Consumer Reports. Only source that I can think of right now. In their used car section, '02 and '03 are not recommended

But...

I hear you Clo... Our '02 MC CVT has been rock solid as well. I think that MINI's main problem right now appears to be inconsistent reliability accross the board. Some of us enjoy truly reliable MINIs and while some others end up with fairly problematic cars. This like saying that for every 100 MINIs built, 25 will be as problem free as any Toyota, 25 more will have a few minor problems, 25 more will have teething issues and the last quarter will be lemons.

 

I feel really sorry for you. I have had less than perfect cars from the factory (GMs) and I fully understand where you are coming from.

Your issues are totally unacceptable. If a car needs to be rebuilt in the dealer's service dept, that only tells me something went very wrong during manufacture.

My MCS has been the total opposite of your experience. This car has not seen the dealer service dept for anything other than the 10K mile scheduled service in 15K miles of motoring.

Best wishes for a satisfactory resolution to your headaches.

 

All cars need repairs over time, and a lot of the posts I have seen are from recent owners (05-06) who shouldn't be having a lot of issues YET. I didn't have a many issues until year two. Then the windows went, central locking, foam vents rotted, door handle stopped working, water in the shifter line that would freeze, leaking coolant, squeaking sunroof, hanging muffler due to rust, etc, etc.

I am in the 4th year of ownership of my 03 MCS, and things are starting to come due as one might expect. I decided to extend the service contract to match the warranty for about $300 when I purchased the vehicle, and it did get me free brake service at 49K miles!

My point is get all the lemon stuff fixed under warranty and maybe you'll be set for when it goes off warranty. I'm convinced a lot of people save/make MINI/BMW money by not getting stuff fixed until after the warranty has expired.

 

Extended warranties are complete rip-offs and are never a good purchase......If you feel you need one then....BUY A DIFFRENT CAR!

The simple fact that they make a profit means that to MOST people the warranty cost them MORE than if they had payed out of pocket.

secondly.....Its like medical insurance.....when you pay nothing out of pocket and your company pays the premium every ache and sniffle is cause to see a specialist......When you pay for your own.....then you start to realize that every little item doesnt have to be fixed by a specialist......Some people on here have taken there car to the dealer to get every little annoyance fixed because the warranty is "free" to them .....when in reality, if you were paying out of pocket, you would let some stuff go (rattles), do some things yourself (window motors) and only take it to a mechanic when the car just flat wont move.....A very rare occasion with modern autos

 

my advise is to read the fine print and ask what it doesnt cover...

for my M3, it covered bumper to bumper But does not cover electrical problems. The sale person couldnt elaborate on this level of detail...

 

Hey thanks...I have had a satisfactory resolution each time.
Thankfully I have a GREAT dealership.

By no means am I soured on the brand or the car...I understand that anything mechanical can have issues. I brought up my situation for a couple of reasons, one to point out that problems can have nothing to do with maintenance (mine are build issues...my car is meticulously maintained), and two that everyone has their own experience and someone with a problematic car might consider the right extended warranty worth the money.

Oh & BTW...I have zero mods on my MCS (in case you were wondering).

 

I've had pretty good experiences with extended warranties.

The first one I had was on a used '95 Mitsu. Eclipse GST, that I bought from a place that later got turned into a Carmax. I used every penny of that warranty with that car. It ended up with some major engine work and lots of little things (door locks, radio, etc, etc etc). Seemed the car was in the shop all the time, and I always had something that I needed to go in for. Sold that car about ten minutes before the warranty ran out, it probably blew up on the dealer's lot

The second time was with my new 01 Audi A4. Pretty reliable car, but German parts are $$$$. I probably broke even with that one, but the confidence of having the warranty was a nice feeling. I never worried about bringing it in to a shop (dealer or independent) because I pretty much knew that anything they found wrong would be at least partially covered by the warranty.

I didn't get the warranty with my 06 MCS (yet). At the time I didn't yet know if I would keep the car long enough to use up the factory warranty. I may buy one if I decide to keep the car, or I may sell it in a few years.

