It seems to me that you have to be crazy not to get the extended warranty to cover up to 100K miles. Even if it cost $3,000 because this new production of the mini seems to have a lot of issues, IMO. Still want one though. MCS Pepper White, racing stripes. Am I the crazy one.

 

nope. i got the extended war. too. seems to be the smart thing to do considering all the tech. that goes into cars these days.

 

Like many MINI things, I think it's all about perspective and individual preference. Extended warranties are nice, and I bought one on a used MINI, and on my new one.

I think of warranties like I do insurance and plan/buy accordingly. When is enough life insurance enough? When is enough car insurance enough? Do I need 100K mile warranty on my MINIs? Am I prepared to spent $X on unexpected out-of-warranty repairs? What's the track history been?

I can say, I'm probably overly conservative. I've purchased extended warranties on every household appliance we've got; plus video cams, stereos, plasma TVs, computers, etc. And the reality is...to-date, I've never had one of these things just crap out on me and require warranty work.

Maybe I've been lucky....or maybe I'm the "extended-warranty" sucker

 

I didn't get it as I don't intend keeping the car over 3 years and certainly not to 100k miles. Whilst the warrantly may help at sale time it won't make much difference to the sale proce so is not worth it for me.

 

$3000 hahahahaha!!! are you kidding me. i would never pay that. first off what are you talking about when you say these 2007s have lots of issues? what issues? some little things here and there but nothing major, so when you say that im not sure what you are refering to. secondly if you have GEICO (i do) you can get full warranty coverage for 100,000 miles or 7 years for like $7 a month. that comes to under $600 total after 7 years. thats bumper to bumber, coverage for EVERYTHING execpt wear parts like brakes. oh and you can take it to any place to get it fixed that you want, including the MINI dealer and have OEM parts used as well. and lastly that warranty is transferable if you sell the car to another GEICO policy holder. $3000 hahahahaha, when that guy sold you that he went home to his family and gave them all hi fives and said "pack up, i scored big, we are going on vacation"

 

Our you in California with Geico. Apparently, they passed a law in California that says you can't buy an extended warranty except through the dealer. If one large thing goes out after 50K, a warranty will pay for itself. I forgot to mention that I will have 50K miles in two years. Does this change anyones mind. Flav, I would love to pay $7.00 per month but as usual we get screwed by the politicians in California in that a law like this is so prohibited to consumers.

 

I totally agree with flav. Geico's extended warranty is the way to go. When I first found out about the geico deal, i thought there must be a catch - but there isn't one. There is a $250 deductible though to use this warranty but thats no biggie as after 3yrs, even minor mini repairs are going to be expensive if we have to pay it all ourselves. This warranty + geico's low rates makes it worth switching to them.

amazonracer, i would call geico and check with them because this isn't traditional extended warranty, so you might actually be able to get it.

 

Can I get the extended warranty right before the one that comes with the car runs out, or do I have to get it with in a certain period of time after purchase?

I'm planning on keeping my MINI for a while and I don't have GEICO but I might switch insurance companies or whatever. So if I get the warranty it wouldn't be for a while.

 

you have up to 15,000 miles or 15 months to add the warranty to a new car with geico. i usually wait until close to that time so i dont waste money the first few months for no reason. it used to be 11,000 miles but they just switched it.

 

Cool. What about with MINI do they have some sort of policy that's similar to that?

 

i won't call your crazy but $3,000 for a $23K car? Thats more than 10% of the cost of the car.

What happens when you dump it in three years (and don't think your going to get one penny more for any extended warranty from the next buyer because your dreaming)?

 

3 grand seems like a total waste of money to me. I would rather just spend the money on the repair and take my chances or just trade the car in after the factory warranty is over. I just sold my tacoma truck so I can buy a new mini, I bought the truck a year ago, I paid 1500.00 for an extended warranty, fortunately I can get a prorated refund on it, still, I regret getting it.

