I started a thread about experiences and what to expect when you go to pick up your new car at the dealer, and the topic evolved into debates about extended warranties. https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post3954436

Whether or not you like them, the subject clearly has merit to discuss. As I said on the thread, I've bought one for another one of our vehicles, and it more than paid for itself over the five year term. We replaced two transmissions, fuel sensors, fixed leaking windshield, and replaced molded carpet from said leak. All at no cost, except reasonable deductible, to me.

The subject came to Mini dealer warranties (all types), and the extended warranty we are buying through our Credit Union (CU). I'm unsure if all banks offer these, but I do know that most CU's do.

Why initially chose the credit union...
*The CU was $1800 vs the ball park of $3000 at the Mini dealership. We compared 7 yr/100,000 mile policies.
*The CU allowed us to get the car fixed anywhere, including the dealership...so if we were on a trip and nowhere near a Mini dealership, someone could help. (Now, whether or not they'll know how to is another matter, but the option was there.)
*Side by side, the dealers wasn't very descriptive. This left a lot of questions, and their interpretation of the policy, at the time of vehicle repair, at issue. The CU gave all terminology and was explicit in what it did and didn't cover.

See below, why we ended up buying the Mini Dealership warranty...once we were able to get more information.

In general, with a CU or Mini you have time to buy an extended warranty, but they get something and you get something by buying it early on. They KNOW there are not going to be a lot of problems in the beginning, so you're really paying for a policy you're not going to use right away...or if at all. That's the purpose of an insurance policy, after all. With this, your extended warranty is cheaper when the car is new. If you buy it a year later, the price goes up, because there's a chance there will be more problems.

Like one person said, you're betting against the manufacturer, but in my opinion, if you're getting up near 6yrs/100,000, it's nice to know things--possibly, and most likely, very expensive things--can be covered. Also, if we sell the car before the warranty is up, the warranty goes to the new person...which is a huge selling point.

 

Great information! Thanks so much!!! :-)

 

If you are a service member, you can also get the extended warranty from USAA.
https://www.usaa.com/inet/pages/exte...ank_extvehprot

 

Please post any link you have to your CU policy description.

 

The warranties sold by car dealers are usually by a 3rd party just like the CU and USAA. I bought one for a Jeep Grand Cherokee at the dealer. When I needed to use it (brakes) I called Jeep and they said call XXX Warranty Company seeya. And the warranty prices are negotiable don't think they're not. That's why the exact same policy is cheaper (they say) when you buy the car than it is later. The Mazda dealer cut the extended warranty price in half for us in 2005. I still didn't buy it. At full dealer price they are very expensive.

 

CU doesn't post that on their page. They sent us the details. You have to be a member of the CU, but contact ANY credit union you are or want to be a part of, and ask them for their extended warranty policy details. Check out a few, we just deal with ours, because we have for so long.

Like TheBigNewt said, many CU use the same few companies for their policies.

Thanks, shao77, for providing a link for service members.

 

Thank you so much. I am not a service member; however, my dad was in the ARMY for many years so I am eligible for USAA benefits and currently utilize them for my insurance. I will definitely have to check them out. Do you use them for your extended warranties? If so, what is the cost and would you recommend it?

Thanks :-)

 

Just go to their page, plug in your car info and they give you options with associated costs. I have never bought an extended warranty, but if I do, it will be theirs. BTW, when I checked they don't have '15 info yet so I plugged in data for a '14 Cooper and made up a "new delivered" mileage to get a price.

 

You are referring to usaa or mini USA?

 

usaa

 

Thank you so much for the information. Are you going to buy the extended warranty through them for your MINI or have you had experience with their warranty on another vehicle? Do you happen to know if you can only obtain their warranty if you finance the car through them? I use USAA for insurance on my vehicles; however, I have never used their financing due to being able to get a lower rate from my local credit union on my vehicles in the past.

