. I will also be eligible to purchase the extended warranty.
Click to expand...

Yes, this is true for the original warranty. There was a court ruling around 2002 that banned dealers from invalidating their warranties if you did not use them for servicing. However as above, the original warranty is not the same as the extension; that's insurance. From my policy book:

"All service and warranty work should be carried out by an Authorised BMW Dealer or Authorised BMW Service Workshop using only genuine BMW parts". (PG17)

HOWEVER I remember reading something about BMW switching to Mondial as their provider after I took this out. So it's possible the conditions are now different? Hopefully someone can shed some light
 
mikedav said:
HOWEVER I remember reading something about BMW switching to Mondial as their provider after I took this out. So it's possible the conditions are now different? Hopefully someone can shed some light
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My current insured policy states the same.
 
Sorry to labour this point but I'll see if I can explain myself a little better.

My car is out of any kind of warranty and overdue for a service.

Before I apply for the Mondial warranty insurance I want to get the car serviced so I phoned Mondial as I didn't want to fork out dealership prices just to find out that I have violated the BMW service schedule and they would not cover me.

I explained my situation and the (very nice) chap said that since my car wasn't currently covered by warranty I didn't need to get this service at BMW, they only require that the car be serviced within BMW once the car is accepted by Mondial.

They do however require that the service history is checked by a BMW main dealer before they can grant cover which is fair enough.

I think I'll call Mondial again just to confirm, I'll report back later if you lot haven't lost interest by then :)
 
TBH if your car has only ever seen a main delaer and you are going to purchase the BMW Mondial warranty I would get it services this time by BMW as this will not allow any get out for them in the event of a claim.
 
The more I think about it the more convinced I am that this is the way to go. They can also confirm with Mondial that the service history is up to date at the same time.

srhutch said:
TBH if your car has only ever seen a main delaer and you are going to purchase the BMW Mondial warranty I would get it services this time by BMW as this will not allow any get out for them in the event of a claim.
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My (basic) understanding of it is as follows:

For the initial 3-year manufacturer/dealer warranty that's typical on NEW cars, European legislation allows any registered garage to be used for servicing - this is sufficient to maintain the original warranty.

However, extended warranties after the initial 3-year period are less clear. AFAIK warranty companies can impose a lot more conditions to these, e.g. vehicle must be serviced by a certain garage (BMW franchised garage in BMW's case).


But since I've never bothered with extended warrenties, I've never paid much attention to this subject! I use non-main dealer for servicing anyway (but using OEM BMW parts): yes it's going to mean a FSH rather than FBMWSH, but what I save on servicing costs will offset any reduction in car value (due to non-BMW service history) when I come to sell.
 
Sounds about right....the manufacturers warranty isn't a contractual issue per se, while extended warranty is, so the supplier can call the shots. :(

All depends on what peace of mind you want but pesonally I'm with Ally.....self-insurance works for me thanks! :thumbsup:
 
If they have said on the phone that it won't cause a problem to get it serviced from an indy, then that is your answer. As you've already seen you'll get conflicting answers on here, the only one that matters is what they have said.
If you take out a warranty on a car that it has lapsed on, it won't be covered for the first month. The first year is also more expensive, or at least that's the way it worked in 2009. Like you've discovered, they are very helpful on the phone, and very friendly, give them another call and get any answers you need straight from the horse mouth as they say.
As for AUC cars, they don't have to have BMW service history, neither is it a problem with trade in.
 
sjj84 said:
If they have said on the phone that it won't cause a problem to get it serviced from an indy, then that is your answer.
Click to expand...

Good luck proving it in the event of a claim....fair enough if you get it in writing.
 
sjj84 said:
As for AUC cars, they don't have to have BMW service history, neither is it a problem with trade in.
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Well I've never heard of a BMW being sold AUC without full BMW service history. And I wouldn't buy one from BMW without it.
Regarding trade-in, sure, they might accept your car trade in without BMW service history but you're probably going to get a lower price and the dealer will probably jsut put it through an auction, just as they do with high milers also.

Oh and I'd be surprised if the BMW warranty allows servicing at an Indy. Or if they do, I hope you really trust your Indy to service it as per the schedule really using OEM parts because if they don't then you may find claiming under the warranty more hassle. Aafter all, it's an insurance policy and I'm sure many of us have found insurance co's to be a bit awkward at times.

I still dunno why people are so found of warranties :). Ditched mine nearly a year ago and driven excessive miles, only one spring replaced = approx £600 or so in profit (spring cost £180 fitted if I remember correctly). I might get unlucky next year, we'll see :).
 
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