$$$ of extended service contract

[august2]

I am new to the forum. I bought a Certified Preowned 07 Mini Cooper S on 4/22, so it already had the extended warranty to 100k miles. When I bought it, it had 11,800 miles on it. I love the car. I did purchase the ESC for $1795. They said that this was not negotiable that it was sold through MiniUSA. I have no way to validate that. I do have a copy of the contract. I also have to teach my wife to drive a manual, so there will probably be a clutch and maybe second gear in my future repairs, plus brakes as well. This may sound stupid, but it also covers me against future price increases for service on these items. Does anyone here think an oil change will be the same price it is now, in 2010? Like everything else it's bound to go up and why would I care? I just whip out my ESC and let them do it. I also talked to other service stations and BMW dealers etc and I couldn't find an alternative to dealer service for the big items. My favorite service person said he can't get the parts, so oil changes are pretty much the only thing he can do. That sort of convinced me to buy it.

[TheBigNewt]

Originally Posted by august2

I am new to the forum. I bought a Certified Preowned 07 Mini Cooper S on 4/22, so it already had the extended warranty to 100k miles. When I bought it, it had 11,800 miles on it. I love the car. I did purchase the ESC for $1795. They said that this was not negotiable that it was sold through MiniUSA. I have no way to validate that. I do have a copy of the contract. I also have to teach my wife to drive a manual, so there will probably be a clutch and maybe second gear in my future repairs, plus brakes as well. This may sound stupid, but it also covers me against future price increases for service on these items. Does anyone here think an oil change will be the same price it is now, in 2010? Like everything else it's bound to go up and why would I care? I just whip out my ESC and let them do it. I also talked to other service stations and BMW dealers etc and I couldn't find an alternative to dealer service for the big items. My favorite service person said he can't get the parts, so oil changes are pretty much the only thing he can do. That sort of convinced me to buy it.

You lost me here. The car already came with 100k EW and then you laid out $1800 for ESC? What does that get you, 175k miles or 15 years? When I read that people are paying for a service contract that pays for wiper blades, brake pads and airfilters/oil changes it makes me wonder just a little about who's getting the short end of the thermometer here. All I remember is when we got my wife's Mazda3 the price of the extended service contract fell like a rock the closer we got to the dude's door. I think it got to about 1/3 of the sticker price (then they threw in a week at a timeshare ).

[august2]

Originally Posted by TheBigNewt

You lost me here. The car already came with 100k EW and then you laid out $1800 for ESC? What does that get you, 175k miles or 15 years? When I read that people are paying for a service contract that pays for wiper blades, brake pads and airfilters/oil changes it makes me wonder just a little about who's getting the short end of the thermometer here. All I remember is when we got my wife's Mazda3 the price of the extended service contract fell like a rock the closer we got to the dude's door. I think it got to about 1/3 of the sticker price (then they threw in a week at a timeshare ).

I usually don't buy these things but I'm new to minis. The EW and ESC don't overlap. The ESC covers all of the factory recommended maintenance as listed in the maintenance information booklet. It also covers the replacement of the following: Brake Linings (Pads) and rotors, external drive belts, clutch and wiper blades. It extends the 36 month, 3 year coverage to 72 months 100,000 miles. What made me nervous was that I don't really have a cheaper alternative to the dealer to cover all of the maintenance. I take my Pathfinder to a guy down the street who does a great job with it, but he can't get a lot of the parts, so I thought I would attempt to protect myself. I hate these things, because I have the feeling that whatever happens I'm going to end up paying twice. I took it anyway. With my luck the timeshare would be in Boston.

[Otra]

With my luck the timeshare would be in Boston.

Hey, now what's wrong with Boston?

Listen, there are those that swear by the Extended Service Contract - and if you're put a lot of miles on your MINI and keep it for a long time - it seems to me it may be just the right decision.

[bamatt]

Re: clutch replacement... won't they only replace the clutch if it has some sort of mechanical failure? It is my understanding that they won't replace it due to driver abuse/misuse/whatever you wanna call it (& they normally try to place blame for clutch failure on driver abuse regardless of if it is or not )

[SPF ZERO]

Gotta love this one...

I called my "Motoring Advisor" this morning and asked if he could fax me more detailed info on the inclusions and exclusions on the extended warranty and extended service contract offerings. He said it would be hard to fax, but he would collect the info and have it in an envelope at the dealership for me to pick up (or he could mail it). So, I drove down there and picked up the envelope.

When I got home I found that all he did was give me copies of the sales brochures, no details, and... wait for it...

...he gave me a brochure from 2003 about a program to extend the Full Maintenance Program from 36 months / 36,000 miles to 48 months / 50,000 miles. Not even the current program!

[Otra]

Pretty pathetic. Maybe you should call MINI USA - and while you're at it tell them this.

[august2]

Originally Posted by Otra

Hey, now what's wrong with Boston?

Listen, there are those that swear by the Extended Service Contract - and if you're put a lot of miles on your MINI and keep it for a long time - it seems to me it may be just the right decision.

I love Boston, no really I do. That, plus the fact that I live 30 miles west of the Hub. There would be that perfect irony in getting a timeshare in Boston. I could "pahk the cah in Havahd yahd". Yeah, I generally put 20k miles a year on my cars and keep them for 5 years at least. I love to drive. Better yet I love to drive my Mini. Buying the ESC was the toughest decision in the purchase process that I had to make.

Here a copy of the ESC, if anyone thinks it would be helpful. Hopefully you can open it. Yeah, I know the image is upside down. If you have any trouble let me know and I can email it.

[Otra]

Can't seem to see your copy?

Love your Boston accent.

[SPF ZERO]

Originally Posted by august2

Here a copy of the ESC, if anyone thinks it would be helpful. Hopefully you can open it. Yeah, I know the image is upside down. If you have any trouble let me know and I can email it.

I didn't see an attachment... can you send it to me? I'll PM you. Thanks.!

[august2]

I did see any attachement in my previous post. Sorry about that. Anyway here is another try. I hope this is helpful.

[Otra]

Did you hit the upload button, after you chose the file to attach? Still not showing up here. I think that quite a few would like to see it. If you can't - I'd love to have it PM'd as well or I'll PM you my email instead.

[SPF ZERO]

Originally Posted by august2

I did see any attachement in my previous post. Sorry about that. Anyway here is another try. I hope this is helpful.

August2 emailed it to me, so I'll upload it for him!

Thanks again for this... now I just need to get a copy of the Warranty and Service Information Bookelt. And of course wait for my MINI to arrive!

[Otra]

Many thanks.