I won't be making any decisions until just before the warranty ends, and will probably pass.

All I can say is it's pretty pricey.

I sold my 2009 MCS at five years, eight months with 65K miles. I had zero items that would have been an extended warranty repair. For me, $2500 to $3000 for two to three years of extended coverage (for those of us who don't get to 50K miles in four years) makes the risk of running "naked" worth it. Having said that, being worried about any possible expensive non-warranty repair certainly factored into looking at new cars vs continuing to drive the MCS (which I still very much enjoyed).

I've bought new cars for over 40 years now (bought one used car as my son's first car), and only once bought an extended warranty -- namely one for my wife's 2007 Honda Odyssey van which was Honda Care (the official warranty) which I got from an out-of-state dealer for $1130 for the eight year 120K miles $0 deductible with free car rental with any covered repair. To me, that was a no brainer, being that it was less than $235 per year. The extended warranty ends this December and has paid for itself, though not necessarily by much. But even if I never used it, this was an "insurance" that I wouldn't have minded paying as the piece of mind not worrying about a big expense was worth it.

If the MINI coverage was less than $500 per year of additional coverage, I'd think about it. But at $1000 per year, I'll take my chances.

 

I called USAA today about an extended warranty (72/75,000) for about $1,088 but they don't have my VIN (i.e. 2015s) in their database yet. They said to call back in a couple weeks.

 

Folks, let's keep our heads about us. Insurance is gambling where the insurer is the house and they control the game and hold all the cards. Do you want to bet against the house? Then by all means fork over your money.

It's simple. If you can afford an occasional random repair, then the gamble is a bad deal. The house always wins!

The ONLY time when insurance makes sense is when it assumes risks from you that are so large that they can seriously impact your financial situation. Like your house burning down. Like little Susie next door drowning in your pool while you weren't watching. But a steering rack? Seriously?

 

I had the Mini extended service coverage & did not pay for any service after ihe regular one expired sad itb is transferable & was a factor in the money they gave me when I traded for my '15.

 

I don't know if it pays on a Mini but I forked over $3000 for an extended warranty on my 535i. Brought coverage up to 100k miles. Paid for itself in about 2 years. Them Bimmers are expensive.

 

This is the one we'd go for if we buy one. The dealer wanted something like $3400 for the extended warranty. The also offered a $2,600 tire and wheel policy.. wow I could replace all the wheels and tires once and still have money left over at that price. We declined all of them.

I don't know at what point the USAA price goes up.

I think most people are self-insured on their cars. I've never bought an extended warranty but I could have used it when the transmission failed on my Honda. My wife had Honda Care on her Civic and that was $800 wasted since that car was rock solid for over 8 years til the day we sold it. Never a repair much less a claim. The thing about this car is the expected BMW repair costs, a new engine, and first year potential issues, and it is my wife's car and repairs are on her , not me So if she decides to buy it, it is her call. We'll see. If we do it will be from USAA.

The thing is in the long run the House always wins, but in the short run the gambler can win and that is why these sell. Just like there are no end of gamblers in Las Vegas, we all thing it will be a win for us or we wouldn't but them.

 

Of course. It's human nature to overweight risk-aversion in decision-making, despite ample concrete evidence that it's against one's interest. Humans are simply irrational, and enterprises like insurance companies and advertisers have made $billions exploiting this weakness.

It's pointless to quote anecdotal evidence "my transmission was replaced" or "never had a repair" because prospective risk-avoiding buyers just don't want to hear it.

I totally agree about gamblers. It's the same phenomenon. This is why I've never been able to wrap my head around gambling. It just makes no sense to me whatsoever. You may as well wrap up a stack of $100 bills and mail them off to Sheldon Adelson so he can buy some gas for his G650ER. The net outcome is the same, and you save all that time spent smelling stinking cigarettes and wearing out your right arm.

 

Right now, I'm just doing research to determine if purchasing the Warranty is worth it.

