You are correct in that the extended warranty is a crap shoot, and they make money overall in that not that many people have the amount of expenditures on their car compared to the premium that they pay. Considering the posts on this website talking about just two major issues .... the high pressure fuel pump, and the manifold replacement, I will probably go ahead and get the extended warranty. Either way, I might have to use it for whatever may happen in the future or the $2300 will let me drive the vehicle worry free.

We have life insurance, health insurance, homeowner's insurance, so I might as well purchase Mini insurance.

Buying the warranty is just having to live with the nature of the black and white "beast" parked outside that I drive-LOL!

 

Most need life insurance, health insurance, and homeowner's insurance because if they die, get very sick, or their house burns down, they are unlikely to have the financial resources to recover from the disaster without undue hardship. As the consequences of a loss go up, the ability for one to recover "on their own" gets tougher and insuring, even if not "cost effective", becomes more attractive.

At some point, you "self insure" because you can weather the economic difficulty without undue hardship. If you can afford to do a couple thousand dollar repair on your Mini without being in financial straits, then you probably are better off self-insuring. And if your financial situation is so shaky that you don't have reserves to be able to cover this, then I would question whether you should be driving a $25K new car to begin with.

As the insurance becomes smaller, it typically becomes a poorer and poorer value. Some of the worst values in insurance are the extended warranties for consumer electronic devices where you can easily spend 20% of the value of the item on insurance. And you're insuring something that is typically very reliable during the insurance period and almost worthless due to obsolescence in a year or two.

The important point about all this is that insurance is ALMOST NEVER a good value in that you're likely to recover what you spend in premiums. Yet this is exactly the pitch when it is sold when they tell you about the high cost of repairs in proporation to the cost of the insurance. "A single repair could make the insurance pay off" is the line they like to use. It almost never "pays off."

- Mark

 

I guess I have to butt in here, but I just went through some of the same thinking myself -- with a Honda.

Over the years, I owned 19 Hondas beginning with a little 600 roadster. 18 of them were great. I drove a 1987 CRX Si 277,000 miles. I kept buying them because I believed they were the most reliable cars out there. So in 1996 I bought a $37K Pilot. Its transmission began misbehaving at 4000 miles. The dealer could never get it right. Three service managers told me that the Pilot transmissions were good for about 70K. The final rebuild cost me $3900.

I got rid of the Pilot at a pretty good loss. I bought a Mazda Miata which I was told was bulletproof. It wasn't, and the little bitty problems made me afraid to get more than a few miles from home with it. And it rattled and shook something terrible. And it leaked (and I had the removable hardtop) but it still filled up with water in the rain. I wound up hating that car.

So I got rid of it and bought a Mercedes C300. I love it, and in 37K miles, it has never missed a beat. But its 13K service cost me $700, its 26K service cost me $1100, and its upcoming 39K service will also be over a grand. Oh, and once in Russell Kansas, it refused to start after refuelling. After I spent an hour on the phone with the roadside guys, I opened its gas cap, released the pressure, put the gas cap back on and drove away. Mercedes tells me it was doing exactly what it was supposed to do, i.e., not start up until its systems said it was ready to start. Its a really great car. But it just does not ignite any sort of passion. I'll keep it forever -- sort of like a refrigerator. But I'll never love it.

So when the old Ford Ranger began to be an issue, I traded it for the Mini I always wanted. The Mini has several thousand miles on it -- mountains to Key West so far -- and it has been perfect. I know it is a complex machine, but I also know that the Mini folks seem to jump to answer even the most minor question (like, "why does the cosmoline still drip on the front wheel arches?" ans -- they all do it for a few thousand miles, so drive it and when it quits, we'll replace the arches under the warranty -- simple enough).

