The time has come, the Walrus said, to speak of MANY things....

Sadly, our beloved MINIs are aging. As the proud owner of one of the very first MCS' in STL ("CQQPER"), the original factory warranty will expire after April '06. I have been contacted several times by MINI of STL (offering a third-party but 'officially recommended' warranty ), Warranty Direct and others about purchasing an extended warranty. They seem pricey until you consider the replacement cost of a major component. The car is almost-mint, totally original, including still roadworthy run-flat tires and just turned 18,000 miles this month.
Typical quoted price for major-component coverage for +4 years (but only 60,000 miles total), and a $100 deductible is about $1100. :impatient

Any ideas? Suggestions?

 

My wife purchased a Z3 last year which included an aftermarket warranty. It's C.A.R.S., Complete Auto Repair Service. It includes a $100 deductible and is good for 7 years after the original sale or up to 100,000 miles. It was a key selling point. Until.....

A few weeks ago we took the car in for some repairs. Leaky seal on the top. Transmission and air bag lights occasionally come on. Emergency brake non functional. After 4 days, and a weekend in the shop for BMW to get an estimate to the warranty company. They received word that none of these things are covered. With that said. I'll never purchase an aftermarket warranty.

If they can offer you an extended warranty through BMW I would say go for it. As for aftermarket warranty, I would throw that money in the bank and if time comes for a repair. Take it out of the bank and pay for it yourself. We talked with the local BMW dealer about this warranty before purchasing the vehicle and they said it was good. You'll never know how good something is until you use it.

Other aftermarket warranties may be better but I'm burnt on them now. I'm just glad it only cost us $100 to transfer the warranty. Had we actually paid the near $2000 for the warranty. We would not be happy.

[edit]BTW. There was a forum here which had an aftermarket warrany company as a sponsor. I just looked and can't find it. Any word on what may happened to them?

 

I'm not a believer in after market warranties. Nothing I can pinpoint except that if it's not through the company that mfr the car then there's way too much fine print for me to sift through. I just don't trust them and have rarely heard anyone with a good story about them. The stories you do hear usually are a rare occurence of something going wrong and then still not covered. There aren't many legit insurance companies/business savy people that recommend them.

Now I've probably jinxed myself...not that I'm superstitous or anything(knockonwood).