 

No, I don't have any experience with their warranty. I think it is just a product they offer like any other 3rd party and does not require financing through them. I think (and I haven't done it) you just buy their warranty. I don't know yet if I will get an extended warranty, but if I do, it will be through them. I do not know much (actually more like nothing) in this area, but I trust USAA. In the fine print, they list what companies give the warranty protection. It's a weird business. It sounds like they are just a broker for a warranty companies in the same way MINI is. Someone with more (any?) knowledge in this area, feel free to chime in.

 

Okay, here's what we decided...in the end, we chose the Mini dealership extended warranty. Nothing else, just the 6 year, 100,000 mile extended warranty. After all this research, I'll tell you why.

In 1997, we bought our Dodge Van, it was a rental car, and a year old. We bought the extended warranty through the Dodge dealership, and we were quite happy with it, as I explained in my original post.

Now...I got schooled both from the finance guy, Chris, and on my own...that there are two different kinds of extended warranties, and the kind the dealership has...only a dealership can sell.

DEARLERSHIP extended warranty: (Zurich's Vehicle Service contract)

You bring the car into the dealership OR a Mini mechanic of your choice;

1. you pay the $100 deductible, and they fix the car's problems. This was one of two big differences.
2. On top of that was another depended factor...even partial failure of components is covered. Something is intermittently going out, it will get fixed.
3. The car breaks down in ten buck two, they will tow the car at no cost to the nearest repair center to fix it...and pay for your lodging and expenses for up to six days while it's getting fixed.
4. If the car is being repaired, they will provide a loaner car or if one is not available, they will pay $30 a day for a rental car.

CU extended warranty: (Mercury Insurance)
1. You pay for repairs at the dealership or Mini mechanic, and then send in the bills to get reimbursed. So you're out of the money, until they pay you.
2. Partial failures on not covered. The part has to completely stop working, before they pay for it to be repaired. The example given was if you have the window shutter going up and down slowly...but it's still going up and down, they won't cover to fix it. It has to stop working completely before they pay to fix it. (This we did not know, and did see it in the fine print when he pointed it out.)
3. If the car breaks down, away from home, they will decide if they will pay for expenses. (This was important to us, because we plan on traveling in this car)
4. The pay for up to $180 for a rental car.

Now, the brass tax. We had 21 days to decide on the CU warranty, but we had to buy it that day (of course) through the dealership to get new car rates, in 21 days it would be a used car.

We were indifferent, because we had decided on the $1810 CU policy beforehand. Mini wanted to sell us the policy for $2975. I said, we'll buy yours for $2000. He went to manager, came back with $2400. I said $2200, he said "I don't know, we're not making that much on it." I said, "We'll be loyal to your dealership to fix it, where in the hell else are we going to go? Nobody else knows how to fix these, so you'll have all the other non covered problems that we'll be paying for out of pocket, too." He said, "Can't you give me more?" I said "$2225" he laughed, Jim said, "We'll pay no more than $2300." I would have had him at $2250, but in the end we were all happy.

It was $500 more than the CU, but it has WAY more coverage. And I still paid $675 less than what they quoted us. So...it's all good. You just take one look at the inside of that engine; if and when there's a problem, it's not going to be cheap to fix it, I would think that they're going to need to lift the car off of the engine, since that's how they put it together. $2300 is our piece of mind.

Now...if someone else out there has gotten the extended warranty for the 2014 or higher Hardtop, cheaper than this, share your experience here with the crowd.

How much did you pay?
What year did you do this?
What year car? (2014 and above hardtops please, the prices are different for these years)

Remember, everyone needs to make a little money on these deals, we weren't trying to be unreasonable, but we wanted to all feel we got something. They are going to have my car in for repairs...after all, so we need to be on good terms.

BTW, I brought my MA Kristen a potted orchid, for a thank you. She really did do a good job. Chris in Finance was really nice, he presented the extended options with no pressure, and printed up mountains of paperwork in friendly ease. Our experience buying this car was FANTASTIC, and now we feel safe knowing that we have four years longer on our warranty (from the initial three that comes with the car)...just in case.