My point is that if you are going out to buy another car simply because you think that some other problem is on the horizon and that you'll avoid it by not being there, well, you are kidding yourself. Modern cars are very complex machines -- all of them. The Mini looks to me to be one of the better ones. Do keep in mind that when you read the stories here, you are hearing from Mini "enthusiasts". Many drive their cars at 11/10ths and demand that the cars be perfect all the time. But there are also those who drive at 5/10ths and who will likely never see an issue in thousands and thousands of miles. There are some who will learn to recognize a "quirk" and ignore it while the next guy will consider the "quirk" to be a debilitating and unacceptable flaw. My CRX had a rear shock that "popped" on freeway entrance ramps. It always sounded like the car hit something. Some would find that fault unacceptable. I learned to expect it and I listened for it for seven years. It always did it. It never hurt the car a bit. It turned out to be the most reliable car I have ever owned. But it popped on freeway entrance ramps.

I'd really advise you to make the decision based on whether you like the car. If you love it, forget about its issues and deal with them when and if they ever occur. Learn to know what things MUST be fixed and which ones to tolerate. Learn to work on the car yourself -- there is NO reason why a brake job should ever cost $1000.

On the other hand, if you don't like the car, don't try to rationalize getting rid of it by looking for faults that may or may not be there. Just get rid of it. Not liking a car is reason in and of itself. I'm sure some will get rid of cars that will be perfect machines just because the can't stand them. Others will keep fixing problem machines because they love them so much.

If the Mini does not excite you, don't feel like you should have to apologize to yourself. Just find a car that does and move on.

But go drive the Mini one more time -- throw it around a couple of corners and ask yourself if a 735i could ever do that. The grins that my Mini provides everytime I get behind the wheel make me keep loving it. And I'll buy it parts and have it serviced as long as the grins are there. And if it breaks, I'll fix it.

I really intend to drive this Mini 277K miles, too. And I'm convinced it will do it.

Good luck in your decision.

 

Great post! Thoughtful, well-said...on the money.

 

+1

 

Herleman +2.

(Also, just one note on why I got a MINI. I just drove my wife's Grand Marquis on an 800mile trip and had forgotten what a wallowing boat feels like until now. Man! And I used to think that kind of handling was normal. )

 

I really love the car, and I appreciate the input from you contributors. I've decided to keep the car (no question to begin with), but to buy the 100,000 mile extended warranty considering that I am 66 years old, want some sort of comfort factor in knowing that if I have trouble that it will be taken care of under this warranty, and I am not a mechanic.

The only car that I have ever owned in my years of ownership that I liked better than the Mini was a corvette, so I am "bonded" with this car.

Will cough up the money, love driving the car, and sleep well at night knowing that I am covered with both a maintenance and warranty extension.

 

Huh? But MINI is SELLING them.....

Btw, I mentioned this in another thread...Auto insurance companies offer extended warranties on cars. Geico offers a nice warranty for about 2 bucks extra per month that will cover mechanical issues past the man. warranty. The Geico coverage (and I'm sure others) however don't include servicing like oil changes and don't cover things like break pads and tires unless they wore out for reasons beyond general wear and tear.

This is another option (maybe not the best for all) and the one I have personally always taken. I have found it to be both much cheaper and in some cases better since I don't have to go back to the dealer (a problem for many MINI owners) to get my car fixed. This is all assuming you stick with the SAME insurance company and I think you have to buy this coverage within the first year of ownership so it's basically only for new cars. Also, depending on the company, you may have a small deductible for the work. I think the Geico deductible is about $150 or so. Not too bad if you have a $2000 issue. Just another possibility but of course it's not perfect....

 

Buck, for the record, you have a year on me. We both grew up in the same era.

I hope that the little car never ever even burps for another 200,000 miles.

I also hope that in six or seven years, the only thing you are kicking yourself over is having "wasted" the money on that unneeded extended warranty.

Drive safely my friend. Oh, and Merry Christmas, too.

 

Geico offers an extended warranty for $2/month that essentially duplicates the coverage the Mini dealer is selling for $2500+? Sorry, I call BS on this. I suspect it has a pretty huge deductable for any single repair ($250 is common) and has other limitations that make it not apply to most situations. And Geico's reputation as a company to deal with is pretty awful too - I can't imagine going to bat with them on every car repair.

- Mark

 

Thanks for your positive response. I expect most of the responders who say that the extended warranty is a waste of money have the expertise to do repairs themselves or a local independent mechanic to take care of major repairs of their MINI if they have any.

