Hi -

Just picked up our new, to us, 2005 Mini S Convertible last week. The dealer is offering the 4 year/50,00 mile maintance free warranty and I am trying to decide as to take it or not. There is the second inspection coming up in that time frame that the dealer in impressing on me that, "this warranty will pay for it's self". Will it really or is that jus the typically line. This is my first go around with an import car. I am a long time auto nut and mechanics work is not anything new to me. I was planning on doing the work on the car myself anyway after warranty because the dealer is 50 miles away.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mark

 

There are several dozen posts scattered around NAM about this with many more opinions.

The biggest trick I took out of them is that this is a product offered by MINI and resold by the dealer. As such the prices vary wildly. I've seen prices in the high 400's to nearly 800. Armed with that information I haggled on the price of this with my dealer and ended up buying it just for peace of mind more than anything else. Whether it's actually worth it is up in the air. At it's best it seems to be more of a gamble.

The gamble comes in because the dealers charge just stupid amounts for basic service. An oil change, for example, at my dealer costs somewhere in the neighborhood of 180ish dollars. A mileage service seems like it could compare attractively with the GNP of a small 3rd world nation. So, if you end up needing an oil change and a service and you insist on the dealer doing it, this COULD pay off for itself IF you haggle down a bit.

If you're comfortable doing these services yourself and/or you have a more normally priced shop near you, then this would be a suckers bet.

 

between the factory warranty and the factory maintenance program. The factory offers a free 36 month/36,000 mile free maintenance program (oil & filter changes, inspections, etc. up to 36 months/36,000 miles). This is different from the 48 month/50,000 mile factory warranty program (where things that fail from assembly installation or parts failure are replaced). The dealer seems to be offering an extension of the 36 month/36,000 maintenance program (but calling it a warranty program). Two questions for you to consider: 1.) Is the coverage universally accepted at all MINI dealers? - the factory program is; and 2.) What is the price of the expected services you will need for the extra year of coverage (based on your driving habits)? If the dealer says that the extension is universally accepted at all MINI dealers, have them show you where (on the actual contract document) it states that.

 

he's talking about the MINI service extension. it's accepted at all MINI dealers.

unless you have unexpected things break, it pretty much comes down to whether you think you will need brake or clutch work between 36k and 50k miles.

if you get new pads and rotors, or god forbid you wear out your clutch b4 50k, then it paid for itself and then some.

if it just covers the 40k oil change, it's a very expensive oil change.

your regular warrantly still covers all the unexpected things, this just extends your wear and tear coverage.

it's really up to your driving style and environment.

truly, ymmv.

 

Things breaking (like say, the power steering pump) should be covered under the 48 month/50,000 mile factory warranty. I would agree with your assessment about brake pads/rotors and the clutch friction plate. If oil & filter change is going to be a D-I-Y item, and there is wear left on the pads and rotors such that those are not likely to be replaced within the additional 12,000 mile extension period, then it gets even harder to justify the cost of the maintenance program extension.

 

If you can/want to do-it-yourself, I'd say the extended maintenance thing isn't worth it. I got it in '03 as it was projected a brake job would be called for, and that'd more than pay for the additional cost. It's worked for me, but if I was planning to tackle maintenance myself I wouldn't have done it. At the time, there were a lot of unknowns...not so much now.

 

Why do they quote brake jobs as high as they do? My dealer quoted $1200. Is this because they follow the BMW footprint and replace rotors as well? A friend of mine has a BMW 500 series and the dealer here will not re-surface rotors. They only replace them. I have been doing brake jobs for over 35 years. The only time I have ever changed out a rotor was because it was warped beyond spec ot the rotor thicknees did not meet spec. Why would you change out rotors ever brake job?

Also, what is involved in the second inspection? Is it just a system check out or do they actually do something?

Thanks for all the input, I really appreciate it!

Mark

 

A note on the rotors - if you're around a bunch of MINIs, check out the rotors on a 30-40K mile car - they're pretty well dished, i.e. the pads have worn away the rotor surface. Not sure if there'd be enough material left to turn and still last through the next set. That may be the reasoning behind the 'don't surface rotors' rule. But like you say, I'm not used replacing them at every pad change!

 

turning the rotors to get maybe another 5,000 to 10,000 miles doesn't usually make sense. The cost of the labor to remove and replace (R&R) the old rotors (that are now at the minimum thickness) is more than the cost of putting on new rotors in the first instance.

 

But even if that is the case, I can buy new rotors and pads for a heck of a lot less than $1200! Even if I have $400 tied up in parts, I would be happy to pay myself $800 for an hours labor....

 

What is the saying - a penny saved is a penny earned????