Just picked up my MINI Clubman. Do any of you with other MINI's think it is worth ?1700 to have the free Maintenance go 6 years 100K?

 

I didn't think it was worth $1995 when I turned it down. Hmmm.

 

Is there even $1700 worth of maintenance in years 4, 5, and 6?

 

I don't know. Since Clubman can only be 2 years old I might have to ask in the regular section. My wife has the car so I don't know if the books say what would be needed in years 4,5, and 6.

 

Brakes, which are covered, cost $1,000. Add in oil changes @ $100/pop, fluids, windshield wipers (yeah, they suck), and a whole host of other things, it could easily exceed $1,700 by the time the car hits 100k miles. I will pony up the extra cash before I hit 36k.

 

I picked up the extended maintainence from the dealer for $1500. I figured that was WELL worth the investment. As someone above mentioned....brakes alone are close to $1000.00 and perhaps more depending on what needs to get done.

Since most of these "add on's" are pure profit centers for the dealer....there's wiggle room. I called around to some other dealers and found the price range to be from $1700 to $2100 for this. I probably could have gotten it cheaper if I would have fought harder.

Curious to know what others are being quoted for this....and if anyone has purchased the extended warranty and what they paid.

 

So you can wait to buy it as long as the car has less that 36K? Can you get it from any dealer or just the selling one?

 

It's for 100K miles or 6 years, whichever comes first, so for many people we're talking about maintenance for 60-75K miles or so.

Your quoting dealer prices for all this stuff. Factor in a good independent and -- for some people -- stuff you can do yourself, and that comes way down.

My dealer charges $75 for oil change. Brakes are easy to do and can be done for a lot less than $1K. An independent can do it cheaper too. Even then, my dealer did front and rear brakes on my '99 BMW 3 series for less than $800, so I'm not sure where anyone comes up with $1K for MINI brakes. Maybe for a JCW, but not a regular Clubman/S.

If you really put 100K miles on it in 6 years the maintenance might be worth it, but I still question if it is for someone who drives 60-75K miles in that time, unless you really can't find a reputable independent, can't do any of it yourself, and have to overpay for dealer service.

The other reason I didn't get the extended maintenance is I may not keep my car after 4 years, so why pay for something I may not use. I wouldn't get the extended maintenance fee all back on trade or resale.

 

Typically a dealer offers a discount when (or very soon after) you buy the car, and it's higher if buy it later. They should explain that when you close the deal. So if they are offering it for $1700 now, it could be $2000 when you go to buy it several years later.

 

Wait a couple years.
You can buy one later and the dealer will be happy to sell the warranty.
The extended warranty doens't help resale value much.

 

We were able to haggle the price down from $1700 to $1500, $1500 was a good enough price.

 

I didn't get the extended maintenance because I didn't want to drive 50 miles (one way); plus I thought it was overpriced at $2K. I did get the extended warranty - they wanted $2K for 6 years/100K miles - that also seemed high so they offered to up it to 7 years and I took it.

 

One thing to keep in mind with an extended warranty or service plan is that if you drive a lot, the extended plan might not be in effect for very long.

For instance, if you drive 2,000 miles per month, the factory warranty will expire in 25 months, and a 6yr/100k extended warranty will expire 25 months after that. That only gives you a little over two years to get your money's worth out of the extended warranty.

A lot of the systems in the car break down with age as much as they do with mileage, and at 2,000 miles per month, the car will only be a little over four years old when the extended warranty expires.

 

I got it mostly because it covers the clutch, as I plan to teach my son to drive a manual in 5 years.

 

Thanks to all for the input. The dealer came down to $1495 (which was the lowest price I could find calling other MINI dealers) we got it. My wife liked the idea of not haveing to worry about who was working on here car and if planning to have work done at the dealer the cost seems like a good deal. By the way the prices I was quoted ranged from $1495 to $2295 for the same plan.

 

True but I only drive (max) 12K/year. So by the time 7 years is up, I'll probably have around 80K on her. I normally keep a car for about 7 years so ... it'll be about time to trade her in for a new one when the warranty runs out.

 

Did you know that the extended warranty is not backed by Mini or BMW? I have personally known two people over the years who bought an extended warranty and did not find out the company folded until they took their car in for a repair and they were left holding the bag.

When I picked up my car this past Saturday the lady in the Finance dept started talking about all the extended warranty options and I stopped her and asked her if they are offered by BMW or Mini and she said no, some company that I believe starts with the letter F. I did not pay that much attention as once I heard 'no' I pretty much stopped listening. I told her if the extended warranty was through BMW or Mini I would consider it, otherwise no thanks.

 

Extended warranties are great deals...for the dealer. If they were a good deal for the customer...they would not sell them. Think about it.

 

Same could be said about car insurance but I bet you have it. Is a protection unexpected cost.

 

to put this in perspective... the dealership charges $300 for a 16" run flat tire. that same tire can be bought for $225 (i checked before bying my MINI) at tire dealer down the street. so whatever "savings" the dealer is telling you you get if you need the services is inflated to what they charge you. once your free maint. runs out... find a reputable service guy and let him do the work for less and probably better quality.

 

Yes, but the possible consequences of not having insurance go *way* beyond having to pay for an auto repair out-of-pocket. Like the saying goes, you insure against catastrophes, not against inconveniences.

 

I do all my own work on all our vehicles. Disc brakes take 15 miutes and 3 tools to change pads/ per wheel new rotors add just a few minutes more. Oil changes are a breeze. we have never bought an extended warranty and except for the mini at 15k the others are at 85K and 130K respectively.

I can think of a lot beter things to spend 1500-2000 dollars on

 

Right you are. In fact these extended warranties ARE considered insurance policies here in Florida, and because of that fact you probably cannot get it at a discount. I say "probably" because I haven't tried to get the warranty for my Mini, but it holds true for my Goldwing motorcycle. (No, I didn't buy that either).

I guess you can insure everything if you want from your plasma TV to your $20 clock radio. It's your choice and your money. Makes you feel good? Do it.

 

Meh - My dealer actually came down to the $200 per runflat for me, and they've done the same thing for quite a few other little jobs - customer satisfaction and I've referred a lot of people to them. (I am, however, technically still under the primary warranty.)

I really wish I could be a gear-head; I think I'd worry less if I were that talented/had enough time to do it. Since I"m not - well, I'll be one of those looking at the extended warranty for security reasons.

I'm the type that needs the "assurance" of being able to get the car fixed when I need it done; if that means warranty to keep my costs lower, so be it. I'm on my second MINI ('04 MCS first, now an '07 MCS) and have never had more problems than was managed by the warranty ('04 MCS had the evidently typical windshield crack problem and was fixed immediately) but there are some SERIOUS horror stories about absolute LEMONS. That's one of the reasons I'm cautious.....

 

Just to clarify this thread is discussing the extended maintenance NOT an extended warranty. Having said that... BMW/Mini service is not cheap. So if your dealer will drop the price to around $1500 it should be a decent deal for people who do not do their own maintenance or plan on keeping their car up to the 6yr/100k limit. Otherwise move along.