At my age, and since I am okay financially, I had just as soon sleep well at night, love my MINI, and drive knowing that I have two times as many miles as I now have on the car covered by both maintenance and warranty protection ..... no money, no worries, and no hassles to worry about in the future.

And considering the two episodes that I have already had with the car, I may or may not have future problems. Hope that you are right in that I will say that I wasted my money when I reach 100,000 miles. The money spent will be okay for the piece of mind that I have had for the last 50,000 miles.

Only time will tell. I do appreciate the input from all of the contributors.

 

Just to add to the discussion...

Just bought a 2010 Clubman S.

My interior lights worked once. :bluduh

The dealership is replacing a "control module" that controls a variety of lights next week. (Took 'em a couple of days to get the part with Christmas and all...) Technically, they don't even really know what's going on. The car is telling the diagnostic computer that there's a short in the circuit that controls the interior lights, but the service diagnostic computer is saying everything checks out. :scratch

 

This has not been my first hand experience. I have had a very easy time with Geico. A much beter one than some people have described here that they have had with MINI in some cases.

I also didn't type "essentially duplicates the MINI warranty" and I was clear about some of the many differences and weaknesses of the Geico coverage that even the MINI coverage has. It seems you read what you wanted then commented on your own thoughts. It's actually like you didn't even read my entire post where spent most of it pointing out the bad parts of the Geico warranty. It's just another and much cheaper option that isn't perfect and that I am sure you won't be going with judging from your post.

The only thing your calling BS on is your own thoughts and not what I wrote.

 

I love this discussion! I leased an 09 S that I really enjoy, and I am already starting to think about what I am going to do when the lease runs out in 2 more years. Because I like this car so much, it may well become only my third car to ever last me more than 3 or 4 years. I am essentially in the same boat as BuckBS, just farther away from having to think about paying for repairs.

The bottom line to me is the VALUE of the extended maintenance. If the peace of mind I get from having it and not worrying about repair costs offsets the pain of the expense, it is worth it. I really don't care who makes how much money off of it. Spending a bunch of time worrying about minimizing the profit of a supplier or service provider not only makes me nuts wondering if I made the best possible deal, it seems counter productive. It is OK to me if the SA or dealership makes money off the sale. That's why they are there. Would I be happy to pay less for it? Of course! Nobody likes to get screwed, but it is still about value to me. That is (should be?) the only criteria for making the decision

It sounds like Buck may agree

 

 

Well, if we're going to argue about exactly who said what, I'll also point out that I never purported that you said the above - I was simply pointing out that the Geico coverage is not directly comparable to the Mini extended warranty. What is key here and the main thing you did neglect to point out is that Geico has a $250 deductable on every repair - that's a pretty critical "difference and weakness", don't you think?

Truce, let's agree to disagree on Geico. In a word, I think they're a pretty awful insurance company for the most part, but if you're having good luck with them, that's great.

- Mark

 

According to Geico. They will only sell you that extended coverage when you buy a car brand new from a authorised dealer. Plus you have to have the car insured by Geico. The person from Geico I talked to on the phone was going to send me information but I have not recieved anything except for advertisements telling me how much I can save if I switch from Travelers to Geico.
Ronnie948

 

Mark jenn: So I guessed wrong by a $100 on the deductible. I still don't think it's that bad for something I may never use. I would rather pay a tiny bit now ( $2 a month and then maybe $250 later IF something goes wrong then to pay over $2000 now for something I may never use or might not own in 5 years. Oh and, Truce . You brought up some very valid points and concerns.

Ronnie: Yep. I think they of course bank on you not owning that car in so many years or moving to another insurance company by the time you have need of the company specific insurance but that's how insurance works. Of course you may not own a MINI in five years either so better to wait and tack on the MINI coverage later I guess.

So a question...Does MINI charge more for the extended warranty if you buy it say three years into owning your car versus when you first buy it? I would if i were them. Is there a cut off point for purchasing it?

Thanks Gents!

 

My bad. I missed your 2nd paragraph in your original post about Geico where you mentioned the deductable (off by a bit as you say).

- Mark