Like any insurance, you buy it just in case. It's a personal risk choice. For the two cars I bought it on, I rolled the cost into my payments. If you can afford a random $1000 here and there for something odd happening, then it's probably for you. At this point in my life I can afford a major random repair, in the past right out of college I couldn't.

I certainly wouldn't say that they are a "waste of money", or that they are a "must have", which seem to be the extreme points of view. Every car is different, and every shop is different. The independent shop near me handles the extended warrenties very well. if the peace of mind is worth the cost of the warranty to you, then get it.

 

[quote=Dolmangar]I've had pretty good experiences with extended warranties.
Do you remember the names of the extended warranty companies?

Getting back to the original point of the thread, I am wondering if anyone has experience with a contract with the breakdown definition quoted in the first post. Also, does anyone have a policy who is willing to quote the definition of breakdown/failure for me? I got Warranty Direct policy online and yes, they spell out that a failure includes a part wearing out beyond the mfgr's tolerance limits. I would like info beyond the Warranty Direct policy so I may gauge the indutry standard in defining these terms.

 

I've been pretty diligent about keeping the car up on warranty and I've made friends with a lot of the MINI repair places; so I am not going to be buying the extended warranty.

As far as the bits and trim on the MINI, I think a lot of the stuff is low buck plastic and metal parts that are produced on the cheap in China and then sold out of Germany at a huge mark up!

 

I agree. The solution to an extended warranty for me was to trade in my 03 MCS on a 06 MCS. With the sales tax savings, my 03 cost me $2,600 to own, and now I will have a new 4 year warranty. And hopefully not ten trips to the dealer for electrical problems and sunroof leaks in 16k miles!

Good luck whatever you do.

regards,
Red

 

That's the mootest moot point I've ever seen!

Mfr. warranty is a) an enticement to buy a car by extending a feeling of security to the consumer and b) a statement that the manufacturer expects that the car's systems should function reasonably, under normal conditions, without wear being an issue for X years/miles.

Since the manufacturer thinks their car should work for X years/miles, and because the consumer actually HAS paid for the warranty out of pocket -- they bought the car and you'd be silly to think that estimated warranty repair costs aren't built in -- of COURSE they're going to take a warranteed car in for every "little" thing. Is that even the issue or a concern when purchasing a 3rd party warranty?

I'd presume people are more interested in cataclysmic mechanical events which render their car undriveable without significant investment and that's what leads to consideration of a 3rd party warranty.

Not to mention, not everyone feels they are capable of repairing their own ________ (insert boken bit here).

So, for people who find themselves with a car that's turning out to be less than entirely reliable, don't have loads of available cash for frequent repairs, and lack the inclination towards shade tree mechanicism, it may seem that such a warranty is... well... warranted.

That said, I personally think they sound fishy. But that's just me.

 

Classic

 

OM, your points are well taken. Its is true you paid for the initial warranty up front.

The problem with MINIs is that there is no history. Its not like you bought a Mustang and can see the repair history over the last 40 years.

If you depend upon it as your daily transportation and intend on keeping it well beyond the warranty period, then insuring it against the cost of repairs may be warranted (no pun intended)

 

I appreciate that this thread has provided an opportunity for such lively debate of the virtues of the MC. But, IMHO, the thread has really been jacked way off topic. I'm out.

 

FWIW - I got the Extended Warranty *and* the Extended Bumper-to-Bumper Maintenance Agreement at the time of purchase, and guess what- neither of these covered my clutch w/ only 22k miles on it. Nice. (not).

(BTW- I am selling my 2003 un-modded Cooper with a brand-new clutch, brakes, tires, recent Inspection I. PM me if interested. (working on a "flyer" to link in the Marketplace Thread as we speak!))

 

Why wasn't the clutch covered? It should have been for at least 3yr/36k miles for the factory maintenance warranty.

 

How would a factory maintenance program be responsible for covering the clutch? Factory maintenance is for things like oil changes and inspections/adjustments. If something breaks, then you may qualify for the factory to repair/replace it if it breaks during the warranty period and there are no exceptions (such as abuse, tracking the car, etc.). Clutches are a tricky area, because the factory can argue with some credibility that the owner didn't know how to drive a manual transmission car (and thus the repair is due to abuse on the part of the owner).