Again, I hope this helps. PM me, if you have any questions.

 

Please tell me how many miles you expect to put on this car in it's first six years, and then I will provide you with my opinion on your choice.

 

I was thinking about getting the extended warranty, but am leaning towards not.

I would put about 100K miles on mine in about 5 years due to work. What is your opinion on getting the extended? In general I'm against them, but the issues previous MINIs have experienced have me thinking about getting it.

 

Interesting discussions everyone.

Also keep in mind that with first releases of new gens there will always be issues down the road that haven't been discovered yet and may not be covered under recalls. Most things 'shake out' in the first 2 years of production though.

If I was ever to buy a first release it would be warranted up to 200,000kms.
(last year I bought a 3 year old Volvo - former rental car - and extended the warranty to 200k for piece of mind)

 

I was told by a friend that I can buy the extended warranty from any dealer across USA since all dealers basically are selling the same warranty offered by Mini. I am going to send out email inquiries to a few dealers in North/Southern California and perhaps some out of states too.

http://www.miniusa.com/content/dam/m...pare_Chart.pdf

@Stay_Curious, was the $2250 for L, XL or XXL and what's the deductible? Thanks!

 

I know that you can also buy the extended warranty at any time DURING your factory warranty period. Is that not the case? It was, when I bought my 2005 MC. If still true, you have plenty of time to decide.

 

I think in most cases as long as it's under 100,000 miles you can get an extended warranty, but the price goes up based on age and mileage.

 

Although this is our first NEW car to us (11 miles on it), we've bought two cars that were 1st year cars. BOTH had significant issues that were not covered over the time of the initial warranty. Had we had an extended warranty, those things would have been covered for and repaired/replaced for a longer period of time with only a deductible. We however didn't buy the extended warranty on these cars, and learned our lesson. Like jamez said, there are inherent first year issues on cars, it's definitely a purchase for peace of mind. Especially on a commuter car that's being driven 130 miles round trip, we wanted the extra mileage coverage, because years won't be met before the mileage. Again, it's an individual's choice on whether or not it's a good decision for them.

becky1711 the price goes up with the years and mileage on the car, the sooner you buy it, the cheaper it is.

darex 2014's have a 4yr/50,000 mile factory warranty, so if the same held true for your 2005, you wouldn't have been able to buy a warranty after 2009.

shao77 yes, you can buy it at any dealer, use it at any dealer or Mini certified repair facility (which they will tow it to the nearest one from where your car breaks). The deductible is $100. Unsure what the L, XL, XXL are that you mentioned, we bought the highest year/mileage warranty there was. 6year/100,000 miles.

 

This is still the case. I change cars so often, I never buy extended warranties on purchase.

 

I picked up my 2012 Mini on 10/11/2011. Will my warranty period end on 10/11/2014? I've read about the extended warranty, but am hesitant to get one since I don't drive much. I only have 16,660 miles on it right now and only drive it a couple times a week for about 70 miles a week at the most. My Mini dealer has never mentioned an extended warranty, but I would be interested since I plan on keeping this car for a few more years. I haven't had any problems with it so far.

 

I opted out of it, but I have a 96 civic I use as a beater and drive to and from work. The Mini is just for fun/running errands/driving anywhere else. Im estimating I only put maybe 7k miles a year on the car.

 

Save your money. The dealer will be very happy to sell you a policy however.

 

I'm going to revive this thread, since the 2015's are being delivered here in the U.S.. Any one buying the Factory Extended Warranty? I've had bad experiences with the aftermarket Warranties, so I wont even consider them. Mini does offer 3, the L, XL, and XXL. Since I plan on keeping the car beyond the original Warranty, I'm thinking of purchasing the XXL. This plan covers all the electronics etc...

I don't drive a lot of miles so I might do 70k in 6 years. They off the XXL plan in 6 or 7 year 70k or 100k flavors. So far the prices I've come up with are $2995.00 to $2550.00 for 6 yr - 70k XXL. Any one else have any input on prices?