 

Extended warranties are insurance, just like medical, life, car, or disability. They buy peace of mind that you won't get stuck with a huge repair bill.

But they're almost never a "good deal" in the sense that you're likely to get paid more in claims than the cost of the insurance. They can't be a good deal for the consumer, otherwise the insurer would lose money and extended warranties are one of the most profitable areas in a car dealership. Extended warranties on consumer electronics have such ridiculous profit margins that some are demanding that regulations be put in place to limit the gouging. Anyone who buys extended warranties on TV's and computers is mostly flushing money down the toilet.

And read the fine print. Some things you think are covered may not be. Further, you may have to be much more careful about keeping good records.

Unless you absolutely can't stand the hardshp of a major repair, I'd save your money. Further, if paying for the very rare (but can happen) $2K repair bill would really put you in a world of hurt, maybe you should be driving a $5K used car and putting some money in the bank every month until you build up some cushion. There's lots of financial risks in life and everyone should really have a few months salary in the bank.

- Mark

 

Agree with markjenn. For the most part extended warranties are not worth the money. For TVs, computers ect. they are really bad. If you look at a typical reliabity curve you will find a higher failure rate early on in a products life called 'infant mortality'. It is the region of the curve governed by bad parts, faulty manufacturing etc. (For electrical components this is sometimes called burn in.) After time you reach a knee in the curve and the failure rate drops way down. In this region of the curve, the parts are good, manufacturing fine and the failure rate is governed by wear and accumalted time on the products parts or in some cases the number of cycles. Standard warranties given by the manufacturer will more than cover the infant mortality region and get you well beyond the knee in the curve. After the knee in the curve there will be a slight increase over time as the product ages do to wear and and time. That region of the curve is low enough not to justify an extended warranty, imo. (And believe me manufacturers understand this as well or they wouldn't offer them.) I self insure so to speak. Particularly for a car 50,000 bumper to bumper is a great warranty. For every car I've had or heard about if you get beyond the warranty you are almost guaranteed and engine and transmission that will get to at least 100,000 miles, particularly in this day and age of modern engines and trannys. For 3000 bucks those are about the only repairs that would justify an extended warranty.

 

I got extended warranty with Geico in California for my new Mini for $4 a month. I do have another car insured with them too. however. I think that is the real deal.

 

that geico warranty does seem like a good deal though.

 

could you tell us a little more about the contract. annual, what is the deductable? is the deductable per dealer visit or completion of a job? can i go to any dealer of choice? any exclusions? i'm not sure of what the exact words are but i think you get my point. thanks.

 

give them a call. i think they are open 24/7. 1-800-861-8380. i found their overall rates to be pretty cheap as well. i switched from progre$$ive a few years ago.

 

I asked my insurance co. State Farm and they don't have a program. Oh well. I still think an extended warranty for a rebuilt British Car and someone that drives 25K miles a year is good for peace of mind. If I could get the dealer to sell it for $1,500 would people be more responsive to the warranty or any warranty is like flushing money down the drain.

 

i would switch insurance if i were you. i mean why not its just a simple phone call. plus you will be surprised how cheap geico is. i got everybody i know to switch to them.

 

One of my friends had to deal with them after he was rear ended when he was just standing in traffic. His car was totaled. His back hurt so he went and got an MRI after geico approved the test and said that they will cover the expense. However once they got the bill they said that they won't pay for it since they will only cover an xray but an xray wouldn't show the injuries he had. That made me wonder about their satisfaction rating. I'd be more interested in seeing the rating people give them after they get into an accident and try to collect from geico.

Sill I might consider switching to them 'cause who's to say that my current insurance company won't be the same way and at least I'll save some money.

 

We have been happy with State Farm and in fact, we have looked into switching on our last SUV purchase approx. 3 years ago and no one good beat State Farm. On a side note, I was in a moderate fender bender almost a year ago coming out of my kids High School (I hit a teacher) and State Farm "forgave" the accident. Thats crazy. There were damages too. Mine was $1,400 and I don't know about hers.