I know its been beat to death, So I am about to trade off Elvis (2011 CPO mini cooper) for a 2012 Mini Countryman S model Auto with 50k on the clock. After reading all of the horror stories, Any purchase a MINI Extended Warranty?

I usually believe that extended warranties are like snake oil, but in the case of the S motors and all that can go wrong, one would think it might be a good idea to get one, yes?

 

Look for one that is CPO certified or have them certify it as a condition of sale.

 

I would love to do that, but it is coming from a BMW dealer not a MINI one. I wonder if they could certify it?

 

I recently purchased a 2012 Mini Countryman S All4 (with 12K miles) from a Lexus dealer and they offered me a Toyota extended warranty on it, but I passed with them and spoke to the Mini dealership that it was originally sold from. I still have a year left of Mini service and 2 years of Mini warranty. I am bringing it this week for an oil change and brake fluid change (CBS for the brake fluid popped up two weeks after I bought it and it has been a year since its last oil change so they will do that for no charge as well). The service clerk who scheduled my appointment said that I can speak with the finance manager about extending the warranty, while I am there.

In 30+ years of car ownership, I have never bought an extended warranty, nor ever let anyone other than myself change oil, etc., but after doing some reading on this forum, I think an extended warranty might be a good idea on the Mini.

 

I am thinking this very thought, so right now im leaning towards one... I have a small fund i keep 2k or so that i like to have for car stuff, so i know its there always, but i know with these cars it can get expensive quick i suppose...

 

I bought the extended warranty. I currently have 55k miles. My warranty pretty much covers 95 % except wear and tear. I have it for the next 5 years or 100,000 miles. I believe the cost was around 2500

 

I'm one of the group that considers extended warranties snake oil. However, I must say that from all the things I've read I would be a little nervous owning a Mini that was out of factory warranty. If I'm still driving when the warranty on my '13 nears its end fortunately I would be able to consider another new car.

 

I believe that may very well be the wisest investment you have ever made.

 

Unfortunately, it looks like extending the warranty after the fact is quite a bit more expensive. I spoke with the business manager yesterday while my Countryman was having its oil and brake fluid changed. The base warranty expires in October of 2016. To extend it 3 years would be $2990 for 70K miles or $3340 for 100K miles.

I typically keep cars for 10 years or more (but those have always been Japanese cars), so I will wait until closer to the end of my warranty to decide if I should extend it or trade in the car.

Being new to the world of Mini, I found the honesty, of both the business manager and service manager, regarding Mini reliability to be somewhere between amusing and frightening.

 

The extended warranty for MINI is just like any other - the sellers are banking on the fact that the odds are in their favor to not pay out what they receive.

Instead of buying the extended warranty, if you really believe the car is as unreliable as portrayed here, set aside an amount equal to the payment each month and just save it. Then you can use that for repairs if needed.

 

As much as it costs to have things fixed on these cars, a better understanding would be that you could use that money towards repairs rather than for repairs.

 

I was at the Mini Dealer in MN today and asked what it would be to extend the warranty on my 2011 Country. Initial warranty expires May 2015. They came back with these numbers:

$4266 6 year / 70K miles including electronics with $50 ded. through Mini.
$4028 6 year / 70K miles without electronics with $50 ded. through Mini.
Add $700 to above to extend to 100K miles.

And surprisingly, offered a warranty through CNA National with no deductible, 6 year or 75K miles for $3956.

All a lot higher than I was expecting.

 

Our CPO coverage "extended" our warranty for an additional two years for a total of six years with the factory warranty and bumped the mileage to 100K.
I assume when you are talking about a six year extended warranty you are actually talking about extending beyond your factory four year warranty an additional two years?

 

Yes, extend to 6 years, so an 2 additional years.