I'm new here, but didn't see a thread for this.. so apologies if this is already covered somewhere else.

I just bought a new 2007 MCS off the lot with 17" wheels (Crown Spoke) and Performance tires. My dealership (Princeton MINI) is offering a "Tires for Life" program. There's a few different levels of service, but basically you pay a one time fee and get coverage for your wheels and a few other things.

The top level is $2100 and they will replace the tires every 25,000 miles or whenever the tread depth goes below 3/32". The program requires you to rotate and balance every 7,000 miles - which is a good idea anyway, right? The rotation and balance is also covered, you just need to bring it to the dealership.

It also covers replacements if the tires get un-repairable damage. And once the standard 4 year warranty runs out, this plan will also cover other things like replacement/repair of the battery, windshield, headlights (I've got Xenons), and even wiper blades.

Has anyone else been offered a program like this by their dealer? I imagine it's a good deal in the long-term, but I can't imagine I'll still be living in NJ 3 years from now. And if this program doesn't carry over to other dealerships I'll be at a loss.

I appreciate any input!

 

It's always been my belief that ANY extended or aftermarket warranty the dealer tries to sell you is a good deal, FOR THEM!!! They make tons of money on these things because the value of what they cover is almost never as much as what they sell the warranty for. Do the math, how many tires can you buy for $2100? A ton!!!

I say skip it, buy your own tires, and avoid potholes.

 

I rotate my tires 2xs per year (in NJ)... once when I put the snows on, and once when the summers go on...

for $2100 I can get 2 full sets of summer perf. tires AND a set of winter tires to boot... (and these are for 17" wheels).

With a spare set of rims for snows (picked up on this forum for about $500) it takes me about 10-15 min. to change / rotate all my wheels/tires

I would think that this is for your local dealer only, so esp. if you plan to move, I would NOT get this...

 

Yeah, my sixth sense has been telling me to be wary about this. But let's do some rough math to see just how far $2100 can go. Keep in mind this is rough, napkin-type math. Also, my tire knowledge is very limited so please jump in and correct any egregious errors!

According to our friends at Tire Rack, we've got a few different options about what kind of tires might be on my 2007 Cooper S (I don't pick it up until Monday :( ). Summer Performance runflats range from $206 to $275 per tire, and the all-season Continentals go for $171 each. So let's just say I pay $225 per tire.

225 x 4 = $900 to replace 4 tires

If I average 12,500 miles a year, I'll need to replace the tires every 2 years. In the long-run it turns out to be the same if I go with performance tires versus all-seasons because the 2 sets of seasonal tires would get half as much use as the one set of all-seasons.

Let's say I'm really diligent and balance and rotate at the dealership twice a year (once every 6,250 miles) and the charge me $25 for this. The figure is completely made up, but it means $50 a year which gives us a nice round number.

4 tires / 2 years = 2 tires a year or $450 a year.
Tires + cost of balance and rotation (per year) = $450 + $50 = $500 a year.

Bottom line: $500 a year to maintain $225 run-flat tires while averaging 12,500 miles a year.

$2100 / $500 per year = 4 years and 2 months of tires.

So that's actually a pretty decent deal with those figures, especially since the full package will kick in to cover glass and batteries after the 4 year warranty expires.

I imagine myself still driving my MINI in October 2011, but I doubt I'll still be in Jersey! And if I manage to get a better price than $225 per runflat (I hope!), it will actually take longer for the deal to become advantageous.

 

Exactly! I'm lucky to live only 10 minutes away from the dealership now, but it's hardly a permanent situation.

I got a really good rate on my 5 year auto loan through e-loan that the dealership couldn't match. I think they want to sell me on this Tires for Life plan so that they can convince me to finance through them. "Look how convenient! All your payments in one place and all you have to do is accept 0.15% more interest rate!" No thanks!

My MA is a good guy, but I don't think this would be beneficial for my situation. However this whole exercise has convinced me about diligently balancing and rotating my tires at least twice a year; which is something I probably neglected on my previous car :(

 

should that say tired for life?

 

The Car Talk guys don't seem to be too keen on it either: http://www.cartalk.com/content/colum...bruary/04.html

 

Great link! Thanks!

The Car Talk guys weren't too keen on it from a customer point of view... but were pretty interested in being on the other end of the bargain (just like rattmobbins pointed out)! Haha!

Here are some paraphrased highpoints for anyone who didn't click the link:

1. How often should you balance your tires? Rarely, only if you hear a vibration at high speeds.
2. How often should you rotate your tires? Every 7,500 miles.
3. Do I need an alignment twice a year? No way.
4. Bottom line? Rotate your tires regularly and replace them when they get worn out. Tires for life programs usually require more maintainence than is necessary and are essentially a device to keep all your business at the dealership. Buying your own tires allows you to be flexible about where and when you replace/maintain your tires.

They didn't say how often to get an alignment, but I guess you really only need one if your car is noticeably drifting left or right.

 

Thanks for the Car Talk link! Very helpful!

 

Extended warranty programs for tires are not usually a good idea-

To make full use of them you need to stay in one area for a long time- when you move away you loose the warranty if it is with one source- your dealership. It's different if it were a common national source like Sears.

You need to comply with all of the requirements for maintenance.

You need to like the stock sized tires and runflats.

Changing to aftermarket wheels and tires would not be covered.

Since many of us don't keep our runflats this isn't such a great deal.
Since many of us hardly use the stock tire sizes this isn't such a great deal.

Rotating tires can be done more often but it's more work. Even as early as 3000-5000 miles is fine. 7000 miles is about my limit, tires will show some wear in the fronts even if you don't corner too hard on them.

Alignment can be done about once a year or two depending on if you see undue wear on the tires or if you have rough roads and many potholes that get hit as this tends to affect toe settings sometimes. I usually do alignment when changing to new tires- for most of my cars about once every 2-3 years. For my MINI usually once yearly- with a lowered MINI you have to re-align if you change anything that affects ride height- lowering springs or coilovers.

 

MINInurse has this on Cecilia. If you put aftermarket wheels on, the tires are still covered, just not the wheels of course.

The reason we got this package was that we didn't plan on changing wheels/tires on Cecilia, so it was a good deal. If I recall, you can bring it with you to other dealerships.

 

just take advantage of this program and track and touge the crap out of your car. I used to wear out a set of falken azenis one a week when I went to the canyon everyday. if you go to the track, even if its 400 treadwear, I give it three full track events.

 

In case anyone is interested, I decided not to go with the plan. I almost changed my mind when I came to pick up the car from the dealership, though. I found out that this tire plan was actually nationwide (not just at my dealership) and that although there were certain recommended garages across the country, I could be fully re-imbursed if I decided to get tire work done somewhere else.

This was tempting since I was definitely planning to have the car for more than the 4 or so years I figured it would take for the plan to pay off, but in the end I declined. The deciding factor came down to some bad feelings I got about the company offering the plan (I can't recall their name). All my information about the plan had come from the dealership and a poorly written brochure. I decided to call the company and confirm what I had heard, but I never heard back from them after leaving a voice mail. Furthermore, this company had no corporate website and a Google search turned up nothing on them either. In the 21st Century, something is just not right about paying someone $2100 for a service when they have absolutely no web presence.

If they can't answer phone calls or maintain a web site, what am I supposed to do when I lose a tire on a cross-country road trip? Too many things just felt wrong, so I went with my gut.