Wow it's been a quick one but I just broke 36k miles on my 2013 Cooper this morning. I got a pamphlet in the mail about the Maintenance Program and am fairly certain I want to jump at it given my track record.

I've had to get the water pump replaced twice(the first time was months after I got the car) and when I went in for my last oil change I found out my car was within the window for some oil leak problems which the dealer corrected and had to replace part of my wiring harness.

I'm not feeling up to the task of doing repairs myself but I have a guy at work who does it for a living and has offered to do any work I need so I could go that route but it seems safer to go with the warranty even though my coworker has a great track record working on all sorts of vehicles.

I couldn't seem to find anything on it but aren't there two different MINI extended warranty programs out there? How realistic is it to expect that getting the warranty is going to pay for itself? I recently moved to the Baltimore area and have been told to expect some heinous wear on my clutch which alone seems like it would pay for the maintenance upgrade. The pamphlet sounds like it covers pretty much everything but the verbiage on the stickied post sounds like it doesn't.

Assuming I go for the MINI warranty, how do I go about shopping for the warranty. Do I just start cold calling dealerships around and hope for the best?

 

Last I heard is its 36 month from purchase or 50K, for service not maintenance not service, but who cars about free oil changes. mQubed Motorsport, Manic Tuning Dealer

 

From what I could find the warranty period on a 2013 Vehicle is 4 years or 50,000 miles. Which ever comes first. So in terms of repairs you should still be covered if something were to fail. Now if its for regular maintenance then I wouldn't bother purchasing that if you have a guy that can do most of it for you. But really its whatever you're comfortable with doing. If you want the dealer to do it, then go ahead and buy it. Nothing wrong with that. However if you are comfortable with your coworker doing the work then go with him as it will probably cost you less in the long run.

 

Be careful that you are not confusing MINI extended maintenance with extended warranty.
OEM warranty is 4 years/ 50K miles.
OEM prepaid (nothing is free) maintenance is 3 years/ 36K miles.

Sound like the latter had come to an end for you, but your primary and well justified concerns are with the costs of warranty repairs, not maintenance!

Firs to fall, you are still covered by factory warranty for another 14K miles.
Second of all, there is nothing inherently wrong with your clutch if you know how to drive a stick shift.
If you don't, warranty may not necessarily cover it!
Lastly, the LAST place I would take my car for work after 50K warranty had expired on my R56 is the dealer. Those guys are glorified part swappers. Local independents are getting all of my business now that the warranty has expired.

Actually, I started taking the car in to local independents even while the car was still under warranty!

Overall, I would start by finding a thorough independent mechanic and paying him for 1-2 hours of labor to go over your car and identify the likely repairs for the next 30K miles. With that knowledge in tow, ask that shop what warranties he accepts and recommends.

Then decide whether you will break even at whatever price points they are sold.

HTH,
a

 

what exactly broke?

 

EDIT: I think you misread my title. I should have said that I just *passed* 36k miles. lol

I think I'll go without the extended from MINI and try my luck. Does anyone know of any good shops between Baltimore and Philly? I've found a couple of places online but none that specifically say they work on MINI.

 

There is a great shop in Phillly. Helix, great guys who do very good work.

http://store.helix13.com/mini-cooper-performance-parts/

 

The other thing with the maintenance plan is that it only covers what the car tells it. So that means oil changes every 10/12/15k miles (i've heard all of them), and brake changes only when the pads are worn to the point of expiration (likely not change the rotors).

Like you have already said, there is likely a better option out there for you.

I've heard good things about Helix in Philly (I'm impressed with their intercooler), and they specialize in MINI's. Not sure how far they are from you.

Have fun,
Mike

 

I'm about an hour out from MINI of Baltimore, this looks like it's about an hour and a half.

I think between Helix and my buddy I hopefully will be covered for as long as I've got my MINI. Thanks for the suggestions and feedback everyone.

 

TWO water pumps and an oil leak by 36k miles?!! Are you kidding me?! Thats absolutely aweful and borderline unacceptable in a modern car.