Part of that research is pricing. Even the pricing for the Warranties is negotiable. At some price point it becomes more attractive to purchase the insurance, especially because I intend to keep the car beyond the regular Warranty period.

Mechanical and electrical failures on a Mini can be expensive and it doesn't take many repairs to exceed the cost of a Warranty purchase. I'm just trying to determine the price point.

 

Call me crazy but I am very paranoid so I elected to purchase the extended bumper to bumper (7 year/70,000 miles), wheel and rim (5 years), and windshield warranty (also 5 years). I also plan on keeping this car over four years so it's a piece of mind thing for me. I told myself I wanted to save to pay cash for the extra warranties so that's what I did. I guess after my R56 being declared a lemon back in 2012, I just wanted added protection. I also like that their extended bumper to bumper is contracted by Mini and not a third party company.

 

Lawnmower, well put. People that justify over-buying protection always ask "but what if something bad happens?" But it IS bad if you pay $3K for insurance and get nothing for it but some theoretical assurance. So why is paying money for insurance a reason for peace of mind, but paying it for repairs a source of great consternation?! A warrranty guarantees you're out of money; the likelihood of you recouping that money is slim.

I've noticed a trend in appliance insurance lately that some companies now give you one-half back if at the end of the insurance period you never used it. Another dangling carrot. The finance lady went through a list of warranty plans when I bought my Mini and I declined them all. I'll sleep just fine. If the car blows up tomorrow, I lost the bet. But how likely is that? It's not catastrophic - it's just a car, not all my assets at risk.

An ex of mine used to work for a car dealer and she said that when a salesman made a great deal, the sales staff would gather in their lounge and laugh how they "slammed" the customer. I've never forgotten that image and the hostility and aggression behind it.

 

My previous MINI was a 2007 MCS and I paid $1300+ to replace the timing chain and one other item that I can't remember (at the dealer), $500 to replace the rear wiper motor (not at the dealer), another $1300+ to replace the ECU when it went out... this was all in about two to three months time frame. I wish I had some sort of extended warranty that would've covered that.

The reason I opted for extended warranty is because I know I could not afford another repair that was over a couple hundred dollars. From my previous experience that I explained above, I would much rather pay $1600 for an extended bumper to bumper warranty than fork over $3000 because I hadn't. But I think it's only if you have experience with not having warranty that you would feel this way. If you know you have that emergency fund for car repairs then an extended warranty would probably be wasted money.

As my story above states, this is exactly why I justify paying for an extended third party warranty. We financed our car but paid cash for the warranty. It just gave both my husband and I peace of mind with this MINI so that I can truly enjoy it. Even with the warranty I am still paranoid. I hear so much as a strange noise from my engine and I'm instantly thinking something is going to start smoking...

 

Just saw this Car Talk article about extended warranties in this morning's paper. I've never bought an extended warranty but MINI has the worst reliability reputation of any make I've ever owned which is making me consider getting one (ours is still on its way). I'm leaning against getting one though.

http://www.cartalk.com/blogs/tom-ray...rth-extra-cash

 

I am in the camp that feels insurers sell extended warranties to make money, so if you fall into the majority category it's not worth it. Given everything in life seems to fall under the 80/20 rule, do you gamble that your the 20% who would benefit from an extended warranty, or the 80% who would not.

I gamble I'm with the 80%ers and sleep just fine.

However I did purchase an extended maintenance agreement when I picked up my CPO 2006 MCS in 2007 with 18k miles. Back then it was 10yr/100k mile plan.

Extended maintenance plans are simple math equations. Cost of the plan vs cost of the expected maintenance.

At $1600 it was a no brainer. I got 4 brake jobs out of that deal, probably saved close to $2000 by the time I hit 100k miles.

Looked into an extended maintenance plan on my non-CPO 2012 Roadster S, but for only a 3 year extension I opted not to.

Does 10years vs 6years say something about long term reliability between the Gen1 and the Gen2? Hmmm....