Personally, even with taking scrupulous care of a car, with today's highly computerized cars and (at least in the S.F. bay area) high labor rates, not getting an extended warranty is a plan for financial misery. My first experience with an extended warranty was with a 1995 Volvo 850 Turbo. I purchased an extended warranty (CNA) with which the dealer I took the car to would direct bill the insurance company for any covered repairs. My only cost was the deductible ($25). Within 12 months after getting the policy, I had to have the a/c evaporator replaced. The whole dash had to be removed. $2,500 (of CNA's money) later, the a/c was back in operation, but I was out only $2,325 (cost of the policy + $25 deductible). The next thing that failed was the torque converter ($2,218; my cost was again, $25 for the deductible). I followed the dealer's recommended service schedule, which is more than Volvo had specified, so the repairs were not a result of "under-maintaining" the car.

Sure, the insurance company is not likely to lose money on the Extended Warranty transaction, because they have run the actuarial analysis and have priced accordingly. The real question is are you going to lose money on car repairs by passing on an extended warranty? Some will; some won't. It all depends on your personal tolerance for risk and whether you can afford the financial hit if your car turns into a money pit after the new car factory warranty runs out. If you decide to sell the car after a certain point, you still have to pay to get the car back into operational status if it is broken. Even if you just take the hit and walk away from the car, there is still the loss of residual value of the car from walking away.

 

Oh yes, and argue we did!!!! Put up a pretty good battle if I do say so myself, and while the case is not entirely "closed", I (with great reluctance and a new MINI already on the way) chose to let it go.

(Frankly, yelling at grown men on the phone and in real life- soooo not my style.) However, I did not intend to get this thread off-topic again. Apologies.

(FWIW- I did get new brakes and an "Inspection I" while it was on the rack.)

 

THe 3yr/36k miles maintenance warranty DOES cover the clutch assuming no "abuse". It also covers brake pads and rotors.

 

Note the qualifier of no abuse.... How can a part that generally lasts 100,000 miles (I had a 1986 VW GTI that went 125,000+ miles on the original clutch) wear out in say, 20,000 (or 36,000) miles and not have MINI ask if it hadn't been abused? Brake pads/rotors are more prone to wearing out under normal wear and tear within the 36,000 mile period.

 

They covered my brakes, but I had to hire an independent mechanic and point it out to them.

 

I just actually called my MINI dealer to find out about an extended warranty. My MCSC has 43000 miles on it, and my MINI select ballon payment isn't up unti 2008. They want $3000 for a 3 year/100000 mile warranty. They said because of my current mileage they can't give me one for 4 years-which is what I wanted. The ONLY reason I would purchase the warranty is because of all the convertible top problems I have had. Well low and behold the wear marks and alignments that have plagued my top since I got it wouldn't ve covered. The cloth and frame of the top aren't covered on and extended warranty, only the electronic components of the top are covered.
So I am going in to see my MA tomorrow, because I feel that my $3k may be better spent on the down payment of a new MINI then for one more year of a warranty that doesn't cover what I want it to.

 

Another voice added to the choir:

I always buy extended warranties, I'm that guy. I read an article years ago about how extended warranties are for suckers UNLESS you are the kind of person who drives your car hard, and that has shepped my spending habits since. Don't get me wrong, I do not beat on my car, and i take very good care of her, changing the oil at 3000 ON the DOT, but I do demand alot of her. I'm at 8 months and 8100 miles of ownership on my '06 MCS and my brakes are already down to 4 cm (mm?) meaning that in the course of the next few months, a break job will be required from the dealership. If i get even 2 or 3 durring the 40,000 extended warranty period, it should pay for itself.

 

Mini had a problem with '03 clutches. I complained to my dealer about a ticking noise at 25k mi. Got a new pressure plate, friction disc and throwout bearing on the house under warranty.

 

So this means it covers anything that is not JCW on your JCW car? this doesnt make much sense does it?