I have a MCS in production. When I ordered the car, the dealer mentioned a seperate tire and wheel warranty. Apparently these items are not covered by the manufacturer's warranty. It protects against damage due to potholes. I think it's about $400 for 3 years. I'm getting the 17" web spoke wheels. Is the warranty a good investment or a waste of money?

 

Wheels are covered for defects. Tires are covered by the tire manufacturer (also against defects). Damage from potholes isn't any more of a warranty issue than a door ding.

What they're really selling you is a wheel/tire insurance policy. Whether it's worth it depends on which wheels you get, the roads in your area, and how careful you are (i.e.: probability of damage). Replacing one wheel can set you back the $400.

 

Yes, I think Dneal is quite correct, sounds like the dealer is offering an extra "insurance" policy for your tires and wheels.

I for one NEVER go for these (extended warrantees, etc), by all accounts they are VERY high margin products for the dealer, and rarely pay off in the long run for you.

My opinion: Save your money, put it in an account with interest for a rainy day. If you blow a tire or rim, replace it... Chances are, you'd only blow the tire anyways and that's less than $400....

 

Here in Vegas the roads are pretty bad so I elected to buy the Tire and Wheel warranty for $595. At the 5000 mile point I blew out the right rear. Wheel survived, but the tire alone was $390 at the dealer. Without the warranty, I could have bought the same tire from Tirerack.com for $280 (plus shipping plus paying somebody locally for stem and to to mount and balance).

Potholes are included, hitting curbs are not.

I'm like you, I normally don't buy extended warranties but in this case I felt it made sense. One tire and I'm halfway to getting my money's worth.

 

Thanks for the info. There are lots of potholes in Florida. I would rather be safe then sorry. If I get it, everything will be fine. If I don't, I'll probably have problems.

 

I got it for the piece of mind. Having picked up a few nails with the GTi, I'd rather be able to replace a poked runflat then try and plug it (not sure if you can actually). Keep in mind that Mini will apparently allow this to cover aftermarket wheels as reported by Gabe at MotoringFile. He got a fresh Superlegera and tire repaced under it.

Hesitate a little when you pick up your car... I did and got a better deal. 5 years of coverage at the 3 year price. I love my Mini dealer! :D

 

For what it's worth. My girlfriend got it on her BMW and I gave her a hard time for it, "waste of money" blah blah......well it turns out she had had 4 runflat tires replaced in the last 12 months. I guess she is a nail magnet or something. So, in her case it was definately worth it since the tires are $350 a piece.

I personally passed and have already replaced my runflats with new wheels and tires.

 

Definitely all good points... I guess it depends on your frame of reference... I haven't ever blown out a tire or rim! Now that I've said that, I'm sure I'll take out more than my share pretty soon....

 

I live in Atlanta and see plenty of potholes too. I opted for the coverage because it covers not only the tires but also if I bend a rim as well. I also got confirmation from the dealer that even if I get aftermarket rims/tires they will pay to replace those as long as the price does not exceed the OEM tires/rims. Its worth it to me.

 

No, if you run on the inner disk you've trashed the tire.

My incident was just last weekend. The warranty company and the dealership were both closed. NO clue what to do. Got my MA on his cell phone and he said to drop it off at the dealer...I would have to pay for the tire up front but they would handle the paperwork and I would get a check in the mail. One guy said a week, another said a month. SInce it wasn't on an appointment, they didn't get to it till late in the day. By the time he realized it was a warranty issue, the warranty company was closed (again),and supposedly they require pre-authorization (could not find that in the contract however). I whined and he admited it was low risk that they would decline the claim so I picked up the car after work.

Note it was an all day ordeal vice 20 minutes at a tire shop.

 

Mike, are you carrying a spare wheel now that you don't have the runflats?