 

Purchased a Clubman S in 2008. Opted for extended service (to 6/2014) and extended warranty (to 6/2015). Used the service for as needed and had no issues.

The warranty has been another story. When we bought the car, we were given the hard sell about what great peace of mind it provides, and I knew there were reliability concerns so we purchased. At the time, there was NEVER any of the stock answer I've heard since 2011 (orig warranty expired) when i've had an issue. Since then it's been "we'll submit it to the 3RD PARTY and see if it's approved".

What BS. I didn't pay for a 'maybe', and it was never sold to me as such. I've had the car 6.5 years now (52k miles) and done all service as required at the dealer. Vehicle history:

About 3 years ago - first use of ext warranty...timing chain was off, had to be replaced. Would have been over $2500 if I hadn't been covered. Only about 25k on the car at the time. Not good.

This week - running VERY rough at startup, and seems like the timing chain issue again. I took it to the dealer yesterday.

What did they say? They verified the timing chain needs work, as well as 2 or 3 other issues. I had it in 6 months ago for an oil change, with no problems and now the thing is seemingly falling apart. I did go on a trip a few months ago but haven't had the service indicator come on. All this and not quite 52k miles!

So, the dealer called me back today and said they're waiting for the approval from the 3rd party. I'm fed up with hearing that. I'm going to be all over them if they try to deny me any of the repairs. I'm thinking it will be 4-5k, which is pathetic.

I've had some good times in my Mini, but these cars are garbage. Even the new loaner I have with 5k miles feels like the tranny is going to go out.

Any feedback appreciated. I'm really hoping they don't try to jerk me around.

 

It sounds like you purchased an Aftermarket Warranty? Finance guys seem to really push those because there's bigger profit in them.

If it is aftermarket.
My experience has been mixed, it depends on the actual Company who Warrants your vehicle as to how and what they will cover. I have found if you have a good Service Manager or a Dealership that sells a lot of the same Warranty, they can really push to get items covered.

Because I plan on moving someday, if I purchase an Extended Warranty - I purchase the manufacturer's Warranty. I always keep in the back of my mind, the manufacturer can still reject a claim.

 

Yes - I stopped by the dealer today to get a status update. It's from CNA.

Yesterday, the service rep told me we were waiting on them to approve the claim, but that same rep was not working today, so a different rep gave me CNA's contact info so I could check on status myself.

When I called 5 minutes later they had no record of a claim being filed, so not cool at all. Why he told me a claim had been yesterday filed is beyond me. I know I was talking to the right place because the last activity they had on my VIN was from early '13 on my last claim.

 

I did have CNA about ten years ago. The Dealer I purchased it from made me do the filing for Warranty work, never got turned down, but was disappointed with the amount of legwork I had to do.

I changed Dealerships because I wasn't happy with the Service Department. I went to a new dealership who accepted CNA, they took care of all the paperwork and I never got turned down, response for claims took place while I waited and then the work was performed. I'm guessing you have a bad Service Rep or Dept. Have a talk with the manager after verifying with CNA how long you should be waiting for claim approval.

 

we are not expecting to drive more than 10k per year..Our current car MDX has 23k over 2.5 years..In 6 year iam expecting to drive max of 70k.

Based on above do you think mini maintenance program beneficial for me. I got a quote of 1695 for maintenance program which is 6 year/10000.

Regarding warranty for mini protection i got a quote of 2660 for 7 year /100k (L coverage) and 3660 for XXL coverage

From USAA i got a quote of 1100 from USAA 6 year/ 75000 (Comprehensive Protection Plan).

any one has experience with USAA protection?

 

Buying these things is like buying a Velvet Elvis painting on the streets of Tijuana. One car we bought (Mazda) the guy tries to sell it, I say no (always) and he drops the price in half lol! You can always buy it after your Mini warranty expired. They'll send you offers in the mail like Signals catalogues!